ABSTRACT Background: Childhood overweight and obesity is being noted as a serious public health concern and contributes to 2.6 million deaths globally. Overweight and obesity once established in infancy persist through childhood and adulthood leading to an increase in the risk of Non-communicable diseases. The study was conducted to determine and compare the prevalence and factors associated with overweight and obesity among private and public primary school children in the Sekondi-Takoradi M...
ABSTRACT Introduction: More than ever, the use of complementary and alternative medicine for the management of diabetes mellitus has become a major public health challenge. Globally, the prevalence of this practice varies from 17% to 72.8%. Even though it is common practice among diabetes mellitus patients in Ghana also, its local prevalence is unknown. However, the use of CAM among persons living with diabetes mellitus is known to be associated with some sociodemographic factors, the severit...
ABSTRACT Background Malaria in pregnancy is a public health problem especially in sub-Saharan Africa. “Intermittent Preventive Treatment in pregnancy using Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine” (IPTpSP) is one of the proven interventions for preventing malaria in pregnancy. The WHO policy on IPTp-SP recommends a universal coverage of four or more doses per pregnancy. However, in 2014, only 17% of eligible pregnant women received three or more doses of IPTp-SP in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana. Mala...
ABSTRACT Background Challenges associated with early diagnosis of Buruli ulcer disease (BUD), an infection caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans (M. ulcerans) is a major setback in public health and disease control. Lack of simple, convenient, rapid and sensitive diagnostic procedures, readily available to rural endemic communities has hampered control efforts. Improving the sensitivity of simple diagnostic methods such as microscopy for AFB detection constitutes a crucial effort in this directi...
ABSTRACT Introduction Contraceptive uptake can accelerate the achievement of not only the four Millennium Developments Goals( MDGs) that are directly related to reproductive health, but can also help in the elimination of poverty and hunger as well as environmental sustainability. Despite these benefits, modern contraceptive uptake among reproductive women, in Ghana is still below the national target of 51 %. The Northern Region has one of the lowest contraceptive uptake in the country over ...
ABSTRACT Introduction Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is one of the leading infectious killers worldwide. An estimated 34.2 million people worldwide were living with HIV in 2011 with about 60% of the HIV infections occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Testing to know an individual‟s HIV status is a key intervention to the prevention and early management of cases. These notwithstanding, an estimated 50% of persons living with the virus have not tested for HIV. The introduction of rapid HIV test k...
ABSTRACT Background: Malaria remains a leading public health problem in about 97 nations worldwide. Throughout the world, about 214 million new malaria cases are reported every year and over three billion persons are at risk of malaria. Approximately 90% of all malaria deaths occur in Africa. Africa continues to shoulder the heaviest burden of malaria cases. Global demands for natural resources is fueling land use, saddled with unsatisfactory environmental burden in developing countries. We ...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Effective case management involving prompt parasitological diagnosis and treatment with Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT) has been recognized as the cornerstone of malaria control strategies. Despite Ghana‟s adoption of these recommendations, malaria accounts for 66 % of all OPD cases in Tolon District which is higher than the regional average. This puts doubts in malaria diagnosis and treatment practice. This study therefore sought to assess malaria diagnos...
ABSTRACT The recently observed decrease in cases of malaria achieved through the effective management and control of the disease has been a motivation to strive towards attaining the millennium goal of elimination and eradication of the disease. Asymptomatic infections also referred to as the parasite 'reservoir hosts' which could be microscopic or submicroscopic infections has been implicated in malaria transmission and therefore has become a targeted parasite population for malaria eliminat...
ABSTRACT Background Placental malaria (PM) poses life-threatening complications to pregnant women as they are at increased risk of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Despite several interventions put in place to reduce malaria in pregnancy in Ghana, latest studies in the northern part revealed one out of every two pregnant women delivering in a hospital have PM. The study determined the proportion of women with PM in the Upper West Regional Hospital (UWR) and its associated fa...
ABSTRACT Background: Mercury is commonly used in Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) to amalgamate gold. Mercury use in ASGM is a global public health problem, since it is the world’s fastest source of mercury contamination. Mercury is toxic even at low concentration and exposure is of great concern since it is a potent neurotoxicant. Mercury poisoning among small scale gold miners has been observed in many small scale gold mining regions across the world. ASGM is a rapidly growing in...
ABSTRACT Introduction Influenza is a major cause of morbidity and mortality globally especially during pandemics. For this reason countries have set up surveillance systems to continually monitor Influenza like illnesses (ILI) for early detection of outbreaks and rapid response. However, in sub-Saharan Africa, specifically Ghana where medication can be purchased over the counter, it is more likely that people might have taken some antipyretics before reporting to the health facility. This...
ABSTRACT Background: There has been a reduction in HIV and AIDS associated morbidity and mortality since the introduction of antiretroviral therapy. However, in contrast to the developed world, very little is documented about the influence of Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) on the Quality of Life of HIV patients in developing countries. In Ghana Quality of Life is rarely assessed. This highlights an important gap in the assessment of the health status of HIV and AIDS affected p...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Human Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease of man caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) complex. The rate of decline in incidence of the disease is low due to the emergence of Multi-Drug Resistance tuberculosis (MDR-TB). The numerical contribution of bovine tuberculosis (BTB) to the general tuberculosis burden is unknown. Herdsmen, livestock workers, and veterinarians are at high risk of contracting BTB. There are information about BTB infection in cattle and...
ABSTRACT Background: In 2009, when the UNAIDS called for the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (MTCT) by 2015, Ghana was found to be one of 20 countries accounting for 80% of the global burden of prevention of MTCT (PMTCT). MTCT is the main source of pediatric HIV, accounting for over 90% of cases worldwide. This study contributes to the assessment of Ghana‟s performance towards achieving the elimination of MTCT. The study described the coverage and outcomes of the PMTCT in...