Maternal death and near miss measurement: a case for implementation in developing countries in the sustainable development agenda, a review article

“Ending preventable maternal mortality (EPMM) remains an unfinished agenda and one of the world's most critical challenges. Maternal health, well-being and survival must remain a central goal and investment priority in the sustainable development goal agenda”. This statement from the World Health Organization (WHO) document Ending Preventable Maternal Death is most appropriate especially for developing nations.Using 2010 as baseline, the current global maternal health targets are achievement of average maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of 70/100,000 live births. Nations whose MMR are more than 420/100,000 live births (the group where Nigeria belong) should have MMR not higher than 140 by 2030.There was recognition of the need for improved measurement and data quality in other to track the progress or lack of it as we approach 2030. Maternal health services need to be accountable more than ever before. Maternal death and near miss measurement is one way to achieve this. In this paper a three levels of maternal death and near miss audit, surveillance and review is recommended for Nigeria and other developing nations. Both measurements can be done together.Maternal death measurement also called maternal death review (MDR), audit or surveillance answers pertinent questions about the death of pregnant women, how many died? Where did they died? When did they died? Why did they died? Can these deaths be prevented? When MDR is followed by response (evidence base intervention) it becomes MDRS and thereby eliminates all preventable deaths. Every maternity service department and hospital, state and national government should audit the outcome of maternal health care being provided as a matter of accountability

Editorial: Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: From controversies of yesterday to consensus of today

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Female undergraduates' knowledge about cervical carcinoma and awareness of risk factors and screening in south-western Nigeria

Objectives: Cervical carcinoma is among the commonest female cancers with an incidence globally of about half a million new cases annually. It is a preventable disease but many young women are not well informed about the risk factors contributing to its development and worse still did not understand how to detect it early. This was to study the knowledge of female undergraduates about cervical carcinoma, its risk factors and their awareness of the Pap smear screening method.Methods: A cross-sectional study of 494 female university students who were selected randomly from undergraduates was carried out in Osun State. Semi structured questionnaires were self- administered to collect information. Data was analyzed using the SPSS version 17.0 software and the level of significance was P < 0.05.Results: Thirty nine percent of the students were less than 20 years of age. Over 35% of the total number was sexually active with about 68% of these having more than 1 sexual partner. About 42% of the respondents have heard about cervical carcinoma while 48% of the subpopulation was aware that HPV infection was a risk factor and only 1.6% had done the Pap smear. About 28% knew that cervical cancer was preventable.Conclusion: There was low awareness about cervical carcinoma, its risk factors and the Pap smear screening despite the presence of risky sexual habits among female undergraduates. There is a need for increased awareness campaign on risk factors and sensitization of women on regular Pap smear screening.Keywords: Cervical carcinoma, risk factors, Pap smea

PATTERNS OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND SEXUAL BEHAVIOURS AMONG FEMALE UNDERGRADUATES IN OSUN STATE SOUTH WEST NIGERIA

Background: Sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS in addition to induced abortion continue to exert huge cost in human lives and material resources especially in developing countries. Among the morbidities resulting from these reproductive health diseases are chronic pelvic pains and infertility with further grave consequences on marital harmony and quality of life that may last the entire life of the individual woman. Young Females in the age group of those in Colleges and Universities constitute a majority of the victims.Objectives: To determine the practices and the risks of unsafe reproductive health behaviors among female undergraduates in south-western Nigeria.Methodology: A cross-sectional survey of reproductive health knowledge, sexual practices as relates to contraceptive use, multiple sexual partners, unwanted pregnancy and induced abortion among the female students in three Universities in Osogbo, Osun State, South Western Nigeria. The responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and bivariate and multivariate analysis. Results: Many Nigerian undergraduates initiated sex at an early age and have multiple sexual partners. These two factors are statistically significantly associated with risk of induced abortion (p < 0.05). Mothers did not give safe reproductive health information to their daughters. Many respondents were aware of STI and modern contraception, yet emergency contraceptives were being used inappropriately by Nigerian Undergraduates.Conclusions: There is a high magnitude of unsafe reproductive health behaviours and sexual practices among undergraduates in this environment. This calls for behavioral change intervention in other to enhance safety in reproductive health lives of the female undergraduates in south-western Nigeria

Management of gestational diabetes mellitus at secondary health care level: a survey of ante-natal care givers' knowledge, attitude and practice

Background: Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) account for the majority of cases of Diabetes complicating pregnancy. It is amenable to risk reduction measures and if properly managed, complications leading to poor pregnancy outcome can be prevented. However, this requires a good knowledge of the disease by the health professionals attending to pregnant women. This study assessed the knowledge, attitude and practice of ante-natal care givers in Oyo state through a questionnaire survey. Methodology: The sturdy is a cross-sectional survey conducted in the month ofJune 2012 at a workshop attended by Medical Doctors and Nurses attending to pregnant women at secondary healthcare level in Oyo State, South Western Nigeria. The questionnaire was developed locally, similar to diabetes attitude survey third version (DAS 3) 1, but adapted to local setting. It however assessed basic knowledge of the Medical officers and Nurses in the routine ANC practice about screening, diagnoses and attitudes to treatment of GDM at the secondary health care level. Results: A total of 166 questionnaires were administered, 120 met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed. There were 46 Medical Doctors and 74 Nurses. Average age of Medical Doctors was 36±7.4years, Nurses is 44±4.8 years. Except for risk factors and complications, both the Medical Doctors and Nurses have poor knowledge and practice concerning gestational diabetes mellitus. However, Medical Doctors demonstrated better attitudes compared to the Nurses and it was statistically significant (p value i

Traumatic Brain Injury and Metabolic Dysfunction Among Head Injured Patients in a Tertiary Hospital in North-Central Nigeria

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a common health problem which is one of the main causes of chronic disability and it is associated with hormonal and metabolic disorders. This work was carried out to investigate the relationship between some stress hormones (i.e. prolactin and cortisol) and plasma glucose level in TBI patients. Twenty-five TBI patients were included in the study consecutively. All patients underwent basal hormonal and plasma glucose evaluation within 24 hours of admission. One of the patients died during the acute phase. The results of the study show that prolactin and glucose levels were positively correlated with the Glasgow Coma Scale (GSC). Cortisol levels were observed to be highest in the moderate TBI group with GSC score of 9-13. The results also showed that 80% (20 patients) of the patients were age 40 years and below and 84% (21 patients) were males. In conclusion, present data show that prolactin, cortisol and plasma glucose are disturbed in TBI. The disturbances in the levels of prolactin and glucose are related to the severity of TBI. However, there is no direct relationship between cortisol and severity of TBI. Our results also show that TBI is more common in males and young people

Assessing the impact of rice cultivation and off-season period on dynamics of soil enzyme activities and bacterial communities in two agro-ecological regions of Mozambique

Soil ecosystem perturbation due to agronomic practices can negatively impact soil productivity by altering the diversity and function of soil health determinants. Currently, the influence of rice cultivation and off-season periods on the dynamics of soil health determinants is unclear. Therefore, soil enzyme activities (EAs) and bacterial community compositions in rice-cultivated fields at postharvest (PH) and after a 5-month off-season period (5mR), and fallow-fields (5-years-fallow, 5YF; 10-years-fallow, 10YF and/or one-year-fallow, 1YF) were assessed in two agroecological regions of Mozambique. EAs were mostly higher in fallow fields than in PH, with significant (p < 0.05) differences detected for -glucosidase and acid phosphatase activities. Only -glucosidase activity was significantly (p < 0.05) different between PH and 5mR, suggesting that -glucosidase is responsive in the short-term. Bacterial diversity was highest in rice-cultivated soil and correlated with NO3 , NH4 + and electrical conductivity. Differentially abundant genera, such as Agromyces, Bacillus, Desulfuromonas, Gaiella, Lysobacter, Micromonospora, Norcadiodes, Rubrobacter, Solirubrobacter and Sphingomonas were mostly associated with fallow and 5mR fields, suggesting either negative effects of rice cultivation or the fallow period aided their recovery. Overall, rice cultivation and chemical parameters influenced certain EAs and shaped bacterial communities. Furthermore, the 5-month off-season period facilitates nutrient recovery and proliferation of plant-growth-promoting bacteriainfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Patterns of Perception of Causes and Prevalence of Anaemia at Booking in Tropical General Hospital

The main contributor to high maternal mortality in Nigeria is anaemia in pregnancy which can be prevented. Descriptive cross sectional study. Total sampling was done. Consecutive pregnant women presenting at the antenatal clinic, state hospital, Osogbo were requested to complete an interviewer administered questionnaire determining the awareness of pregnant women attending antenatal clinic on common causes of anaemia. Data was analyzed with SPSS v 11. One hundred and sixty seven (100%) pregnant women completed the questionnaire. Mean age of the respondents was 29.0 ±4.8 years. Nearly all (98.2%) were married. Most (97.6%) completed primary education. Majority (44.9%) of the respondents were traders. Majority of their husbands were traders (38%), civil servants (24.6%), and artisans (22.8%). Over half 56.4% had 1-4 children while 2.4% had 5-6 children. Two-fifth (41.3%) were primigravida. Most (78.4%) clients have heard of hookworms while more than half (53.3%) knew its mode of transmission and 33.5% knew its prevention. Majority (73.1%) of the clients knew that sickle cell disease can be inherited while 73.7% knew that marriage counseling can prevent sickle cell disease. Nearly all clients (98.2%) knew their genotype while 33.5% do not know their husband/partner genotype. None of the clients with children had checked the genotype of their children. Most 61.7% eat balanced diet everyday. Over one-third (32.3%) of the clients had moderate anaemia. A significant number of respondents had poor knowledge to causes of anaemia in this environment. More public enlightenment need to be carried out on this very important topic to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality from anaemia in pregnancy.Key words: knowledge; pregnant women; anaemia; maternal mortalit

The role of organizational culture on sustainable construction among Malacca Malaysian Construction Industry: A partial least square approach

This research studies the influence of organizational culture on sustainable construction among G7 contractors operating in Malacca, Malaysia. As there are opinions buttressing the need to integrate culture that reinforces devotion towards sustainability in an organization so as to ensure a successful sustainability adoption in project’ activities. Therefore, in response to this apprehension, the objectives of this study are to investigate the significant relationship between adhocracy culture and environmental protection and to investigate the significant relationship between hierarchical culture and environmental protection. To achieve this, quantitative research was conducted with a proportionate stratified random sampling used to choose 100 construction companies mainly G7 that are registered under the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Malaysia operating in Malacca. A total of 90 valid and completed questionnaires were returned representing a 90% response rate. The validity, as well as the reliability of the items in this research, were assessed using the PLS-SEM measurement model and it shows that the results are reliable. The two hypotheses were tested and the result showed that adhocracy culture (AC) variable has a significant positive relationship on sustainable construction (β= 0.525, t = 3.722, p = 0.000) as organizational culture with dynamism, which is represented by adhocracy is concluded to be influential in sustainability, and also play a critical role in a society in the context of sustainability and corporate citizenship. Implications for practice and future research were also discussed