Global Journalist: President Bush visits Africa

In this July 10, 2003 episode of Global Journalist, host Stuart Loory leads a discussion on President Bush's visit to Africa and his effort to alleviate the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Host: Stuart Loory. Guests: David Ouma Balikowa, Winston Ojukutu Macauley, David E. Ahaneku, Raymond Lowe. Directors: Pat Akers. Producers: Yusuf Kalyango, Sarah Katan

Estimating the burden of selected non-communicable diseases in Africa: a systematic review of the evidence

Background The burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is rapidly increasing globally, and particularly in Africa, where the health focus, until recently, has been on infectious diseases. The response to this growing burden of NCDs in Africa has been affected owing to a poor understanding of the burden of NCDs, and the relative lack of data and low level of research on NCDs in the continent. Recent estimates on the burden of NCDs in Africa have been mostly derived from modelling based on data from other countries imputed into African countries, and not usually based on data originating from Africa itself. In instances where few data were available, estimates have been characterized by extrapolation and over-modelling of the scarce data. It is therefore believed that underestimation of NCDs burden in many parts of Africa cannot be unexpected. With a gradual increase in average life expectancy across Africa, the region now experiencing the fastest rate of urbanization globally, and an increase adoption of unhealthy lifestyles, the burden of NCDs is expected to rise. This thesis will, therefore, be focussing on understanding the prevalence, and/or where there are available data, the incidence, of four major NCDs in Africa, which have contributed highly to the burden of NCDs, not only in Africa, but also globally. Methods I conducted a systematic search of the literature on three main databases (Medline, EMBASE and Global Health) for epidemiological studies on NCDs conducted in Africa. I retained and extracted data from original population-based (cohort or cross sectional), and/or health service records (hospital or registry-based studies) on prevalence and/or incidence rates of four major NCDs in Africa. These include: cardiovascular diseases (hypertension and stroke), diabetes, major cancer types (cervical, breast, prostate, ovary, oesophagus, bladder, Kaposi, liver, stomach, colorectal, lung and non-Hodgkin lymphoma), and chronic respiratory diseases (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma). From extracted crude prevalence and incidence rates, a random effect meta-analysis was conducted and reported for each NCD. An epidemiological model was applied on all extracted data points. The fitted curve explaining the largest proportion of variance (best fit) from the model was further applied. The equation generated from the fitted curve was used to determine the prevalence and cases of the specific NCD in Africa at midpoints of the United Nations (UN) population 5-year age-group population estimates for Africa. Results From the literature search, studies on hypertension had the highest publication output at 7680, 92 of which were selected, spreading across 31 African countries. Cancer had 9762 publications and 39 were selected across 20 countries; diabetes had 3701 publications and 48 were selected across 28 countries; stroke had 1227 publications and 19 were selected across 10 countries; asthma had 790 publications and 45 were selected across 24 countries; and COPD had the lowest output with 243 publications and 13 were selected across 8 countries. From studies reporting prevalence rates, hypertension, with a total sample size of 197734, accounted for 130.2 million cases and a prevalence of 25.9% (23.5, 34.0) in Africa in 2010. This is followed by asthma, with a sample size of 187904, accounting for 58.2 million cases and a prevalence of 6.6% (2.4, 7.9); COPD, with a sample size of 24747, accounting for 26.3 million cases and a prevalence of 13.4% (9.4, 22.1); diabetes, with a sample size of 102517, accounting for 24.5 million cases and a prevalence of 4.0% (2.7, 6.4); and stroke, with a sample size of about 6.3 million, accounting for 1.94 million cases and a prevalence of 317.3 per 100000 population (314.0, 748.2). From studies reporting incidence rates, stroke accounted for 496 thousand new cases in Africa in 2010, with a prevalence of 81.3 per 100000 person years (13.2, 94.9). For the 12 cancer types reviewed, a total of 775 thousand new cases were estimated in Africa in 2010 from registry-based data covering a total population of about 33 million. Among women, cervical cancer and breast cancer had 129 thousand and 81 thousand new cases, with incidence rates of 28.2 (22.1, 34.3) and 17.7 (13.0, 22.4) per 100000 person years, respectively. Among men, prostate cancer and Kaposi sarcoma closely follows with 75 thousand and 74 thousand new cases, with incidence rates of 14.5 (10.9, 18.0) and 14.3 (11.9, 16.7) per 100000 person years, respectively. Conclusion This study suggests the prevalence rates of the four major NCDs reviewed (cardiovascular diseases (hypertension and stroke), diabetes, major cancer types, and chronic respiratory diseases (COPD and asthma) in Africa are high relative to global estimates. Due to the lack of data on many NCDs across the continent, there are still doubts on the true prevalence of these diseases relative to the current African population. There is need for improvement in health information system and overall data management, especially at country level in Africa. Governments of African nations, international organizations, experts and other stakeholders need to invest more on NCDs research, particularly mortality, risk factors, and health determinants to have evidenced-based facts on the drivers of this epidemic in the continent, and prompt better, effective and overall public health response to NCDs in Africa

IMPACT OF WASTE WATER ON IRRIGATION WATER QUALITY IN MINNA, NIGERIA.

Irrigation water from two typical suburbs in Nigeria; namely Minna Abattoir and Maizube Farm were analysed to ascertain the impact of waste water on their quality. The parameters investigated include total dissolved solids (TDS), electrical conductivity (ECw), pH, temperature, turbidity, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and some major cations and anions found in the waste water. The analysis was replicated three times for each of the sampled sites. The results obtained were compared with international irrigation water quality standards. The study revealed that there were no adverse effects of the discharge effluents on the receiving watershed, and thus did not impair negatively on the quality of the irrigation water

IMPACT OF WASTE WATER ON IRRIGATION WATER QUALITY IN MINNA, NIGERIA.

Irrigation water from two typical suburbs in Nigeria; namely Minna Abattoir and Maizube Farm were analysed to ascertain the impact of waste water on their quality. The parameters investigated include total dissolved solids (TDS), electrical conductivity (ECw), pH, temperature, turbidity, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and some major cations and anions found in the waste water. The analysis was replicated three times for each of the sampled sites. The results obtained were compared with international irrigation water quality standards. The study revealed that there were no adverse effects of the discharge effluents on the receiving watershed, and thus did not impair negatively on the quality of the irrigation water

GENERATION OF RIVER DISCHARGE USING WATER BALANCE COMPUTER MODEL: APPLICATION TO RIVER OYUN, KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

The paper presents a study on river discharge generation using a water balance computer model. The results of the data generated shows that the computer program designed gave a good prediction of the recorded discharge within 95% confidence interval. The model is therefore recommended for other catchments with similar hydrological and soil characteristics

GENERATION OF RIVER DISCHARGE USING WATER BALANCE COMPUTER MODEL: APPLICATION TO RIVER OYUN, KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

The paper presents a study on river discharge generation using a water balance computer model. The results of the data generated shows that the computer program designed gave a good prediction of the recorded discharge within 95% confidence interval. The model is therefore recommended for other catchments with similar hydrological and soil characteristics

Waste orange seeds (Citrus sinensis seed) transformation, a viable industrial bio-oil: Oil extraction, physicochemical characterization and vital instrumental analyses studies

The processing of Petroleum-based oil has contributed to environmental challenges such as climate change. Recently, research attention has been shifted to oil extraction from different non-edible seeds as a suitable substitute. Accordingly, this study examines the physiochemical characterization, and the effect of extraction temperature on the yield of waste Citrus sinensis seed [orange seed (OS)] bio oil. Studies on the prevalent functional group, fatty acid methyl ester compositions and thermal oxidative stability were carried out using the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GCMS) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), respectively. The oil content of the OS bio oil was 46.26%w/w. The high iodine number (31.47 mg/100 g) and low pour point (4.50 °C) of the OS bio oil showed its high content of unsaturated fatty acid. The FTIR functional group of the OS bio oil showed predominantly alkane of CH stretching, aldehydes, esters, and carboxylic acid. The chemical composition of the OS bio oil as determined by GCMS (massHunter/library/NIST 14.1) showed the occurrence of octadecadienoic and oleic acids as poly-saturated and saturated fat found in plant glycosides and vegetable fats and oil. The DSC thermal stability analysis showed the possible existence of mixed triglycerides. Finally, the result from the physiochemical characterization compositions, and functional group the OS bio oil indicated its potential as a suitable substitute for petroleum-based oil

Changes in remnant-like particle cholesterol level during treatment of hypertension with amlodipine and cilnidipine

This study was designed to determine the effect of antihypertensive agents (calcium channel blockers) on the levels of remnant-like particle (RLP) cholesterol; a major risk factor for coronary heart disease, during treatment of hypertension. Thirty six hypertensive patients of both sexes were selected into this study. Twenty-five of them were treated with amlodipine while eleven patients were treated with cilnidipine all for 3 months. At the beginning and after 3 months of treatment, serum RLP-cholesterol levels were measured in the two treatment groups. RLP-cholesterol level was significantly reduced after clinidipine treatment while the reduction in RLP-cholesterol level after amlodipine treatment was not statistically significant. Our findings show that calcium channel blockers may lower the risk of myocardial infarction, coronary atherosclerosis and/or coronary thrombus formation through reduction in RLP-cholesterol levels during antihypertensive pharmacotherapy. Key Words: RLP-cholesterol, amlodipine, cilnidipine, hypertension treatment. Journal of Biomedical Investigation Vol.2(2) 2004: 72-7