A review of studies on community based early warning systems

Community-based early warning systems involve community driven collection and analysis of information that enable warning messages to help a community to react to a hazard and reduce the resulting loss or harm. Most early warning systems are designed at the national or global level. Local communities’ capacity to predict weather conditions using indigenous knowledge has been demonstrated in studies focusing on climate change and agriculture in some African countries. This review was motivated by successes made in non-disease specific community-based early warning systems with a view to identify opportunities for developing similar systems for malaria. This article reviewed the existing community-based early warning systems documented in literature. The types of disasters that are addressed by these systems and the methodologies utilised in the development of the systems were identified. The review showed that most of the documented community-based early warning systems focus on natural disasters such as floods, drought, and landslides. Community-based early warning systems for human diseases are very few, even though such systems exist at national and regional and global levels. There is a clear gap in terms of community-based malaria early warning systems. The methodologies for the development of the community-based early warning systems reviewed mainly derive from the four elements of early warning systems; namely risk knowledge, monitoring, warning communication and response capability. The review indicated the need for the development of community based early warning systems for human diseases. Keywords: community; early warning; disaster; hazard

The lived experiences of men who have sex with men when accessing HIV care services in Zimbabwe

Background: Key populations such as men who have sex with men are disproportionately affected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), yet they are underserved. This vulnerable group also faces stigma and discrimination when utilising the healthcare services. However, to achieve the HIV epidemic control, it is important for them to have access to HIV care services. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of men who have sex with men (MSM) as they accessed HIV care services in healthcare settings in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Setting: The study setting was healthcare facilities (state and private owned) in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, that offer HIV care services. Methods: The study used a descriptive phenomenological design targeting self-identified MSM living with HIV. Data were gathered by using in-depth individual interviews that were audio recorded. Data saturation determined sample size. Data were transcribed verbatim and later analysed thematically. Results: The study revealed that counselling given to MSM was generalised and not individualised. Some clients faced stigma and discrimination after disclosure. Peer and family support were important in the journey to access HIV care services. Conclusion: An enabling environment was not provided for MSM clients to access HIV care services in the majority of health facilities. This calls for sensitisation and competency clinical training of service providers so that the diverse needs of MSM are met. Peer and family support for MSM needs to be strengthened

Predictors of hand hygiene behaviours among primary and secondary school children in a rural district setting in Zimbabwe: A cross-sectional epidemiologic study

© 2020, IWA Publishing. All rights reserved. Hand hygiene is one of the most effective and efficient ways of controlling faecal–oral diseases. However, little is known about the predictors of hand hygiene behaviours among school children. A predesigned checklist guide was used to observe hygiene behaviours of 460 pupils from four rural schools in Shamva South district, Zimbabwe. A pretested questionnaire was administered to obtain demographic data of the observed school children. Membership of a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) club, age, gender and the level of education were associated with hand hygiene practices (p \u3c 0.05). The findings indicated that investing in hand hygiene behaviour change processes among school children using the promotion, formation, resuscitation and empowerment of WASH clubs in schools is important in disease prevention among communities in developing countries

The lived experiences of men who have sex with men when accessing HIV care services

Background: Key populations such as men who have sex with men are disproportionately affected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), yet they are underserved. This vulnerable group also faces stigma and discrimination when utilising the healthcare services. However, to achieve the HIV epidemic control, it is important for them to have access to HIV care services. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of men who have sex with men (MSM) as they accessed HIV care services in healthcare settings in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Setting: The study setting was healthcare facilities (state and private owned) in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, that offer HIV care services. Methods: The study used a descriptive phenomenological design targeting self-identified MSM living with HIV. Data were gathered by using in-depth individual interviews that were audio recorded. Data saturation determined sample size. Data were transcribed verbatim and later analysed thematically. Results: The study revealed that counselling given to MSM was generalised and not individualised. Some clients faced stigma and discrimination after disclosure. Peer and family support were important in the journey to access HIV care services. Conclusion: An enabling environment was not provided for MSM clients to access HIV care services in the majority of health facilities. This calls for sensitisation and competency clinical training of service providers so that the diverse needs of MSM are met. Peer and family support for MSM needs to be strengthened.College of Human Science

Geographies of Digital Wasting: Electronic Waste From Mine to Discard and Back Again

What is electronic waste? E-waste conjures images of discarded computers, phones, TVs, hard drives, and endless piles of broken components at the end of their useful life. As a post-consumer object, e-waste is the fastest growing waste stream on the planet and an escalating environmental emergency. The issue of e-waste embodies global and regional inequities between geographies of digital consumption and geographies of digital wasting. Inequities in global flows of e-waste have been documented between high-income nations in the Global North, like the United States, and lower-income nations in the Global South. Inter-regional flows of e-waste also occur between South-to-South nations, which leaves countries like Zimbabwe overburdened with tonnes of toxic digital waste to process. But the true expanse and diversity of waste generated in the building and maintenance of digital life goes well beyond the unequal movement of post-consumer discards. In fact, recent studies have shown that a majority of the waste and pollution produced during the life of most computing devices comes from resource extraction and manufacturing {Lepawsky, 2017; Gupta et al., 2020). This exhibit illuminates the vast networks of digital wastes that stretch across varied geographies of extraction, manufacturing, operation, and discard

An assessment of risk factors for contracting rabies among dog bite cases recorded in Ward 30, Murewa district, Zimbabwe.

BackgroundZoonoses are a major threat to human health. Worldwide, rabies is responsible for approximately 59 000 deaths annually. In Zimbabwe, rabies is one of the top 5 priority diseases and it is notifiable. It is estimated that rabies causes 410 human deaths per year in the country. Murewa district recorded 938 dog bite cases and 4suspected rabies deaths between January 2017 and July 2018, overshooting the threshold of zero rabies cases. Of the 938dog bite cases reported in the district, 263 were reported in Ward 30 and these included all the 4suspected rabies deaths reported in the district. This necessitated a study to assess risk factors for contracting rabies in Ward 30, Murewa.Methodology/ principal findingsA descriptive cross sectional survey was used for a retrospective analysis of a group of dog bite cases reported at Murewa Hospital, in Ward 30. Purposive sampling was used to select dog bite cases and snowball sampling was used to locate unvaccinated dogs and areas with jackal presence. The dog bite cases and relatives of rabies cases were interviewed using a piloted interviewer-administered questionnaire. Geographical Positioning System (GPS) coordinates of dog bite cases, vaccinated and unvaccinated dogs and jackal presence were collected using handheld GPS device. QGIS software was used to spatially analyse and map them. Dog owners were 10 times more likely to contract rabies compared to non-dog owners (RR = 10, 95% CI 1.06-93.7). Owners of unvaccinated dogs were 5 times more likely to contract rabies compared to owners of vaccinated dogs (RR = 5.01, 95% CI 0.53-47.31). Residents of the high density cluster (area with low cost houses and stand size of 300 square meters and below) were 64 times more likely to contract rabies compared to non-high density cluster residents (RR = 64.87, 95% CI 3.6039-1167.82). Participants who were not knowledgeable were 0.07 times more likely to contract rabies, compared to those who had knowledge about rabies. (RR = 0.07, 95% CI 0.004-1.25). Our study shows that the risk factors for contacting rabies included; low knowledge levels regarding rabies, dog ownership residing in the high density cluster, owning unvaccinated dogs and spatial overlap of jackal presence with unvaccinated dogs

Facilitating community engagement: Researchers’ lived experiences in rural communities in the KwaZulu-Natal Ecohealth Program, South Africa

AbstractCommunity engagement approaches are case-specific, enabling communities to address health and well-being challenges. The stages of community engagement are progressive, and particularly, the early stage of community engagement ensures researchers have access to potential participants and research sites. This study aimed to document the processes, challenges and lessons learned by KwaZulu-Natal Ecohealth Program researchers in engaging with the Ingwavuma community. We used a phenomenological qualitative approach to document the KwaZulu-Natal Ecohealth Program research team’s lived experiences during community engagement process. In-depth, semi-structured interviews with researchers, staff, and the project investigator were conducted and thematically analysed. The findings revealed that the issue of language and cross-cultural interactions, which resulted in misunderstanding and incorrect interpretation of the data being communicated with communities, appeared to be a recurring issue that caused dissatisfaction in the community engagement process. Therefore, informing the community about the research study is a subjective experience that necessitates mindfulness when interacting and engaging with communities. We recommend an inclusive framework for a higher level of engagement that would give guidance to both researchers and communities to ensure active participation and a collaborative decision-making process

Developing a community-centred malaria early warning system based on indigenous knowledge: Gwanda District, Zimbabwe

Malaria continues to be a major public health problem in Sub-Saharan Africa despite efforts that have been made to prevent and control the disease for many decades. The knowledge on prediction and occurrence of the disease that communities acquired over the years has not been seriously considered in control programmes. This article reports on studies that aimed to integrate indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) on malaria into the malaria control programme in Gwanda District, Zimbabwe. The studies were conducted over a 3-year period. Data were collected using participatory rural appraisals, key informant interviews, household interviews and workshops in three wards (11, 15 and 18) with the highest malaria incidence in Gwanda District. Disease livelihoods calendars produced by the community showed their knowledge on the relationship between malaria, temperature and rainfall, and thus an understanding of malaria as a hazard. Volunteer IKS experts willing to record the indigenous environmental indicators for the occurrence of malaria in the study area were identified by the communities. Indigenous environmental indicators for the occurrence of malaria were classified as insects, plant phenology, animals, weather and cosmological indicators. Plant phenology was emphasised more than the other indicators. A community-based malaria early warning system model was developed using the identified IKS indicators in two of the wards using the ward health team as an entry point to the health system. In the model, data on indicators were collected at the village level by IKS experts, analysed at ward level by IKS experts and health workers and relayed to the district health team

Social, Cultural, and Environmental Challenges Faced by Children on Antiretroviral Therapy in Zimbabwe: a Mixed Method Study

Objectives Despite the advent of antiretroviral therapy (ART), many children, particularly in the rural communities of Zimbabwe, remain vulnerable. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors and challenges facing children on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Brunapeg area of Mangwe District, Zimbabwe. Methods A mixed-method approach involving interviewer-guided focus group discussions and piloted semi-structured questionnaires was utilized to collect data from different key population groups. The data obtained were analyzed through content coding procedures based on a set of predetermined themes of interest. Results A number of challenges emerged as barriers to the success of antiretroviral therapy for children. Primary care givers were less informed about HIV and AIDS issues for people having direct impact on the success of antiretroviral therapy in children whilst some were found to be taking the antiretroviral drugs meant for the children. It also emerged that some primary care givers were either too young or too old to care for the children while others had failed to disclose to the children why they frequently visited the Opportunistic Infections (OI) clinic. Most primary care givers were not the biological parents of the affected children. Other challenges included inadequate access to health services, inadequate food and nutrition and lack of access to clean water, good hygiene and sanitation. The lack of community support and stigma and discrimination affected their school attendance and hospital visits. All these factors contributed to non-adherence to antiretroviral drugs. Conclusions and Public Health Implications: Children on ART in rural communities in Zimbabwe remain severely compromised and have unique problems that need multi-intervention strategies both at policy and programmatic levels. Effective mitigating measures must be fully established and implemented in rural communities of developing countries in the fight for universal elimination of HIV/AIDS. Key Words: Antiretroviral therapy • Challenges • Children • HIV/AIDS • Mangwe District • Zimbabw