Male Involvement in Family Planning in Muslem Communities in Wa Municipality, Ghana

Background: The scarcity of resources in the face of rapid population growth and unlimited human wants has compelled countries the world over to take a positive stand in checking population growth before it outstrips resources. Also, addressing socio-cultural and religious beliefs surrounding family planning which seeks to control population has been a subject of debate for communities. The issue of family planning has triggered concerns amongst muslem populations regarding acceptability gap and effective use of modern contraceptives. With these varied concerns among the muslem population, some clerics are very cautious in discussing the subject while others have integrated the subject in their teachings by identifying knowledgeable religious leaders who offer religiously sound interpretations on family planning. Notwithstanding these challenges, available evidence on maternal health figures is alarming. According to WHO, over 818 million women of reproductive age from low / middle income countries have unmet need for family planning- they want to limit or space child birth but are not having access to effective contraceptives use. Each year, over 211 million women get pregnant and about one-third of these women end up in induced abortions. These have generated discussions on family planning in Muslem communities. This study therefore sought to find responses among males in Wa Municipality Muslem communities through these questions. Does Islam address family planning? Is contraceptives use permissible in by Islam?Methods: A cross section descriptive study of 120 muslem males in Wa Municipality was carried out from June to September, 2013. Contraceptive use was 24% among subjects.  The study identified Age, number of wives and educational level of respondents to be significant with contraceptive use (P<0.05). On the other hand, number of children did not show any significant difference with contraceptive use. The most frequently identified contraceptive method were condom, injectables and oral pills.Conclusion: The study identified perfect knowledge and awareness of contraceptives (100%) among subjects but a lag in uptake and non-approval (24% verses 75%). Keywords: Religious beliefs, Linen sheath, Muslim, family planning, Wa, Ghana

The Contributions of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises to Economic Growth: A Cross-Sectional study of Zebilla in the Bawku West District of Northern Ghana.

The mainstay of developing economies is the informal sector. In Ghana, most employment opportunities are largely hinged on the private sector. The contribution of this sector to Ghana’s economic growth through job creation cannot be underestimated. Globally, SMEs are noted for empowering citizens and economic growth of countries in Asia, Europe and North America. Though successive Ghanaian governments after independence in 1957 have made strenuous efforts towards reducing poverty and accelerating economic growth through formulating policies that favor SMEs, there is still a lag in knowledge regarding the presence of SMEs and level of development in rural settings in Northern Ghana.  The study sought to find out if the presence of SMEs could be linked to rapid infrastructural development, whether significant number of people is gainfully employed in the sector, and if SMEs have attracted the needed financial institutions through increased in credit facilities. By extension we also explored inherent challenges confronting SMEs and provided recommendations for entrepreneurs and policy makers to improve the sector in Ghana. The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional study design and data was collected between April and August, 2013. Simple random sampling was used to select One hundred and sixty (160) SMEs respondents at 92% confidence interval (C.I) at 0.08 error margin. To achieve the set objective, the study employed both primary (questionnaires and observation) and secondary (documented evidence, internets materials etc) data collection techniques. The study revealed that SMEs do not play significant role in employing youth in the District though most SMEs rely on free family labour to minimize cost. Some infrastructural development like roads constructions could not be associated with the presence of SMEs. 15% of respondents attributed SMEs presence to housing and electricity extension to selected areas. Onion cultivation dominated other crops production in the area and generated appreciable profits. Limited access to credit, Infrastructural development deficits such as decent roads, Onions storage facilities and irrigation dams for all year round cultivation were among key challenges outline as hindering SMEs development in the area.  It is recommended that, entrepreneurs should be encouraged to form cooperatives to enable them access bank credits since most financial institutions hold the view that, group lending minimizes the risk of loan default. Also, occasional capacity training sessions should be organized for SMEs on basic records keeping and entrepreneurial management skills. Keywords: SMEs contribution, Onion cultivation, Dawadawa / Shea butter extraction, Zebilla, Bawku

A scoping review on determinants of unmet need for family planning among women of reproductive age in low and middle income countries

Background: Poor access and low contraceptive prevalence are common to many Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). Unmet need for family planning (FP), defined as the proportion of women wishing to limit or postpone child birth, but not using contraception, has been central to reproductive health efforts for decades and still remains relevant for most policy makers and FP programs in LMICs. There is still a lag in contraceptive uptake across regions resulting in high unmet need due to various socioeconomic and cultural factors. In this mixed method scoping review we analyzed quantitative, qualitative and mixed method studies to summarize those factors influencing unmet need among women in LMICs. Methods: We conducted our scoping review by employing mixed method approach. We included studies applying quantitative and qualitative methods retrieved from online data bases (PubMed, JSTOR, and Google Scholar). We also reviewed the indexes of journals specific to the field of reproductive health by using a set of keywords related to unmet contraception need, and non-contraception use in LMICs. Results: We retrieved 283 articles and retained 34 articles meeting our inclusion criteria. Of these, 26 were quantitative studies and 8 qualitative studies. We found unmet need for FP to range between 20 % and 58 % in most studies. Woman’s age was negatively associated with total unmet need for FP, meaning as women get older the unmet need for FP decreases. The number of children was found to be a positively associated determinant for a woman’s total unmet need. Also, woman’s level of education was negatively associated – as a woman’s education improves, her total unmet need decreases. Frequently reported reasons for non-contraception use were opposition from husband or husbands fear of infidelity, as well as woman’s fear of side effects or other health concerns related to contraceptive methods. Conclusion: Factors associated with unmet need for FP and non-contraception use were common across different LMIC settings. This suggests that women in LMICs face similar barriers to FP and that it is still necessary for reproductive health programs to identify FP interventions that more specifically tackle unmet need

Determinants of unmet need for family planning in rural Burkina Faso: a multilevel logistic regression analysis

Background: Unmet need for family planning has implications for women and their families, such as unsafe abortion, physical abuse, and poor maternal health. Contraceptive knowledge has increased across low-income settings, yet unmet need remains high with little information on the factors explaining it. This study assessed factors associated with unmet need among pregnant women in rural Burkina Faso. Method: We collected data on pregnant women through a population-based survey conducted in 24 rural districts between October 2013 and March 2014. Multivariate multilevel logistic regression was used to assess the association between unmet need for family planning and a selection of relevant demand- and supply-side factors. Results: Of the 1309 pregnant women covered in the survey, 239 (18.26%) reported experiencing unmet need for family planning. Pregnant women with more than three living children [OR = 1.80; 95% CI (1.11–2.91)], those with a child younger than 1 year [OR = 1.75; 95% CI (1.04–2.97)], pregnant women whose partners disapproves contraceptive use [OR = 1.51; 95% CI (1.03–2.21)] and women who desired fewer children compared to their partners preferred number of children [OR = 1.907; 95% CI (1.361–2.672)] were significantly more likely to experience unmet need for family planning, while health staff training in family planning logistics management (OR = 0.46; 95% CI (0.24–0.73)] was associated with a lower probability of experiencing unmet need for family planning. Conclusion: Findings suggest the need to strengthen family planning interventions in Burkina Faso to ensure greater uptake of contraceptive use and thus reduce unmet need for family planning