Climate Change: A mounting public health menace in Ethiopia

Globally, climate change has become one of the predominant public health concerns of the 21st century. There are diverse perspectives on climate change and the challenges it poses to society. Despite evident controversies the consequences of rising heat levels, steady and persistent variability in temperatures, alterations in the pattern of rainfall, continued environmental degradation, and an increase in the frequency and coverage of droughts and floods are evident (1).Forecasts for Ethiopia indicate that the amount of annual rainfall and number of rainy days will decrease in some parts of the country by 2080 (2)

Inter cell interference modeling and analysis in long term evolution (LTE)

Long Term Evolution (LTE) is promising standard for data rate and system capacity (coverage) in wirelesses communication history. Inter cell interference (ICI) is a dominate impairment of LTE systems. In interference, modeling and analysis have focused on the first tier only, but considering ICI arises from the second tier is very crucial in communication system standard and implementations too. In this research work interference modeling is proposed and analyzed for the first two subsequent tires under various channel environments. The work is analytically quantified with respect to standard parameters and system models using Matlab and other supportive tools. Thus, link level simulation results demonstrate, ICI beyond the first tier becomes active in urban environment and the smaller cell size increases ICI power in LTE

The prevalence and pattern of HPV-16 immunostaining in uterine cervical carcinomas in Ethiopian women: a pilot study

INTRODUCTION: Cancer of the cervix uteri is the second most common cancer among women worldwide. The association of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection with cervical carcinogenesis is well documented. This is a pilot study aiming to studying the prevalence and the pattern of Human Papilloma Virus Type 16 (HPV16) by immunostaining in the tissues of cervical carcinomas of Ethiopian women. METHODS: 20 specimens of uterine cervical carcinomas were studied histopathologically and immunohistochemically for HPV16. RESULTS: Histologically the specimens were classified as: Ten cases were Non Keratinized Squamous cell carcinoma (NKSCC), six cases were Keratinized Squamous Cell Carcinoma (KSCC) and four cases were Adenocarcinoma (ADC). Immunohistochemistry study showed positivity in eleven cases (55%); seven cases (35%) were non-keratinized squamous cell carcinoma; three cases (15%) were keratinized squamous cell carcinoma and one case (5%) belonged to the adenocarcinomas. CONCLUSION: This study reveals a significant detection of HPV in Ethiopian women by the use of advanced techniques such as Immunohistochemistry (IHC). The data of this study suggested that the marked expression of the HPV 16 was in the less differentiated uterine cervix carcinoma

Epidemiology of preventable risk factors for non-communicable diseases among adult population in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

The purpose of this study was to assess the epidemiology of preventable risk factors for NCDs among the adult population in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional design was employed to describe the distribution of behavioural and biological risk factors for NCDs, assess the status of knowledge, perceptions, attitude and behaviour of the study participants for NCDs and their risk factors, and a matched case-control study to identify the determinants of hypertension. The data was collected using a structured questionnaire for the interview, physical measurements including weight and height scales, non-elastic measuring tape for waist and hip circumferences, Omron digital BP apparatus for blood pressure and heart rate; Accutrend Plus for measuring fasting blood glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides. For the descriptive cross-sectional study a total of 2347 participants were included, and for the matched case control study a total of 117 cases and 235 controls participated. Behavioural and biological risk factors were assessed. Only 0.8% of the study participants used optimal fruit serving per day. The prevalence of low level physical activity (<600 MET-minutes/week) was 44.8%. The magnitude of ever alcohol consumption was 66.8%. However, the magnitude of khat chewing and tobacco smoking among the study participants was not as high as the other risk factors i.e. 3.3% and 2.3% respectively. The magnitude of hypertension, central obesity, hyperglycaemia, hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia was 9.9%, 22.2%, 3.5%, 30.3% and 32.2% respectively. Factors associated with the risks aforementioned were gender, age, place of residence, education, knowledge status on NCDs, mental stress and others. The status of knowledge on CVDs, breast and cervical cancers, diabetes and their potential risk factors was low and not comprehensive. Misconceptions on NCDs and body size and shape were pervasive. Risky behaviours underlying NCDs were rampant in the study population. Factors related to poor knowledge on NCDs were gender, age, place of residence, education and misconceptions on NCDs. The determinants of hypertension were physical inactivity, duration of alcohol intake, central obesity and mental stress. Awareness raising interventions on NCDs and their risk factors; improving socio-economic status and accessibility to health care settings have to be in place to curb these formidable problems.Health StudiesD. Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies

One Health Approach for the Control of Zoonotic Diseases

Zoonoses are infectious diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans and/or from humans to animals. Approximately 75% of new emerging and re-emerging disease pathogens are zoonotic: 60% spread from domestic and wild animals, and 80% are of concern regarding bioterrorism. For the past 20 years, the world has faced several zoonotic disease outbreaks. Some zoonoses can cause recurring outbreaks, such as Ebola virus disease, salmonellosis, Marburg disease, rabies and anthrax. Still others, such as the novel coronavirus causing COVID-19, have the potential to cause worldwide pandemics. The high risk of emerging and reemerging disease spillover and burden has been increased by extensive interactions among animals, humans and ecosystems. Hence, this complex health threat strongly requires a multi-sectoral collaboration known as the One Health approach. This article discusses recent scientific policies, initiatives, best practices, systems and challenges in One Health. The critical rapid review method was used, with a particular emphasis on available and recent global information. Literature found in Google Scholar and PubMed, and data publicly available on the websites of major global, regional and national organizations were included. The aim of this article is to provide compiled information and increase awareness

Trainees’ Perceptions towards the Practice of Competency Based Assessment for Learning in Oromia Colleges: In Particular to Shambu, Nakamte and D/Dollo CTE

This study investigated Trainees’ perceptions towards the practice of competency based assessment for learning in Shambu,Nakamte and D/Dollo College of Teachers Education in Oromia Region to realize their perceptions. Therefore, descriptive design was used. A close-ended and open-ended questionnaire items with five point Likert scale was administered to thirty two trainers. In addition, to substantiate the data obtained through questionnaires, interviews with 4 experienced instructors were also held. The quantitative data was analyzed to determine the status of instructors’ perception towards the practice of CBAFL. The qualitative data which was collected using interview was described qualitatively using narrative analysis. Results of the study revealed that instructors’ have unfavorable perception towards the practice of AFL. They perceived that the practice of CBAFL in the faculty was more of theoretical and most of them assumed that students need further practical training to perform to the standard in the actual job situations. Regarding the factors that affect the practice of assessment, almost all the participants believe the following are main factors: A heavy influence of the earlier approach to methods of teaching and assessment (behaviorist) which is usually practiced by instructors; instructors give more attention to grading instead of enabling trainees to be competent through careful engagement of practical assessment tools; in addition the participants of the study also enlisted the following as main factors: trainees are not responsible for their own learning; they give priority to passing exams rather than developing competence; lack of clarity on competence-based assessment among trainee and instructors. Large numbers of respondents held the view that the practice of CBAFL was not in line with future job requirements of the graduates

Study on knowledge, attitude and dog ownership patterns related to rabies prevention and control in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The study was conducted from May 2003 to August 2003 in Addis Ababa with the objective of understanding the distribution of stray and owned dogs, dog ownership patterns and attitudes of people towards rabies and its prevention and control methods. A total of 2390 households were selected from 6 Sub Cities of Addis Ababa using stratified random sampling and were interviewed using structured questionnaires. From the total households interviewed, 969 (40.5%) of them were known to own one or more dogs, and the total number of owned dogs was estimated to be 225,078. Male dogs make up 1042 (78.4%) of the total owned dogs. Almost half of all the dogs 463 (47.8%) were tied only for some time during the day whereas 320 (33.1%) of the dogs were not tied at all and freely move from place to place and contribute to high dog bites in human beings and for the widespread occurrence of canine rabies in Addis Ababa. Six hundred fifty five (67.6%) of the interviewed households who owned dogs had a well fenced house. Most of the owned dogs 856 (88.4%) get their food from their owners and only 321 (33.3%) of the owners reported that they let their dogs to be vaccinated while the majority of the owners 644 (66.5%) do not let their dogs vaccinated regularly. A significant proportion of the interviewed households 2,323 (97.2%), (P &lt; 0.05) indicated that they have the knowledge that dogs, cats and other animals can transmit rabies to humans and 1,752 (73.4%) of the households replied that rabies can be transmitted through bite, scratch and lick to open wounds. Analysis of the list of 2400 post exposure human antirabies treatments recorded at the EHNRI Zoonoses Laboratory from February 2002 to October 2003 showed that the most common animals involved in biting people were dogs. A total of 2198 (91.6%) people were bitten by dogs during the same period and most of them, 2053 (85.5%) were bitten on their hands and legs. All the above data indicated the need for a strong and coordinated rabies control activities to be conducted in the city