Undernutrition and associated factors among incarcerated people in Mizan prison institute, southwest Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: In resource-limited countries like Ethiopia, where malnutrition is a common problem, incarcerated people's sentences might be changed into a death sentence if the problems of undernutrition are not well understood and managed properly. There is limited evidence on nutritional status and associated factors among incarcerated people in low- income countries like Ethiopia, including the study area. OBJECTIVE: To assess the magnitude of undernutrition and associated factors among incarcerated people in Mizan prison institute, southwest Ethiopia. METHODS: An institution based cross-sectional study was conducted among 340 incarcerated people in Mizan prison institute from April 1 to 27, 2020, using a stratified sampling technique. An interviewer-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect data. The outcome variable (undernutrition) was assessed by measuring body mass index (BMI). Binary logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with undernutrition. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to measure the strength of association and a p-value less than 0.05 was used to declare the level of statistical significance. RESULTS: The magnitude of undernutrition was 18.6% (95%CI: 14.4%, 22.8%). Being in the age category of 18-29 years (AOR = 2.60; 95%CI: 1.22,5.52), history of previous incarceration (AOR = 2.31;95%CI: 1.23,4.34), duration of imprisonment (AOR = 1.19; 95%CI: 1.05,1.34), having depression (AOR = 2.1; 95% CI: 1.10,3.97) and sleeping in group (AOR = 2.17; 95% CI: 1.18,4.01) were factors significantly associated with an increased odds of undernutrition. However, the presence of family support significantly decreased (AOR = 0.29; 95%CI: 0.12, 0.69) the odds of undernutrition. CONCLUSION: The magnitude of undernutrition in the prison was found to be comparable to that of the general population in Ethiopia. The efforts on the ground to tackle undernutrition in the general population shall be extended to incarcerated people, especially by focusing on vulnerable groups such as those who had longer durations of incarceration, history of previous imprisonment, depression and no support.

Challenges and Silver Linings of COVID-19 in Ethiopia -Short Review.

Difficult situations bring not only challenges but also fruitful opportunities. The pandemic of COVID-19 by itself and the related governmental or individual level measures have their own challenges and opportunities to the community, which even might be directly or indirectly related to the control and prevention of the pandemic. The silver linings of the pandemic of COVID-19 should be uncovered to encourage the community not only to focus on the black side of the disease but also to enjoy the opportunities. This can contribute to facilitate the control of the disease and avoid the related panics. In this review, we have discussed the challenges of COVID-19 in Ethiopia in terms of health, economy, and social life, and the silver linings in terms of research opportunities, technological transformation, reading culture, and family discussion. The literatures used in this review were published and unpublished articles, reports, and working papers from Google Scholar, PubMed, MedRxiv, BioRxiv, and official websites of national and international organizations.