Knowledge and coverage of Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) in Eritrea

Objective: To explore the level of knowledge on prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV in both men 15-54 years and women 15-49 years of age. Methods: A community-based survey was conducted in October-November 2005 in 45 sub zones of Eritrea. Data were collected using the Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) method. Results: Although 81.8% of men 15-54 and 75.5% of women 15-49 years of age know that HIV can be transmitted from mother to the child, only 33.7 % of men and 26% of women know that the risk of transmission can be reduced. The result varies across zones and various socio-demographic characteristics. Conclusion: Although there is high awareness on the risk of HIV transmission from the mother to the child, the knowledge that the risk can be reduced is very low and extensive education for both men and women is recommende

General Samora Yenus: Profile, Sudanese award, Expert comment

Unless otherwise indicated, all text posts are original productions of HornAffairs. If you copy and re-publish this post, you shall include a link to this page as well as a clear reference to HornAffairs and to the author.Sudanese President Al-Bashir honoured General Samora Yenus, the Chief of Staff of the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF), with the highest military medal, the Order of the two Niles. The former rebel commander, Samora, has been in charge of the army’s military commitment in the region and the continent for a decade and a half. According to the UK’s Professor Ann Fitz-Gerald, the Sudanese military medal award “has significance for Sudan, Ethiopia and the wider Horn of Africa region”

Groundwater Suitability for Irrigation: a Case Study from Debre Kidane Watershed, Eastern Tigray, Ethiopia

The present paper tries to assess groundwater suitability for irrigation purpose in Debre Kidane Watershed (45.09 km2), northern Ethiopia. The goal was to evaluate the suitability of the groundwater for irrigation, examine the water types and to investigate possible long and short term impact on groundwater quality. Thirty six water samples each were collected in rainy and dry (irrigation) seasons from the active shallow hand dug wells. The well selection for detailed study and water sampling was done using stratified followed by random sampling technique. The number of wells selected for study is accounting 10% of the total available hand dug wells in the area. Parameters such as electrical conductivity (EC), pH, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), temperature and other physical properties were recorded in the field. Major anions and cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, Na+, CO32-, HCO3-, Cl-, SO42- and NO3-) were analyzed in the laboratory. Chemical data suggests that the water type in the area though varies from Mg-HCO3, Ca-HCO3, Mg-Cl, Na-HCO3 to K- HCO3, predominantly it is mixed cation-HCO3 type in the rainy season; and Ca-HCO3 (Piper diagram) and Na-HCO3 (Stiff diagram) in irrigation season. Dominance of Na in irrigation season and increase in Sodium Absorption Ratio (SAR) are primarily due to possible increase of Na absorption in the soil replacing Ca. According to the guidelines for irrigation water quality, the groundwater is suitable for irrigation with some minor exceptions. In rainy season, 89% of the samples fall under the water class “good” and 11% “permissible” whereas in irrigation season only 30% are classified as “good” and 70% under “permissible” class. Toxicity in terms of SAR and salinity though presently under control and there is no specific toxicity effect on vegetables and field crops, however, there are indications of their increase in due course of time if proper measures are not taken. Keywords: Groundwater, Irrigation, Salinity, SAR, Toxicity, Water quality, Hand dug well, Ethiopia

Impact of child mortality and fertility preferences on fertility status in rural Ethiopia

Objectives: To determine the effects of child mortality and fertility preference on fertility status in rural Ethiopia. Design: Case-referent where the cases were women with number of children ever born alive was less than five and controls were women with number of children ever born alive greater or equal to five. Setting: Butajira rural health project study base which is a field epidemiologic laboratory found 35 Kms south of the capital city of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa run by the Department of Community Health of Tikur Anbessa Medical Faculty. Main outcome measures: Fertility status measured by number of children ever born alive; death of a child or an infant is a predictor. Subjects: A total of 219 women with number of children ever born alive less than five and 899 women with number of children ever born alive greater or equal to five were included in the study. Results: Child mortality affected number of children ever born alive significantly (OR= 7.39, 95% CI: 4.62, 9.08). As the number of children died increased proportionally, there is a proportional increase in the risk of higher fertility (X2 for trend 4.92, d.f =4, p-value 0.02). Number of children desired before marriage, desire for more children and sex preference were not associated with increased fertility in this study. Of all the socio-demographic and reproductive variables, later age at first marriage and first birth showed lower number of children ever born alive with (OR= 1.82, 95 % CI: 1.24, 2.83) and (OR= 3.08, 95 % Cl: 2.03, 4.68) respectively. Breast-feeding duration of more than six months showed association with less number of children ever born alive (OR= 1.92, 95% CI: 1.30,2.80). Conclusion: The study finding implies high fertility status is strongly associated with child death and hence measures that curb child mortality are believed to decrease fertility status besides promoting child survival. East African Medical Journal Vol.81(6) 2004: 300-30

Commercialization of vegetable production in Alamata Woreda, Northern Ethiopia: processes and impact

The Raya valley in Tigray where Alamata Woreda is located, has fertile soil, suitable climate and rich water resources to grow various crops including vegetables. Surface water from seasonal rivers/streams and small dams and ground water extracted from deep and shallow wells with various water lifting devices are the two main sources of water for irrigation in the Woreda. A participatory rural appraisal (PRA) study conducted by the Woreda stakeholders and facilitated by IPMS identified (irrigated) vegetables as a potential marketable commodity in 2005. Using the commodity value chain approach, production, input supply and marketing problems and opportunities were identified. Major problems were lack of interest partly as a result of market failure in the past, lack of agronomic and irrigation knowledge and skills resulting in lack of use of advanced agronomic inputs (e.g. seeds) and underutilization of modern irrigation facilitates (most of the deep wells established were not used and/or underutilized). Different extension approaches were used including study tours to change the mind-set and to acquire knowledge for experts and farmers. Following various production interventions, market linkages were created which resulted in better prices (from 0.70Birr/kg before 2005 to 3-5Birr/kg in the following years). Farmer to farmer communications, trainings, workshops and media coverage facilitated the further dissemination of knowledge and skills between PAs in Alamata and neighboring Woredas. As a result of these interventions, the area of irrigated onion, pepper and tomato tripled in size from 351 ha in 2004/05 to 1113 ha in 2008/09. The lion share of this increase was due to a ten fold increase in onion area from 84 ha in 2004/05 to 824 ha in 2008/09. Most of this increase took place in the spate irrigated areas where plots previously used for cereal crops (sorghum and teff) were converted to vegetables. Both women and men farmers benefited from the intervention. Many farmers managed to construct houses in town and were able to own different assets. The further expansion of the (irrigated) vegetable production in Alamata is feasible. However, more attention needs to be paid to improving productivity, especially in the spate irrigated areas since no clear evidence was found that area increase was accompanied by productivity increase, indicating lack of adequate institutional and farmers’ knowledge and skills. Also adverse weather conditions during the 2008 harvesting season, resulted in considerable crop spoilage and lower prices – indicating the risk associated with this commodity under rain-fed conditions. Finally, potential salinity problems should also be taken into account

Intestinal parasitic infection and nutritional status among school children in Angolela, Ethiopia

ntroduction. Gastrointestinal parasitic infections are most prevalent in populations with low household income, poor han- dling of personal and environmental sanitation, overcrowding, and limited access to clean water. We conducted this study to esti- mate the prevalence of parasitic infection and nutritional status, and to evaluate the extent to which the two are associated among schoolchildren in rural Ethiopia. Methods. This is a cross sectional study of 664 students aged from 6 to 19 years old from Angolela, Ethiopia. Socio-demo- graphic information was collected using a structured question- naire. Anthropometric measurements were taken at the time of interview. Examinations of fecal samples for helminthic and pro- tozoan parasitic infections were performed. Logistic regression procedures were employed to evaluate the association between stunting, underweightedness, and wasting with parasitic infec- tions. Results. One-third of the participants were found to have a protozoan infection, while 7.1% were found to have a helminhic infection. Approximately 11% of the students were stunted, 19.6% were wasted, and 20.8% were underweight. Severely underweight boys were 3.88-times as likely as boys of adequate weight (odds ratio OR = 3.88, 95% confidence interval CI: 1.12- 13.52) to be diagnosed with protozoan infections. Among girls, those who were severely stunted were approximately 12 times (OR = 11.84, 95%CI: 1.72-81.62) as likely to be infected with a helminthic parasite, than those who were not. Overall, there was a deficit in normal growth patterns as indicated by lower than average anthropometric measures. Discussion and conclusions. There is a high prevalence of intes- tinal parasitic infections. Stunting, wasting, and underweighted- ness were also prevalent, and showed patterns of associations with intestinal parasitic infections. Efforts should be made to strengthen and expand school and community-based programs that promote inexpensive, though effective, practices to prevent the spread of parasitic diseases. Initiatives aimed at improving the nutritional status of school children are also needed

Fasciolosis: Prevalence, financial losses due to liver condemnation and evaluation of a simple sedimentation diagnostic technique in cattle slaughtered at Hawassa Municipal abattoir, southern Ethiopia

This study was carried out from November 2007 to April 2008 to determine the prevalence of fasciolosis and costs incurred due to liver condemnation and evaluate the sensitivity of direct sedimentation method for diagnosis of fasciolosis in cattle slaughtered at Hawassa Municipal abattoir. A total of 3251 adult indigenous cattle were slaughtered at the abattoir during the study period, of which 931 animals (28.63%) were found to be positive for fasciolosis. There was a statistically significant (χ2 = 33.10; p = 0.004) variation in prevalence between the study months where the highest (35.6%) and lowest (21.03%) prevalence were recorded in February and April, respectively. Fasciola hepatica (58.9%) was the predominant fluke identified compared to F. gigantica (10.6%). Mixed infections by both species and unidentified immature flukes were detected in 14.7% and 15.8% of the affected livers, respectively. The mean fluke burden in the affected livers was 55 flukes per liver. As to the severity of infection, 36.63%, 52.31% and 11.06% were lightly, moderately and severely affected, respectively. Moderately affected livers showed the highest mean fluke count (69 ± 1.91) followed by severely (48 ± 1.71) and lightly affected ones (25 ± 1.75) signifying the presence of acquired resistance and local tissue reaction as chronicity of infection supervenes. Taking liver examination as gold standard for diagnosis of fasciolosis, the sensitivity of the direct sedimentation technique was found to be 67.13% and the specificity 100% with substantial agreement (k = 0.74) between the two methods. The financial loss due to liver condemnation was estimated to be 106,400 Ethiopian birr (8312.5 USD) per annum. In conclusion, the observation of such a level of infection in the dry season, high fluke pathogenicity and substantial financial loss associated with condemnation of infected livers warrants the institution of appropriate control measures. Keywords: Cattle, fasciolosis, financial loss, Hawassa abattoir, prevalence, southern Ethiopi

Knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of hygiene among school children in Angolela, Ethiopia

Introduction. Poor hygiene practices and inadequate sanitary conditions play major roles in the increased burden of communi- cable diseases within developing countries. This study evaluated the KAP of hygiene among rural school children in Ethiopia and assessed the extent to which proper knowledge of hygiene was associated with personal hygiene characteristics. Methods. This cross-sectional study was comprised of 669 students who were interviewed by trained staff. Participants were in grades 1-6 at Angolela Primary School, located in rural Ethiopia. Data consisted of hygiene and hand washing practices, knowledge about sanitation, personal hygiene characteristics, and presence of gastrointestinal parasitic infection. Results. Approximately 52% of students were classified as having adequate knowledge of proper hygiene. Most students reported hand washing before meals (99.0%), but only 36.2% reporte

Electroluminescence from Localized Defects in Zinc Oxide: Toward Electrically Driven Single Photon Sources at Room Temperature

© 2015 American Chemical Society. Single photon sources are required for a wide range of applications in quantum information science, quantum cryptography, and quantum communications. However, the majority of room temperature emitters to date are only excited optically, which limits their proper integration into scalable devices. In this work, we overcome this limitation and present room temperature electrically driven light emission from localized defects in zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles and thin films. The devices emit in the red spectral range and show excellent rectifying behavior. The emission is stable over an extensive period of time, providing an important prerequisite for practical devices. Our results open possibilities for building new ZnO-based quantum integrated devices that incorporate solid-state single photon sources for quantum information technologies. (Graph Presented)

Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome among Working Adults in Ethiopia

Objective. To evaluate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and Adult Treatment Panel (ATP) III criteria among working East African adults. Design. This cross-sectional study of 1,935 individuals (1,171 men and 764 women) was conducted among working adults in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The study was conducted in accordance with the STEPwise approach of the World Health Organization. Results. According to ATP III and IDF definitions, the overall prevalence of MetS was 12.5% and 17.9%, respectively. Using ATP III criteria, the prevalence of MetS was 10.0% in men and 16.2% in women. Application of the IDF criteria resulted in a MetS prevalence of 14.0% in men and 24.0% in women. The most common MetS components among women were reduced high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) (23.2%) and abdominal obesity (19.6%); whilst reduced HDL-C concentrations (23.4%) and high blood pressure (21.8%) were most common among men. Conclusion. MetS and its individual components are prevalent among an apparently healthy working population in Ethiopia. These findings indicate the need for evidence-based health promotion and disease prevention programs; and more robust efforts directed towards the screening, diagnosis and management of MetS and its components among Ethiopian adults