scholarly journals Detection of Multi-drug Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis among Suspected Patients in Northeastern Nigeria

Author(s):  
B. A. Haruna ◽  
F. Tahir ◽  
A. F. Umar ◽  
Mohammad M. Ibrahim ◽  
H. J. Balla ◽  
...  

Aim: We determine the prevalence of TB and MDRTB within the study population. Methodology: The sampling consists of 192 (54.4%) males and 161 (45.6%) females.  Ziehel Neelsen staining method was used for the detection of Acid Fast Bacilli (AFB) in the sputum samples collected. Rifampicin resistant (MDRTB) isolates were detected by GeneXpert and the conventional PCR technique. Results: In this study, 6 (9.5%) out of the 63 positive samples were rifampicin resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in which 4(6.3%) were found among females and 2 (3.2%) were found among males. Infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis was not dependent on gender statistically in this study P>0.05. Secondary institution among the health care centers had highest cases of tuberculosis18 (33.3%) while tertiary institute had higher rifampicin resistant tuberculosis 5(2.5%). Statistically there was significant relationship between occurrence of tuberculosis and health care centers p<0.05. Conclusion: There is need to establish more reference laboratories within the country in order to address the rising cases of tuberculosis. There is also need for urgent attention of the government and other developmental partners to address the rising cases of MTB and MDRTB which is outside the expected ratio of 3:1 (male : female) stipulated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and to conduct a national tuberculosis drug resistance survey so as to determine the actual burden of MDRTB in Nigeria.

Author(s):  
Shamim Ferdous ◽  
Mohammad Deloar Hossain

Children with disabilities (CWDs) are one of the most marginalised and excluded groups in the society. Facing daily discrimination in the form of negative attitudes, lack of adequate policies and legislation, they are effectively barred from realising their rights to healthcare, education and even survival. It has been estimated that exposure towards all forms of violence against CWDs is four-time greater than that of children without disabilities. Bangladesh has an estimated 7–10 million CWDs (out of a total of 72 million children, World Health Organisation Report). Most of the time, these children are treated as a burden to their families or the community and thus become subject to violence. There are very few specialised institutions with residential facility to take care of them. So, they are institutionalised in general residential institutions at a significantly higher rate than other children. But both the special and general residential institutions have lack of skilled human resources and knowledge of the special situation and needs of CWDs. Peer groups of the CWDs are also less sensitised, which result in further stigma and discrimination of CWDs. A 2010 study was done by the Ministry of Women and children Affairs. The findings from interviews with adolescents’ aged 13–16 in 12 locations of Dhaka City revealed their extreme vulnerability. In 2010, a study by Bangladesh Protibondhi Foundation that conducted a survey supported by the Save the Children Sweden–Denmark found that 51.4% of CWDs are either at risk of sexual abuse (12.5%) or have been sexually abused (38.9%).The government of Bangladesh has taken a number of legislative and policy steps that indicate commitment to advancing the rights of persons with disabilities. In terms of international instruments, Department of Social Services under Ministry of Social Welfare operates various types of institutions for the children and also CWDs. The study will adopt qualitative and quantitative methods to collect information from both primary and secondary sources and also assess the situation of government non-government organisations/religious institutions where CWDs have residential facilities in order to understand which factors contribute to increased vulnerability of these children.


Author(s):  
Emmanuel Mensah Aboagye ◽  
◽  
Nana Osei Owusu ◽  

Air pollution continues to be an environmental problem that poses a lot of health risks to the young and aged. Developed countries have invested heavily to curb this environmental problem, causing severe threats to human lives, yet the results do not look convincing. In developing countries, the situation is difficult than they can imagine, resulting in governments borrowing to fight what looks like a lost battle [1-3]. The in-depth study of this environmental menace - air pollution, suggests that the government enacts stringent measures to help fight this battle. This is because air pollution has natural (volcanic eruption) and anthropogenic (human activities) causes. In December 2019, the deadly Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak was soon declared as a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) [4]. Majority of countries have had their share of the impact of this outbreak. Many countries resorted to city lockdown to strictly control the movement of people and economic activities as recommended by WHO.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 480-488
Author(s):  
Nicola Evans ◽  
Rhiannon Lane ◽  
Gemma Stacey-Emile ◽  
Anthony Sefasi

Purpose The World Health Organisation found depression to be the fourth leading cause of disability in Malawi (Bowie, 2006) with the prevalence of mental health need in children and young people in Malawi estimated between 10 and 30% (Kutcher et al., 2019). One option to address this was to provide schoolteachers with skills and knowledge related to mental health so they can better support children. There is generally a lack of evidence of the utility or feasibility of school-based mental health literacy programmes in low to medium income countries (LMIC). This paper aims to report on a project to train schoolteachers in Malawi on aspects of mental health. Design/methodology/approach The aim of this project was to determine the acceptability and feasibility of delivering a training initiative in Malawi to teachers to better enable them to recognise and cope with school children who had been exposed to trauma and substance misuse. Findings Feedback was generated through the use of a specifically designed pre and post measure, focus groups, interviews and observations of the teaching delivery. Practical implications Teachers found the training built on their existing knowledge and they requested further opportunities for training and consultation about how to manage difficult presentations. It was evident that teachers did not know how to access mental health care or support for children whose needs could not be met by schoolteachers alone. Originality/value For a sustainable improvement for children’s mental health care in this context, further training becomes valuable when located as part of a network of joined up health and educational services.


Biomedical wastes management is one of the most important issues in public health centers and it is a crucial issue for environmental sectors as well. Wrong and inappropriate management treat the life of human beings in Kandahar City. Currently the population of this city has exponentially increased than ever because of the immigration of many people from neighboring provinces. This research was conducted in 15 districts of Kandahar public and private health care centers to identify the current biomedical waste management in Kandahar city. The qualitative and quantitative date was collected through a questionnaire from public and private hospitals, clinics and health care centers. In addition, discarding, segregating, labeling, transporting and disposing system of biomedical waste were observed. The result showed that 65.3% newly hired biomedical waste staff not received training or instruction. Furthermore, the result indicates that 44% generated biomedical wastes are regulated by municipality and color coding is not followed accordingly. Current biomedical waste is not appropriate based on designed international standards and the criteria suggested by world health organization.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nourjahan Laskar ◽  
Md Akram Hossain ◽  
Jannatul Fardows ◽  
Mominur Rahman

Background: The World Health Organization has endorsed the use of molecular methods for the detection of tuberculosis (TB) and drug resistant TB as a rapid method. In Bangladesh, the Xpert MTB/RIF assay has been implemented into reference laboratories for diagnosis of TB and also MDR TB.Objective: Drug resistant tuberculosis has long been a common problem prevailing in our country. The present study focused on the rapid identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis as well as drug resistance.Materials and Methods: Sputum samples from a total of 107 cases, assumed as multi-drug resistance tuberculosis, were studied through GeneXpert assay.Results: Out of 107 cases, 91 (85.05%) were detected having M. tuberculosis ? 64 (59.81%) were rifampicin sensitive and 27 (25.23%) were rifampicin resistant. The sensitivity and specificity of the GeneXpert are 87.64% and 75% respectively.Conclusion: GeneXpert assay can be considered for the rapid diagnosis of drug resistant tuberculosis.J Enam Med Col 2017; 7(2): 86-89


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ismaila Amadu ◽  
Ngoe Fritz Eseokwea ◽  
Marcel Ngambi

The goal of this paper is to determine the contribution of public health investments to the economic growth of Cameroon. The study used the human capital model of Lucas (1988) within the framework of endogenous growth theories. The Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) was employed in the estimations procedure using the World Development Indicators (WDI, 2013) data from the World Bank over the period spanning from 1988 to 2013.The findings show that government health expenditures contribute to economic growth only in the long run. From our results, we recommend that: first, the government should increase health spending to 10 or 15 percent of its GDP as initially suggested by the African Union and the World Health Organization respectively; second, government should enhance the provision of health care services by the private sector by putting in place incitation measures; third, competitive awards should be granted to those health units that render quality health care services.Int. J. Soc. Sc. Manage. Vol. 4, Issue-1: 12-21


Author(s):  
Arshad Altaf ◽  
Safdar Kamal Pasha

Abstract The World Health Organisation (WHO) has set an ambitious target to eliminate hepatitis C virus (HCV) by 2030. Pakistan is one of the focused countries because of the high prevalence of HCV. The prices of direct-acting antiviral drugs(DAA)have significantly reduced to between 11-25 dollars for a month’s treatment. To achieve the 2030 elimination target, Pakistan has to provide treatment to one million HCV-infected patients every year, beginning from 2018. This short report highlights a key barrier to achieve this target,i.e. the unsafe practices by regulated and unregulated healthcare delivery system comprising trained and untrained healthcare providers who can continue to churn out new patients with their unsafe healthcare practices and increase the possibility of re-infection in those who have been treated. Only the government has the power and authority to regulate and control the healthcare delivery system. Continuous...  


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