ABSTRACT
Background Dental caries in children is a public health concern affecting 60-90% of children worldwide. Dental caries perturbs children's eating ability, school performance as well as overall quality of life. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of dental caries and its risk factors among children aged 11 to 12 years in Nyarugenge District in Kigali, Rwanda. Methods The cross-sectional analytical study design involved 400 children from Nyarugenge district. By stratified sampling, we selected Gitega and Butamwa primary schools and used systematic sampling to choose the pupils into the sample. An interview and oral examination were performed. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were done. Results Dental caries was observed in 25.5% of children. Deep pits and fissures carried a two-fold risk of getting dental caries than children without deep pits and fissures (OR = 2.4, 95% CI = [1.5; 4.0], P-value < 0.001). Dental plaque was identified as a risk factor for getting dental caries (OR=2.2, 95% CI = [1.2; 3.3], P-value: 0.01). Conclusion Dental caries is a public health concern associated with poor oral hygiene, deep pit, and fissures among children aged 11 to 12 years old. Oral hygiene education, application of ART, and regular screening programs are in need.
Subject(s)
Child , Prevalence , Risk Factors , Dental CariesABSTRACT
Penal code was revised in Rwanda in 2012 allowing legal termination of pregnancy resulting from rape, incest, forced marriage, or on medical grounds. An evaluation was conducted to assess women's access to abortion services as part of an ongoing program to operationalize the new exemptions for legal abortion. Data was collected from eight district hospitals; seven gender-based violence (GBV) centers and six intermediate courts. Three focus group discussions and 22 in-depth interviews were conducted with key informants. At hospitals, of the 2,644 uterine evacuation records (July 2012-June 2014), and 312 monitoring cases (August-December 2014), majority of all uterine evacuations (97% and 85% respectively, for the two periods) were for obstetric conditions, and induced abortion on medical grounds accounted for 2% vs. 15% respectively. Medical abortion was the prominent method of uterine evacuation. At the GBV centers, 3,763 records were identified retrospectively; 273 women were pregnant. Since the legal reform there was only one abortion for a pregnancy resulting from rape. Abortion stigma and court order requirement are major barriers to access services. The operationalization program has made significant contributions to make abortion safer in Rwanda but this evaluation demonstrates that further work is required to reach the goal of providing safe abortion services to all eligible women. Addressing abortion stigma at the community, organizational and structural levels; further strengthening of service provision; and streamlining legal requirements to protect particularly young women from sexual violence and making abortion a realistic option for GBV victims are some of the important next steps