Profile and opinion of people with disability with respect to adapted physical activity participation in Ethiopia

Background: Physical activity provides long-term health benefits for everyone and it is considered to play an important role in the deterioration of health predictors, such as overweight and the associated increase in cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. Objective: To explore the profile and opinion of people with disability in Ethiopia, with respect to physical activity participation. Method: The study comprised a questionnaire survey among male and female participants (N = 334) with visual and limb impairment, aged 15­50 years, living in urban and sub-urban areas of Ethiopia. The analyses entailed descriptive frequencies and percentages, with the chi-square statistic to test for significance between subsets of data at p ≤ 0.05. Results: The profile showed participants were mostly male (n = 221, 66.2%; p ≤ 0.05), had completed secondary school (n = 204, 61.1%; p ≤ 0.05), were not formally employed with some being day-labourers (n = 92, 27.5%) and petty traders (n = 71, 21.3%). The majority (p ≤ 0.05) had limb disabilities (n = 190, 57%) as opposed to vision impairment. Only 10% (n = 34; p ≤ 0.0001) confirmed participation in physical activity. More than half (n = 175, 52.7%; p ≤ 0.0001) were unsure whether exercise improves health but the majority (n = 175, 52.4%; p ≤ 0.0001) did agree that participation in adapted physical activity requires better facilities. Conclusion: Ethiopian persons with disabilities are physically inactive. There is need to raise awareness on the benefits of physical activity amongst people with disabilities and for disability friendly facilities to encourage physical activity

Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine Campaign in Kenya: Lessons Learned

Despite being free of polio since 2006 Kenya has suffered a number of wild poliovirus outbreaks in the subsequent years. In December 2013; in response to one such outbreak in Dadaab; inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) was co-administered with oral poliovirus vaccine as a more effective measure in closing immunity gaps. A five-day vaccination campaign was staged followed by a vaccination coverage survey in the refugee camps of Dadaab and the surrounding host communities. A variety of operational challenges were faced - the number of health facilities; outreach sessions; human resources and cold chain logistics were suboptimal in the campaign area with its scattered population and nomadic living pattern. However; despite the challenges; the survey showed that excellent coverage was achieved. Lessons learned evidence that IPV can be administered in similar geographical settings; and that systematically tailored training; timely and capacity-based operational/micro-planning; and evidence-based communication and social mobilization can make for successful outcomes

Addressing HIV/AIDS Challenges in Uganda: does Social Capital Generation by NGOs Matter?

HIV/AIDS has had devastating impacts in many countries; Uganda in particular. However; Uganda is depicted as one of the most successful countries in fighting HIV/AIDS. Among others; Uganda's success story is attributed to the open general environment which allows open discussions surrounding HIV/AIDS when other countries such as South Africa and Kenya denied the existence of the disease in their countries. In addition; the success is attributed to the policy which allowed many actors to participate in the fight against the disease. The primary focus of this article is to map the process of social capital generation by NGOs and how social capital benefits enhance mitigation of HIV/AIDS challenges in Uganda. The key to social capital is nurturing relationships. In this regard; HIV/AIDS NGOs play a central role in the way individuals; groups and communities interact; and how various kinds of social relations are forged with people living with HIV/AIDS and especially for those who are HIV infected. NGOs' success in reducing the number of HIV/AIDS cases in Uganda is based on their abilities to generate social capital. This involves inclusion and building social networks and empowerment at the individual and community levels; and disseminating information to reduce social stigma as well as discrimination. We used a mixed-method strategy to collect data for this study. We used a structured questionnaire having quantitative and qualitative question sets which focused on different social capital measurement indicators. We used observations and in-depth face-to-face interviews. A major finding of the study is that the ways individuals and groups are connected and interact with each other are important mechanisms for alleviating HIV/AIDS challenges in Uganda