Perceptions of the rape crisis in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo: A community-based approach using an opportunistic design

For almost three decades, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has experienced cycles of armed conflict, particularly in the east. During these conflicts, systematic rape has been used as a weapon of war to break women and communities. Knowledge produced about this phenomenon to date relates to the epidemiology, etiology and the consequences of these rapes, particularly on survivors in care institutions, thus ignoring the impact this phenomenon has on the communities. Our survey aims to investigate the extent to which women from the Orientale, North Kivu and South Kivu provinces experienced rape, as well as their perceptions regarding its frequency, characteristics, and repercussions for/on victims in their communities. From a sample of 1483 women, more than 99% had directly or indirectly experienced rape, on at least five occasions in three-quarters of cases. In their experience, a large proportion of the rapes took place at the victims' homes in the presence of family members and were perpetrated by members of military or paramilitary groups. Frequent health problems (several possibilities) reported include: bleeding (40.8%), pain (23.9%); unwanted pregnancies/abortions (23.4%), urogenital problems including STD (12.0%). Concerning mental health, they reported fear and anxiety (56.3%), depression and suicidal thoughts (16.8 %), insomnia (5.3%); 94.7% reported feelings of humiliation and shame and 6.9% social exclusion and stigmatization. Support for victims comes largely from NGOs (47.6%), families (27.1%) and Churches (14.3%). This is a major cultural, economic, political, human rights, and public health problem, which the authorities and international community must commit to tackling. (Afr J Reprod Health 2022; 26[4]: 42-56).

Factors predicting knowledge on COVID-19 misconceptions and perception of government efforts in Ghana: a cross-sectional study

Background:With the increasing rate of COVID-19 cases and mortality across the globe, countries and most people have adopted precautionary and preventive measures to avoid been infected with the disease. However, several trending myths and misconceptions also floodsthe world during this era.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 587 participants (53% males, 78% aged 18-30 years, and 74% having at least tertiary level education) in Ghana, using a convenience snowballing sampling approach. A self-designed questionnaire based on “World Health Organization (WHO) myth-busters” was used for data collection. A logistic regression model was developed to explore variables predicting misconceptions.Results: With about 75% of respondents believing they knew “a lot” about coronavirus, 41% (confidence interval: 37-45) reported a high level of knowledge on the new coronavirus misconceptions. Social media (87%), and television/radio (57%) were the major sources of knowledge. Masters/Ph.D. degree education, National democratic congress (NDC)political members, other political party members, excellent self-health ratings, social media, respondents that anticipate a remedy in 1-5 years, and the perception that the government is “not doing enough” in fighting the pandemic, were reported factors predicting knowledge in a multiple logistic regression model (p<0.05). Region of residence, political affiliation, self-health ratings, predicted time of remedy, and level of knowledge on covid-19 misconceptions were also associatedwith the perception of government efforts (p<0.05).Conclusion: Most Ghanaians have much belief in trending misinformation related to the pandemic. Public health education and campaigns should address these misconceptions and encourage the public to seek information from credible sources

Access and Intensity of Mechanization: Empirical Evidence of Rice Farmers in Southern Ghana

ABSTRACT The medium term development plan of Ghana proposed modernization of agriculture to lead the way in transforming the economy. Providing irrigation infrastructure and enhancing farmer access to farm machinery were major interventions proposed. In line with this, the government has been investing in irrigation infrastructure as well as importing farm machinery under various programmes in recent years. This study analyzed access and intensity of mechanization by rice farmers in southern Ghana. The Shai-Osudoku and Ketu North Districts were purposively selected and a total of 360 farmers were randomly sampled from 16 rice growing communities. In general, the results of the descriptive statistics revealed that about 74 % of farmers were still cultivating rice with considerably low level of mechanization. The double hurdle model was employed to estimate the determinants of access to mechanization and the intensity of mechanization. The empirical results of tier one of the double huddle model revealed that size of land, access to credit, availability of farm machinery, expenditure on labour, agrochemical expenditure, the square of age, and gender positively influenced access to mechanization. Seed expenditure, age and district locations negatively influenced access to mechanization. The empirical results of the tier two of the double hurdle model revealed that distance from farm to nearest mechanization centre, rice income, non-farm income and experience were significant variables that positively influenced intensity of mechanization. Land ownership and household size negatively influenced intensity of mechanization. These results have implications for capacity building and government support for rice farmers in southern Ghana.

Trend of Fire Outbreaks in Ghana and Ways to Prevent These Incidents

BACKGROUND: In Ghana, fire incidents have become a regular occurrence, with thousands of lives and millions of dollars lost every year. Hardly a day passes without news of a fire outbreak in some part of Ghana, causing fear and panic among the people. This generates much discussion centering on rumors relating to politics, sabotage, misfortune, religious differences, etc. This article seeks to discuss the trend of fire incidents occurring in Ghana from 2000 to 2013 and the different ways to prevent these incidents. METHODS: The pattern of fire incidence in Ghana as a whole as well as in each region is discussed. The study took into consideration the causes, mechanisms, as well as preventive measures against the fire menace. Data were obtained from the head office of Ghana's national fire service. RESULTS: It was noticed that in general the rate of fire incidence increased each year. This increase was attributed to several factors: rate of population growth and industrialization, unstable electricity, urbanization, negligence, illegal electrical connection, etc. The cause of fire was categorized into domestic, industrial, vehicular, institutional, electrical, commercial, bush, and others. Among these causes, domestic fire accounted for 41% of the total number of fire incidents in the country. CONCLUSION: Finally, this study presents several recommendations to help prevent and mitigate fire incidents in Ghana.

A Call for Action to Improve Occupational Health and Safety in Ghana and a Critical Look at the Existing Legal Requirement and Legislation

Occupational health and safety (OHS) is a broad field of professional practice, which involves specialists from different disciplines including but not limited to engineers, occupational health physicians, physical and biological scientists, economists, and statisticians. The preventive systems required to ensure workers are protected from injuries and illnesses dwell heavily on engineers; however, the extent to which the engineer can go regarding planning and implementing preventive measures is dependent on specific legal requirements, leadership commitment from the company, organization, and nation. The objective of this paper is to identify the areas of opportunities for improvements in OHS management in Ghana with regard to the nation's legal requirements, commitment of the Ghana government, and Ghanaian leadership as well as appropriate structuring of Ghanaian institutions responsible for monitoring and managing OHS in Ghana. This paper identified Ghana's fragmented legal requirements concerning OHS, which are under different jurisdictions with unclear responsibilities and accountabilities. The paper also highlights the training needs of Ghanaian academic institutions regarding OHS. Among other recommendations made including structuring of Ghanaian institutions to manage OHS in line with the ILO-OSH 2001, this paper aligns the recommendations with the articles and elements of International Labour Organization convention number 155 and OHSAS 18001 elements.

Effects of Irradiation and Chemical Preservatives on the Microbiological Quality of Refrigerated Fresh-Cut Mangoes.

Fresh-cut mangoes are nutritious and offer consumers freshness, flavour and convenience. They however have a shorter shelf life compared to whole fruits due to their high susceptibility to microbial contamination. The effects of gamma irradiation and chemical preservatives on the microbiological quality of refrigerated fresh-cut mangoes were evaluated. Well matured fruits of Kent and Keitt varieties sliced into cubes were microbiologically analysed initially to determine counts of total viable cells (TVC), coliforms, Salmonella sp., Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The samples were subjected to various irradiation doses (0, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 kGy) and chemical preservatives (sucrose, citric acid, sodium benzoate and a combination of these chemicals in equal proportions) and stored at 6°C and 10ºC for 15 days. TVC was subsequently estimated at 3-day intervals for the treated samples. TVC was estimated as 3.53 ± 0.25 and 4.86 ± 0.38 log10cfu/g for the Kent and Keitt varieties respectively. No coliforms Salmonella sp., E. coli or S. aureus were detected in both varieties. Irradiation at doses of 1.5 kGy to 2.5 kGy in combination with storage at 6ºC was able to eliminate all viable cells after 9 days compared to 12 days of storage at 6ºC in the case of chemical preservatives. Irradiation is more effective and ideal compared to chemical preservatives in improving the microbiological quality and therefore extending the shelf life of refrigerated fresh-cut mangoes.

Equilibrium and kinetic studies of methylene blue and rhodamineb onto prepared activated kaza’s carbons.

Three Activated Kaza’s Carbons viz. NPTC, NLLC andNCC, are prepared from some Bio- Materials – Phaseolus trilobus, Leucena leucocephala and Casurina. These carbonsare used to adsorb dyes Methylene blue and Rhodamine B from aqueous solution. Adsorption equilibrium data and kinetic processes were studied. The Langmuir isotherm provides the best correlation for the experimental data, where as Temkin and Dubinin – Radushkevich (D-R) isotherms also fit to the experimental data. In the kinetic studies the best fit Model was assessed by the squared some of errors (SSE) values. Adsorption of dyes, Methylene Blue ( MB ) and Rhodamine B ( RB ) ,on to adsorbents could be described by pseudosecond order equation. The adsorption process has good co-ordinance with pore diffusion and Elovich equations.

Two-year treatment outcomes of patients enrolled in India’s national first-line antiretroviral therapy programme.

Background. We aimed to analyse treatment outcomes of patients receiving first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) through the national AIDS control programme of India. Methods. Using routinely collected programme data, we analysed mortality, CD4 evolution and adherence outcomes over a 2-year period in 972 patients who received first-line ART between 1 October 2004 and 31 January 2005 at 3 government ART centres. Cox regression analysis was used to identify independent predictors of mortality. Results. Of the 972 patients (median age 35 years, 66% men), 71% received the stavudine/lamivudine/nevirapine regimen. The median CD4 count of enrolled patients was 119 cells/cmm (interquartile range [IQR] 50–200 cells/ cmm) at treatment initiation; 44% had baseline CD4 count <100 cells/cmm. Of the 927 patients for whom treatment outcomes were available, 71% were alive after 2 years of treatment. The median increase in CD4 count was 142 cells/ cmm (IQR 57–750 cells/cmm; n=616) at 6 months and 184 cells/cmm (IQR 102–299 cells/cmm; n=582) at 12 months after treatment. Over 2 years, 124 patients (13%) died; the majority of deaths (68%) occurred within the first 6 months of treatment. Those with baseline CD4 count <50 cells/cmm were significantly more likely to die (adjusted hazard ratio 2.5, 95% confidence interval 1.3–3.2) compared with patients who had baseline CD4 count >50 cells/cmm. Over the 2-year period, 323 patients (35%) missed picking up their monthly drugs at least once and 147 patients (16%) were lost to follow up. Conclusion. Survival rates of HIV-infected patients on first-line ART in India were comparable with those from other resource-limited countries. Most deaths occurred early and among patients who had advanced disease. Earlier initiation of HIV treatment and improving long term treatment adherence are key priorities for India’s ART programme.

Intellectual property approaches to the protection of traditional knowledge in the African Region

Traditional knowledge has played a significant role in the healthcare systems in countries of the African Region for centuries. Traditional medicines are presently used by nearly 80of the population. Owing to the global resurgence in the use of natural products and the advent of the biotechnological industry; traditional knowledge is increasingly becoming a source of modern drug development and biotechnological inventions. Despite the important role of traditional knowledge; traditional communities are unable to protect their knowledge through the existing intellectual property system owing to the failure of the knowledge to satisfy the requirements for intellectual property protection; incompatibility in most cases between the traditional knowledge concepts and intellectual property as well as the prohibitive costs involved in patent registration. Studies conducted recently and the outcomes of global debates have suggested some policy and legal approaches that can be used to effectively protect traditional knowledge; including traditional medicine. This paper discusses conceptsof traditional knowledge and provides policy and legal measures that have been developed at the international and regional levels for the protection and utilization of traditional knowledge for the benefit of the knowledge holders and society at large