Willingness of High School Students to be Treated by an HIV Infected Health Practitioner: A Study Done in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

To assess willingness of high school students to be treated by HIV/AIDS infected dental practitioners in Ilala municipality, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. More than half (52.8%) of the high school students showed fear of being treated by HIV/AIDS infected dental practitioner, with 175 (55.4%) out of 316 students fearing even to be clinically examined by HIV positive dental practitioner. Out of 316 students, 163 (51.6%) students showed no problem in consulting a HIV/AIDS infected dental practitioner for dental problems. There were 170 (53.8%) respondents who were uncomfortable to undergo dental treatment provided by HIV positive dental practitioner. The results of this study showed that there is fear an element of negative attitude and stigmatization among high school students on being treated by HIV/AIDS infected health care practitione

Tanzania Joint Health Technical Review 2002:final report HIV/AIDS

\ud Tanzania has a HIV epidemic at an estimated range of approximately 12% of the adult population (15-49 years) being infected. The epidemic is still increasing and there are few signs that the epidemic will level off in the near future. Until 2000 the response to the epidemic was the responsibility of NACP, the National AIDS Control Programme, within the MoH. As the epidemic and the insight of the impact of the epidemic on society progressed the health approach changed to a multi-sectoral response – still led by the MoH. However, as in other countries with a significant HIV epidemic it was decided to move the response of the epidemic to the highest level of government. The multi-sectoral approach thus underwent a transformation from a strategy of the MoH to a strategy of GOT by placing the responsibility under the Prime Ministers’ Office. In this transition the TACAIDS was formed to provide the leadership of GOT’s fight on HIV/AIDS in 2001. TACAIDS is placed within the PM’s Office and has slowly started to become operational. In January 2002 the commissioners were appointed and the first meeting will take place in February. The NACP is undergoing a transformation from being the body for the national response of all sectors in society to be part of the response from the MoH. The new role of NACP is still being developed, but it has been decided that the NACP in the future will operate under the authority of the CMO in the MoH. The task within the health sector is huge since the health sector is the first to be impacted by the epidemic and many of the cost-effective preventive measures to combat the epidemic, such as STI treatment, and the care of an increasing number of people being sick and dying from HIV/AIDS, fall on this sector to be appropriately dealt with in partnership with civil society and other stakeholders. The timing of the mission is appropriate as far as HIV/AIDS is concerned. Great expectations are attached to TACAIDS to ensure leadership and the MoH can now concentrate on improving the provision of services in the health sector where it has a comparative advantage. At the same time new money are being made available from the donors in the basket fund for district health services and new resources are soon going to be available for HIV/AIDS activities: the Global Fund for AIDS, the HIPC money, and the TMAP – perhaps effective from 2003. The opportunity to consolidate the achievements in the health sector has never been greater. It is the objectives of the review to assess the performance of the health sector’s response to HIV/AIDS; main challenges regarding the consequences and combat of HIV/AIDS; and based on this recommend actions in the short and medium term. The scope of work includes a review the performance of the National Aids Control Programme \ud and the opportunities lying ahead for TACAIDS. Further the review on HIV/AIDS will assess constraints and opportunities within the health sector with regard to both preventive and care interventions including MTCT and HAART treatment. The response is assessed with regard to the capacity of the health care sector. In all these areas the following should be considered: Experience within Tanzania with a view to possible best practices and lessons learned. Cost implications should be considered, with a particular view to opportunity cost in areas where there would be a choice. Private sector possible contribution and specific problems The team, Adeline Kimambo, medical doctor and Anita Alban, health economist, hold international and national experience in the field of HIV/AIDS. The team carried out a review of \ud existing documentation, including policies and guidelines, and interviews were carried out with key people within MOH, PORALG, TACAIDS and civil society (NGOs for PLWHA). Further a field trip was undertaken to a district that is part of the health sector reform process. For the Health District Reform to succeed it needs an effective facilitated response from the MoH and cooperation from all stakeholders in the process – not least PRORALG. The report reflects this approach by reviewing and assessing both the new opportunities and obstacles of the MoH in the transition from a multi-sectoral response to a consolidated health sector response and the progress of the decentralisation process at district level. Further the team has made a strategic choice in focusing on the HIV/AIDS interventions that can make a significant difference if scaled up. In the time available for the team a choice also had to be made between assessing MTCT interventions and the introduction of anti-retroviral drugs into the care agenda. We chose the latter since it is the greatest investment challenge to the MoH.\u

Electrocardiographic Pattern and Cardiovascular Risk Factors among University Students in Dar es salaam – Tanzania

Abnormal resting electrocardiogram (ECG) findings have been strongly associated with subsequent increase in all cause CAD and CVD mortality. The abnormalities are defined as either major or minor based on the different criteria. Minor and major abnormalities have been correlated with increasing risk for CAD events and mortality. Moderately elevated cholesterol levels found in the majority of young adults in their 20s and 30s were associated with damage to coronary arteries, which could accumulate over time and persisted into middle age. Individuals exposed to higher levels of LDL cholesterol or lower levels of HDL cholesterol during young adulthood were more likely to develop coronary calcium. To describe the ECG pattern and cardiovascular risks factors among students aged 18-40 years at the University of Dar es salaam Mlimani Campus This was a descriptive cross sectional study describe the ECG abnormalities and cardiovascular disease risks factors among UDSM students aged 19-40 years conducted among university of Dar es salaam students. A total number of 411 university students were evaluated from May to October 2011. Standardized questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic characteristics and clinical presentation of study participants. ECG abnormalities were divided into minor and major abnormalities based on Minnesota code criteria. 411 participants were included in the study out of which 140 (34.1%) were female and 271(65.9%) were male. The age range was (19-40) & mean age of 23.6±2.6. The participants were free from any form of cardiovascular disease. The mean SBP/DBP was 120.1 ±11.6/73.4 ± 9.6 respectively. One participant was found to be diabetic and one hypertensive. Family history of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke and diabetes mellitus was reported in 26(6.3%), 54(13.1%), 16(3.9%) and 85(20.7%) participants respectively. Fifteen (3.6%) participants were active smoker at the time of recruitment. Majority of ECG were either normal or within acceptable limits, the automated Minnesota coding reported 152(37%) normal ECG, when the ECG were re-evaluated, 326(76.3%) were vi within normal & acceptable limit. The prevalence of major ECG abnormalities was found in 37(9.0%), minor ECG abnormalities were found in 143(34.8%), other ECG abnormalities were found in 79(19.2%) The most prevalent ECG coded was arrhythmia 168(40.9%), high amplitude R waves were found in 87(21.2%), males 79(29.2%) were found to have statistically significant high amplitude R waves compared to female 8 (5.7%) p=0.0000, LVH was found in 13(3.2%) participants. The mean HDL level was significantly higher in women (50.0 ± 12.5 mg/dl) as compared to men (42.6 ± 12.2 mg/dl), p <0.001.The proportion of women (18.6%) with low levels of HDL was significantly lower than that observed in men (29.2%), p <0.001 (table 2). BMI > 30kg/m2 was found in 3(0.7%). The prevalence of major and minor ECG findings was high 34.8%, the relationship between major and minor ECG abnormalities; low HDL, increased waist circumference and prehypertensive state varied with gender with male predominance but could not be associated with ECG abnormalities foun

The Morpho-Syntactic and Semantic-Pragmatic Realisation of Definiteness and Specificity in Swahili

This paper studies the realisation of definiteness and specificity in Swahili. Available literature on the realisation of definiteness and specificity in Swahili focuses mainly on the morphological domain and only marginally on the syntactic domain. Nevertheless, definiteness and specificity lie at the interface between morpho-syntactic and semantic-pragmatic domains. Grounded in Lyons' (1999) semantic model, this paper  descriptively shows how definiteness is realised in Swahili by considering the notions of ‘familiarity,’ ‘identifiability,’ and ‘uniqueness (as well as inclusiveness).’ In addition, it shows how specific and non-specific entities are realised in the language. The paper thus offers a more holistic perspective on the realisation of definiteness and specificity in Swahili

Acquisition of Breadth and Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge by Secondary School Learners of English in the Multilingual Context: A Case of Dodoma, Tanzania

This study examined the relationship between the breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge among Tanzanian learners who use English as a foreign language. It employed a convergent parallel mixed-methods design which simultaneously collected qualitative and quantitative data from a sample of 320 secondary school learners from Dodoma City and Chamwino District and eight English language teachers with at least five years of teaching experience.&nbsp; The study employed two different language tests, namely the New Vocabulary Levels Test and the Word Association Test, to collect quantitative information on the breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge, respectively. It used semi-structured interviews with the selected English language teachers to obtain qualitative data to supplement the quantitative data. A Pearson correlation coefficient indicated a positive relationship between breadth scores and depth scores; as breadth scores increased, depth scores also increased. The results imply that the breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge are like two sides of the same coin, which cannot be separated. Thus, the higher the learners’ performance in the breadth test, the higher their performances in the depth test. In this regard, it suffices to conclude that vocabulary use is part of vocabulary knowledge. The obtained results call for a comparative longitudinal study to trace the development of vocabulary knowledge among the compared groups over an extended period

Development and performance testing of solar cookers

The most common type of energy used is firewood. In some Sub Saharan countries, up to 90% of total energy use is from firewood. The consumption of wood fuel is in some countries as high as twice the sustainable yield, something that has led to environ-mental degradation due to deforestation and scarci-ty of firewood. The use of fossil fuels such as kerosene and LPG for cooking is expensive. Solar energy is a non-consumptive and non-polluting fuel. It can help alleviate the problem of insecurity of cooking energy, which is the major domestic energy requirement. Several attempts have been made to introduce solar cookers in different coun-tries and have achieved variable successes. There are still critical issues yet to be resolved in order to make that technology acceptable for wider dissemi-nation. They include getting the most appropriate types of solar cookers for specific locations, opti-mum size/capacity, types of materials to be used, optimal design and affordable cost. In an attempt to resolve these issues, a comprehensive study involv-ing theoretical review, development work, experi-mental testing and evaluation of solar cookers was conducted for several years on six different types of solar cookers. The cookers are the ‘SunStove’ box cooker, wooden box cooker, panel cooker, reflector cooker with unpolished aluminium reflectors, reflec-tor cooker with polished aluminium reflectors and reflector cooker with glass mirror reflectors. This paper presents the results of the study. Results obtained indicate that many of the cookers could be used to cook food for households in areas with medium and high insolation, with appropriate selec-tion of the type and specification of the cookers. The specification should be based on the measured inso-lation data of the location indication of the direct and diffuse components. As a guiding tool, reflector cookers offer best comparative performance in areas with longest durations of clear sky (greatest direct beam), panel and collector cookers under moderate cloudy conditions and box cookers under very cloudy conditions

Hybrid Solar-Wind-Diesel Systems for Rural Application in North Ethiopia: Case Study for Three Rural Villages using HOMER Simulation

This paper considers the feasibility of developing Solar (photovoltaic)-Wind-Diesel hybrid power systems for supplying electricity to off-grid rural communities in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia. Using wind resource assessment and solar potential-based data from the National Meteorological Agency of Ethiopia, a case study of three sites in Tigray is presented – Serawet (645 households), Feleg Daero (338 households) and Adi Mesanu (55 households) – which typify, respectively, large, medium and small off-grid communities. The energy demand was determined through a field survey and previous historical data of similar villages electrified through grid extension. The Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables (HOMER) was used to simulate and generate feasible solution through combinations of photovoltaic, Wind Turbines and Diesel Generators with a minimum levelised cost of electricity. The simulations indicate that a hybrid system option, compared to a diesel only system, is feasible for each of the three villages.Keywords: Hybrid, HOMER, Photovoltaic, Wind energy, Solar energy, Rural electrification, Tigray, Ethiopia

Effect of Ambient Reynolds Number on Small Wind Turbine Subjected to Low Wind Speed Conditions

Wind flow over the airfoil surface is adversely affected by the differences between the design and ambient values of a dimensionless quantity called Reynolds number. Wind turbine designed for high Reynolds Number shows lower maximum power performance when installed in low-speed wind regime. Tanzanian experience shows that some imported modern wind turbines depict lower power performance compared to the drag-type locally manufactured wind turbines. The most probable reason is the difference between design and local ambient Reynolds numbers. The turbine design parameters have their properties restricted to the range of Reynolds numbers for which the turbine was designed for. When a wind turbine designed for a certain range of Reynolds numbers is made to operate in the Reynolds number out of that range, it behaves differently from the embodied design specifications. The small wind turbine of higher Reynolds number will suffer low lift forces with probably occasional stalls. &nbsp

A Model for Sustainable Adoption of Solar Photovoltaic Technology in Tanzania

Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology has been used for several decades to meet the electric energy need of various communities in Tanzania, particularly in rural areas that face a supply gap, due to various reasons. This study builds on three previous&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;projects that were implemented at different locations of the United Republic of Tanzania. These projects are the Sustainable Solar Market Packages 1 (SSMP 1) Project, which was implemented in Sumbawanga District; the Sida/MEM Solar Project, which was implemented in several regions of Tanzania Mainland and the UNDP/MEM Solar PV Project, which was implemented in Mwanza region. The aim was to develop a sustainable model for enhancement of the solar PV technology adoption in Tanzania. The model was developed based on the identified barriers that hinder the adoption of solar PV technology and adopted the best strategies from successful projects. Further, the drivers and activities were developed based on selected best strategies from successful projects. The identified barriers to the adoption of solar PV technology were grouped into five categories based on their significances. These include; limited access to finance (32%), weak enforcement of relevant policy and regulations (31%), technical capacity (18%), lack of awareness (9%) and other social drivers (10%). The analysis of information and data that was obtained from the project reports shows that there are prevailing challenges on awareness on solar PV technology and non-enforcement of quality standards. However, major barriers are on the high price of solar PV systems and lack of access to finance. A model for adoption of solar PV technology in Tanzania was developed and tested by validating it with a successfully implemented solar PV project in Tanzania. In the validation, thirteen (13) out of twenty-one (21) activities of the UNDP/MEM Solar PV Project demonstrated the moderate compliance with the model prescription by 62%. The UNDP/MEM Solar PV project developed a financing mechanism but it was not sustainable due to low application of sustainable adoptions strategies. Also, most of the strategies lacked some important drivers and activities due to financial constraints and technical know-how. The mechanism was not opening opportunities for new users to adopt the solar PV technology or maintain the existing ones. Moreover, stakeholders have not put in place the conducive conditions for existing projects to be sustainable. Recommended future interventions include application of the developed adoption model for Solar PV by using data from other solar PV projects for sensitivity analysis of identified barriers and best strategies