Accelerating the Gains of the Free Maternity Care in Kenya\u27s Urban Informal Settlements

The 2010 Constitution of Kenya recognizes the special group of women living in urban informal settlements, and provides for their access to the highest attainable standards of health care, including reproductive health care. The Health Act, which was enacted in 2017, recognizes the significant challenges of accessing maternal health services among the poorest populations. Pursuant to the resolutions of the African Union, the Health Act abolished user fees for pregnant women. The Health Act instructs the county and national governments to expand free maternity care and childhood immunizations through funding. Despite Kenya’s commitment to increase the national budget for health care to 15% of the gross domestic product (GDP), the budgetary allocation for free maternity services has not increased over the years. Therefore, for the Health Act provision requiring free maternity care to be meaningful for women living in urban informal settlements, and improve their birth outcomes, the county and national governments must increase funding for basic medical facilities, essential health supplies and staffing needs in these areas. There are currently no adequate legal and policy frameworks for increasing maternal health care funding and accelerating the impact of the free maternity services program on maternal health outcomes in Kenya’s urban informal settlements. In this Article, I propose that the national and county governments must increase funding for basic medical facilities, supplies and staffing at the county level to improve maternal health outcomes for the women living in urban informal settlements. The first part of this Article will describe the current state of the urban informal settlements. The second part will examine the state of maternal health care in Kenya’s urban informal settlements. The third part will explore the governance structure for implementing the right to maternal health care in Kenya. The fourth part will explore the existing legal frameworks that promote the right to maternal health care in Kenya. The fifth part will provide recommendations for improving maternal health care in Kenya’s urban informal settlements

An Empirical Analysis of the Liquidity, Solvency and Financial Health of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in Kisii Municipality, Kenya

Research findings have shown that the liquidity, profitability and solvency position of most Small and Medium Eenterprises (SMEs) are in average position with the causal factors behind this position being unsound financial management, inadequate working capital, slow conversion of receivables and inventory into cash, lower position of sales and higher amount of debt. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to carry out a Financial diagnosis of the SMEs financial performance by focusing on their  liquidity, solvency and profitability positions using ratio analysis. Data for the study covered the period 2009-2011 and was obtained from the financial statements of three SMEs which were purposively sampled from the SMEs operating in Kisii Municipality. The sampled SMEs were those which had financial statements for the years under consideration. Data collected through the analysis of key ratios were analyzed using the mean, standard deviation, coeffifient of variation, Student-t test and through the use of the Altman’s Z-score model. The findings of the study showed that the liquidity position of the SMEs was on average low; their solvency was low and their financial Health was on average not good.  Further,the results show that there is a significant impact of current ratio, quick ratio and Debt to Total Assets ratio on Return on Assets (ROA). The results of the study demonstrate that the liquidity position of the SMEs was  well below the acceptable global norm of 2 for current ratio and 1 for quick ratio. Further, the results indicated that the financial health of the SMEs needed to be improved hence the recommendation that SMEs make liquidity, solvency management and financial stability an integral driver of their policy frameworks. Key words: Liquidity, Solvency and Financial Healt

Hybrid methodology for sparse selection of generalized estimating equations model for the drivers of firm value

The study proposes a two-step hybrid methodology for sparse generalizedestimation equations modeling of the drivers of shareholder value creation.Through the methodology, the validity of the Gordon constant growth modelis established and other non-dividend factors’ contribution to shareholdervalue creation is assessed. The two-step hybrid method involves pickingout the right intra-subject correlation matrix and set of regressors usingEAIC and QIC respectively (EAIC-QIC) and then obtaining the penalizedGEE estimators of the selected model. Penalization is useful in removingredundant regressors from the final model. The performance of the proposedmethod was compared to that of exclusively using QIC method in selectingboth the correlation matrix and set of regressors. The study results showedthat, whereas EAIC preferred the parsimonious order one autoaggressive{AR(1)} structure for the data, QIC preferred the unstructured matrix whichestimates the highest number of correlation parameters. Using the AR(1)structure and Algorithm 2, the GEE model chosen had higher efficiencycompared to when QIC is used to select both the correlation matrix andregressors. Based on the results, the study concludes that adopting hybridmethods enhances efficiency of GEE estimators. On firm value, the studyconcludes that besides the elements in the Gordon-Constant growth model,the financial health of a firm is a vital indicator of value creation by firms

Factors Influencing Employee Performance Appraisal System: A Case of the Ministry of State for Provincial Administration & Internal Security, Kenya

Abstract This study investigated the multifaceted factors influencing employee Performance Appraisal System in th

Jaimbo

Bul dance song for men with Bunda bass drums and Gara leg bell

Jaimbo

Indigenous musi

Accelerating the Gains of the Free Maternity Care in Kenya\u27s Urban Informal Settlements

The 2010 Constitution of Kenya recognizes the special group of women living in urban informal settlements, and provides for their access to the highest attainable standards of health care, including reproductive health care. The Health Act, which was enacted in 2017, recognizes the significant challenges of accessing maternal health services among the poorest populations. Pursuant to the resolutions of the African Union, the Health Act abolished user fees for pregnant women. The Health Act instructs the county and national governments to expand free maternity care and childhood immunizations through funding. Despite Kenya’s commitment to increase the national budget for health care to 15% of the gross domestic product (GDP), the budgetary allocation for free maternity services has not increased over the years. Therefore, for the Health Act provision requiring free maternity care to be meaningful for women living in urban informal settlements, and improve their birth outcomes, the county and national governments must increase funding for basic medical facilities, essential health supplies and staffing needs in these areas. There are currently no adequate legal and policy frameworks for increasing maternal health care funding and accelerating the impact of the free maternity services program on maternal health outcomes in Kenya’s urban informal settlements. In this Article, I propose that the national and county governments must increase funding for basic medical facilities, supplies and staffing at the county level to improve maternal health outcomes for the women living in urban informal settlements. The first part of this Article will describe the current state of the urban informal settlements. The second part will examine the state of maternal health care in Kenya’s urban informal settlements. The third part will explore the governance structure for implementing the right to maternal health care in Kenya. The fourth part will explore the existing legal frameworks that promote the right to maternal health care in Kenya. The fifth part will provide recommendations for improving maternal health care in Kenya’s urban informal settlements

Jaimbo

Indigenous musi

Impacts of Artisanal Gold Mining on Water Quality: A Case Study of Tangandougou Commune in Sikasso Region, Mali

Introduction: Unsustainable natural resources utilization is on the increase in the developing countries thus the ability of many local communities to meet their basic needs including food, water and shelter is jeopardized. Uncontrolled gold-mining in Sikasso region is one such an anthropogenic activity that is of great environmental concern to the local and national governments of Mali owing to its potential impacts on water quality, human health and environment. This study was conceived to assess the impacts of artisanal gold mining on water quality in Tangandougou in Sikasso region of Mali. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, water samples were collected, processed and analyzed for heavy metals (Lead, Cadmium and Arsenic) according to APHA protocols. Measurements of physical parameters of water quality were done according to APHA protocols. Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: There were no significant spatial differences in physical and chemical parameters (pH, Temperature, Conductivity, total dissolved solids and Salinity) of water quality amongst the sampling sites. However, the heavy metals concentrations in the sampled water exceeded WHO drinking water quality guidelines. Conclusion: It was concluded that the water of Sankarani River and its tributaries is contaminated and may cause adverse effects on human health due to biomagnification and the bioaccumulative nature of heavy metals. Therefore, the study recommends continuous monitoring of the water quality in all water sources adjacent to gold-mining areas to protect human and environmental health

Antimicrobial and mechanism of antagonistic activity of Bacillus sp. A2 against pathogenic fungus and bacteria: The implication on honey's regulatory mechanism on host's microbiota

Honey is thought to act against microbes and regulates microbiota balance, and this is mainly attributed to the enzymatic production of hydrogen peroxide, high osmolarity, and nonperoxidase factors, for example, lysozyme and botanical sources of nectar, while the effect of honey's probiotic is recently considered. The study of honey as source of beneficial microbes is understudied. The purpose of this study was to screen for the beneficial microorganisms in honey with antagonistic property against important pathogens and the mechanism of antimicrobial activity and thus play a beneficial role as probiotics. The results showed that one out of the fourteen bacterial isolates had antimicrobial activity and was identified as Bacillus Sp. A2 by 16S rRNA sequence and morphology. Antimicrobial activity of the isolate against C. albicans, E. coli, and S. aureus was confirmed by Agar well diffusion and liquid coculture assays, and the propagation of those microbes was significantly inhibited after treatment with the isolate Bacillus sp. A2 (p < .05) in comparison with untreated negative control and positive control (fluconazole, chloramphenicol, L. plantarum). The morphological changes including the distorted shape with indentations and leakages (SEM), damaged cell membrane, and cell wall with the disintegration and attachment of the Bacillus sp. A2 (TEM) in treated C. albicans were observed. Meanwhile, reactive oxygen species accumulation and decreased mitochondrial membrane potential were detected in treated C. albicans. These results revealed that the isolate Bacillus sp. A2 from honey has significant antimicrobial activity (p < .05) against C. albicans in comparison with untreated negative control and positive control L. plantarum, which depends on the accumulation of reactive oxygen species, mitochondrial damage, and the cell apoptosis. We concluded that the Bacillus sp. A2 possess the antimicrobial property, which may contribute to regulation of host's microbiota as a beneficial microbe or probiotic