The role of conditional cash transfer in promoting health insurance demand among TASAF beneficiaries

The study was done to assess the role of conditional cash transfer in promoting health insurance demand among TASAF beneficiaries. There were three specific objectives one being to assessing beneficiaries’ attitude toward the adoption of health insurance using CCT, to assess factors hindering wards the adoption of health insurance using CCT and to investigate the strategies made by TASAF beneficiaries towards the adoption of health insurance using CCT. The study was done based on survey where Goba and Kwembe wards in Dar es Salaam were used as areas of the study. The population of the study was890 from which a sample of 95 respondents was randomly chosen. The study was based on qualitative from primary data was collected through interview while secondary data was collated from relevant documents. The study found that the beneficiaries had attitude toward adoption of social health care insurance using CCT. On the other hand, it was found that there were several factors hindering TASAF beneficiaries’ adoption of social health care insurance using CCT including poverty, low education and believes. It was found the need of several strategies for improvement of the adoption of social health care insurance using CCT

Geophysical Survey in Sub-Saharan Africa: magnetic and Electromagnetic Investigation of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Songo Mnara, Tanzania

Magnetometry and Slingram electromagnetic surveys were conducted at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Songo Mnara, Tanzania, as part of a multi-national programme of investigation to examine the uses of space within and outside of this stonetown. The town was a major Islamic trading port during the 14th and 15th centuries.The surveys detected significant evidence for the containment of activities within the town walls, and previously unknown anthropogenic activity was revealed between the existing coral rag buildings, as well as within the open areas inside the town. Over 40 areas of magnetic disturbance were identified that corresponded directly with areas of high magnetic susceptibility in the Slingram electromagnetic in-phase responses.On excavation many of these anomalies were found to correlate with wattle and daub structures, indicating a hitherto unidentified population, and the location of the anomalies also suggests a potentially deliberate delineation of space within the open areas of the stonetown. The combined results of the three geophysical data sets indicate that there are clear delineations in the use of space within Songo Mnara. This coupled with the presence of industrial activities and evidence of more ephemeral occupation, neither of which had previously been recorded at the site, indicates that the pre-existing town plan is in need of significant reappraisal. The current plan, based upon the remains of extant and collapsed coral buildings, can now be updated to incorporate the more ephemeral aspects of Swahili sites including activity areas, and notably, the homes of the ‘hidden majority’of the population.The results establish the benefit of a combined approach at these sites, and demonstrate that further invasive and non-invasive exploration is required in order to fully exploit the significance of the role of geophysical techniques in understanding Swahili towns

High Resistance of Plasmodium falciparum to Sulphadoxine/Pyrimethamine in Northern Tanzania and the Emergence of dhps Resistance Mutation at Codon 581

BACKGROUND: Sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) a widely used treatment for uncomplicated malaria and recommended for intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy, is being investigated for intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in infants (IPTi). High levels of drug resistance to SP have been reported from north-eastern Tanzania associated with mutations in parasite genes. This study compared the in vivo efficacy of SP in symptomatic 6-59 month children with uncomplicated malaria and in asymptomatic 2-10 month old infants. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: An open label single arm (SP) standard 28 day in vivo WHO antimalarial efficacy protocol was used in 6 to 59 months old symptomatic children and a modified protocol used in 2 to 10 months old asymptomatic infants. Enrolment was stopped early (87 in the symptomatic and 25 in the asymptomatic studies) due to the high failure rate. Molecular markers were examined for recrudescence, re-infection and markers of drug resistance and a review of literature of studies looking for the 581G dhps mutation was carried out. In symptomatic children PCR-corrected early treatment failure was 38.8% (95% CI 26.8-50.8) and total failures by day 28 were 82.2% (95% CI 72.5-92.0). There was no significant difference in treatment failures between asymptomatic and symptomatic children. 96% of samples carried parasites with mutations at codons 51, 59 and 108 in the dhfr gene and 63% carried a double mutation at codons 437 and 540. 55% carried a third mutation with the addition of a mutation at codon 581 in the dhps gene. This triple: triple haplotype maybe associated with earlier treatment failure. CONCLUSION: In northern Tanzania SP is a failed drug for treatment and its utility for prophylaxis is doubtful. The study found a new combination of parasite mutations that maybe associated with increased and earlier failure. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00361114

Maroon Archaeology Beyond the Americas: A View From Kenya

Archaeological research on Maroons—that is, runaway slaves—has been largely confined to the Americas. This essay advocates a more global approach. It specifically uses two runaway slave communities in 19th-century coastal Kenya to rethink prominent interpretive themes in the field, including “Africanisms,” Maroons’ connections to indigenous groups, and Maroon group cohesion and identity. This article’s analysis demonstrates that the comparisons enabled by a more globalized perspective benefit the field. Instead of eliding historical and cultural context, these comparisons support the development of more localized and historically specific understandings of individual runaway slave communities both in Kenya and throughout the New World

Yield management use by B&B operators in South Australia

The primary purpose of this study was to discover to what extent the bed and breakfast industry in South Australia was able to make use of the principles of yield management (YM). A secondary purpose was to explore reactions of potential users to the South Australian Tourism Commissions ConnectSA website, which was set up to enable the use of YM. The ConnectSA website contains an online accommodation booking application that B&B operators and related establishments can use to secure bookings.Noel Lindsay, Dennis List and Gido Mapund

Indigenous nascent entrepreneur self-efficacy and perceived individual success

Considerable research has examined the relationship between Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy (ESE) and performance. ESE refers to the strength of the individuals' beliefs that they are capable of successfully performing the roles and tasks of entrepreneurs. Whereas prior ESE research has a non-indigenous focus, this study addresses a gap in the literature by examining the relationship between ESE and perceived individual success in Indigenous nascent entrepreneurs. The results from this research support the notion that indigenous nascent entrepreneurs demonstrate positive entrepreneurial experience-ESE and ESE-perceived individual success relationships but an inverse education-entrepreneurial experience relationship. Copyright © 2007 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.Noel J. Lindsay, Wendy A. Lindsay, Anton Jordaan and Gido Mapund