Burden And Pattern Of Cancer In Western Kenya

Background: Cancer regisries worldwide have evolved to provide useful information on the burden and diversity of the patterns of cancer, information that is vital for establishing appropriate programmes for disease management. Population based data on cancer in western Kenya as captured in the Eldoret cancer registry established in1999 is analysed and reported in this paper.Objective: To determine the burden and pattern of cancer in Western Kenya by use of data from the Eldoret cancer registry.Design: Retrospective study.Setting: The cancer registry located in the Department of Haematology at the Moi University, School of Medicine situated at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya. The hospital has a catchment population of 13 to 15 million people forming about 40% of the Kenyan population.Results: A total of 5,366 patients were diagnosed to have cancer and attended to at the MTRH and other hospitals in Eldoret during the period between January 1999 and December 2006 giving an average of 671 cases per year. Among those treated 2,699 were males and 2,667 were females giving a M: F ratio of 1:1. About 21% of the patients had haematological malignancies with non-Hodgkins lymphoma being the most common.Another 79% of the patients had solid tumours with cancer of the oesophagus being the commonest. Cancer of the cervix and prostrate were the commonest among the females and males respectively. A general increase in the number of patients with Kaposis sarcoma associated with HIV/AIDS pandemic was observed.Conclusion: The burden of cancer is a significant health problem in western Kenya and there is need for the development of a comprehensive cancer care programme in the region to address the growing problem

Determinants In HIV Counselling And Testing In Couples In North Rift Kenya

Background: Voluntary HIV counselling and testing (VCT) has been shown to be an acceptable and effective tool in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Couple HIV Counselling and Testing (CHCT) however, is a relatively new concept whose acceptance and efficacy is yet to be determined.Objective: To describe factors that motivate couples to attend VCT as a couple. Design: A cross sectional qualitative study.Setting: Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and Moi University, School of Medicine, Eldoret, KenyaSubjects: Seventy one individuals were interviewed during KII (9) and dyad interviews (31 couples). Ten FGDs involving a total of 109 individuals were held. Results: Cultural practices, lack of CHCT awareness, stigma and fear of results deter CHCT utilisation. Location of centre where it is unlikely to be associated with HIV testing, qualified professional staff and minimal waiting times would enhance CHCT utilisation.Conclusions: CHCT as a tool in the fight against HIV/AIDS in this region of Kenya is feasible as the factors that would deter couples are not insurmountable

A Needs Assessment to Build International Research Ethics Capacity at Moi University

International Research Ethics Partnership. This online version is the post-print version (final, peer-reviewed and accepted for publication version) of the published article. For the published version, refer to the article citation within the item record.International collaborators in biomedical sciences face ethical challenges in the design,review, and conduct of research. Challenges include differences in research ethics capacity, cultural differences in interpretation and application of ethical principles, and cooperation between ethics review boards at collaborating institutions. Indiana University School of Medicine (Indianapolis, USA) and Moi University Faculty of Health Sciences (Eldoret, Kenya)developed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish greater cooperation between their ethics review boards, followed by a joint needs assessment to assess barriers to implementing the MOU. Focus groups and interviews at each institution revealed that while each side verbalized understanding and respect for the other's culture, there were misunderstandings deeply rooted in each culture that could potentially derail the collaboration. Although the participants at each university agreed on the major principles and issues in research ethics and on the importance attributed to them, a more in-depth evaluation of the responses revealed important differences. Methods to address these misunderstandings are outlined in the recommended Best Practices.Fogarty International Center at the NIH, Indiana University Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indiana University International Development Fund, Indiana Genomics Initiative, Lilly Endowment, Inc

Haemodialysis vascular access function in dialysis patients at the Kenyatta National Hospital

Background: The number of patients requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT) worldwide has been on the rise. Vascular access is the lifeline for these patients when haemodialysis (HD) is the treatment of choice. Access-related morbidity is a leading cause of hospitalization so that the function and patency of access are essential for the optimal management of patients. There is a need to recognize when a vascular access is dysfunctional because intervention must maintain function as well as preserve future vascular access sites.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that evaluated the haemodialysis vascular access function in patients undergoing chronic haemodialysis at the Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya. Peak access blood flow rates, urea reduction ratio (URR) and Kt/V were analysed in 150 patients.Results: The temporary (non-tunnelled) central venous dialysis catheters had poor function, with only 48% achieving a mean blood flow rate > 300 mL/min. The comparable rate for arteriovenous fistulae (AVF) was 88% and for tunnelled dialysis catheters 82%. One-quarter of the patients had a URR < 65%. Higher mean blood flow rates were associated with higher URR (P = 0.004) and Kt/V (P = 0.009) values. AVF stenosis was present in 12.5% and thrombosis in 3% of patients. Aneurysms were the commonest AVF complication (47%) but were not haemodynamically significant.Conclusions: Tunnelled haemodialysis catheters offered adequate blood flows and achieved adequate delivered dialysis, comparable to arteriovenous fistulae. Non-tunnelled catheters delivered poor blood flow rates and dialysis dose. Greater blood flow rates were associated with a higher delivered dialysis dose. There is a need for routine surveillance and affordable interventional procedures to prevent loss of vascular access

Acceptance of HIV Testing for Children Ages 18 Months to 13 Years Identified Through Voluntary, Home-Based HIV Counseling and Testing in Western Kenya

Background Home-based, voluntary counseling and testing (HCT) presents a novel approach to early diagnosis. We sought to describe uptake of pediatric HIV testing, associated factors, and HIV prevalence among children offered HCT in Kenya. Methods The USAID-AMPATH Partnership conducted HCT in western Kenya in 2008. Children 18 months to 13 years were offered HCT if their mother was known to be dead, her living status was unknown, mother was HIV-infected or of unknown HIV status. This retrospective analysis describes the cohort of children encountered and tested. Results HCT was offered to 2,289 children and accepted for 1,294 (57%). Children were more likely to be tested if more information was available about a suspected or confirmed maternal HIV-infection (for HIV-infected, living mothers OR=3.20, 95% CI: 1.64–6.23), if parents were not in household (OR=1.50, 95% CI: 1.40–1.63), if they were grandchildren of head of household (OR=4.02, 95% CI: 3.06–5.28), or if their father was not in household (OR=1.41, 95% CI: 1.24–1.56). Of the eligible children tested, 60 (4.6%) were HIV-infected. Conclusions HCT provides an opportunity to identify HIV among high-risk children; however, acceptance of HCT for children was limited. Further investigation is needed to identify and overcome barriers to testing uptake

Localization in Strongly Chaotic Systems

We show that, in the semiclassical limit and whenever the elements of the Hamiltonian matrix are random enough, the eigenvectors of strongly chaotic time-independent systems in ordered bases can on average be exponentially localized across the energy shell and decay faster than exponentially outside the energy shell. Typically however, matrix elements are strongly correlated leading to deviations from such behavior.Comment: RevTeX, 5 pages + 3 postscript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

HIV Serostatus and Tumor Differentiation Among Patients with Cervical Cancer at Bugando Medical Centre.

Evidence for the association between Human immunodeficiency virus infection and cervical cancer has been contrasting, with some studies reporting increased risk of cervical cancer among HIV positive women while others report no association. Similar evidence from Tanzania is scarce as HIV seroprevalence among cervical cancer patients has not been rigorously evaluated. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between HIV and tumor differentiation among patients with cervical cancer at Bugando Medical Centre and Teaching Hospital in Mwanza, North-Western Tanzania. This was a descriptive analytical study involving suspected cervical cancer patients seen at the gynaecology outpatient clinic and in the gynaecological ward from November 2010 to March 2011. A total of 91 suspected cervical cancer patients were seen during the study period and 74 patients were histologically confirmed with cervical cancer. The mean age of those confirmed of cervical cancer was 50.5 ± 12.5 years. Most patients (39 of the total 74-52.7%) were in early disease stages (stages IA-IIA). HIV infection was diagnosed in 22 (29.7%) patients. On average, HIV positive women with early cervical cancer disease had significantly more CD4+ cells than those with advanced disease (385.8 ± 170.4 95% CI 354.8-516.7 and 266.2 ± 87.5, 95% CI 213.3-319.0 respectively p = 0.042). In a binary logistic regression model, factors associated with HIV seropositivity were ever use of hormonal contraception (OR 5.79 95% CI 1.99-16.83 p = 0.001), aged over 50 years (OR 0.09 95% CI 0.02-0.36 p = 0.001), previous history of STI (OR 3.43 95% CI 1.10-10.80 p = 0.035) and multiple sexual partners OR 5.56 95% CI 1.18-26.25 p = 0.030). Of these factors, only ever use of hormonal contraception was associated with tumor cell differentiation (OR 0.16 95% CI 0.06-0.49 p = 0.001). HIV seropositivity was weakly associated with tumor cell differentiation in an unadjusted analysis (OR 0.21 95% CI 0.04-1.02 p = 0.053), but strong evidence for the association was found after adjusting for ever use of hormonal contraception with approximately six times more likelihood of HIV infection among women with poorly differentiated tumor cells compared to those with moderately and well differentiated cells (OR 5.62 95% CI 1.76-17.94 p = 0.004).\ud Results from this study setting suggest that HIV is common among cervical cancer patients and that HIV seropositivity may be associated with poor tumour differentiation. Larger studies in this and similar settings with high HIV prevalence and high burden of cervical cancer are required to document this relationship