ABSTRACT Background: The use of herbal products has gained popularity especially in developing countries. A number of patients are known to take these herbal products concurrently with conventional drugs. Concomitant use of herbal preparations and conventional drugs may result in herb-drug interactions, often via modulation of drug metabolizing enzymes, in particular, Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes. Swedish bitters is one of such herbal preparations on the market which may be concomitan...
ABSTRACT Perilipins are phosphoproteins that are found in fat cells where they are restricted at the uppermost layer of lipid droplets. Over-expression of perilipin proteins in fat cells cause the storage of triacylglyceride (TAG) to increase in connection with a reduction in fats and lipd breakdown that causes increases in weight and type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. There are two types of perilipin which have a common N-teminal amino acids sequence which are perilipin A (P...
ABSTRACT Malaria is one of the major public health problems in developing countries and its prevalence in Nigeria is dependent on the vector, Anopheles gambiae. The control of Anopheles is a major component of vector management but effectiveness has been limited by factors like insecticide resistance, cost, toxicity on non-target organisms and environmental pollution concerns. There is an increasing interest in developing plant-based insecticides as sustainable alternatives to chemical insec...
ABSTRACT The study examined subscription to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in the Cape Coast Metropolis. Specifically, the study examined trends of subscription in the metropolis from 2005 to 2014, as well as barriers and motivation for subscription. The research adopted descriptive and explanatory study designs. Checklist and in-depth interview guides were used in collecting data from NHIS databases and 30 residents of the metropolis. Informed consent was sought from respondents...
ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to assess the determinants of contraceptive use among females in Ghana. The rate of contraceptive use among females in Ghana is very low. That leads to high fertility, high maternal mortality and high infant mortality in the country. So to improve the overall reproductive health status of women, it is important to encourage contraceptive use among women. This study investigates the effects of some demographic, social programmatic factors on current use of con...
ABSTRACT The inadequacy of reach-all health budgets in many developing countries has usually been a matter of political and social concern in several countries affected by budgetary constraints. In a bid to achieve some level of equity in health care, Ghana officially introduced National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in 2004. This study sought to investigate conditions under which health personnel work to ensure the sustainability of the NHIS. The study used triangulation method, which invol...
ABSTRACT Emergency care is care that must be rendered without delay. Though today’s nurses in emergency departments (ED) are faced with many challenges, little time is spent in teaching or learning the content of emergency nursing care during the basic, master’s or doctoral level nursing education program. The purpose of this research was to explore the lived experiences of nurses working in EDs in selected hospitals in the Volta Region of Ghana. The study is a qualitative research in whi...
ABSTRACT Background Diarrhoea in children under five years has become a major public health concern worldwide. It is possible that diarrhoea will remain a leading cause of child mortality worldwide in the future. World Health Organisation has indicated that children under five years are vulnerable to diarrhoeal disease especially Sub-Saharan Africa, it is therefore important for a study to be conducted to examine factors influencing health care utilisation in children under five years ...
ABSTRACT Background: Micronutrient deficiencies are a public health concern worldwide negatively affecting maternal and child health outcomes. Globally, micronutrient deficiencies have been found to be the major leading cause of maternal and child mortality. Deficiencies of these same nutrients are the most common among Women of Reproductive Age (WRA) and are associated with increased risk of adverse consequences such as anaemia during pregnancy and maternal mortality, low birth weight infant...
ABSTRACT The migration of health professionals after completion of medical school causes the health system in Ghana to be less resourced in terms of human capital. The role of doctors is very essential in health care delivery as it is reflective in the quality of services given. It is in view of this that the study was done to find out the migration intentions of final year medical students and the factors that influence their intentions. The research further identifies some of the retention ...
ABSTRACT Following the persistent high prevalence of malnutrition in children 0-5 years in the Birim south district over the pass years, this study set out to find why this problem exist despite continuous health education on malnutrition. With the permission of the District Health Management Team the study was conducted in response to a felt need. A comparative cross sectional study was conducted using structured questionnaires and observation methods to interview mothers with children...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Stillbirth remains a serious public health problem globally with an estimated annual death of 2.6 million. Although stillbirth rates have declined especially in the developed countries, Africa and south Asia have the slowest rate of decline. In 2015, the rate of stillbirth in Ghana was 22.7 per 1000 births. However, in Kintampo the stillbirth rate was 24 per 1000 births. The actual causes of stillbirth remain unknown. This study was conducted to assess the socio-demogra...
ABSTRACT Background Surgery is vital, resolving much of the global burden of disease. In spite of improvements in surgical care there are still risks of harm to patients due to non- adherence to surgical safety standards. In Ghana, data on surgery related adverse events are scanty. Few studies done in Ghana estimates surgery related adverse events at 19% and prevalence of surgical site infections (SSIs) ranges from 9.6% to 40%. Successive peer review assessments in the Western reg...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection which is still a global public health concern. It affects both sexes and all ages but mostly prevalent among the sexually active age group (15-49 years). It results in diverse complications and also promote the contraction of other sexually transmitted infection including the potential of increasing the risk of contracting HIV / AIDs by two to five folds. Its prevalence in developed countries is far lower compared to d...
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Malaria rapid diagnostic tests (MRDTs) are important for malaria disease management. However, performance of the RDTs is affected when the targeted antigens in the parasite have a variation or are altogether absent. The most common parasite target antigen in RDTs, Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein 2 (HRP2), has been reported to be absent in some P. falciparum parasites. Loss of the pfhrp2 in P. falciparum parasites affects the accuracy of PfHRP2 based RDT ...