Civil conflict and sleeping sickness in Africa in general and Uganda in particular

Conflict and war have long been recognized as determinants of infectious disease risk. Re-emergence of epidemic sleeping sickness in sub-Saharan Africa since the 1970s has coincided with extensive civil conflict in affected regions. Sleeping sickness incidence has placed increasing pressure on the health resources of countries already burdened by malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis. In areas of Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Angola, sleeping sickness occurs in epidemic proportions, and is the first or second greatest cause of mortality in some areas, ahead of HIV/AIDS. In Uganda, there is evidence of increasing spread and establishment of new foci in central districts. Conflict is an important determinant of sleeping sickness outbreaks, and has contributed to disease resurgence. This paper presents a review and characterization of the processes by which conflict has contributed to the occurrence of sleeping sickness in Africa. Conflict contributes to disease risk by affecting the transmission potential of sleeping sickness via economic impacts, degradation of health systems and services, internal displacement of populations, regional insecurity, and reduced access for humanitarian support. Particular focus is given to the case of sleeping sickness in south-eastern Uganda, where incidence increase is expected to continue. Disease intervention is constrained in regions with high insecurity; in these areas, political stabilization, localized deployment of health resources, increased administrative integration and national capacity are required to mitigate incidence. Conflict-related variables should be explicitly integrated into risk mapping and prioritization of targeted sleeping sickness research and mitigation initiatives

Students Use of Social Media and its Relationship with their Academic Achievement in the University of Education, Winneba

The emergence of social media has bedeviled society with so many questions on its impact in recent times, especially in the Ghanaian context. There seem to be negative exposure on the use of social media. This study, therefore, examined the impact of social media on the academic achievement of students of University of Education, Winneba-Winneba Campus. It sought to examine the type, frequency and impact of social media on the academic achievement of students. The descriptive case study design was for the study. The proportional stratified random sampling technique was used to sample 510 students from four faculties in the University of Education, Winneba campus. Questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents. The questionnaire was analysed using frequency and percentages and Person Product Moment Correlation. The study revealed that social media exerted positive impacts on students’ academic achievements since students used social media to access educational materials and improve their reading and research skills. Students who used social media mostly for academic purposes saw an improvement in their GPAs (GPAs between 3.0 and 4.0 on a scale of 4). Students who often used social media for entertainment, sports and other non-academic purposes, however, had lower GPAs (GPAs between 1.5 and 2.0 on a scale of 4). It was recommended, therefore, that students should embrace the positive aspects of social media to augment their academic performance. The Academic Board of the university should encourage lecturers to employ social media sites such as WhatsApp, Twitter and LinkedIn vehicles for conveying academic content and other academic discourses