ABSTRACT In recent years there has been an increase in the incidence of pregnancies in HIV positive women, which increases the risk of mother to child transmission (MTCT) of HIV. However, once HIV positive women become aware of their s ero status, many demonstrate a reduced desire for pregnancy, particularly because most of them know that there are risks involved in delivering an HIV positive child. Others, on the other hand, want to have children despite their HIV positive status. Accor ding...
ABSTRACT Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is the major cause of irreversible blindness worldwide among black people. Early detection and treatment can prevent blindness, a consequence of glaucoma. Individuals need to be aware of glaucoma and seek assessment regularly for early detection and diagnosis of the disease. Awareness of glaucoma has not been previously documented in a Namibian setting. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the awareness of glaucoma that clients have who...
ABSTRACT HIV Testing and Counseling (HTC) remains an important entry to HIV Prevention, treatment, care and support services. According to the Namibian 2013 Demographic Health Survey (DHS), HTC services among 15-49 year old showed a marked increase, with 79% females and 61% males ever tested against the 2006/7 DHS results with 51% and 32% among females and males respectively. However although testing rates have increased the 2015 WHO HIV Testing Services (HTS) Consolidated Guideline indicates...
ABSTRACT Tuberculosis is a preventable and curable disease. In spite of this, globally it is the main cause of human suffering and death through infection. The World Health Organization has set the following targets for global tuberculosis control: a case detection rate of 70%, and treatment success rate of 85%. The Khomas region has attained only 52% treatment success rate, which is significantly below the global target. A better understanding of TB patients’ knowledge, beliefs and practic...
ABSTRACT Preterm birth, the birth of an infant prior to 37 completed weeks of gestation is the leading cause of newborn deaths in their first four weeks of life. In addition to its contribution to mortality, preterm birth has lifelong effects on neuro-developmental functioning such as increased risk of cerebral palsy, impaired learning and visual disorders, and an increased risk of chronic disease in adulthood that often result in huge physical, emotional and economic cost. In Namibia the pre...
ABSTRACT It is estimated by the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2004) that globally, over 50% medicines are prescribed inappropriately. In Namibia, suboptimal prescribing practices have been reported in previous medicine use surveys. Prescribing patterns in the out-patient settings have however not been evaluated in the Khomas Region. The aim of this study was to evaluate the medicine prescribing patterns in out-patient departments of public health facilities in the Khomas Region, Namibia. Th...
ABSTRACT In Namibia almost one out of every three children under the age of five is undernourished while one out of every 20 is obese. Thus, the concerns are nature and quality of Grade 2 scholars’ routine diet; ability for sustained attention within a classroom setting should their routine diet fail to adequately provide sustained glucose and scholastic performance that may result from attention deficits due to presumed poor quality of routine diet. The purpose of this study was to determi...
ABSTRACT Childhood immunisation is a cost-effective public health strategy. Immunisation is one of the most important preventive health actions in children’s lives as it provides protection against most infectious diseases. In Namibia, the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) has been instituted in 1990 to ensure that the immunisation of children takes place within the prescribed age frame. However, there is still room for improving the EPI, particularly as regards measles immunisation....
ABSTRACT Adolescents are sensitive people who can easily get derailed by a number of challenges which can sometimes lead to detrimental results if they are not taken care of appropriately. Despite the existence of the National Standards for Adolescent Friendly Health Services which is supposed to assist in reducing teenage pregnancy, disturbing figures of adolescents getting pregnant continue to rise. This study aimed at assessing the implementation of the Adolescent Active Participation, Ado...
ABSTRACT This study was conducted during the month of May 2006 in the informal settlements of Windhoek, Namibia. The aim of the study was to describe the prevalence of malnutrition among children between the ages of one and five years and to correlate possible causes, and other factors, with nutritional status. A cross-sectional descriptive study design was chosen. The sample was comprised of 350 respondents, mothers or caregivers of children between one and five years, residing in the non-fo...
ABSTRACT Emerging multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/XDR-TB) has become a major public health concern, placing millions at risk. Moreover, nosocomial transmission of MDR/XDR-TB places both patients and healthcare workers at an even higher risk. For these reason health facilities in high-risk settings need to implement effective tuberculosis (TB) infection prevention and control (IPC) policies/guidelines. Several studies elsewhere demonstrated that organizational processes and employee skil...
Abstact Malaria, the disease, is a clinical diagnosis that is caused by Plasmodium parasites and is spread through the bites by infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. Malaria is a health concern in temperate tropical areas, but a scale up of control interventions resulted in reduction and elimination of the disease in developed countries. In 2010 Namibia adopted a strategy to eliminate malaria within its borders by the year 2020 as a result of the reduction in malaria cases. However, as malari...
Abstract Action research (AR) can be an effective form of ‘on the job’ training. However, it is critical that AR cycles can be appropriately recorded in order to contribute to reflection and learning. One form of recording is for coresearchers to keep a diary.We found no previous literature describing the use of diaries in AR in sub-Saharan Africa. We therefore use this paper to reflect on how diaries were used by district health management teams in the PERFORM project. We share five less...
ABSTRACT The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MOHSS) has launched a comprehensive programme for the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) in March 2002. This programme was introduced for the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission in Namibia using Nevirapine (an Antiretroviral drug). The programme was initiated at two pilot sites i.e. Katutura State Hospital Antenatal Clinic (KSH-ANC) and Oshakati State Hospital. This programme was aiming to reach 500 HIV positive w...
ABSTRACT Background There has been a gap in the diagnosis of drug-resistant tuberculosis, hence a new rapid diagnostic test; the gene Xpert was introduced by the World Health Organization in 2010. The objective of this study was to identify factors that affect the utilization of the gene Xpert intervention in the Greater Accra Region. Methods This was a mixed-methods study. A qualitative approach was used to provide empirical explanations for the findings of the quantitative component which ...