ABSTRACT The goal of service delivery of any government is to provide quality essential priority health packages that are acceptable, affordable and accessible to all its citizens. The declaration of free maternal Health Care services by the National Government of Kenya is a positive step to fulfilling the affordability and to some extent accessibility aspects of Maternal and Child health service delivery. Kisumu County still has the highest proportion of mothers dying in the post-partum peri...
ABSTRACT Ascariasis is the most common human helminthic infection; globally an estimated 1.5 billion people are infested with approximately 60,000 deaths annually. Infestation is most prevalent in Southeast Asia and Africa and in children aged 2-10 years. Heavy Ascaris lumbricoides worm load in children can lead to intestinal and pancreatic duct obstruction that requires surgical interventions. Although preventable, Ascariasis contributed to 84 (5%) pediatric admissions while, 27(90%) of acut...
ABSTRACT Substance abuse is a worldwide public health challenge. Globally, 210 million people abuse drugs resulting in approximately 263,000 deaths annually. An estimated 10-15 % of medical students risk substance abuse in their lifetime as they are not immune to the predisposing factors associated with the abuse. Substance abuse by students in medical training colleges (MTCs) may impact negatively on their health, future professional conduct and consequently, safety of patients. In Kenya, su...
ABSTRACT Malaria remains one of the most prevalent vector borne diseases especially in Sub Saharan Africa contributing to morbidity and mortality of both adults and children. Knowledge in malaria control and prevention methods especially environmental management can reduce the population density of the vectors thus lessen malaria prevalence. The objectives of this study were to: determine knowledge on environmental management for malaria control, identify the most effective environmental mana...
Abstract Tuberculosis (TB) and HIV co-infections have a global prevalence with high morbidity and mortality and Africa is the worst hit. The HIV and AIDS has profound impact on the TB epidemic in Kenya, where up to 60% of TB patients are likely to be HIV co-infected and the mortality rate attributed to TB. Lack of diagnostic capacity has been a major barrier preventing an effective management of HIV-associated and drug resistant tuberculosis (TB). Microscopy is the gold standard for TB diagno...
ABSTRACT Globally, dental caries is one of the most prevalent dental health problem that affects children. It is number four main cause of morbidity among under five year old children in Bureti Sub County and accounts for up to 20% of morbidity cases. Its prevalence and associated risks factors in Bureti Sub county is not known hence the purpose of this study. The main purpose of the study was to determine dental caries prevalence, caries experience, and their associated risk factors among pr...
ABSTRACT The World Health Organization report indicates that in 2013, about 35 million people worldwide lived with HIV and AIDS.HIV can be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy, at childbirth and during breastfeeding. High rates of mother-to-child HIV transmission (MTCT) in developing countries continue to happen despite availability of efficacious interventions. Numerous studies have shown that socio-demographic, clinical and biological correlates and TAT are known to influence M...
ABSTRACT Health service delivery across Africa is characterised by widespread inefficiency and low service quality. In Kenya, factors that closely influence performance and the critical quality measure items of medical male circumcision services remain unexplored. Specifically, technical efficiency, productivity and service quality and the factor structure of the service quality monitoring tool in Nyanza region remain unclear. Consequently, the current study aimed to evaluate performance in t...
ABSTRACT Strategies to reduce HIV-related morbidity and mortality include scale up of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) and provision of broad spectrum antibiotics. Cotrimoxazole (CTX) is a widely available low cost antibiotic recommended by WHO in settings with high infectious disease prevalence for treatment and prevention of opportunistic infections and malaria in all HIV-infected individuals. With immune reconstitution following ART, the risk of opportunistic infections greatly diminishes. Con...
ABSTRACT The global burden of Diabetes is increasing. It is estimated by the year 2035 over 592 million people in the world will suffer from Diabetes. In Kenya, the prevalence of Diabetes is 4.56% while about 14% have impaired glucose metabolism. Since Diabetes is a complex disease affecting all areas of a person’s life, management by the patient remains central to the control and reduction of short term and long term complications. Diabetes self-management is a process in which the knowled...
ABSTRACT Strong preferences are revealed when patients fail to utilize their nearby facilities and seek health care services at another facility. Bypassing rates for childbirth has been documented in literature and it ranges between 30% and 70 %. At Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital similar observation is made with majority of the women delivering at the facility having bypassed their nearby county health facilities. Thus, the current study sought to identify the individual and health facili...
ABSTRACT Access to medicines is a multidimensional concept said to exist when patients have continuous availability of essential medicines at affordable prices and within a physical location that is accessible. With devolution of health services, access to essential medicines, including those for non-communicable disease is meant to improve. The study sought to determine the accessibility to essential medicines for the four major non communicable diseases in Trans-Nzoia County. The study was ...
ABSTRACT In the urban areas of the world, cockroaches constitute a public health threat in the ready-to-eat food premises because they spread diseases and contaminate food. Globally, food borne diseases transmitted by pests affect 600 million people annually with 48million in the USA. Developing countries have more cases but are underreported due to poor diagnostic facilities. In Botswana, more than 40% of cockroach population is in urban areas due to inadequate waste disposal and poor housin...
ABSTRACT It is estimated that about 10 million pregnant women could be infected with schistosomiasis in Africa. In Kisumu, schistosomiasis, soil transmitted helminths and malaria are endemic and studies done on school children and occupationally exposed adults had reported high prevalence levels of these infections. However, little was known about the prevalence of S. mansoni, geohelminths and malaria co-infections among pregnant women in Kisumu, Kenya. In order to determine the importance of...
ABSTRACT Despite a large body of knowledge on the causes, control measures, and availability of preventive chemotherapy (PCT), more that 650 million people throughout the world remain at risk of schistosomiasis. In Kenya, for example, 6 million people particularly in communities such as Migori that live close to the shores of Lake Victoria are at-risk of the disease. What is missing from previous research is the extent to which at-risk communities are knowledgeable about the disease including...