Paraspinal Abscess Secondary to Tuberculous Spondylitis Diagnosed by Xpert MTB/RIF Assay in Rural Tanzania.

A 31-year-old HIV-negative man presented to our clinic with a 6-month history of back pain and a swelling at the back. Radiological studies revealed lumbar vertebral destruction. Ultrasound of the mass showed a septated cystic mass with turbid fluid. Diagnostic aspiration revealed thick pus and smear microscopy detected acid-fast bacilli. Xpert MTB/RIF assay detected Mycobacterium tuberculosis with no rifampicin resistance

The illusion of community ownership: community-based water management in Uchira, Kilimanjaro region

Water resource managementSocial participationWater users’ associationsWater policyWater shortagePricingWater costsWater supplyLabor

The illusion of community ownership: community-based water management in Uchira, Kilimanjaro region

Water resource managementWater governanceSocial participationWater users’ associationsWater policyWater shortagePricingWater costsWater supplyLabor

Optimising the Performance of Roundabouts in Dar Es Salaam City

Intersections are one of the major bottlenecks that aggravate congestion in road networks; effective control of which is an important strategy in improving traffic flow. While developing countries have found it hard to adopt sophisticated means of intersection control, they have also not optimised the performance of roundabouts. This paper reviews the  erformance of roundabouts, which have become increasingly popular in recent years, as simple and low cost forms of intersection control. The performance of three major roundabouts in Dar es Salaam has been analysed and results show that roundabouts can accommodate high traffic volumes without causing excessive delays. The results also showthat low-cost improvements on roundabouts, involving minor adjustments in geometry and improved traffic management, can significantly improve their operational performance

Public Health Concern and Initiatives on the Priority Action Towards Non-Communicable Diseases in Tanzania

Tanzania is already facing challenges caused by existing burden of communicable diseases, and the growing trend of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which raises a lot of concerns and challenges. The objective of this review is to provide broad insight of the “silent epidemic” of NCDs, existing policies, strategies and interventions, and recommendations on prioritized actions. A review of existing literature including published articles, technical reports, and proceedings from national and international NCDs meetings was carried out. The burden, existing interventions, socio-economic impact, lessons learnt, and potential for expanding cost effective interventions in Tanzania were explored. Challenges to catch up with global\ud momentum on NCD agenda were identified and discussed. The review has indicated that the burden of NCDs and its underlying risk factors in Tanzania is alarming, and affects people of all socio-economic status. The\ud costs of health care for managing NCDs are high, and thus impoverishing the already poor people. The country\ud leadership has a high political commitment; there are policies and strategies, which need to be implemented to\ud address the growing NCD burden. In conclusion, NCDs in Tanzania are a silent rising health burden and has\ud enormous impact on an individual and country’s social-economical status. From the experience of other countries, interventions for NCDs are affordable, feasible and some are income generating. Multi-sectoral approach, involving national and international partners has a unique role in intensifying action on NCDs.\ud Tanzania should strategize on implementation research on how to adapt the interventions and apply multisectoral\ud approach to control and prevent NCDs in the country.\u

Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment Inflow in Tanzania

This study analyzes the determinants of foreign direct investment inflow in Tanzania The paper used the annual time series data which covered the period between 1990-2015 With the help of E-views 7 software this study used the Ordinary Least Square OLS estimation methods to examine the relationship between foreign direct investment inflow and its determinants which were selected in the sample of the study Unit roots test by using Augmented Dickey Fuller test was also employed in this study to see stationary and non-stationary of the variables that is if the variable has the unit root or not Data collected from the World Bank Development indicators Market size trade openness inflation rate and exchange rate are among of the selected sample variables in this study The results found that exchange rate is a major determinant of foreign direct investment inflow into Tanzania and this indicates that the fluctuated exchange rate policy adopted by the country increases the inflow of foreign direct investment in the country Therefore the policy makers and responsible authority should continue to adopt effective policy measures so as to attract more foreign investors The market size was found to be significant but with the negative sign which indicates that the small market size discourages the inflow of foreign direct investment in the country The government needs to make more effort in the expansion of the market size in order to attract more foreign investors Trade openness and inflation rate were found to have insignificant relationship with foreign direct investment inflow in the countr

Strategies for Promoting the Use of Concrete Pavements in Tanzania: Technical and Institutional Considerations

High-type roads in Tanzania have been predominantly of asphaltic concrete construction. This ever enlarging and ageing asphaltic road network represents increasing resource requirements on the road agency in the form of maintenance. Limited resources coupled with the ever sky-rocketing costs of petroleum products and the competing demands of social economic developments, presupposes the need to look for alternative road construction technology that is more cost-effective and resource optimising. Experience gained from developed and some developing countries where concrete pavements have been widely used suggests the potential of this type of pavement in many developingcountries. This paper discusses the technical aspects of design and construction- and maintenance-related aspects of concrete pavements. The discussion extends further to highlight issues pertaining to the performance of concrete pavements and strategies for promoting the use of concrete pavements in Tanzania. Conclusions and recommendationsare made with suggestions on how to start implementing the proposed strategies

Impact of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection on the Outcome of Treatment and Survival of Tuberculosis Patients in Mwanza, Tanzania.

Little is known about the outcome of tuberculosis (TB) treatment and subsequent survival of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients treated under routine programme conditions in a developing country. We followed a cohort of HIV-positive and HIV-negative tuberculosis patients during therapy and assessed their vital and tuberculosis status 3 years after completion of treatment in Mwanza, Tanzania. Newly diagnosed and relapse tuberculosis cases consecutively registered over a 6-month period were enrolled into an epidemiological study of TB/HIV. Treatment outcome was based on information in tuberculosis treatment registers. Patients surviving treatment were assessed 3 years later by personal interview. Cause of death was determined by verbal autopsy. Of 561 patients enrolled into the study, 505 patients alive at completion of treatment were eligible for assessment at 3 years. Except for mortality, HIV infection was not statistically associated with differing treatment outcomes. At time of follow-up, the overall mortality was 19% and was associated with HIV infection (hazard ratio [hr] 3.7, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.6-5.2) and age 35 years and over (hr 1.5, 95% CI 1.02-2.1), but not with type of tuberculosis, gender, or initial drug resistance. By life table analysis, probability of survival at 4 years was 35% for HIV-positive patients compared to 90% for HIV-negative patients. Although no relapse cases were diagnosed, verbal autopsy suggested equivalent low rates of relapse in both groups. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the current approach to the treatment of tuberculosis patients regardless of HIV status. However, HIV-related mortality remains high both during and following completion of treatment, and further studies are needed to determine if this mortality might be reduced by simple interventions which are feasible in developing countries.\u

Improving the Design of Low Volume Sealed Roads in Tanzania

The main objective of the study was to identify appropriate road designs for Low Volume Sealed Roads (LVSRs) with the aim of improving the design of such roads in Tanzania. The study was conducted in Dar es Salaam and Morogoro regions in Tanzania where data for LVSRs were collected from primary and secondary sources in the two regions. The study found that by using an improved pavement design method specifically meant for LVSRs results in cost savings for LVSRs of up to 51% compared with the conventional method of pavement design in Tanzania. The study recommends that the pavement design method for lightly trafficked sealed roads in southern Africa developed by Transport Research Laboratory, which was found to be most cost-effective, be used to design (or develop a procedure for design of) LVSRs in Tanzania and that the roads be preferably sealed with Otta seal or Surface dressing. The study also recommends that LVSRs in Tanzania be defined by a maximum traffic volume of 400 vpd

Availability and Accessibility of Agricultural Market Information by Small Scale Farmers in Babati District.

The study was conducted to assess the availability and accessibility of agricultural market information by small scale farmers in Babati District. The objectives of the study were; to establish information sources, channels and technologies used by small scale farmers to access agricultural market information, to determine the types of agricultural market information accessed by small scale farmers and to identify challenges small scale farmers experience in accessing agricultural market information. The study adopted qualitative and quantitative approaches. Combinations of stratified and purposive sampling techniques were employed to obtain 353 small scale farmers and 31 extension officers. The study data was collected using questionnaire, interview guide and observation instrument. The study findings revealed that small scale farmers need various types of information such as extension services, product quality, market price, market trends, sales seasons, planting seasons and agricultural technologies; the main sources of information used by small scale farmers to access information are friends, radios, family members, extension officers and other farmers.The revealed challenges such limited awareness, inadequate information materials, irrelevant information materials, information costs. The study recommended to increase a number of extension officers, establishment of information centers, improvement of ICT infrastructures, raise farmers awareness formulation of farmers’ organizations and instilling reading habits to small scale farmers. Keywords: Information, Availability, Accessibility, Agricultural market, Small scale farmers