Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the determinant of household uptake in community-based health insurance and the effect of uptake in community-based health insurance on household health expenditure in Haramaya and Kersa District. The study used cross-sectional survey research design and quantitative approach. A survey was conducted by using 360 structured close-ended questionnaires distributed equally to community-based health insurance adopters and non adopters in the dist...
Abstract Substance abuse has become a major challenge in secondary schools in Kenya. A study carried out in Kenya observed that 20% of adolescents aged between 12 and 22 years smoke cigarettes, 9% smoke bhang while 23% drink commercial beer and spirits. This is the age in which most youths are in schools and colleges. The aim of this study was to find out the incidence and extent of drug abuse among secondary school students in Nairobi Province, Kenya. This information is useful in developin...
Abstract Despite introduction of Kenya’s Free Primary Education in2003 to achieve Universal Primary Education (MDG2), primary school boys’ enrolment in Kangetais declining while dropout rates are increasing. This study investigated the influence of Khat (Catha edulis) on the boys’ dropout rates. A cross-sectional design was used to collect data from 210 randomly selected dropouts and 10 primary school head teachers. Content validity of the teachers’ questionnaire and boys’ intervie...
Abstract Despite introduction of Kenya’s Free Primary Education in 2003 to achieve Universal Primary Education (MDG2), primary school boys’ enrolment in Kangeta is declining while dropout rates are increasing. This study investigated the influence of Khat (Catha edulis) on the boys’ dropout rates. A cross-sectional design was used to collect data from 210 randomly selected dropouts and 10 primary school head teachers. Content validity of the teachers’ questionnaire and boys’ interv...
This study investigates Typhoid and Cholera Chronicles: their dual effect on Life Expectancy in Delta state, Nigeria. The Cost of Illness Theory serves as the theoretical framework for this study. Data for the research were primarily gathered through questionnaires administered to 345 respondents. Logistic regression models analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) v23 were employed to test the relationship between the predictors: namely Typhoid (TYR), and Cholera (CHR)...
Background Severe Plasmodium falciparum malarial anemia is still the principal cause of death in children in underdeveloped countries. An imbalance between proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines is associated with malaria progression. This study evaluated circulating levels of selected inflammatory cytokines among malaria-infected children in Ghana. Methods This case-control study was conducted at Tamale Teaching Hospital, Ghana. One hundred and twenty children with malaria and 60 ...
Background and Aims: Preeclampsia poses a heightened risk for women, particularly in the development of hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelets (HELLP) syndrome, leading to adverse outcomes for both mothers and newborns. The incidence of HELLP syndrome tends to be notably higher among women with preeclampsia compared with those with normotensive pregnancies. However, there is a dearth of research on the frequency of HELLP syndrome within the context of preeclampsia specifically...
Hans Selye defines stress as the wear and tear of the body. Prolonged stress or chronic stress can lead to the wear and tear of the immune system. In his model, which is known as the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), he described the body’s response to stress in three stages which are:Alarm reaction, Resistance And Exhaustion. The first stage is what stirs the body for fight-or-flight response. The second stage is due to the recurrence of the first stage and if it persists, cortisol (...
ABSTRACT Infectious disease represents a major cause of death accounting for approximately one half of all deaths in tropical countries (Iwu et al., 1999). In particular, gastrointestinal disease is the most frequent cause of childhood morbidity and adult mortality in many parts of the developing world. The presence of enterobacteria in foodstuffs and water is a common cause of diarrhoea and dysentery among the infant population (Viera et al.,2001). The increase in antibiotic resistance causi...
The testing capacity for SARS-CoV-2 in Africa is rather limited. Antigen detection rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs) are a cheap and rapid alternative to reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests, but there is little data about their performance under real life conditions in tropical countries. The objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of a standard Ag-RDT in a population of a major hospital in northern Ghana. Prospective, cross-sectional, blinded verifica...
Background: Malnutrition is a major underlying factor in under-five mortality and morbidity. Early detection and management are key in preventing the associated complications. However, the nutritional status of children is not frequently assessed at outpatient clinics. Objective: This study aimed to determine the degree of wasting and underweight and their associated factors in children presenting at the outpatients’ department (OPD) of the Tamale Teaching Hospital. Methods: A 5-month retro...
Background: Studies have confirmed that the nurse during the period of delivery would be the deciding factor whether the woman would have a positive or negative birth experience. This positive or negative experience depends on the quality of nursing during this period. Hence it is important to know the concept of care from the perspective of postpartum women and their lived experience of nursing care during the period of childbirth. This is because patients’ satisfactory of services rendere...
Abstract Increasing women’s knowledge about maternal health is an important step towards empowering them and making them aware of their rights and health status, allowing them to seek appropriate health care. In Yemen, the ongoing conflict has hampered the delivery of health information to women in public health facilities. This study examined rural women’s knowledge of, and attitude towards, maternal and child health in Yemen and identified the factors associated with good maternal healt...
Introduction: In sub-Saharan Africa, extensive migratory activities and interactions exist especially amongst unmanned cross-border communities between countries sharing common borders which complicate emergency public health interventions. Understanding the nature of these activities and interactions will help strengthen public health interventions and control of pandemics such as the Ebola outbreak and COVID-19. Objective: The study aimed to understand the nature of contiguous border commun...
Background and Objectives: The immunomodulatory potential of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can be regulated by a variety of molecules, especially cytokines. The inflammatory cytokine, TNF-like ligand 1A (TL1A), has been reported as an inflammation stimulator in-multiple autoimmune diseases. Here, we studied the effects of TL1A/TNF-receptor 2 (TNFR2) pathway on the therapeutic potency of bone marrow-derived MSCs (BMSCs). Methods and Results: BMSCs, fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs), and H9 a...