ABSTRACT Background: Malaria and HIV represent the two most important public health problems of subSaharan Africa due to geographical overlap. Together, they are responsible for more than 4 million deaths a year. However, when HIV and malaria co-infect an individual, they drastically worsen the morbidity outcome for the person, increasing the odds of mortality than as single infections. In Ghana, there is paucity of data on the prevalence of this co-infection. This study determined the preval...
ABSTRACT Background: Unintended pregnancy prevalence in Ghana in married women is quoted at 37%. The Municipal Directorate of the Ho Municipality has also documented rising levels of induced abortion cases reporting for post abortion care. Recognizing that unintended pregnancies contribute to abortion and abortion related complications and their consequent contribution to increased maternal mortality ratio, the intension of the study is to determine the prevalence of unintended pregnancies in...
ABSTRACT Background: Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a parasitic disease that has been targeted for elimination since 2000. Mass drug administration (MDA) started in the Ankobra community in 2000. Nevertheless, the microfilaremia rate is still up to 4.5 % in 2016. Noncompliance to MDA is an important factor that can sustain the persistence of the disease after the required five to six MDA rounds. This study was aimed at determining the noncompliance level and the reasons as well as the factors a...
ABSTRACT Emergency Contraceptive Pills (ECPs) are being used as regular contraception even though they should rather be used as a bridge to regular contraception. This could be achieved if pharmacy staff were to dispense ECPs such that clients would be informed and encouraged to access some form of regular contraception. This would involve good history taking as part of assessment prior to ECP provision by pharmacy staff. This study was aimed at assessing the dispensing practice of pharmacy s...
ABSTRACT Background: Hypertension is a common chronic non-communicable disease condition and as such takes a toll on the family and the community. Individuals with hypertension should take responsibility for their condition as this would improve blood pressure control. They should be motivated to adhere to medication, but this is not so. Hence, this study was done to assess how patients with hypertension attending Korle Bu Polyclinic managed their condition. Methods: This was a descriptive c...
ABSTRACT Background Postpartum family planning has the potential to reduce maternal and child morbidity and mortality. A short birth interval of less than two years is associated with adverse health effects for the mother and baby and the society as a whole. The aim of this study was to determine postpartum contraceptive prevalence among young mothers attending child welfare clinics in the Kwaebibirem District, Eastern Region, and explore factors that influence family planning uptake after de...
ABSTRACT Background The 2012 report from the World Health Organization stated that 285 million people have visual impairment and 39 million are blind. Cataract is the main cause of blindness globally, in SubSaharan Africa and in Ghana responsible for 51%, 50%, and 54.8% respectively. Objective The objective of this study was to assess the factors affecting cataract surgical outcome in the Eastern region of Ghana. Methods A cross-sectional study was employed; data was collected quantitatively ...
ABSTRACT Background Individuals in endemic areas are susceptibility to malaria. Nevertheless, when women become pregnant mostly for the first time, they become more susceptibility to malaria. It is believed that malaria is the cause of persistent mild to severe anaemia, in spite of the fact that malaria in pregnancy may not be seen as a severe illness. In addition, low birth-weight of infants may be a cause of malaria in pregnancy. This happens when there is an obstruction with the maternal-f...
ABSTRACT Background: Violence against female sex workers (FSWs) is a widespread phenomenon induced primarily by the pervasive worldview that sex work is a contravention of morality. It is however necessary to dismantle the barrier posed by violence against FSWs in order to reach them with HIV services due to the pivotal role they, their clients and partners of their clients play in reinforcing the HIV epidemic. Objective: This study sought to assess the risk factors for violence against FSW...
ABSTRACT Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) aims at integrating surveillance functions at all levels. Ghana as a country decided on 23 communicable diseases and conditions to be targeted as priority diseases for surveillance using the integrated approach. A qualitative research was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the integrated approach to disease surveillance and response strategy in East Akim Municipality of the Eastern Region. A total of twenty (20) key respondent...
ABSTRACT Background Violence in the healthcare environment is an underreported and a persistent issue that has been endured so long by healthcare providers. Violence against healthcare providers are increasing at an alarming rate around the world. Currently, little is known about violence against healthcare providers in Ghana, yet this information is essential to the success of effective healthcare delivery. The study sought to investigate the form of violence, victims, perpetrators and the ...
ABSTRACT Background: Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women worldwide. Early detection has an important role on prevention of breast cancer. Early detection is achieved through breast cancer screening. Objective: To assess the knowledge of breast cancer and breast cancer screening practices, and evaluate the health beliefs of the female clinicians in the Ga West and Ga South municipal hospitals. Method: This is a cross sectional study in two municipal hospitals in the...
ABSTRACT Background Quality of service at the antenatal clinic is a key success factor in healthcare delivery in hospitals in Ghana. So, the assessment of clients‟ level of satisfaction with quality antenatal care is crucial upon which improvement of health service delivery can be undertaken periodically. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the satisfaction of clients with the quality of antenatal care at Korle – Bu teaching hospital. Method The study was a cross-sectional survey em...
ABSTRACT Malaria is a parasitic disease infecting millions of people on the globe annually, especially children less than five years of age and pregnant women. It is caused by any of the human malaria parasites including; Plasmodium falciparum, malariae, vivax and ovale of which Plasmodium falciparum is the most dangerous and dreaded malaria parasite. According to Ghana Health Service (GHS) health facility data, malaria is the number one cause of morbidity, accounting for about 38% of all out...
ABSTRACT Background: There is increasing concern about self-medication during pregnancy in many low resource countries. Notwithstanding its adverse impact on pregnancy, in Wa municipality, pregnant women still engaged in the practice of self-medication. The aim of this study was to investigate the perception and practice of self-medication among pregnant women in Wa Municipality. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 3 health centers of Wa Municipality from May to June 2017. S...