ABSTRACT During the previous dispensation, health services were fragmented along ethnic lines and were curatively biased. To redress the above situation, the Ministry of Health and Social Services embarked on a health sector reform. Out of the previous four health directorates thirteen health regions were established to bring decision making and development to the people. The eight original directorates at the central level merged into five key functional units. The reform process in the heal...
ABSTRACT Employment in education has been found to be one of the most stressful career paths around the world, with some of the highest burnout rates. The field of Positive Psychology have started to research this career path, because quality education is a powerful tool in ensuring economic, democratic and social development of nations. The National Association of Namibian Teachers Union (NANTU) states that many of the country’s educators want to leave the profession because of high job de...
ABSTRACT Tuberculosis (TB) is a leading cause of mortality globally, leading to an annual death rate of 1.8 million. In 2017, over 700 people died from TB in Namibia. Moreover, despite the scale-up of high-quality Directly Observed Treatment Short Course strategy (DOTS) to control TB in Namibia, treatment success rates (TSR) fall short of the global target of 90%. Unsuccessful treatment outcomes are a risk drug resistant TB. Consequently, the study aimed to model the population, patient and d...
ABSTRACT Despite guidelines on essential and obstetric emergency care devised by the Ministry of Health and Social Services to address obstetric and neonatal related challenges in Namibia, the report on perinatal and neonatal death review of April 2010 - March 2012, indicated that birth asphyxia is in first position contributing 49.4 % to neonatal deaths. This reflects the severity of asphyxia as a public health concern in Namibia (MoHSS, 2014). The aim of the study was to assess the manageme...
ABSTRACT Preterm birth, the birth of an infant prior to 37 completed weeks of gestation is the leading cause of newborn deaths in their first four weeks of life. In addition to its contribution to mortality, preterm birth has lifelong effects on neuro-developmental functioning such as increased risk of cerebral palsy, impaired learning and visual disorders, and an increased risk of chronic disease in adulthood that often result in huge physical, emotional and economic cost. In Namibia the pre...
ABSTRACT Naturally occurring radionuclides such as 238U, 232Th and 40K are present in the soil where they disintegrate spontaneously releasing ionizing radiation which could pose health hazards to the inhabitants of a given location especially when the concentrations of the radionuclides are high. In Namibia, the Walvis Bay – Henties Bay coastal area is known to have many mineral resources including uranium and therefore the concentrations of the radionuclides in the soils and the associate...
ABSTRACT Marama bean (Tylosema esculentum) is a drought-tolerant legume native to Southern Africa. The potential of its seeds have been compared to soybeans. The studies of the potential of this plant are limited and at the moment there are various ongoing researches on the marama bean plant. The main objectives of this study were to evaluate the quality of the marama bean and determine its health potential. The following studies were carried out: roasting optimization, sensory analysis, text...
ABSTRACT It is estimated by the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2004) that globally, over 50% medicines are prescribed inappropriately. In Namibia, suboptimal prescribing practices have been reported in previous medicine use surveys. Prescribing patterns in the out-patient settings have however not been evaluated in the Khomas Region. The aim of this study was to evaluate the medicine prescribing patterns in out-patient departments of public health facilities in the Khomas Region, Namibia. Th...
ABSTRACT In Namibia almost one out of every three children under the age of five is undernourished while one out of every 20 is obese. Thus, the concerns are nature and quality of Grade 2 scholars’ routine diet; ability for sustained attention within a classroom setting should their routine diet fail to adequately provide sustained glucose and scholastic performance that may result from attention deficits due to presumed poor quality of routine diet. The purpose of this study was to determi...
Abstract This qualitative study explores the experiences of 10 adults with epilepsy (AWE) in the Khomas region of Namibia. The study focuses on the everyday of problems, needs and coping strategies of this population as described during semi-structured interviews. An exploratory qualitative research design was used to investigate the experiences of AWE in the Khomas region of Namibia. Ten people with epilepsy were identified through purposive sampling. All participants were over the age of 18...
ABSTRACT Childhood immunisation is a cost-effective public health strategy. Immunisation is one of the most important preventive health actions in children’s lives as it provides protection against most infectious diseases. In Namibia, the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) has been instituted in 1990 to ensure that the immunisation of children takes place within the prescribed age frame. However, there is still room for improving the EPI, particularly as regards measles immunisation....
ABSTRACT As a new field of study, the impact of Facebook use is not well understood. Consequently, this descriptive quantitative cross-sectional study aims to address identified gaps by collecting Namibian specific data on the intensive Facebook use (IFU) and compulsive Facebook use (CFU) of first year students from the University of Namibia and describing how IFU and CFU relate to each other and to academic performance, life satisfaction and user characteristics. Using random sampling from a...
ABSTRACT Adolescents are sensitive people who can easily get derailed by a number of challenges which can sometimes lead to detrimental results if they are not taken care of appropriately. Despite the existence of the National Standards for Adolescent Friendly Health Services which is supposed to assist in reducing teenage pregnancy, disturbing figures of adolescents getting pregnant continue to rise. This study aimed at assessing the implementation of the Adolescent Active Participation, Ado...
ABSTRACT This study was conducted during the month of May 2006 in the informal settlements of Windhoek, Namibia. The aim of the study was to describe the prevalence of malnutrition among children between the ages of one and five years and to correlate possible causes, and other factors, with nutritional status. A cross-sectional descriptive study design was chosen. The sample was comprised of 350 respondents, mothers or caregivers of children between one and five years, residing in the non-fo...
ABSTRACT Emerging multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/XDR-TB) has become a major public health concern, placing millions at risk. Moreover, nosocomial transmission of MDR/XDR-TB places both patients and healthcare workers at an even higher risk. For these reason health facilities in high-risk settings need to implement effective tuberculosis (TB) infection prevention and control (IPC) policies/guidelines. Several studies elsewhere demonstrated that organizational processes and employee skil...