ABSTRACT Maternal mortality remains a major public health challenge despite numerous strategies devised by the international community to curb it. Globally, maternal mortality is the leading cause of death among females within the reproductive age. The Upper West region being one of poorest regions contribute significantly to the high prevalence rate of maternal death at the national level. However, little attention is paid to the factors that lead to these deaths in the Region. The objectiv...
ABSTRACT Professional psychologists offer very efficacious therapy, however many individuals battling with mental/psychological illness do not consult them for assistance. This study examined some predictors of professional psychological help-seeking behaviour among Ghanaians in the Greater-Accra region and explored their knowledge and understanding of professional psychological services. The sequential mixed method design was used in this study. Study 1 was a cross-sectional survey involving...
ABSTRACT Background and objective: Anaemia among Ghanaian women of reproductive age is an important public health concern that contributes to morbidity, poor reproductive outcomes, low productivity and mortality. Chronic smoke inhalation from the use of biomass fuel for cooking has been shown to be associated with anaemia in some populations. Fish smoking using biomass fuel is an important livelihood among women living in coastal communities in Ghana which may increase their risk of anaemia. ...
ABSTRACT Introduction Childhood immunization is one of the most successful public health interventions worldwide. It has contributed enormously to public health including the eradication of small pox and near eradication of poliomyelitis. High immunisation coverage is vital in the control, elimination and eradication of vaccine-preventable diseases which accounts for many childhood morbidities and mortalities worldwide. The introduction of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) has mad...
ABSTRACT Background: Pneumonia kills more children under-five than AIDS, malaria and measles combined and yet has received far less attention. Each year, more than two million children under-five die of pneumonia in the developing world, compared to an estimated 800,000 children who die from malaria and around 300,000 children under-five who die from AIDS. In Ghana, pneumonia is one of the leading causes of death of under-five mortality and morbidity. Most mothers or care givers do not recogn...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Low vision services and devices assist rehabilitation of low vision patients, however, these facilities are not fully utilized in Ghana. These services and devices prevents visually impaired people from total blindness. Studies have indicated that, inadequate knowledge and other barriers such as inability to afford and accessibility lead to non-utilization of the services, which in turn will lead to total blindness in the low vision patients. Objective: The objective o...
ABSTRACT Socio-cultural factors play a vital role in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme (World Health Organization, 2004). These ambitious projections have been missed even after annual investments of around $15 billion, 1.2 billion people are still without access to safe water and 2.6 billion without access to safe and adequate sanitation (World Bank, 2014). The research design employed was a case study. The case study approach employed was both qualitative and quantitative metho...
ABSTRACT Background: School-age children (SAC) are vulnerable to malnutrition which can negatively influence their growth and maturity, health and academic attainment. School feeding programmes (SFP) have the potential to improve dietary intakes and the nutrition of SAC. However, there is limited information on the nutritional impact of school feeding programmes in Ghana. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the dietary intakes and nutritional status of SAC participating in an N...
ABSTRACT Background: Illicit drug use has become a major public health concern in Ghana, particularly among senior high school students in Sunyani West District. This study sought to discuss the use of illicit drug and their effects on academic performance among senior high school students in Sunyani- West District in the Brong-Ahafo Region. Methods: The study was quantitative in nature. Cluster and simple random sampling techniques were used to select 418 respondents from selected cluster s...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Currently, there is an annual decline in TB incidence rate of 1.5% globally which is lower than the expected 10%, according to the new End TB strategy which encourages innovation and improving tools that have been used to control TB to end it. A tool that has proven successful in the world is Directly Observed Therapy Short-course, which is one of the core principals of the stop TB strategy that ended in 2015. Even though there is a new strategy, the breakdown of high-...
ABSTRACT A significant number of children do not comply with the Routine Immunization even after the health extension program was launched. This study was conducted to assess the determinants of noncompliance with the routine infant immunization schedule among residents of the Tamale Metropolis. A cross sectional survey involving 406 caregiver/child pair and also selected officials of the health services in Tamale was conducted. The rates for each scheduled date were 15.5% for Polio Zero, 41...
ABSTRACT Background: Malaria is the number one cause of morbidity in Ghana, accounting for about 38% of all outpatient illnesses, 35% of all admissions and about 34% of all deaths in children. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends the spraying of at least 80% (ideally 100%) of houses, structures as well as units in target areas in any round of Indoor Residual Spraying. The Ministry of health intends to achieve at least 90% coverage in one third of the districts in Ghana by 2015. Ind...
ABSTRACT Brief background Worldwide, the population of the elderly has tripled in the last century. Projections indicate that the global population of persons aged 60 years and over, which was 11% in 2000 will reach 22% by 2050. Ageing is a gradual process with various determinants many of which are modifiable. Functional systemic changes, together with the effect of the environment, nutrition, lifestyle and genome of a person may insidiously lead to the development of chronic age-associate...
ABSTRACT There is a high global burden of diseases that are related to poor sanitation. Developing countries including Africa are more affected and Ghana is not left out. Ecological sanitation (EcoSan) is a strategic comprehensive sanitation approach which integrates all aspects of sanitation and links sanitation with agriculture and food production. Faeces and urine serve as vehicles for transmitting many communicable diseases to man. This study was therefore to assess the acceptability of ...
ABSTRACT Unplanned teenage pregnancy constitutes an important health problem whilst contraceptive services are less costly in Ghana and abortion services are increasing in most health facilities. The main objective of the study was to examine the application of information communication technology in the awareness and usage of contraceptive information among teenagers in the Sunyani East Municipality. Five specific objectives were formulated to set as a guide for the study. Descriptive cross...