Development System Locks Out the Disabled

[Excerpt] That the non government (NGO) industry is a major player in the so called development cannot be over emphasized. That billion of dollars have been channeled into the sector to “wipe out” poverty particularly in poor developing countries is a fact. Almost all the NGOs exist to serve the poorest of the poor, voiceless, the disadvantaged, vulnerable populations so to speak! Their mission statements clearly spell out that they operate to bridge the gap between the rich and poor. The NGOs share those pro-poor beliefs with the United Nations system and are bankrolled by the development partners. But do these partners in poverty alleviation and development consider the disabled as poor? If disabled people are not considered poor, and therefore, a major target for these partners, who then is poor? What is the definition of poor or poverty for that matter

Post-election violence and disabled people in Kenya; issues for reflection and action

[Excerpt] The media has reported widely on the fate of victims of the post-eviolence and relief agencies have performed admirably in building temporary camps where displaced people can receive food, water, shelter and security. However, one group has noticeably received little media coverage and has often been unable to access the aid provided; Kenya’s disabled people

E-learning for research capacity strengthening in sexual and reproductive health: the experience of the Geneva Foundation for Medical Education and Research and the Department of Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization

Abstract: Technological advancement has resulted in the increasing use of e-learning and online education, initially in high-income countries and increasingly in low- and middle-income countries. Background: In 2010, the Geneva Foundation for Medical Education and Research, in collaboration with the World Health Organization and partner institutions, developed an online postgraduate course “From Research to Practice: Training Course in Sexual and Reproductive Health Research”. This course takes advantage of the advancing Internet technology to provide training opportunities to health professionals mostly from low- and middle-income countries whose access to quality education is constrained by time, financial resources, or both. Case presentation: To assess the outcomes of the course, an evaluation was conducted by sending a self-administered questionnaire to graduates of the 2010–2012 programme. The objectives were to determine if the graduates had applied the knowledge gained from the course to their work and whether they had implemented their research project developed during the course. The evaluation also appraised the number of graduates who participated in the design or implementation of a new research project since the course concluded and whether the course had contributed to advancement in their careers. A total of 175 of 219 course graduates answered the questionnaire. The evaluation revealed that the majority of respondents (98%) had utilized the knowledge acquired, with nearly half of them (47%) having published a scientific paper as author or co-author. About a third of respondents (39%) had implemented their course research project and about three quarters of them (74%) have been involved in the design or implementation of a research project after completing the course. Over three quarters (81%) of respondents opined that the course had contributed to their career advancement and almost half of them (46%) had a career promotion as a direct or indirect benefit of the course. Conclusion: We surmise that the course positively impacted the participants’ knowledge and understanding of sexual and reproductive health, which they applied in their professional work, as well as strengthened their research capacity. Success factors for the e-learning programme include tailor-made content to meet participants’ needs, flexibility of access, and ongoing engagement/personal interactivity with course coaches

Scrub typhus ecology: a systematic review of Orientia in vectors and hosts

Abstract Scrub typhus, caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi, is an important and neglected vector-borne zoonotic disease with an expanding known distribution. The ecology of the disease is complex and poorly understood, impairing discussion of public health interventions. To highlight what we know and the themes of our ignorance, we conducted a systematic review of all studies investigating the pathogen in vectors and non-human hosts. A total of 276 articles in 7 languages were included, with 793 study sites across 30 countries. There was no time restriction for article inclusion, with the oldest published in 1924. Seventy-six potential vector species and 234 vertebrate host species were tested, accounting for over one million trombiculid mites (‘chiggers’) and 83,000 vertebrates. The proportion of O. tsutsugamushi positivity was recorded for different categories of laboratory test and host species. Vector and host collection sites were geocoded and mapped. Ecological data associated with these sites were summarised. A further 145 articles encompassing general themes of scrub typhus ecology were reviewed. These topics range from the life-cycle to transmission, habitats, seasonality and human risks. Important gaps in our understanding are highlighted together with possible tools to begin to unravel these. Many of the data reported are highly variable and inconsistent and minimum data reporting standards are proposed. With more recent reports of human Orientia sp. infection in the Middle East and South America and enormous advances in research technology over recent decades, this comprehensive review provides a detailed summary of work investigating this pathogen in vectors and non-human hosts and updates current understanding of the complex ecology of scrub typhus. A better understanding of scrub typhus ecology has important relevance to ongoing research into improving diagnostics, developing vaccines and identifying useful public health interventions to reduce the burden of the disease.</jats:p

Frequency of Epstein - Barr Virus in Patients Presenting with Acute Febrile Illness in Kenya.

BACKGROUND:Most acute febrile illnesses (AFI) are usually not associated with a specific diagnosis because of limitations of available diagnostics. This study reports on the frequency of EBV viremia and viral load in children and adults presenting with febrile illness in hospitals in Kenya. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:A pathogen surveillance study was conducted on patients presenting with AFI (N = 796) at outpatient departments in 8 hospitals located in diverse regions of Kenya. Enrollment criterion to the study was fever without a readily diagnosable infection. All the patients had AFI not attributable to the common causes of fever in Kenyan hospitals, such as malaria or rickettsiae, leptospira, brucella and salmonella and they were hence categorized as having AFI of unknown etiology. EBV was detected in blood using quantitative TaqMan-based qPCR targeting a highly conserved BALF5 gene. The overall frequency of EBV viremia in this population was 29.2%, with significantly higher proportion in younger children of <5years (33.8%, p = 0.039) compared to patients aged ≥5 years (26.3% for 5-15 years or 18.8% for >15 years). With respect to geographical localities, the frequency of EBV viremia was higher in the Lake Victoria region (36.4%), compared to Kisii highland (24.6%), Coastal region (22.2%) and Semi-Arid region (25%). Furthermore, patients from the malaria endemic coastal region and the Lake Victoria region presented with significantly higher viremia than individuals from other regions of Kenya. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:This study provides profiles of EBV in patients with AFI from diverse eco-regions of Kenya. Of significant interest is the high frequency of EBV viremia in younger children. The observed high frequencies of EBV viremia and elevated viral loads in residents of high malaria transmission areas are probably related to malaria induced immune activation and resultant expansion of EBV infected B-cells

EBV viral load in different age groups.

<p>EBV viral load in patients with AFI were determined by quantitative real time PCR as described in the methods section. The geometric mean viral load were significantly different between the <5 year vs. 5–15 year age categories.</p

EBV viral load in AFI patients across different geographical regions.

<p>Mann-Whitney test showed that viral load were significantly higher in Lake Victoria basin vs. Kisii highland (p = 0.003), Coastal region vs. Kisii highland (p = 0.005), and Coastal region vs. semi arid (p = 0.024).</p

Frequency of EBV viremia among different age categories.

<p>Frequency of EBV was highest among children under 5 years, and was significantly different between <5 years vs. 5–15 years (p = 0.039) and between <5 years and >15 years (p = 0.002) age categories.</p

Distribution of EBV infection in AFI patients from four geographical regions.

<p>The frequency of EBV was highest in patients from Lake Victoria region compared to other sites, with the difference being significant between Lake Victoria basin and Kisii highland (p = 0.001) (*) and between Lake Victoria and coastal region (p = 0.045) (**).</p