An evaluation of surveillance and control measures for African trypanosomiasis in remote areas of Eastern Zambia

Gloria Mulenga studied the incidence of the parasitic disease African trypanosomiasis in resource poor communities of Eastern Zambia and used and integrated financial modelling and One Health approach to provide cost efficient diagnosis and control of this zoonotic disease. Her findings will improve the health and food security of these communities

Treatment of Young Children with HIV Infection: Using Evidence to Inform Policymakers

PMCID: PMC3404108This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Learning Time of Day and Students’ Academic Achievement at School Certificate Level: A Case Study of Chibote Girls’ Secondary School.

A case study presented here is an investigation into whether time of day for instruction has an effect on students’ academic achievement in Mathematics, Science, Biology and English at school certificate level by focusing on the grades candidates obtained after sitting for national examinations. The focus is primarily on 33 randomly selected morning and afternoon pupils at Chibote Girls Secondary School. We hypothesized that morning pupils perform better than afternoon pupils owing to the fact that pupils who learn in the morning have a higher retention rate as compared to those who learn in the afternoon when the temperature is quite high. This hypothesis was tested using a non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test which showed that there was no statistically significant difference across the categories of the two learning modes in Mathematics, Science and English. Furthermore, the same results were analysed through a component plot in rotated space (factor analysis) which showed a significant difference in students’ performance between Mathematics and English for both learning modes. Descriptive statistics were computed and the general picture was that pupils performed poorly in all the four subjects with mathematics placed at the tail and English in the lead. Keywords: Learning time, Academic achievement, Core subjects

MICROTUBULES IN RAT LEYDIG CELLS. A MODIFICATION OF SMOOTH ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM?

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Lifelong Learning in a Global Context: Towards a Reconceptualization of Adult Education

The paper argues that a reconceptualization of adult education around lifelong learning and globalization requires a rethinking of curricular and research issues. The paper highlights curricular issues involved in creating in such a reconceptualization. It does this by juxtapositioning the objectives and goals of this “new focus with the CPAE’s Standards for Graduate Programs. Objectives and goals are suggested that revolve around integrated notions of learning that account for the impact of globalization on learning as inseparable from political and social processes

Prevalence of trypanosomes and selected symbionts in tsetse species of eastern Zambia

Insect symbionts have attracted attention for their potential use as anti-parasitic gene products in arthropod disease vectors. While tsetse species of the Luangwa valley have been extensively studied, less is known about the prevalence of symbionts and their interactions with the trypanosome parasite. Polymerase chain reaction was used to investigate the presence of Wolbachia and Sodalis bacteria, in tsetse flies infected with trypanosomes (Trypanosoma vivax, Trypanosoma congolense and Trypanosoma brucei). Out of 278 captured tsetse flies in eastern Zambia, 95.3% (n = 265, 95% CI = 92.8–97.8) carried endosymbionts: Wolbachia (79.1%, 95% CI 73.9–83.8) and Sodalis (86.3%, 95% CI 81.7–90.1). Overall, trypanosome prevalence was 25.5% (n = 71, 95% CI = 20.4–30.7), 10.8% (n = 30, 95% CI 7.1–14.4) for T. brucei, 1.4% (n = 4, 95% CI = 0.4–3.6) for both T. congolense and T. vivax, and 0.7% (n = 2, 95% CI 0.1–2.6) for T. b. rhodesiense. Out of 240 tsetse flies that were infected with Sodalis, trypanosome infection was reported in 40 tsetse flies (16.7%, 95% CI = 12.0–21.4) while 37 (16.8%, 95% CI 11.9–21.8) of the 220 Wolbachia infected tsetse flies were infected with trypanosomes. There was 1.3 times likelihood of T. brucei infection to be present when Wolbachia was present and 1.7 likelihood of T. brucei infection when Sodalis was present. Overall findings suggest absence of correlation between the presence of tsetse endosymbionts and tsetse with trypanosome infection. Lastly, the presence of pathogenic trypanosomes in tsetse species examined provided insights into the risk communities face, and the importance of African trypanosomiasis in the area

Government's Health Policy Response to Non- Communicable Diseases in Zambia

Master of Public HealthNon-communicable diseases (NCDs) are an emerging global health concern. Reports have shown that in Zambia NCDs are also an emerging problem and the government has begun initiating a policy response. The study explored the policy response to NCDs by the Ministry of Health in Zambia using the policy triangle framework of Walt and Gilson. A qualitative approach was used for the study. Data collected through key informant interviews with stakeholders who were involved in the NCD health policy development process as well as review of key planning and policy documents were analysed using thematic analysis. The government’s policy response was as a result of international pronouncements and resolutions from WHO on NCDs, evidence of increasing disease burden from NCDs and pressure from local interest groups. The government recently developed the NCD strategic plan based on the WHO Global Action Plan for NCDs 2013-2030 to provide direction on how the government intended to address these conditions. During the development of the NCD strategic plan, the government through the Ministry of Health set the agenda and adopted the final document. Stakeholders including government line ministries, cooperating partners and non-governmental organizations participated in the development of the first draft of the document. Analysis of the policy process for the development of the NCD strategic plan showed that the process had the recommended key elements of successful policy development such as stakeholder participation and consultation, strong political will from the government and use of international guidelines. On the other hand, a root cause analysis of the policy process revealed that inadequate domestication of international guidelines, weak inter-sector collaboration and political influence resulted in the NCD strategic plan having gaps in its contents which are possibly contributing to the current challenges in implementing the plan. Contextual factors like international strategies and commitments are crucial catalysts to policy response. However there is need for adequate domestication of international guidelines according to available evidence to match the resources and capacities in the local context if policy measures are to be comprehensive, relevant and measurable

The detection of African trypanosomes in goats reared in tsetse infested villages of Eastern Zambia

Control programmes for African animal trypanosomiasis (AAT) in livestock have been mainly focused on cattle with very little focus on goats, an important reservoir for the disease. Using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), this study investigated trypanosome infection in village goats in Mambwe, a rural District in Eastern Zambia. Filter paper blood spots were collected from 326 goats and tested for infection with Trypanosoma congolense, Trypanosoma vivax and Trypanosoma brucei s.l. using ribosomal RNA internal transcribed spacers (ITS)-PCR. The frequency of trypanosomes from the sampled goats was 4.6% (95% CI = 2.3–6.8). Results indicated significantly high infections with Trypanosoma vivax (4.0%; 95% CI = 1.9–6.1) than T. congolense (0.6%; 95% CI =  − 0.2 to 1.5), and T. brucei (0.0%), P = 0.04. Findings show the circulation of trypanosomes that causes AAT in goats and that they may pose serious threats to not only goats but also to other livestock reared alongside goats.Open Access funding enabled and organized by CAUL and its Member Institutions.http://link.springer.com/journal/11250hj2022Veterinary Tropical Disease

Risky Sex and HIV Acquisition Among HIV Serodiscordant Couples in Zambia, 2002-2012: What Does Alcohol Have To Do With It?

In this paper we evaluate the effects of heavy alcohol consumption on sexual behavior, HIV acquisition, and antiretroviral treatment (ART) initiation in a longitudinal open cohort of 1929 serodiscordant couples in Lusaka, Zambia from 2002 to 2012. We evaluated factors associated with baseline heavy alcohol consumption and its association with condomless sex with the study partner, sex outside of the partnership, and ART initiation using multivariable logistic regression. We estimated the effect of alcohol consumption on HIV acquisition using multivariable Cox models. Baseline factors significantly associated with women's heavy drinking (drunk weekly or more in 12-months before enrollment) included woman's older age (adjusted prevalence odds ratio [aPOR] = 1.04), partner heavy drinking (aPOR = 3.93), and being HIV-infected (aPOR = 2.03). Heavy drinking among men was associated with less age disparity with partner (aPOR per year disparity = 0.97) and partner heavy drinking (aPOR = 1.63). Men's being drunk daily (aOR = 1.18), women's being drunk less than monthly (aOR = 1.39) vs. never drunk and being in a male HIV-negative and female HIV-positive union (aOR = 1.45) were associated with condomless sex. Heavy alcohol use was associated with having 1 or more outside sex partners among men (aOR drunk daily = 1.91, drunk weekly = 1.32, drunk monthly = 2.03 vs. never), and women (aOR drunk monthly = 2.75 vs. never). Being drunk weekly or more increased men's risk of HIV acquisition (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 1.72). Men and women being drunk weekly or more was associated (p < 0.1) with women's seroconversion (aHR = 1.42 and aHR = 3.71 respectively). HIV-positive women who were drunk monthly or more had lower odds of initiating ART (aOR = 0.83; 95% CI = 0.70-0.99) adjusting for age, months since baseline and previous pregnancies. Individuals in HIV-serodiscordant couples who reported heavy drinking had more outside sex partnerships and condomless sex with their study partner and were more likely to acquire HIV. HIV-positive women had lower odds of initiating ART if they were heavy drinkers