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 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: 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 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 The recent emergence of concern about environmental sanitation is not a new problem in Ghana. In most third world countries provision of sanitary facilities lag behind the growing population thereby increasing the risk of sanitation-related infections among the people especially in schools. This study assessed the level of environmental sanitation and disease conditions among students on the campus of the University of Ghana, Legon. It was a cross-sectional descriptive study. Data f...
INTRODUCTION: This is an exploratory qualitative study to determine the psychosocial factors affecting families with hospitalized children and their coping strategies at the University Hospital – Legon. Children in some cases of reporting to the hospital will need to be admitted during their recovery period for a short or long period. In such cases, a family member can be on the ward with the child to keep them company and also make them feel secured in the unfamiliar environment. The ...
Introduction: Adolescents aged 10 and 19 years constitute about 1.2 billion of the global population. In Ghana, adolescents form about a quarter of the population. The developmental changes that occurs during adolescence predisposes them to some health risks. In all regions in the world, young people are reaching puberty earlier; this influences them to engage in sexual activity at a younger age while delaying marriage. This increases the risk of exposure to HIV and other sexually trans...
Background: Cervical cancer is the commonest gynaecological cancer in women worldwide with more than 85% of the global burden occurring in developing countries where it accounts for 13% of all female cancers and a major cause of cancer-related deaths. It has a long latency period and it is one of the few cancers that are preventable through regular screening. Objective: This study aimed to assess the awareness of cervical cancer among young female adults and their willingness to screen. ...
Background Patient/Client satisfaction with anaesthesia services is a key component of the quality enhancement. The Anaesthesia Department in the Eastern Regional Hospital provides anaesthesia services to thousands of patients annually without evaluating the quality of services despite the recommendations from the American Society of Anaesthesiologists. Objective This study assessed patients’ satisfaction with anaesthesia services during elective surgery. Methods An institution-base...
Tuberculosis threatens public health all over the world and affects persons mostly in their productive lives. The proportion of cases with successful treatment outcome is a key indicator to assess the effectiveness and performance of any Tuberculosis Control Programme. Effectivetreatment is a major element in reducing the transmission of infection and ultimately achieving elimination of the disease. The study was conducted to determine factors associated with treatment outcome and the ...
Introduction: In Ghana, one in every twelve children dies before their fifth birthday despite the implementation of the IMNCI protocol since 1998. Studies to investigate this in Ghana have focused on specific aspects such as laboratory test and management of malaria with limited attention paid to assessing health workers’ knowledge and adherence to the three focal areas in the IMNCI strategy. Objectives: This study assessed knowledge and adherence as well as factors associated with the...
Abstract Schistosomiasis brings about long-term illness in humans which can become significant economic burden on the society. Morbidity control of schistosomiasis through integration of treatment within existing health care delivery system is seen as a potentially sustainable and cost-effective approach. A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the health-seeking behaviour for signs and symptoms related to schistosomiasis among the inhabitants of Gani and Bonia, wi...
ABSTRACT Background: Military personnel are high-risk people for parenteral and sexually transmitted diseases such as hepatitis B virus (HBV). Hepatitis B is one of the most common infectious diseases globally. The burden of Chronic Hepatitis B infection in the Ghana Armed Forces is not known. As part of the Ghana Armed Forces Hepatitis Programme, the Forces Liver Health Protection (FLiHP) Project is implementing interventions aimed at reducing the estimated burden of viral hepatitis by 50% b...