Improving the energy system for a rural community in developing countries:Challenges and sustainable opportunities in using renewable energy resources in Ethiopia

Most people in rural developing countries do not have access to modern energy services for cooking, lighting and powering small appliances. The majority of them depends on traditional use of biomass energy for cooking. Heavy reliance on traditional use of biomass energy imposes huge environmental and health consequences. A lot of efforts have been made to provide modern energy to alleviate the problems. However, most of these are not successful to achieve the desired objectives due to constraints related to technical capacity of the people to use the technology, to economic capacity to afford the costs and to cultural barriers to accept the technology. This PhD project aims to investigate the availability of renewable energy resources and suitable technologies matching local demands and resources. Biomass and solar energy resources and technologies are emphasized and analyzed at both small and large scales. The results show that the available renewable energy potentials are huge; however, their electrical energy is only suitable to meet the lighting and small electric appliance demand. Biogas energy can be technically mature and suitable for the cooking demand, but about 80% of the households do not have sufficient bio-wastes to produce sufficient biogas for their demand. The available bio-wastes are promising to meet the cooking demand when considered at a village scale. However, its sustainability relies on the availability of resources close-by. Hence, biogas system integration can be a better option to achieve sustainable production at lower labor costs, which requires an enabling policy

Prevalence of Low Self-esteem and Mental Distress among Undergraduate Medical Students in Jimma University: A Cross- Sectional Study

BACKGROUND፡ Medical students often experience chronic stress. Self-esteem is one of the most important factors in the process of psychosocial growth and has remarkable effect on thoughts, feelings, values, and goals. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and associated factors of low self-esteem (LSE) and mental distress among Medical Students of Jimma University.METHOD: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Jimma University from June to July, 2018. Self-esteem was measured with Rosenberg self-esteem scale. Self-administered Short form with General Health Questionnaire was used to assess presence of mental distress.RESULT: Out of 422 students enrolled to the study, 279 (66.1%) were male, and 413 (97.9 %) were 18 to 25 years of age. The prevalence of LSE and mental distress were 19.0%, and 19.7 %, respectively. Students who had LSE had 5 times higher risk of having mental distress, AOR= 5.1 (95% CI, 2.9-8.9). Moreover, female students had higher risk of developing mental distress (AOR=1.9, 95% CI, 1.1-3.3). Students who had poor social support were 4.3 times at higher risk of developing LSE, AOR=4.3 (95% CI, 1.9-9.8). Those who reported to have poor academic performance were also more likely to have LSE AOR= 3.7 (95% CI, 1.3- 10.0).CONCLUSION: One in five medical students had LSE and it is strongly associated with metal distress. Female students were at higher risk of mental distress. Preventive, curative and rehabilitative mental health services should be available for medical students with particular attention to those with poorsocial support

Interaction effects of air pollutants on respiratory and cardiovascular emergency hospital admissions in the Netherlands

Several epidemiological studies were reported world wide on the association between ambient air pol-lution and acute health problems such as mortality or respiratory and cardiovascular emergency hospi-tal admissions. Differences in susceptibility among sub-groups of the population to the effects of am-bient air pollution exposure on health were also reported. However, the interaction effects of air pol-lutants on acute health problems remain unclear. Given the fact that, in real life, people are not ex-posed to single pollutants but to a mixture of pollutants, studying the interaction effects between pol-lutants on health is very relevant. Findings of animal and human experimental studies indicate the interaction effect of air pollutants especially on pulmonary toxicological responses. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the epidemiologic interaction effects of air pollutants on respiratory and car-diovascular emergency hospital admissions. The investigation was carried out on 1,020,575 respira-tory, asthma, COPD and cardiovascular emergency hospital admissions during the winter and summer seasons of the years 1992-1999 in The Netherlands. For the investigation we used a case-crossover study design. The case-crossover study design is similar to a case-control study whereby each person who had an event is matched with his/herself on a nearby time period where he or she did not have the event. Conditional logistic regression is used for single and multi-pollutant modelling. Our investiga-tion indicates more admissions during winter than summer. The level of concentration of PM10, BS, SO2 and NO2 was higher during winter while the level of concentration of O3 is higher during summer. We found positive associations between PM10, BS, SO2 and NO2 with respiratory and cardiovascular admissions during winter and between O3 and admissions during summer. The investigation for inter-action of pollutants indicates synergistic and antagonistic effects. The synergistic effect was mainly evident with O3 and SO2 on all cause-specific admissions. For respiratory admissions we found syner-gistic effects between O3 and SO2 during both winter (RR=1.032(95%CI, 1.015, 1.050)) and summer (RR=1.026(95%CI, 1.020, 1.031)) and for cardiovascular admissions a synergistic effect between O3 and SO2 was seen during the summer season (RR=1.010 (95%CI, 1.006, 1.014)). The synergistic ef-fects of BS and SO2 with O3 were more pronounced with asthma admissions during summer and for COPD admissions synergistic effects of NO2 and SO2 with O3 were observed during winter. The syn-ergistic effects of these pollutants are consistent with prior animal and human experimental studies although disease-specific findings are lacking in those studies. In contrast, antagonistic interaction effects were observed between PM10 and O3 on respiratory and cardiovascular admissions. Pollutants with smaller size and chemically reactive undergo positive interaction with O3 and therefore we rec-ommend the reconsideration of interaction effects of air pollutants in air pollution regulation and stan-dardization from a public health perspectives.

Universal Use of Face Masks and Related Challenges During COVID-19 in Developing Countries

BACKGROUND: Governments have imposed physical and social distancing measures together with hand hygiene to contain COVID-19. However, maintaining the recommended social distancing less likely applicable in developing countries where the majority of the people depend on daily income. Countries like Ethiopia imposed universal use of face masks as an additional measure. AIM: This study aims to review and present the advantage and challenges of imposing universal use of face masks in the community and to forward possible recommendations. METHODS: The study was synthesized using a narrative literature review approach involving COVID-19 databases, published literature on COVID-19, and relevant news. RESULTS: The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Ethiopia was reported on March 13, 2020. Consequently, the government has taken swift actions including social distancing and strict hygienic measures to contain its transmission. However, new cases have started to increase with local transmission. Hence, the country imposed additional measures including universal use of face masks at public places. The universal use of masks requires a sufficient supply of masks with affordable costs. Moreover, awareness of the proper use of face masks and its disposal is another challenge affecting its effectiveness against corona virus infection. CONCLUSION: Universal use of face masks can contribute to the containment of the virus in the community if adequately available and properly used and managed after use. Encouraging local production with clear guidance, demonstration, and awareness creation helps to improve the accessibility and effectiveness of face masks particularly among the vulnerable population

Antibacterial efficacy of local plants and their contribution to public health in rural Ethiopia

Abstract Background Proper hand hygiene with soap and detergents prevents the transmission of many infectious diseases. However, commercial detergents are less likely to be accessible or affordable to poor people in remote rural areas. These people traditionally use some plant parts as a detergent even though their antibacterial activity has not been yet investigated. Therefore, this study aims to determine the antibacterial activities of some of the plants against bacteria isolated from humans. Methods Plants selected for this study are Phytolacca dodecandra fruits, Rumex nepalensis leaves, Grewia ferruginea bark and leaves. The samples of these plants were collected from rural areas of Jimma town based on their ethno-botanical survey and information on their local use. Acetone was used as a solvent to extract the bioactive constituents of the plants. The antibacterial activities of the plants were evaluated against reference strains and bacteria isolated from humans using disc diffusion and macro dilution methods. Results The plant extracts have shown varying antimicrobial activities against the bacterial species tested. Susceptibility testing shows zones of inhibition ranging from 8.0 ± 1.0 mm to 20.7 ± 5.5 mm. The MIC and MBC of the plants against the bacterial species tested were 3.13 and 12.5 mg/ml respectively. These variations are attributed to different concentrations of the bioactive constituents of the extracts like saponins, tannins, flavonoids and terpenoids. Conclusion The studied plants can contribute to achieve better personal hygiene since they are effective against different bacterial agents and are freely available in rural areas

Assessment of renewable energy resources potential for large scale and standalone applications in Ethiopia

This study aims to determine the contribution of renewable energy to large scale and standalone application in Ethiopia. The assessment starts by determining the present energy system and the available potentials. Subsequently, the contribution of the available potentials for large scale and standalone applications are determined taking into account the present energy system. The present energy system shows a large variation between urban and rural consumption. Almost all rural households depend on traditional biomass-based energy for cooking, while about 90% of urban households use electricity for lighting. The current national energy consumption from petroleum and electricity only accounts for 7% of the total energy demand; implying the largest energy need for cooking. The current annual Ethiopian household's energy demand for cooking is ten times as large as the household use for cooking in western countries. About 90% of the energy is lost to the ambient air as a result of the inefficient conversion system during cooking. However, the country has an annual exploitable electric energy potential of 7.5 PWh from solar energy, 4 PWh from wind energy and 0.2 PWh from hydroelectric energy. These renewable sources can supply enough energy to fulfill the demand; however, the energy carrier (electricity) is not appropriate for heating/cooking food, since cooking appliances on electricity are expensive in rural areas. While renewable energy sources can fulfill energy needs at a national scale, they are not at all suitable for fulfilling energy needs in rural areas except lighting and some elementary services. Therefore prevailing western approaches to renewable energy supply systems do not solve energy problems in developing countries. This shows the urgent need for addressing the energy demand for cooking. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Problems with biogas implementation in developing countries from the perspective of labor requirements

Most households in rural developing countries depend on firewood from public forests or agricultural bio-wastes for cooking. Public forests, though, are declining due to an increasing population and inefficient use of wood. Use of agricultural wastes on the other hand involves loss of soil nutrients since these resources are used as a substitute for inorganic fertilizers. Biogas energy can be an alternative in providing clean energy for cooking as well as improving soil fertility with the slurry. However, the labor spent on producing biogas can limit its use as a source of energy and fertilizers. Therefore, this study aims to determine the labor requirement of different mono and co-digestion biogas energy systems. The assessment is made by using simple models involving different schemes of resources collection and transportation based on reported relevant literature. The analysis shows that biogas production can be labor intensive when transportation of feedstock, water, and slurry is involved. Transporting these resources over a one kilometer (km) distance requires about ten times the amount of time spent on firewood collection and transportation. The largest part of the time for biogas production activities is spent on water collection and transportation. Low labor biogas production is possible only if all the resources are available nearby (not transported). One of the advantages of the biogas energy system is to use the slurry for soil enrichment. However, this can only be realized when the slurry is converted to compost or directly applied on nearby lands. In general, biogas production involving resources (feedstock, water and slurry) transportation is not a viable alternative to save the time spent on the traditional use of firewood. However, a community biogas system involving resource system integration is an option to provide clean energy with acceptable labor requirements of production