Public-private collaboration in the Tourism Industry in Northwestern Ethiopia.

Tourism has become an important socio-economic development tool in many parts of the world, including developing countries such as Ethiopia. To sustainably develop the existing and potential destinations, collaboration among key stakeholders is of high importance. Amongst these key actors, the private and public sectors are the leading ones. This study was conducted at the two World Heritage Sites of Ethiopia: Gondar and Lalibela, and the UNESCO registered Biosphere Reserve of Lake Tana, including the UNESCO Learning city of Bahir Dar. These destinations are strategically located in Northwestern Ethiopia, in the Northern historic route of the country which receives the largest number of international visitors of the country. The study area is famous for unique cultural, historical, religious, religious and natural attractions. The necessary data for this study were mainly collected using a semi-structured in-depth interview methodology. The researchers used a purposive sampling technique and the total samples selected were 35, which was based on theoretical saturation. It was found that the public and private sectors in the tourism industry in the three destinations, were not working together to the level expected. They were working only in limited areas, and hotels were found to be better participants in the collaboration process. The major challenges for the feeble collaboration are associated with the government’s limitations in commitment, financial and manpower capacity. For better public-private collaboration, the government should take the leading role and create a conducive environment for collaboration with the private sector, so that tourism can be developed in a way that benefits visitors, businesses and the destinations and remains sustainable

The Scenic Beauty of Geosites and Its Relation to Their Scientific Value and Geoscience Knowledge of Tourists: A Case Study from Southeastern Spain

Scenic beauty is one of the most-commonly used indicators in the inventory and assessment of geosites for geoconservation, geoheritage management and geotourism development. It is an important driver of tourists to visit natural areas and it also provides support for the protection of natural heritage. Previous studies on scenic beauty mainly focused on landscape preference and physical characteristics of geosites that affect scenic beauty appreciation. The relationships between the scenic beauty of geosites, their scientific value and the geoscience knowledge of tourists has not been empirically investigated in detail. Hence, this study investigates this relationship using 34 geosites from southeastern Spain. For this purpose, 29 respondents with a geoscience background and who all visited the 34 geosites, 43 respondents with a geoscience background but who did not visit the geosites, and 104 respondents with no geoscience background and who did not visit the geosites, participated in a survey. The first group rated the scenic beauty and the scientific value of the geosites based on a direct field visit during which the scientific background of these geosites was given. On the other hand, the latter two groups rated scenic beauty using representative photos of the geosites. A five-point Likert scale was used to rate the scenic beauty and the scientific value of the geosites. We found a significant relationship between the scenic beauty of geosites and their scientific value, and this relationship becomes more significant if the geoscientific knowledge of the respondents increases. One-way ANOVA results indicated that a geoscience background contributed to higher perceived scenic beauty, especially for those geosites that in general were considered as more scenic by all the respondent groups. It was also found that geosites with viewpoints received in general higher scenic beauty and scientific value ratings

Global, regional, and national cancer incidence, mortality, years of life lost, years lived with disability, and disability-Adjusted life-years for 29 cancer groups, 1990 to 2017 : A systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study

Importance: Cancer and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are now widely recognized as a threat to global development. The latest United Nations high-level meeting on NCDs reaffirmed this observation and also highlighted the slow progress in meeting the 2011 Political Declaration on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases and the third Sustainable Development Goal. Lack of situational analyses, priority setting, and budgeting have been identified as major obstacles in achieving these goals. All of these have in common that they require information on the local cancer epidemiology. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study is uniquely poised to provide these crucial data. Objective: To describe cancer burden for 29 cancer groups in 195 countries from 1990 through 2017 to provide data needed for cancer control planning. Evidence Review: We used the GBD study estimation methods to describe cancer incidence, mortality, years lived with disability, years of life lost, and disability-Adjusted life-years (DALYs). Results are presented at the national level as well as by Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income, educational attainment, and total fertility rate. We also analyzed the influence of the epidemiological vs the demographic transition on cancer incidence. Findings: In 2017, there were 24.5 million incident cancer cases worldwide (16.8 million without nonmelanoma skin cancer [NMSC]) and 9.6 million cancer deaths. The majority of cancer DALYs came from years of life lost (97%), and only 3% came from years lived with disability. The odds of developing cancer were the lowest in the low SDI quintile (1 in 7) and the highest in the high SDI quintile (1 in 2) for both sexes. In 2017, the most common incident cancers in men were NMSC (4.3 million incident cases); tracheal, bronchus, and lung (TBL) cancer (1.5 million incident cases); and prostate cancer (1.3 million incident cases). The most common causes of cancer deaths and DALYs for men were TBL cancer (1.3 million deaths and 28.4 million DALYs), liver cancer (572000 deaths and 15.2 million DALYs), and stomach cancer (542000 deaths and 12.2 million DALYs). For women in 2017, the most common incident cancers were NMSC (3.3 million incident cases), breast cancer (1.9 million incident cases), and colorectal cancer (819000 incident cases). The leading causes of cancer deaths and DALYs for women were breast cancer (601000 deaths and 17.4 million DALYs), TBL cancer (596000 deaths and 12.6 million DALYs), and colorectal cancer (414000 deaths and 8.3 million DALYs). Conclusions and Relevance: The national epidemiological profiles of cancer burden in the GBD study show large heterogeneities, which are a reflection of different exposures to risk factors, economic settings, lifestyles, and access to care and screening. The GBD study can be used by policy makers and other stakeholders to develop and improve national and local cancer control in order to achieve the global targets and improve equity in cancer care. © 2019 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Mapping age- and sex-specific HIV prevalence in adults in sub-Saharan Africa, 2000-2018

BACKGROUND: Human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is still among the leading causes of disease burden and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), and the world is not on track to meet targets set for ending the epidemic by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Precise HIV burden information is critical for effective geographic and epidemiological targeting of prevention and treatment interventions. Age- and sex-specific HIV prevalence estimates are widely available at the national level, and region-wide local estimates were recently published for adults overall. We add further dimensionality to previous analyses by estimating HIV prevalence at local scales, stratified into sex-specific 5-year age groups for adults ages 15-59 years across SSA. METHODS: We analyzed data from 91 seroprevalence surveys and sentinel surveillance among antenatal care clinic (ANC) attendees using model-based geostatistical methods to produce estimates of HIV prevalence across 43 countries in SSA, from years 2000 to 2018, at a 5 × 5-km resolution and presented among second administrative level (typically districts or counties) units. RESULTS: We found substantial variation in HIV prevalence across localities, ages, and sexes that have been masked in earlier analyses. Within-country variation in prevalence in 2018 was a median 3.5 times greater across ages and sexes, compared to for all adults combined. We note large within-district prevalence differences between age groups: for men, 50% of districts displayed at least a 14-fold difference between age groups with the highest and lowest prevalence, and at least a 9-fold difference for women. Prevalence trends also varied over time; between 2000 and 2018, 70% of all districts saw a reduction in prevalence greater than five percentage points in at least one sex and age group. Meanwhile, over 30% of all districts saw at least a five percentage point prevalence increase in one or more sex and age group. CONCLUSIONS: As the HIV epidemic persists and evolves in SSA, geographic and demographic shifts in prevention and treatment efforts are necessary. These estimates offer epidemiologically informative detail to better guide more targeted interventions, vital for combating HIV in SSA

Mapping age- and sex-specific HIV prevalence in adults in sub-Saharan Africa, 2000–2018

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is still among the leading causes of disease burden and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), and the world is not on track to meet targets set for ending the epidemic by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Precise HIV burden information is critical for effective geographic and epidemiological targeting of prevention and treatment interventions. Age- and sex-specific HIV prevalence estimates are widely available at the national level, and region-wide local estimates were recently published for adults overall. We add further dimensionality to previous analyses by estimating HIV prevalence at local scales, stratified into sex-specific 5-year age groups for adults ages 15–59 years across SSA. Methods: We analyzed data from 91 seroprevalence surveys and sentinel surveillance among antenatal care clinic (ANC) attendees using model-based geostatistical methods to produce estimates of HIV prevalence across 43 countries in SSA, from years 2000 to 2018, at a 5 × 5-km resolution and presented among second administrative level (typically districts or counties) units. Results: We found substantial variation in HIV prevalence across localities, ages, and sexes that have been masked in earlier analyses. Within-country variation in prevalence in 2018 was a median 3.5 times greater across ages and sexes, compared to for all adults combined. We note large within-district prevalence differences between age groups: for men, 50% of districts displayed at least a 14-fold difference between age groups with the highest and lowest prevalence, and at least a 9-fold difference for women. Prevalence trends also varied over time; between 2000 and 2018, 70% of all districts saw a reduction in prevalence greater than five percentage points in at least one sex and age group. Meanwhile, over 30% of all districts saw at least a five percentage point prevalence increase in one or more sex and age group. Conclusions: As the HIV epidemic persists and evolves in SSA, geographic and demographic shifts in prevention and treatment efforts are necessary. These estimates offer epidemiologically informative detail to better guide more targeted interventions, vital for combating HIV in SSA

Misconceptions and traditional practices towards infant teething symptoms among mothers in Southwest Ethiopia

Abstract Background The assumption of a link between common symptoms such as febrile illness, diarrhea and the eruption of primary teeth has been established over many centuries. According to traditional beliefs in Ethiopia, diarrhea and fever at the time of milk teeth eruption may be due to a worm in the child’s gums. Current medical observations show little more than restlessness, drooling, and finger sucking resulting from teething. The purpose of this research was to assess mothers’ traditional beliefs and practices towards teething symptoms. Methods A cross-sectional descriptive study design was used with the convenience sampling technique. Mothers were approached at the pediatric Out Patient Department (OPD) of Jimma University Specialized Hospital, southwest Ethiopia. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The data were analyzed by SPSS (version 20). Results A total of 107 mothers were interviewed. Ninety-eight (91.6%) claimed that teething was associated with various symptoms. Ninety-seven (90.7%) attributed diarrhea to teething. Only one mother said she would give her child Paracetamol to relieve the teething symptoms. Five (4.7%) mothers said they would allow their children to bite on a pacifier. Ten mothers (9.3%) said that they would prefer the child’s milk tooth to be extracted. Some of the practices by mothers to relieve the symptoms include rubbing the gum of the child with garlic (12.1%) or rubbing the gum with herbs (6.5%). Conclusions Most of the mothers had misconceptions about the symptoms that usually appear during teething. Health education should be provided by dentists and professionals concerned with child care in correcting these misconceptions and cultural beliefs about teething symptoms

Validation of CORDEX Regional climate models to simulate climate trends and variability across various agro-ecological zones of North Shewa, Ethiopia

Climate variability significantly affects the overall agricultural production and productivity over space and time. To quantify the effect of climate variability on natural systems on Earth in the future, the use of regional climate models (RCMs) as a tool is mandatory. Thus, the use of well-validated RCM provides efficient climate data; and predicts future climate variability over agroecological zones (AEZs). Eleven RCMs from CORDEX-Ethiopia were evaluated to simulate maximum temperature (Tmax), minimum temperature (Tmin) and rainfall variability over space and time, to validate their performance and to select the best-fit models. The temporal variability Tmax and rainfall was smaller with a CV of 10 %, indicating uniform distribution over stations. However, CV for Tmin over stations shows satisfactory distributions. Most of the evaluated RCMs have a better capability to capture the spatial variability of rainfall,Tmax, and Tmin in some stations. However, some of the RCMs can handle the spatial variability of Tmax while others are not. None of the RCMs can handle the spatial variability of Tmin in Debre Birhan, Majete, and Kewat AEZs. In general, most RCMs can capture the spatial and temporal variability of rainfall and temperature. It might be better to use the ensemble average of the output from these RCMs for precise estimation of data than specific RCMs. Therefore, this work could suggest the use of high-resolution RCMs for the projection of temperature and rainfall over different AEZs

Adverse neonatal outcomes and associated factors among mothers who gave birth through induced and spontaneous labor in public hospitals of Awi zone, Northwest Ethiopia: a comparative cross-sectional study

Abstract Background Adverse neonatal outcomes are one of the most common causes of neonatal mortality and morbidity. Empirical evidence across the world shows that induction of labor potentiates adverse neonatal outcomes. In Ethiopia, there has been limited data that compares the frequency of adverse neonatal outcomes between induced and spontaneous labor. Objectives To compare the prevalence of adverse neonatal outcomes between induced and spontaneous labor and to determine associated factors among women who gave birth in public hospitals of Awi Zone, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted at Awi Zone public hospitals from May 1 to June 30, 2022. A simple random sampling technique was employed to select 788 (260 induced and 528 spontaneous) women. The collected data were analyzed using statistical package for social science (SPSS) software version 26. The Chi-square test and an independent t-test were used for categorical and continuous variables, respectively. A binary logistic regression was used to assess the association between the outcome and explanatory variables. In the bivariate analysis, a p-value ≤ 0.2 at a 95% confidence interval was used to consider the variables in the multivariate analysis. Finally, statistical significance was stated at a p-value of less than 0.05. Result The adverse neonatal outcomes among women who gave birth through induced labor were 41.1%, whereas spontaneous labor was 10.3%. The odds of adverse neonatal outcomes in induced labor were nearly two times higher than in spontaneous labor (AOR = 1.89, 95% CI: 1.11–3.22). No education (AOR = 2.00, 95% CI: 1.56, 6.44), chronic disease (AOR = 3.99, 95% CI: 1.87, 8.52), male involvement (AOR = 2.23, 95% CI: 1.23, 4.06), preterm birth (AOR = 9.83, 95% CI: 8.74, 76.37), operative delivery (AOR = 8.60, 95% CI: 4.63, 15.90), cesarean section (AOR = 4.17, 95% CI: 1.94, 8.95), and labor complications (AOR = 5.16, 95% CI: 2.90, 9.18) were significantly associated factors with adverse neonatal outcomes. Conclusion and recommendation Adverse neonatal outcomes in the study area were higher. Composite adverse neonatal outcomes were significantly higher in induced labor compared to spontaneous labor. Therefore, it is important to anticipate the possible adverse neonatal outcomes and plan management strategies while conducting every labor induction