High Hepatitis B Seroprevalence, Low Knowledge, and Poor Attitude towards Hepatitis B Virus Infection among Market Women in Bolgatanga Metropolis in the Upper East Region of Ghana.

The Bolgatanga Municipal Health Directorate has reported liver cirrhosis among the first three diseases causing mortality from 2013 to 2015. This implicates hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection considering its high prevalence among blood donors in the Upper East Region of Ghana. However, for a vulnerable group such as market women, there is not much information with regard to the prevalence, knowledge, and attitude towards HBV infection. Thus, this study sought to bridge this gap by determining the seroprevalence, knowledge, and attitude of market women in the Bolgatanga Municipality of Ghana, towards HBV infection. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted (from October 2017 to March 2018) among 404 market women using a pretested questionnaire to ascertain the knowledge and attitudes of market women towards HBV infection, while hepatitis B surface Antigen Rapid Diagnostic Test strips were used to screen for the infection. The study revealed that the seroprevalence of hepatitis B among the market women was 15.6%, and majority of the study subjects (>60%) were unaware of HBV infection. Overall, knowledge on and attitude towards HBV infection were low and poor, respectively, with a significantly high number of the market women not wanting infected individuals to be isolated (p=0.049). A high seroprevalence, together with poor attitude and low knowledge levels, as seen in this study is of great public health concern. The study recommends regular HBV screening for market women for prompt treatment and vaccination as well as continuous health education to increase knowledge level and improve the poor attitudes of market women towards HBV infection.

Future doctors' perspectives on health professionals' responsibility regarding nutrition care and why doctors should learn about nutrition: A qualitative study.

Background: Improved dietary and nutrition behavior may help reduce the occurrence of noncommunicable diseases which have become global public health emergencies in recent times. However, doctors do not readily provide nutrition counseling to their patients. We explored medical students' perspectives on health professionals' nutrition care responsibility, and why doctors should learn about nutrition and provide nutrition care in the general practice setting. Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted among 23 undergraduate clinical level medical students (referred to as future doctors). All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim with data analysis following a comparative, coding, and thematic process. Results: Future doctors were of the view that all health professionals who come into contact with patients in the general practice setting are responsible for the provision of nutrition care to patients. Next to nutritionists/dieticians, future doctors felt doctors should be more concerned with the nutrition of their patients than any other health-care professionals in the general practice setting. Reasons why doctors should be more concerned about nutrition were as follows: patients having regular contacts with the doctor; doctors being the first point of contact; patients having more trust in the doctors' advice; helping to meet the holistic approach to patient care; and the fact that nutrition plays an important role in health outcomes of the patient. Discussion: Future doctors perceived all health professionals to be responsible for nutrition care and underscored the need for doctors to learn about nutrition and to be concerned about the nutrition of their patients.

Prevalence of Asymptomatic Malaria among Children in the Tamale Metropolis: How Does the PfHRP2 CareStart™ RDT Perform against Microscopy?

BACKGROUND: Asymptomatic carriage of the malaria parasites, likewise its misdiagnosis, especially false negatives, due to the use of substandard rapid diagnosis tests (RDTs) has been shown to hinder the progress of the fight against malaria. METHOD: The study assessed the prevalence of asymptomatic malaria as well as the performance of Plasmodium falciparum-specific protein and histidine-rich protein 2 (PfHRP2) CareStart™ RDT against standard microscopy in the detection of malaria infection among 345 children (1-15 yrs) from two (2) basic schools in Tamale Metropolis. RESULTS: From the microscopy (considered as gold standard), prevalence of malaria among the asymptomatic children was found to be 2.6%, with sensitivity and specificity of CareStart™ RDT in detecting P. falciparum infections found to be 55.6% and 93.8%, respectively. The positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of CareStart™ RDT were found to be 19.23% and 98.45%, respectively. There was an evidence showing a significant relation between CareStart™ RDT and microscopy in determining malaria infection (χ 2 = 30.579, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Prevalence of asymptomatic malaria among children was found to be 2.6%. The study reported low sensitivity and PPV for PfHRP2 CareStart™ RDT in an asymptomatic population at instances of low parasitaemia.

Why nutrition education is inadequate in the medical curriculum: a qualitative study of students' perspectives on barriers and strategies.

BACKGROUND: The provision of nutrition care by doctors is important in promoting healthy dietary habits, and such interventions can lead to reductions in disease morbidity, mortality, and medical costs. However, medical students and doctors report inadequate nutrition education and preparedness during their training at school. Previous studies investigating the inadequacy of nutrition education have not sufficiently evaluated the perspectives of students. In this study, students' perspectives on doctors' role in nutrition care, perceived barriers, and strategies to improve nutrition educational experiences are explored. METHODS: A total of 23 undergraduate clinical level medical students at the 5th to final year in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University for Development Studies in Ghana were purposefully selected to participate in semi-structured individual interviews. Students expressed their opinions and experiences regarding the inadequacy of nutrition education in the curriculum. Each interview was audio-recorded and later transcribed verbatim. Using the constant comparison method, key themes were identified from the data and analysis was done simultaneously with data collection. RESULTS: Students opined that doctors have an important role to play in providing nutrition care to their patients. However, they felt their nutrition education was inadequate due to lack of priority for nutrition education, lack of faculty to provide nutrition education, poor application of nutrition science to clinical practice and poor collaboration with nutrition professionals. Students opined that their nutrition educational experiences will be improved if the following strategies were implemented: adoption of innovative teaching and learning strategies, early and comprehensive incorporation of nutrition as a theme throughout the curriculum, increasing awareness on the importance of nutrition education, reviewing and revision of the curriculum to incorporate nutrition, and involving nutrition/dietician specialists in medical education. CONCLUSION: Though students considered nutrition care as an important role for doctors they felt incapacitated by non-prioritisation of nutrition education, lack of faculty for teaching of nutrition education, poor application of nutrition science and poor collaboration with nutrition professionals. Incorporation of nutrition as a theme in medical education, improving collaboration, advocacy and creating enabling environments for nutrition education could address some of the barriers to nutrition education.

Contribution of scaling up nutrition Academic Platforms to nutrition capacity strengthening in Africa: local efforts, continental prospects and challenges.

Addressing contemporary nutrition problems often requires application of knowledge from multiple disciplines. The scaling up nutrition (SUN) movement harnesses multiple sectors for effective global and in-country planning and implementation. Although the role of knowledge networks (academia and research institutions) is recognised, the how of engaging knowledge networks in the current SUN architecture is only now becoming apparent. For relevant sectors to play their roles effectively, observed capacity gaps, particularly in developing country settings, need to be addressed. The present paper presents the work being undertaken by the Ghana SUN Academic Platform (AP), a local knowledge network, towards strengthening nutrition capacity in Ghana. The AP presently provides technical support, evidence and capacity towards scaling up effective nutrition interventions in Ghana and beyond. The data presented draws heavily on the observations and collective experiences of the authors in practice, complemented by a review of relevant literature. The ultimate goal of the AP is to build capacity of professionals from nutrition and cognate sectors (including planning, agriculture, health, economics, research and academia). This is an essential ingredient for effective and durable SUN efforts. The paper recognises that both disciplinary and interdisciplinary capacity is required for effective SUN efforts in Africa, and offers an approach that utilises cross-sector/inter-professional, peer-learning and experiential learning initiatives.