Household and market survey on availability of adequately iodized salt in the Volta region, Ghana

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Health Promotion and Education on 27/10/2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14635240.2016.1250658Consumption of adequately iodized salt (AIS) ≥15ppm is one of the criteria for measuring progress towards universal salt iodization (USI) and sustainable elimination of iodine deficiency disorders. After series of health promotion activities, this survey was conducted to evaluate the extent to which USI was achieved. Cross-sectional survey was conducted in 1,961 households and 350 markets to estimate the iodine levels of salt consumed or sold. Three degrees of iodization were estimated from fine, coarse and granular texture salt using MBI rapid field test kits. Differences in iodization levels were determined using Bonferroni test in STATA. Determinants for household utilization of AIS were identified using regression analysis and reported as odds ratio (OR). Availability of AIS in households (24.5%) and markets (30.9%) was far below the 90% recommendation. No differences where observed in urban (26.8%) and rural (24.1%) households. Households that used fine-texture salt (OR: 40.13; CI: 30.1-53.4) or stored salt in original packs (OR: 8.02; CI: 6.01-10.70) were more likely to consume AIS. Across districts, highest household availability of AIS was 51.7% while the least was 7.5%. The district with the highest market availability of AIS was 85.7% while the least was 8.3%. Almost 32% of the traders were aware that selling non-iodized salt was unauthorized but out of this, only 12% sold AIS. Public education should emphasis appropriate handling and storage of salt throughout the supply chain. To ensure adequate salt fortification with iodine, improved surveillance of factories and mining sites is recommended

Common mental disorders, economic growth and development: Economic consequences and measurement issues

A large number of studies have attempted to discern the causes of low productivity and slow growth in developing countries especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The effects of global economic integration, corruption, geography, financial aid and human capital indicators such as education have been widely explored. Despite the significant contribution of common mental disorders (CMDs) to poverty and to the burden of disease, mainstream growth analyses have not yet integrated the body of scholarship that identifies the linkages between CMDs and growth. There are potential benefits of prioritising CMDs in development strategies but there are several challenges. Among the greatest challenges is patchy mental health record. Poor data hinders the conceptualisation and the analyses of the effect of common mental disorders on economic growth and development. This paper explores the theoretical and empirical macro-growth effects of CMDs in sub-Saharan Africa. Preliminary theorizing and evidence suggest that improvement in CMDs is likely to be a stimulus to growth in SSA. We explore further the performance of a non-psychometric instrument known as the K-6 as a cost-effective instrument with which to measure community mental health in household surveys across populations that have various levels of infrastructure and literacy. The K-6 instrument which is a semi-structured questionnaire includes six non-specific psychometric items measuring negative affective states or psychological distress. We also collect socioeconomic data during the survey which enabled us to study the determinants of common mental health conditions among urban and rural households in Ghana. Urban and rural communities were analysed separately because they may demonstrate different determinants of CMDs. We report the outcome of the simple non-psychometric survey as well as the results from logistic regressions showing the factors that affect common mental disorders among the survey respondents. The results show that both urban and rural groups experienced diminished mental health during the food and fuel price hikes of 2008 and 2009, and from the global financial crises over the same period, compared with those who reported no mental distress. The coefficients from the logistic regression estimated by the maximum likelihood show spatial variations in mental health indicators by age, education, and per capita income. For this study, gender did not appear to be a good predictor of any of the specific psychological distress measures assessed

Common mental disorders, economic growth and development

A largenumber of studies have attempted to discern the causes of low productivity and slow growth in the developing countriesespecially in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).The effects of global economic integration, corruption, geography, financial aid and human capital indicators such as education have been widely explored. Despite the significant contribution of common mental disorders (CMDs) to poverty and to the burden of disease, mainstream growth analyses have not yet integrated the body of scholarship that identifies the linkages between CMDs and growth. This paper explores the theoretical and empirical macro-growth effects of CMDs in sub-Saharan Africa. It further explores the performance of a non-psychometric instrument known as the K-6 as a cost-effective instrument with which to measure community mental health in household surveys across populations that have various levels of infrastructure and literacy.Preliminary theorizing and evidence suggest that improvement in CMDs is likely to be a stimulus to growth in SSA. The interviewer administered K-6 instrument has also proven itself to be robust for use in non-psychometric or general household mental health studies