ABSTRACT Retention is critical to HIV-infected women for the prevention of mother to child infection, reduction of maternal morbidity and mortality. Treatment drop out is a major challenge that hinders the success of elimination of mother to child transmission (EMTCT) of HIV in Kenya and Sub Saharan Africa. Although all pregnant human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected women in Kenya are initiated on lifelong antiretroviral treatment (ART) irrespective of CD4 count or WHO staging, not all ...
ABSTRACT Kenya national AIDS strategic plan end term review on data quality reported from community level by the Community-Based Organizations and Faith-Based Organizations revealed data to be inadequately accurate which hampers achievement of the goal of zero infections rates. However, there is limited evidence on factors contributing to the poor quality of data reported and solutions to address these problems. To address this gap, this study purposed to assess quality of HIV/IDS data report...
ABSTRACT Kenya national AIDS strategic plan end term review on data quality reported from community level by the Community-Based Organizations and Faith-Based Organizations revealed data to be inadequately accurate which hampers achievement of the goal of zero infections rates. However, there is limited evidence on factors contributing to the poor quality of data reported and solutions to address these problems. To address this gap, this study purposed to assess quality of HIV/IDS data report...
ABSTRACT Wildlife induced injuries are a major but neglected emerging public health problem which contributes significantly to high mortality and morbidity among cattle herders. The objectives of the study were to determine the health burden of wildlife induced injuries, to identify the risk factors and establish the risk indices associated with wildlife induced injuries and to determine the protective measures adopted to mitigate wildlife induced injuries among the Maasai cattle herders in K...
ABSTRACT Throughout the whole world, the unmet need for family planning data has become a very useful tool in measuring and predicting the contraceptive needs of a population. Access to family planning services and awareness has improved greatly, but the unmet need for family planning continues to remain high. Kenya is one of the fastest growing countries in population worldwide mainly due to low contraceptive use and high unmet need for family planning. In this study, the proportion of unmet...
ABSTRACT Sub-Saharan African countries largely are characterized by high fertility and correspondingly high rates of population growth for the foreseeable future. In most countries, the majority of women want around five children and more than one-third of population growth is attributable to the effect of wanted fertility. Kenya fertility level has declined over the years to the current level of approximately five children per woman, which is still high. According to KAIS study by Kenya gove...
ABSTRACT Optimal infant and young child feeding (IYCF) is the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended way of feeding children. There is a lot that has been done on IYCF but there still remains a dearth of information in areas related to the application of IYCF recommendations in various regions. In the nations all around the globe, national IYCF recommendations and programs are in place. However, various studies reveal low incidences of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF); a major indicator of ...
ABSTRACT Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is not only a major public health challenge, but also a huge threat to global security, stability, and economic growth. One in five organizations currently engaged in HIV and AIDS programming is faith-based. Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) have a wide reach and capacity to mobilize communities to respond to the HIV and AIDS crisis. The current study sought to establish the barriers which directly affec...
ABSTRACT Cervical cancer is a disease with tremendous public health significance. It is the leading cause of cancer morbidity and mortality among women in Kenya. Although curable through regular screening and treatment of precancerous lesions, its incidence is on the rise in Eastern Africa and many women are presenting with advanced disease leading to low survival rates. In Western Kenya, it is the most common type of cancer affecting women. Patient delay accounts for a large proportion of t...
ABSTRACT Adolescent’s pregnancy is on the increase. This consequently has led to high morbidity, mortality among the born child. Appropriate mother’s nutrition status during pregnancy is essential for both the mother and the fetus. Dietary intake among pregnant adolescents is a key factor that influences their nutrition status and the birth outcome. Nutrition knowledge of the mothers has been shown to affect the dietary practices of the children. However, nutrition knowledge among pregnan...
ABSTRACT Focused Antenatal Care is antenatal care that provides individualized counseling, targeted assessment and provides safe, cost effective, and evidence-based intervention. The noted public health major problem has been maternal mortality in developing countries. Majority of maternal deaths occur due to complication during pregnancy and eventual child delivery. The rate of maternal mortality was estimated at 686/100,000 live births in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Kenya maternal mortality rate...
ABSTRACT Malaria is a public health problem in more than 90 countries inhabited by over 2.4 billion people. Currently the cheapest drugs for treatment of malaria are becoming ineffective as malarial parasites develop resistance. Historically, local communities have used local flora for prophylaxis and treatment of malaria for centuries. The objective of the study was to determine the plant sources of anti malarial herbs and factors influencing their use in Boro Division, Siaya County. The spe...
ABSTRACT A shallow well is a hole dug, bored or drilled less than 50M deep to extract water. Contamination of shallow wells with fecal matter presents a grave public health threat in developing countries, such as Kenya, where large numbers of households lack access to clean and safe water supplies and rely on untreated surface water sources or shallow unprotected groundwater for domestic utilization. A report by WHO shows that 1 billion people practice open defecation with nine out of ten of ...
ABSTRACT Antimicrobial resistance is a growing threat to public health and is driven by various factors including the overuse or misuse of antibiotics in poultry production which could lead to development of resistant bacteria that can be transferred to humans and hence compromise human medicine. The use of antibiotics in poultry production could be for vaccination/prophylaxis, treatment or growth promotion. This study was a cross-sectional study in Bungoma county that sought to establish the...
ABSTRACT Sexual abstinence is an important pillar for HIV prevention amongst adolescents. However, according to 2009 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) almost one in every four men under age 24 had their sexual intercourse before age 15. Comparing with the 2003 KDHS, there was small increase in age at first sex, with median age at first sex among women and men increasing from 17.8 to 18.2 years and 17.1 to 17.6 years respectively. This precisely indicates that school-going adolescents...