ABSTRACT Among some of the diseases of public health importance in the Tema metropolis, diarrhoea has consistently been one of the five most prevalent diseases (DHMT report 2006). Though there had been some work done on hospital based surveillance for severe diarrhoea to assess the burden of disease due to rotavirus, it did not extend beyond the hospital setting. However, home management is usually the initial approach adopted by caregivers of children with acute diarrhoea. This study therefo...
ABSTRACT Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) contributes largely to the burden of sexual ill health in Ghana. It is, therefore, important to apply a continuum of strategies to curtail these outcomes (postpartum hemorrhage, puerperal endometritis, operative vaginal delivery, episiotomy, pre- term delivery, maternal disability and death). The Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GSS, 2014) recorded low (25.1%) Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) knowledge among Ghanaian adolescents. T...
ABSTRACT The issue of maternal mortality continues to plague many developing countries including Ghana. To address this problem the Prevention of Maternal Mortality (PMM) programme was established in two districts in Ghana by a team of both local and foreign researchers in 1989. They constituted themselves into two teams in Accra and Kumasi. However actual work on the field by the Kumasi team in the Ejisu-Juaben district where they concentrated their activities was started in 1993 and ende...
ABSTRACT Rational use of medicines (RUM) for all medical conditions is an essential element in achieving quality of health and medical care for patients. Yet more than 50% of all medicines worldwide are prescribed, dispensed or sold inappropriately. Ensuring the availability, affordability and rational use of quality medicines is an issue of concern in developing countries. Irrational drug use affects quality of health care and access and exerts undue financial burden on the health care ...
ABSTRACT Overweight and obesity have reached unprecedented levels worldwide and the WHO has described obesity as an „epidemic‟. Of great concern are the data pointing to the recent increase in the prevalence of obesity regardless of age group and country. Childhood and adolescence obesity are on the rise worldwide. Several factors have been associated with overweight and obesity, some of which are; diet, physical inactivity, age, sex, familial, socioeconomic status, childhood obesity. The...
ABSTRACT Hypertension is a global public health problem that is ravaging the active adult workforce of nations especially in low- and middle-income countries such as Ghana. Health care professionals continue to roll out management interventions aimed at controlling blood pressures and improving patients’ well-being. Regular self-monitoring of blood pressure by hypertensive patients is one sure way of improving their health. The practice of self-monitoring in the general population or among ...
ABSTRACT Unintended pregnancy among youths resulting from unprotected sexual activities poses a major challenge to their reproductive health. Use of Emergency Contraceptive Pills (ECPs) which are of different brands has been identified to prevent unintended pregnancy. Studies have been carried out on the utilization and effectiveness of ECPs among older women but information on young women’s knowledge and its use will be useful in identifying gaps in knowledge and planning appropriate inte...
ABSTRACT The study attempted to assess the effectiveness of the Community Based Distribution (CBD) programme of low-cost Family Planning, Maternal and Child Health Services. This was established in 1979 by the Fertility Research Unit of the Department of Obstetric and Gynaecology, University College Hospital, Ibadan in collaboration with Oyo State Ministry of Health the Pathfinder Fund of Boston; and the Centre for Population and Family, Columbia University both in the United States of -America
ABSTRACT Diarrhoeal diseases constitute a major cause of morbidity and mortality among under-five children in Nigeria. The knowledge and use of home therapies to manage diarrhoea using Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) with special reference to Sugar-Salt-Solution (SSS) are on the decline in recent times. However, knowledge and self-efficacy of nursing mothers in Nigerian army barracks relating to the use of ORT have not been fully studied. The study was designed to assess the knowledge of diar...
ABSTRACT Personal Hygiene (PH) is fundamental to the prevention and control of communicable diseases and maintaining good health. Many communicable diseases of public health importance, which affect Secondary School Students (SSS), are caused by poor PH. Despite awareness of personal hygiene in Nigeria, there is the need to identify the level of practice by SSS. This study was therefore designed to determine the knowledge, perception and practices of PH among SSS in Ibadan North West Local ...
ABSTRACT Introduction: The current global tuberculosis (TB) epidemic has put pressure on health care managers, especially those in the developing countries to seek innovative ways of delivering effective treatment to TB patients. One of the strategies employed is directly observed therapy for all patients where community members are used to supervise TB patients during the treatment regimen. Even though treatment supporters are used to improve the situation, proportion cured and completing tr...
ABSTRACT Malaria control efforts currently lay emphasis on reducing transmission by limiting humanvector contact. Meanwhile, Mosquito-Avoidance Practices (MAPs) have been shown to be sub-optimal in urban areas especially among under-five Children (U-5C) resulting in high child morbidity and mortality. More studies have been carried out on MAPs in rural areas leaving urban areas understudied. This study was therefore designed to investigate MAPs among care-givers of U-5C living in Somolu, an ...
ABSTRACT African cities reveal aspects of the waste-management challenges such as uncontrolled garbage, roadsides littered with refuse and streams blocked with junk. Solid wastes pose significant threats to public health and the environment if they are not stored, collected and disposed of properly. The perception of solid waste as an unwanted material with no intrinsic value has dominated attitudes towards disposal. The study investigated the waste disposal practices and perceptions of peopl...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Focus Antenatal Care (FANC) and health facility skilled delivery are very vital issues to consider when dealing with matters of maternal mortality. Therefore perceived quality of these services and their relatedness cannot be overlooked when assessing patronage levels of these services. Records of non-patronage among some individuals still remain high in some communities. It is in this direction that this study sought to identify the relationship between receiving FANC ...
ABSTRACT Cholera outbreaks have profound impacts on the health and well-being of communities. Rapid containment of outbreaks largely depend on people‟s knowledge, perceptions and attitude to the disease. Studies have shown an increase of outbreaks in developing countries. Ibadan Northwest (IBNW) Local Government Area (LGA) experienced recurrent cholera outbreaks between June and November 2011 in spite of cholera control programmes in Oyo state. Furthermore several studies have been done on...