ABSTRACT A partogram is a graphical representation of the fetal status, maternal status and progress of labor. Its proper interpretation assists in early identification of complications which may lead to morbidity and mortality. Health records from selected hospitals in Machakos County in regards to partograph utilization revealed that 60% of the records had a partograph attached with only 40% of them used correctly up to delivery. The study determined the utilization of the partograph in man...
ABSTRACT Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), is the most common form of diabetes, characterized by disorders of insulin resistance, insulin secretion, obesity, lipid abnormalities, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases. Physical inactivity and the adoption of sedentary lifestyle often accompanying the transition to modern diet are key factors leading to this condition. The marked increase of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) necessitates active development and implementation of efficient preve...
ABSTRACT Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are being increasingly recognized as serious global health problem with impact on individual women and men, their families and communities. They can have severe consequences, including infertility, ectopic pregnancy, chronic pelvic pain, miscarriage, and increased risk of HIV transmission. STIs are the main preventable cause of infertility, particularly in women. The general objective of the study was to establish the determinants of health see...
ABSTRACT Family planning is an important aspect of primary health care. In order to improve the efficacy of available contraceptive methods, it is of importance to identify factors influencing women’s choice of contraception. In Kenya, like many other sub-Saharan countries, prevention of unintended pregnancies among HIV positive women as a strategy for PMTCT has been neglected. This has resulted in a large population of HIV positive women who have a substantial degree of unmet need for fam...
ABSTRACT Active Management of the Third Stage of Labor (AMTSL) is an evidence-based, low-cost intervention focusing prevention of postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) which accounts for over 25% globally and Kenya at 33.9% translating to 510 deaths /100,000 live births. The study aimed at assessing knowledge and competencies of midwives in active management of third stage of labor in health facilities of Meru County. The study adopted a descriptive cross sectional design and utilized stratified rand...
ABSTRACT Malaria is a major public health challenge in Kenya especially among young children and pregnant women. It accounts for 30% of all outpatient attendances, 19% of all admissions and leads to 20% of all deaths in children aged below five years. Despite much effort to fight malaria, the efforts have been undermined by malaria parasites that develop resistance to the commonly available malaria drugs. Since a new antimalarial drug, Artemether - Lumefantrine (AL) was introduced in Kenya i...
ABSTRACT In 2006, Kenya developed and adopted Community Health Strategy as a means of enhancing community access to Healthcare services. Although there has been scientific evidence that community based health approaches are effective in delivering specific health services, there has been little effort to examine the performance of the Kenya’s Community Health Strategy against sanitation indicators. This analytical cross-sectional study was therefore designed to evaluate the effects of Comm...
ABSTRACT The desire to correct the poor implementation of traditional antenatal care (ANC) in developing countries resulted to the adoption of antenatal care model termed as Focused Antenatal Care (FANC). The goal of FANC is to ensure a good outcome for both the baby and mother and prevent complication during pregnancy, labor, delivery and postpartum period. It is characterized by four main focused visits. Studies have shown that Kenya has long suffered from high maternal morbidity and morta...
ABSTRACT Vitamin A intake is one of the dietary interventions that support the achievement of nutrition priority outcomes. Inadequate Vitamin A intake leads to its deficiency which causes depressed immune response, impaired movement of iron, poor growth, night blindness and xerophthalmia major public health concerns. Vitamin A deficiency has been addressed through supplementation worldwide to children under the age of 59 months. The purpose of this study was to assess Vitamin A intake and su...
ABSTRACT Globally, diarrhea remains the second leading cause of reported mortalities among children (0-59 months) and a cause of significant morbidity, especially in developing countries. In Kenya, diarrhea accounts for 16% of deaths among children (0-59 months). It’s a major cause of mortality in children below five years after malaria and pneumonia in Busia County. Many of the children die due to poor home-based management of diarrhea. The main aim of the study was to explore the differe...
ABSTRACT About 33.4 million people were living with HIV as of 2008 globally; 2.1 million of them were children under 15 years, and about 15.7 million were women. In certain parts of the world, HIV infection has significantly affected child survival. The World Health Report 2005 estimated that HIV infection contributed 3% to the global mortality among children younger than 5 years of age in 2005. According to UNAIDS and WHO 2004, there were more than 1.3 million people infected with HIV and A...
Abstract Tuberculosis (TB) is a major global public health problem. The disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Kenya. TB control has remained a major challenge for the National Leprosy and TB Control Programme (NLTP) especially in this HIV/AIDS era and the emergence of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB). Early identification of cases and commencement of effective chemotherapy is an effective method to control the spread of TB. Reliance by NLTP on passive case finding means th...
ABSTRACT Many developing countries including Kenya are struggling to provide proper sanitation to their population with most reporting less than 50 percent adequacy in sanitation. Different research works indicate sanitation is worse in schools compared to the general population despite the fact that schools hold a significant 26 percent proportion of the entire population. Provision of quality latrines in schools is critical in dealing with sanitation and health challenges. Healthy Environm...
ABSTRACT According to KAIS 2007, nearly 1 out of 10 pregnant women in Kenya are infected with HIV (9.6 percent). The objective of the study was to investigate the impact of utilization of knowledge on prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV among pregnant women attending selected public health facilities in Embu District. In this study, utilization of knowledge on prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, utilization of providerinitiated counselling and testing and the com...
ABSTRACT This research presents the agrochemical residues analysis on the study conducted in Weruweru River Sub-catchment, Kilimanjaro region in Tanzania. Agrochemicals have negative consequences on watershed management in the sub-catchment. It compromises water quality and environment, and thus causing threat to human health and aquatic organisms. This study was undertaken to assess the effects of agricultural pesticides and fertilizers and their residue levels in water and sediments sample...