Women in Management: Challenges and Gaps in Public Institutions in Ethiopia

The major purpose of this study is to investigate the challenges and gaps as related to executive women in public institutions in Ethiopia. A survey and analytical study approach was employed to investigate the case. The respondents were selected from all 23 ministerial head offices located in Addis Ababa. A sample of forty-nine executive women was identified to assess the challenges and gaps of women who hold managerial positions in their respective organizations with an availability sampling technique. Results indicate that the executive’s family related issues did not impact women’s career progress; however, the study also revealed that socio-cultural factors did have a significant impact on their career progress. In terms of organizational factors, the results showed that there are no as such discriminatory practices in terms of promotion and assignment of responsibility between men and women. However, it was found that there are policies and regulations that still disfavor women’s progress moving up the organizational ladder. Also, women have more demands placed on them in order to reach executive positions than do men. The study suggests that a more enabling environment is needed to for women executives. Community programs, policies and regulations need to accommodate related factors on gender differences in the work place

Human Resource Development Climate of Selected Commercial Banks in Ethiopia

Human resource development climate is a manifestation of overall tone of the organization with respect to employee training, education and development.  The objective of the study is to show the status of human resource development climate of selected commercial banks in Ethiopia.  An analytical survey research approach was employed to assess the HRD climate of the banks.  Employees and managers at head quarters of the selected commercial banks were considered as a sample of the study.  Out of 600 employees at head quarters 150 were made to respond to the questionnaire based on the availability sampling techniques.  The sampling technique was chosen since the employees are homogenous in terms of awareness regarding the issue of the study.  The respondents were requested to fill a questionnaire that was developed by Rao and Abraham (1986).  Accordingly, top management commitments, HRD mechanisms and OCTAPAC culture of the Banks were assessed.  The findings of the study shows that an average management support, an average HRD mechanisms effort and an average OCTAPAC culture are prevailing within the case banks.  Therefore, it can be concluded that the banks are not in a position of exercising conducive HRD climate. In other respect the changes in banking industry is turbulent and which ultimately calls for continuous human resource development. Hence, it was suggested that the managing body of the commercial banks need to support the learning & potential development of employees by introducing changes in HRD policies and practices which ultimately creates conducive HRD climate.

Adult Mosquito Populations and Their Health Impact around and far from Dams in Tigray Region, Ethiopia

Malaria control program in Ethiopia has a history of more than 40 years, but still now, malaria is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Ethiopia. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of dam construction in the distribution of mosquito in intervention (dam nearby villages) and controlled (villages far from dam). Indoor adult mosquitoes were collected using 144 CDC light traps from 12 villages (6 from the intervention and 6 from the control villages) Community- based malaria parasitology was also done. Sampling was done in November 2005, December 2005, May 2006 and September 2006). A total of 1713 adult indoor mosquitoes were collected, of these, 1182 (69%) were Anopheles and 531 (31%) Culex. The prevalence of Anopheles was 45.77% in the intervention villages and 23.23% in the controlled villages (F p = 0.012). The prevalence of Anopheles increased twice in the intervention compared to the controlled villages. A total of 1436 children, 888 from intervention and 548 from control villages were examined for malaria parasitology. Only 57 children were found infected by Plasmodium species. Malaria prevalence rate was 3.97% (4.17% and 3.65% in intervention and control village, respectively)(x2 = 0.11, p= 0.7399). Among the 57 malaria positive cases in 32 (56.14%) we found P. vivax and in the 25 (43.86%) P. falciparum. We can tentatively conclude that the dams situated at 2000m and above do resulted two fold adult indoor mosquito, but do not seem to have resulted in a markedly higher incidence of malaria in the region. The study concludes that concerned authorities should take appropriate measures to improve health-care facilities for local communities when planning new irrigation schemes wherever they occur.Keywords: Anopheles, Culex, Dam, Intervention, Malari

Characterization of Mosquito Breeding Sites in and in the Vicinity of Tigray Microdams

BACKGROUND: Malaria vector control in Ethiopia has a history of more than 50 years, but malaria remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Ethiopia. Thus, targeting the control program on the larval stage is of paramount importance. This study aimed to characterize the aquatic habitats of vector mosquito larvae associated with micro-dams. METHODS: Cross-sectional larval survey was conducted on six micro-dams in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia in 2005/06. The study area on each dam was divided into eight zones. Immature stages of mosquitoes were collected using standard dippers. The physico-chemical characteristics of the aquatic habitats were measured onsite. RESULTS: A total of 301 aquatic habitats were surveyed for mosquito larvae; in 32.56% (n=301) only Anopheles, in 27.91% only Culex, both genera were found mixed in 21.59% and no mosquito larvae were found in 17.94%. The findings depicted that dissolved oxygen (r = 0.34, p =0.04), pH (r = 0.35, p =0.03), conductivity (r = 0.36, p =0.03), vegetation (F = 3.54, p =0.002), microhabitat (F = 2.65, p =0.04), fauna and bottom surface of the water body were positively associated and important in explaining the presence and abundance of Culex. On the other hand, dissolved oxygen (r = 0.39, p =0.02), pH (r = 0.42, p =0.008), vegetation (F = 5.6, p =0.000), water transparency (F = 2.72, p =0.00), rainfall (F = 2.22, p = 0.027) and fauna were positively associated and important in explaining the presence and abundance of Anopheles. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest that both biotic (vegetation and fauna) and abiotic (chemical and physical) factors play a significant role in larvae’s habitat preference in both Culex and Anopheles. KEYWORDS: Anopheles, breeding, characteristics, Culex, larvae, mosquito, Northern Ethiopi

Low-cost adsorptive technologies: batch reactor and fixed-bed column experiments for the removal of phosphate from wastewater

Using low-cost and locally available raw materials to remove phosphate (P) from sewage and industrial effluent instead of employing high-cost techniques are one of the viable solutions to prevent aquatic life from excess P. Therefore, this research aimed to study the applicability of low-cost carbon-based (i.e., leftover coal materials) and rock adsorbents (volcanic rocks, i.e., pumice-VP um and scoria-VSco) for the removal of P from artificial wastewater in batch and column experiments.Die Verwendung kostengünstiger und lokal verfügbarer Rohstoffe zur Entfernung von Phosphat (P) aus Abwässern und Industrieabwässern anstelle des Einsatzes teurer Techniken ist eine der praktikablen Lösungen, um zu verhindern, dass Wasserlebewesen überschüssiges P erhalten. Daher zielte diese Forschung darauf ab, die Anwendbarkeit zu untersuchen von kostengünstigen kohlenstoffbasierten (d. h. Restkohlematerialien) und Gesteinsadsorptionsmitteln (Vulkangestein, d. h. Bimsstein-VP um und Schlacke-VSco) für die Entfernung von P aus künstlichem Abwasser in Batch- und Kolonne-Experimenten

The epidemiology of smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis at Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia: A five year retrospective study

Background: Globally, tuberculosis (TB) continues to cause considerable morbidity and mortality. Ethiopia is among the 22 high TB burden countries reported. Currently, data regarding the magnitude of TB and associated factors have been released at different health facilities as part of service auditing. However, such data are not universally available that this study was carried out to determine the prevalence of smear positive tuberculosis and its associated risk factors at FelegeHiwot Referral Hospital (FHRH) over a period of five years.Methods: We analyzed all the records of 12,442 presumptive TB patients registered at FHRH from 2011 to 2015. Data on patient’s sex, age, residential address and sputum smear microscopy results were extracted from laboratory registration logbook. All data were entered, cleaned and analyzed using SPSS version 22 for windows. The proportion and trend of smear positive TB over the five years period was calculated and the overall prevalence of TB in these years was determined. Logistic regression model was used to analyze the association between TB positivity and potential associated variables; p < 0.05 was considered to be significant.Results: TB suspected patients were found to be characterized as male 7052 (56.7%), within the age group of 15-29 years of age 4105 (33.0%) and were from rural settings7841 (63.0). The number of presumptive TB patients visiting FHRH over the five years period was quite variable. However, the prevalence of smear positive TB in each year was almost consistent, ranging from 4.2% to 6.5%. The prevalence of smear positive TB among new and follow up patients was at 5.2% and 4.5%, respectively. The proportion of overall burden of smear positive pulmonary TB was estimated at 5.2% and was found significantly associated with age group between 15-29 (AOR: 0.45, 95% CI, 0.23-0.77), 30-44 (AOR:0.22, 95% CI, 0.15-0.32) and 45-59 (AOR:0.38, 95% CI, 0.26-0.56).Conclusions: In the studied area high prevalence of smear positive TB was documented over the five years period; which implies inconsistent measures being taken to reduce the burden of the disease. Hence, interventions to decrease prevalence of TB and thereby its impacts need to be evaluated and strengthened. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2017;31(3):155-160]Keywords: TB, Trend, Felege Hiwot Referral Hospita

Evaluating the effectiveness and implementation of an online professional development program for health professional educators: The case of Jimma University

The usage of virtual platforms for reforming teachers' continuous professional development (CPD) is becoming more and more necessary in contemporary higher education (HE) settings. For a comprehensive understanding of the implications of this strategy for CPD, research studies from various contexts are required. This study evaluated the effectiveness and implementation of a pilot online professional development (PD) package called the ‘higher diploma program (HDP)’ for health professional educators (HPEs) in the Ethiopian HE context. We used mixed methods in a Hybrid II design. Additionally, a comprehensive e-learning quality framework guided the overall research and integration of the qualitative and quantitative data. The qualitative component includes a key-informant interview (KII) with facilitators, a program coordinator, and a single focus group discussion with HPEs. Additionally, the quantitative component includes a cross-sectional survey of the (HPEs’) responses to a self-report questionnaire. The findings show that this pilot project was feasible and well accepted by the HPEs, facilitators, and coordinators of the project. These participants also perceived several implementation challenges as weaknesses of the pilot project. Mitigating the prevailing challenges requires sustained and collaborative efforts by universities, the education and health sector, and other partner institutions. Our interpretations imply that customizing online PD in HE is, ultimately, a local phenomenon that results from individual motivation and interest, institutional capacity, and contextual factors like access to technology, the quality of online PD resources, and program management

Determinants of full valid vaccine dose administration among 12-32 months children in Ethiopia: Evidence from the Ethiopian 2012 national immunization coverage survey

Introduction: According to the 2012 national immunization coverage survey report of Ethiopia, EPI coverage by antigen is 79.6% for BCG, 80.0% for DPT-HepB-Hib1 90.1% for OPV1 65.7%; for adjusted DPT-HepB-Hib 3; 65.7 % for OPV3 and 68.2% for Measles. Similarly, the prevalence of full vaccination was 50%. However, the prevalence of valid vaccination dose for all vaccines is 18.6 %. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify factors that determine the administration of full valid vaccines dose to set effective interventions.Methods: Data was obtained from the 2012 Immunization Coverage survey of Ethiopia, a cross- sectional study administered at the household level. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Binary and multivariate logistic regression with 95% CI was done to assess factors associated with getting full valid vaccination dose. Results: As documented from the 2012 national immunization coverage survey, the coverage of full valid vaccination dose were very low as compared to full immunization coverage that is 18.6% Vs 50%, respectively. Urban residence 2.6 (95% CI: 2.50, 2.68), mothers with age groups of 21-34 and >35 were 1.26 (95% CI: 1.22, 1.29) and 2.4 (95% CI: 2.3, 2.44); children with caretakers with primary, secondary, and higher level of education were 1.6 (95% CI: 1.22, 1.29), 2.8 (95% CI: 2.76, 2.92), and 2.2 (95% CI: 2.13, 2.27) times more likely to get valid vaccination dose.Conclusion: The rich wealth quintile, rural place of residence, living more than 5km proximity to nearest health facility, having more than six sibling, having teenage (<20years old) mother, having mother with no formal education, having mother/ care giver with no card or family folder which state children vaccination status sources, and having mother who did not heard a message about importance of vaccine were found to be the independent determinants of low valid dose immunization. The efforts at all level to increase full valid vaccination coverage by targeting activities to socio-economic, socio-demographic, organizational, and related determinants. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2016;30(3):135-141]Keywords: Valid dose, vaccination, Ethiopi

Yield and yield components of coriander under different sowing dates and seed rates in tropical environment

Coriander makes use of favorable environmental conditions when it is sown at optimum time and rate. However, this information is very limited in the southeastern mid-highlands of Ethiopia. Field experiments were, therefore, conducted between 2011 and 2014 at three different research stations to determine optimum sowing dates and rates. The experiment had split plot design in randomized complete block with three replications, in which sowing dates and seed rates were the main and sub-plot treatments, respectively. The four sowing date treatments were June 20, July 10, July 30 and August 20 while the four seeding rate treatments were 30, 40, 50 and 60 kg ha-1. Coriander sowed in the third decade of July at Arsi Robe and from the first to the third decades of July at Kulumsa and Sagure gave the highest fruit and biomass yields. Earlier sowing in the second decade of June, and delayed sowing in the second decade of August brought fruit yield reductions of 37-66 and 37% at Arsi Robe, 27-45 and 58-66% at Kulumsa, and 24-40 and 26% at Sagure, respectively. However, coriander did not respond to seed rates. Owing to the enhanced yields of coriander, intermediate cultivation at a seed rate of 30 kg ha-1 was found optimum