ABSTRACT Background: Exclusive breast feeding is defined by World Health Organization (WHO) as giving breast milk alone for the first 6 months of life. World Health Organization recommends Mothers to breastfeed babies exclusively in the first six months. Breastfeeding and good nutrition for children are essential for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, particularly the goals relating to child survival. Breastfeeding is known to be the best way to feed infants by providing the psycholo...
ABSTRACT Unsafe abortion is a public health, sexual and reproductive health problem affecting so many women globally yet it is neglected. It has led to the death of many women, leaving others with both long term and short te1m complications and disabilities. The aim of the study was to determine the epidemiology and cost of management of unsafe abmtion related maternal health complications and disabilities western Uganda. The study was longitudinal and employed quantitative methods. Four hund...
ABSTRACT Introduction and objectives: Breastfeeding is recommended for infants from birth to two years and beyond and is expected to be offered to be offered on demand. In developed countries, women have suffered abuse (verbally or physically confronted) and made to feel embarrassed for breastfeeding in public places. It is not clear if similar situations occur in developing countries where breastfeeding is typically universal. A better understanding of societal perception of breastfeedin...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Malaria poses public health challenge in endemic African countries. Malaria contributes nearly 20% to low birth weight babies in endemic areas, still births and maternal deaths. Pregnant women are more likely to be anaemic and give birth to low birth weight or stillborn babies with malaria infection during pregnancy. Regular use of insecticide teated nets by pregnant women is a vital intervention in the prevention of malaria among pregnant women in endemic areas. Objec...
ABSTRACT Background Over the past decade, the framework of adolescent-friendly health care has been used to better orient health services to the needs of young people. In fulfilling this worthy aim, the state of this adolescent-focused care and the performance based on client perceptions have to be regularly evaluated. Objective This study seeks to access the satisfaction with the youth friendly sexual and reproductive health services rendered to young people in the Ho, Hohoe and Kpando Mu...
ABSTRACT Background Reference intervals (RIs) refer to the upper and lower reference limits of laboratory test derived from healthy individuals recruited with well-defined criteria. RI serves as a comparison tool and an important determinant of whether an individual is healthy or not, which apparently remains the most extensively used decision-making tool in clinical settings. Considering the importance of RIs for the interpretation of laboratory test, the International Federation of Clinica...
Abstract Introduction: Obesity has been described as an epidemic with more than one-third of children aged of 2 to 19, said to be overweight or obese, as at 2013 (CDC). Adult obesity has been strongly linked with obesity in childhood and adolescence. It is therefore imperative to tackle this problem in the adolescent stage, to prevent entering adulthood with one of the major risk factors for Non-Communicable diseases. Known immediate consequences of obesity include self-esteem, reduced cogn...
ABSTRACT Background: The National Malaria Control Program of Ghana recommends the use of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy using sulfadoxine pyrimethamine (SP) 10 prevent malaria and associated complications. There is overwhelming evidence, however thai uptake of this inlervention in th ecountry is Jow. This low uptake is more prominent in private health facilities. Objective: This study examined factors associated with low uptake of three or more doses of SP among pr...
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: It is estimated that a woman dies every eight minutes somewhere in a developing country as a result of unsafe abortion. Sierra Leone is classified as a category two under the world‟s abortion laws meaning abortion is only permitted when it is performed to protect a woman‟s life and health. It has some of the worst maternal health indicators in subSahara Africa- whilst the regional Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) is 647 deaths per 100,000 live births, the country has 8...
Tuberculosis (TB) has been a leading cause of death in the world, especially to immunocompromised individuals. The need to create awareness on recent advances in tuberculosis vaccinology , to determine how Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG) vaccine has aid to reduce the contraction of tuberculosis is importance. Currently, newer vaccine development is an active area of research and development (R&D) to limit Tb infection, reactivate latent Tb and tackle the spread of MDR/XDR-Tb. The relatio...
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) brought on several social, economic, political, and environmental challenges. What was mostly questioned was the efficacy of the Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002 (As Amended 16 of 2015) (DMA), which was used to declare COVID-19 a disaster. The concern was whether the DMA is able to deal with pandemics when its focus is mostly on climate-related disasters. Most public health emergencies experience the spread of overwhelming information, some of which ...
The South African disaster response activities surpass risk reduction since the implementation of the Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002 (DMA) and the National Disaster Management Framework of 2005 (NDMF). Risk reduction, in particular risk communication, remained unexploited until the occurrence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The legislation and policy mandate a proactive approach for disaster management, requiring a focus on disaster risk reduction. Therefore, this st...
Part of the global pandemic response governments needs to invest in is mental health interventions that are comprehensive, innovative, available, and accessible. Emergency mental health and psychosocial support must be provided for women during the pandemic, as well as during the recovery phase post-pandemic. The research documented by Brian J. Honermannon past epidemics highlighted the consequences of infectious disease outbreaks on mental health. Even though the COVID-19 pandemic is a phys...