ABSTRACT Good breastfeeding practices provide infants with the nutrients they need for optimal growth and development. Breastfeeding reduces the risk of infection and also has significant health benefits to the mother as well. Health communication is important to support good breastfeeding practices. However, communication through the health system alone is not sufficient enough to reach everyone who needs breastfeeding information. Social media could serve as an inexpensive way of receiving ...
ABSTRACT Background: Occupational exposure to blood and body fluids (BBFs) is an everyday risk faced by HCWs as they come into contact with patients in their work activities. The most common pathogens of concern are HBV, HCV and HIV which are the most commonly transmitted. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that expose HCWs to BBFs. It was also to determine the prevalence of exposure and to investigate behaviours of HCWs after exposure. Methods: Associations we...
ABSTRACT Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a disease caused by the human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV). The disease since its discovery some two decades ago in America has assumed epidemic dimensions and has claimed millions of lives globally (Jackson, 2002). AIDS is a disease caused by the HIV that attacks and damages the body’s immune system rendering it incapacitated to fight infection. It has a long incubation period of between two to fifteen or even twenty years (MoH, 2001)...
Abstract Schistosomiasis brings about long-term illness in humans which can become significant economic burden on the society. Morbidity control of schistosomiasis through integration of treatment within existing health care delivery system is seen as a potentially sustainable and cost-effective approach. A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the health-seeking behaviour for signs and symptoms related to schistosomiasis among the inhabitants of Gani and Bonia, wi...
SUMMARY Introduction: Anemia in pregnancy is an important public health problem associated with increased maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. The World Health Organization revealed that more than half of all women living in developing countries are anemic. Teenage girls are confronted with lots of health threats during pregnancy and childbirth, prominent amongst these health threats is anaemia. Aims: The aim of the study is to determine the prevalence of anemia and its determinant...
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Worldwide, men play critical role in women‘s ability to seek health care, including reproductive health care, even though more often than not, they are ill-informed about women‘s reproductive health needs. Male participation has been shown to yield substantial influence in decisions and health outcomes in several other areas of reproductive health, including abortion and breastfeeding. However, male involvement has been found to be affected by men‘s low knowledge of ...
ABSTRACT Background: Military personnel are high-risk people for parenteral and sexually transmitted diseases such as hepatitis B virus (HBV). Hepatitis B is one of the most common infectious diseases globally. The burden of Chronic Hepatitis B infection in the Ghana Armed Forces is not known. As part of the Ghana Armed Forces Hepatitis Programme, the Forces Liver Health Protection (FLiHP) Project is implementing interventions aimed at reducing the estimated burden of viral hepatitis by 50% b...
ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to determine the magnitude of teenage pregnancy and identify the factors that contribute to teenage pregnancy in the Cape Coast municipality. Women in the fertile age group (WIFA) who were obviously pregnant and those who had delivered within the last year (April 1996-April 1997) were enumerated through a household survey. Three hundred and two households were surveyed in 21 randomly selected communities based on the population size of the four sub distr...
ABSTRACT Background Although malaria is a preventable, it still remains a major public health problem worldwide, particularly in sub-Sahara Africa where it is associated with high morbidity and mortality especially in pregnant women and children under five. Due to resistance to monotherapy, in 2004 Ghana employed the Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT) as first line treatment policy which was also revised in 2014. The revised treatment guideline makes provision for surveillance which ...
ABSTRACT Background: Sanitation is an important foundation for health, economic development and well-being hence waste management (Bartram &Cairncross2010; WSP 2010).The perception of household waste as unwanted material with no intrinsic value has dominated attitudes towards it management. Waste management is therefore defined as the collection, storage, transportation, processing, treatment, recycling and final disposal of waste. The study was conducted in the sunyani west district. The obj...
ABSTRACT Background: The inhabitants of Accra rely largely on sachet water since most consumers perceive packaged drinking water as a safer alternative to other water sources. Despite this however, the chemical qualities of these sachet water sources remain largely unstudied. Objectives: Assessment of the packaging characteristics of sachet water across different vending points, the contamination hazards in production sites, reasons for selecting different water sources and the chemical quali...
ABSTRACT Background: Young people aged 10-24 years represent a significant proportion of the Ghanaian population. Many are sexually active and are at considerable risk of negative health outcomes due to lack of adequate sexual and reproductive health knowledge. Although growing international evidence suggests that parent-child communication about sex has significant positive influence on young people’s sexual behaviours, this subject has been poorly explored among Ghanaian families. Little ...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Yellow fever is a viral hemorrhagic fever transmitted primarily by the Aedes aegyptii mosquito and is characterized mainly by fever and jaundice. It is endemic in Africa and South America. The possibility of eradicating yellow fever is quite remote but a drastic of disease burden can be attained through vaccination of populations living in or visiting places considered to be high-risk areas in endemic countries. The WHO surveillance case definition for a suspected...
ABSTRACT Introduction The Millennium Development Goal targets for sanitation seems unachievable by the 2015 deadline. Therefore, the 2010-2015 Joint Monitoring Programme strategy requires sustainable and continued efforts at all levels to improve this. However, there are data challenges and limitations from existing Monitoring and Evaluation (M & E) survey tools. In most developing countries such as Ghana, data collection is traditional paper based. However, mobile phone use and access is hig...
ABSTRACT Background: Ghana’s increased use of technology has resulted in massive generation of electronic wastes in the country. These wastes contain toxic chemicals which are injurious to human health, yet there is only little information on how these wastes are managed at the informal level in the country. This study, therefore, investigated the informal level e-waste processing activities at Agbogbloshie and described its associated working conditions. Methods: The study used a descripti...