ABSTRACT Malaria is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in Africa. In Kenya, malaria is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality, accounting for 30-50% of all out patient attendance and 20% of all admissions to health facilities. The Kenyan government encourages strategies such as; Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS), prompt treatment to confirmed malaria cases, clearing of bushes around residential places and use of Long Lasting Insecticide Treated Nets (LLITNs) in malaria pr...
ABSTRACT In 2011, 366 million people had diabetes worldwide and the prevalence of the disease in Africa is estimated to be 3.8% (14.7 million adults) with undiagnosed diabetes of about 78 percent. In Kenya, the prevalence of diabetes is 4.2% in the general population with prevalence of 2.2% percent in rural areas and 12.2% in urban areas. In Kisii Sub-County, the prevalence of diabetes is 11% which is higher than the national prevalence. Persons who have been diagnosed with diabetes become fr...
ABSTRACT Health Management Information System (HMIS) is a core component of a functioning Health System. Its role is to make available reliable, complete and timely health service data which is useful for the informed decision-making process in health services management. HMIS is also vital for assessing the health needs of populations and groups, and for planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of healthcare interventions. Such management support capability is crucial especially ...
ABSTRACT Despite being preventable with early screening and treatment, Cervical Cancer (CC) is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women globally. Incidence rate of cervical cancer in the USA is 8.9 per 100 000, while in India, the incidence rate vary from 19 to 44/100 000. In the UAE there is incidence rate of 7 per 100,000 women, while current estimates indicate that 493 000 women in South Africa are diagnosed with (CC) per year and 274 000 die from the disease. In Kenya, esti...
ABSTRACT Childhood immunization remains a cost-effective public health intervention geared towards improving health status of infants and children hence reducing both morbidity and mortality associated with vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs).The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 17% of the global 1.5 million deaths among children aged under one year are due to VPDs. In 2012 during the transition from Provincial administration to County governments, Nyanza Province had the highes...
ABSTRACT Postnatal care (PNC) is vital for the life of both mother and child as it reduces both marternal and infant morbidities and mortalities. However, in Kenya and Homa Bay County PNC utilization is low (48%) but the cause is not known. This Study determined factors influencing PNC utilization by 377 mothers having children aged 6-8 weeks old. Specifically, the study assessed knowledge, attitude and PNC health seeking behaviour of mothers in Homa Bay Town Sub County. A community based cro...
Abstract This is a study situated within the framework of discourse analysis that focuses on interaction between receptionists and patients at the reception of public health facilities and private hospitals in Kisumu County, Kenya. Hewitt (2006) posit that receptionist attend to patients exclusively through the spoken and written means. This is juxtaposed to doctors and nurses whose work to patients involves verbal, physical and technical examination. Using a tape recorder at one public healt...
ABSTRACT The provision of skilled care during delivery is an indicator to monitor progress in reducing maternal mortality and falls in Goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the proportion of Skilled Birth Attendance is low in developing countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, approximately only half of all live births were delivered with the assistance of skilled birth attendance in 2016. The proportion of births assisted by skilled birth attendance in Kenya is 61%, which is ...
ABSTRACT Maternal mortality is unacceptably high in Kenya with 8,000 women dying every year from obstetric complications. Kakamega county is ranked fifth among counties with highest maternal death burden in Kenya. Increasing the proportion of skilled delivery is one of the most important interventions in averting maternal deaths. However, 53% of women in Kakamega still deliver at home attended by unskilled assistants contributing to high maternal deaths. The choice of childbirth place is infl...
ABSTRACT Malaria remains prevalent in many parts of Kenya but areas in the highlands of Nandi North sub-county have reported declining incidences of malaria infection and disease burden, and between April 2007 and March 2008 a possible interruption of transmission was reported. Given the low transmission intensity in the current study sites, it is not clear if fever and/or a combination of other symptoms are accurate predictors of malaria diagnosis. Relationship between malaria and anaemia is...
ABSTRACT Emergency obstetric care (EmOC) is a package of medical interventions required to manage the major direct obstetric complications. Provision of EmOC services averts direct maternal mortalities from these complications. Maternal mortality ratio (MMR) still remains high worldwide. Global MMR is estimated to be 251 per 100,000 live births; Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest MMR in the world at 900 per 100,000 live births. Whereas Kenya and Homa Bay County has MMR of 362 and 583 per 100,...
ABSTRACT The female condom (FC) was developed as an alternative to male condom as a means to empower women so that they could have control over their own protection against STIs and unintended pregnancies. Despite serious campaign programs to sensitize women of reproductive age to take up contraception and provision of contraceptives in public health facilities the use of modern contraceptives is still low at 37.6% raising the need for more efforts to make modern contraceptive use more widesp...
ABSTRACT Increasing cost of health care remains a major challenge to achieving universal health care coverage in many developing countries. Health insurance schemes can be used to finance health care and protect people against catastrophic health care expenses. Most developing countries have low insurance coverage and rely on out of pocket health payments. Despite having 22 private and one public health insurance, only 17% of Kenya’s population had insurance cover while out of pocket expend...
ABSTRACT About 17,000 children below five years of age die each day across the world, 99% occur in developing nations with 50% accounted for by Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Kenya’s high under-five mortality rate (U5MR) at 52 deaths per 1,000 live births won’t scale down without solving the high under-five mortality (U5M) in rural areas. Despite Karemo Sub-County in Siaya County having relatively good access to public and private health facilities, it nevertheless exhibit U5MR of 184 deaths p...
ABSTRACT In Kenya, surface water bodies are the final destination for most pollutants. Western and Nyanza Regions in close proximity to Lake Victoria are characterized by inadequate sanitation services, chronic water shortages and poor water quality where only 8% have access to safe water. Unsanitary conditions are associated with scarcity of clean and potable water consequently leading to diarrheal diseases that plague residents. The microbiological quality of drinking water and risk factors...