Achieving highest attainable standard of mental and physical health is a universal goal. Many countries around the world consider good health as a characteristic of a democratic system

Anthrax is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Bacillus anthracis. The disease can affect both humans and animals, although it is more common among livestock and wild animals. The objective of this seminar is to review on anthrax and its public health importance. The disease occurs in herbivorous animals either through inhalation or the spores during grazing. Carnivorous animals are infected by consuming the affected herbivorous animals, whereas, infection in humans usually occurs through contact with the spores either through ingestion, inhalation or direct contact. The disease does not spread from infected persons directly and spores are the source of infection; since the spores of Bacillusanthracis are extremely resistant to natural condition and can survive for several decades in the environment. The spore enters in to the body and causes serious outbreak in tropical and sub-tropical countries with high rainfall. The clinical sign of the disease are characterized by sudden death, fever, staggering and in human it is pulmonary, cutaneous and gastrointestinal forms. The disease is diagnosed by giemsa or polychrome methylene blue and culture. It is evident that control of the infected animals, prevention of contact with the infected animals and contaminated animal products are quite important to disease control. It is recommended that if an animal anthrax case is confirmed, the affected property is quarantined, potentially exposed stock vaccinated; dead animals buried and contaminated sites disinfected. Bacillus anthracis are susceptible to different antibiotics like penicillin, chloramphenicol, streptomycin, tetracycline and erythromycin.

Background: Diagnostic Ultrasound (dUS) images capture acoustic measures. Higher level of acoustic measures may increase the likelihood of adverse neurodevelopment.

Objective: To develop a computerized algorithm to extract acoustic measures from dUS images.

Method: The dUS images of 484 pregnant women in 2014 were extracted from the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system within an integrated healthcare organization. The retrieved dUS images were processed by the optical character recognition engine, Tesseract, to recognize the embedded texts. A set of matching patterns was constructed to extract the values associated with Thermal Index (TI), Mechanical Index (MI) and transducer frequency from these recognized texts. A sample of 200 randomly selected dUS images was processed by the computerized algorithm and results were compared against the gold standard of perinatal expert reviews.

Results: 54,909 dUS images were extracted from the EMR system. 52,637 of them had at least one of acoustic measures. The mean of extracted TI, MI and transducer frequency were 1.05, 1.08 and 4.34(MHz), respectively. Higher frequencies of dUS (5-7 MHz), higher MI (≥1.00) and higher TI (≥1.00) were used during first trimester, first/second trimesters and second/third trimesters, respectively. The computerized algorithm achieved a performance with sensitivity of 99.0%, 93.3%, 62.0% and positive predictive value of 100.0%, 99.5%, 95.8% for TI, MI and transducer frequency, respectively.

Conclusions: Our study successfully developed a computerized algorithm to extract TI, MI and transducer frequency from dUS images. Implementation of this algorithm can provide values for examining potential effects of acoustic measures on perinatal outcomes and evidence-based decision making.

Objectives: The Diabetes Self-Management Questionnaire (DSMQ) has been judged a better statistical predictor of glycaemic control relative to the widely used Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities Measure. Our aim was to assess the psychometric properties of an adapted 14-item DSMQ among Nigerians with diabetes at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Methods: The DSMQ was administered to 119 type-2 diabetes patients, selected by stratified sampling, as part of diabetes perceived severity study. The DSMQ with its 4 subscales was tested for reliability using inter item correlation and Cronbach’s alpha; and criterion-related, concurrent validity against fasting blood sugar, the existing measure of glycaemic control. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using Principal Component approach was conducted for factor-based construct validity.

Results: Cronbach’s alpha was 0.48 for the sum scale, 0.45 for the GU subscale, 0.07 for the DC subscale, 0.18 for the PA subscale and 0.12 for the HU subscale. The mean-item correlation was 0.75. CFA with rotation using the Oblique Oblimin extracted 4 factors that all items correlated satisfactorily with. For the GM subscale 3/5 items loaded into one component, 2/3 items of the PA subscale and 2/3 of the DC subscale. Pearson correlation between the DSMQ sum score and the current blood glucose was -0.13 (p=0.16).

Conclusion: The DSMQ-14 tool and its subscales demonstrated moderate internal consistency. Though a four-component construct was validated, it was divergent from the original subscales. Concurrent validity was also not confirmed between the DSMQ and fasting blood sugar. The DSMQ deserves further testing and adaptation for local use.

Objective: The study was designed to investigate the knowledge of the prevention and management of tuberculosis among residents of Bambuka Community Karim-Lamido Local Government Area of Taraba State.

Methods: The study employed a cross-sectional study design carried out among 200 residents of Bambuka community selected using a multi-stage sampling technique. A questionnaire was used to collect the data which was analysed using SPSS version 20.0 and presented in frequencies and charts. Inferential statistics was analysed using Chi-square at P

Methods: The study employed a cross-sectional study design carried out among 200 residents of Bambuka community selected using a multi-stage sampling technique. A questionnaire was used to collect the data which was analysed using SPSS version 20.0 and presented in frequencies and charts. Inferential statistics was analysed using Chi-square .

Results: The results show that two third of the respondents 134(67.0%) were males with more 50(25.0%) between the ages of 30-35 years. Majority 88.0% and 91.0% were knowledgeable of TB and TB prevention respectively. Furthermore, majority 69.0% demonstrated poor knowledge of TB management. Both gender and educational status were not significantly associated with knowledge of TB (P>0.05).

Conclusion: The study revealed knowledge gap in management of tuberculosis, including the etiology of TB. Furthermore, the study revealed there was no DOTs centre in the community. Therefore the study recommends more awareness campaign in the prevention and management of the disease especially in hard to reach rural areas in order to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with the disease.

Background: Patient safety culture (PSC) is increasingly being seen as vital, measurable and improvable concept in improving quality of health care globally. This study assessed the PSC among clinical staff in primary and tertiary health facilities in the Nigerian health care setting.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of clinical staff from one tertiary and 12 primary health facility in south south zone of Nigeria. Perceptions of PSC were measured with 5-point Likert scale along the 8 domains of the 62-item ambulatory version of the Safety Attitude Questionnaire (SAQ-AV). Positive PSC was inferred with scores ≥ 75%.

Results: The response rates from staff in the primary and tertiary facilities were 76.5% and 40.2% respectively while the Cronbach’s alpha for the entire scale was 0.89 with a range of 0.59 - 0.80 in the domains of the SAQ-AV. The mean age of the respondents was 33.1 ± 6.79 years; more were nurses (27.3%), females (57.6%) and work as permanent staff (74.5%). The level of PSC was significantly higher in the primary level of care along the domains of the SAQ-AV except for job satisfaction and stress recognition.

Conclusions: The overall level of PSC was low and there were significant variations between levels of practice. These findings call for appropriate interventions to improve PSC among health care providers in Nigeria.

Background: Although condoms present an effective way of reducing HIV and STIs among adolescents, consensus regarding promotion of condoms in schools and a theoretical framework for understanding these perspectives is lacking. The study explored stakeholders’ perspectives on condom promotion in selected schools in Lusaka, Zambia.

Methods: A qualitative study driven by a case study design. Data collected through In-Depth Interviews (IDIs) with 12 different stakeholder’s and5 Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) as well as 7 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with pupils were analyzed using thematic analysis.

Results: Two broader themes identified during the study; in support of condom promotion and against condom promotion in schools. Stakeholders (parents, teachers, pupils, civil society organizations, government officials, the church and human rights and gender activists) in support of condom promotion supported the idea basing their arguments on ’health related benefits ’, educational and empowerment reasons’, and ‘social and economic reasons. On the other hand, stakeholders against condom promotion felt that condom promotion is ‘against their culture and sex norms,’ ‘promote immoral sexual behavior among pupils, and against Christian teachings.

Mixed opinions were obtained from IDIs and FGDs on the issue of condom promotion in schools. However, an interesting finding of the study is that all the participants in FGDs, KIIs and IDIs seemed to agree that young people already know what sex is and therefore, like adults pupils must be given the information and knowledge in order to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS and unplanned pregnancies. Stakeholders were also in agreement that in schools some pupils are sexually active while others are young and may not be sexually active.

Conclusion: Decisions regarding promotion of condoms in schools revolve around health related benefits, educational and empowerment reasons, social and economic dynamics, moral and religious values as well as issues of culture and traditions.

Population’s health is related to the social context in which its members live. The aim of this study is to investigate the Newlands (Tanzania) children perception have of the environmental factors that may affect their health, in order to facilitate the design of Health Promotion training programs in the future. The study uses children’s drawing technique, based on the observation and analysis of different factors that appear on a child’s drawings. The results shows a high index of images of violence and malnutrition as consequences of social, economic, religious and cultural phenomena that Newland’s children population might engage with. Two different trends were observed: a female one associated with correct eating habits, and masculine one where unhealthy habits were prevalent. The results obtained provide a wide spectrum of ideas that help design Environmental and Health Promotion courses, in order to train the child population to anticipate and manage environmental health risks.

Background: Food safety is a public health concern. An adequate supply of safe, wholesome and healthy food is essential to the health and well-being of humans. However food itself can cause a threat for health. People can get sick when they eat food contaminated with hazards, this referred to as food borne disease.

Food borne illness is a major health problem and more prevalent in both developing and developed countries. The toll in terms of human life and suffering is enormous. Thousands millions of people fall ill and may die as a result of eating unsafe food.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to assess food safety knowledge, Attitude, handling practice and associated factors among food handlers of Restaurants in Asosa town, western Ethiopia.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess food safety knowledge and handling practice of food handlers towards safe food handling from July 2017 to January 2018. Total number of restaurants and food handlers was obtained from trade and industry regional beareue. Food handlers by simple random sampling. One cooker and one waiter will be selected by lottery method from each selected restaurant. Structured and Pretested questionnaire will be developed for the purpose of data collection after reviewing relevant literature and views of professionals in the area. Logistic regression was used to analyze the explanatory variables. And the significance of the statistical association will be assured using OR, 95% C.I and p< 0.05.

Result: The level of knowledge among food handlers in this study was (75.8%). The overall practice of food handlers in Asosa town was (67.8%) and the factors that are associated with food safety practice of food handlers are: educational status AOR 3.40(1.90-6.08), Regular Supervision by concerned body AOR 7.25(3.83 13.65), ever had certificate in food safety/hygiene practice AOR 5.28(1.40-19.79) were found to be significantly associated with food safety practice.

This study will have a significant input, in the formulation of appropriate strategy, to modify and facilitate the overall regulatory activity, for program planning and evaluation.

Conclusion: Food safety practice and Knowledge in this group of population was relatively high, but which still needs further intervention.

Efficient elective surgery scheduling is one of the pain points in the current healthcare management and has a serious impact on the overall healthcare delivery. Currently, the health organizations struggle to achieve their elective surgeries/outpatient targets due to clinical and non-clinical reasons. Some of the common factors are day of surgery cancellations, use of medications, and development of unforeseen clinical complexities. Non clinical factors could be surgeon’s schedule and unavailability of the operating rooms or equipment. Overcoming these issues will enable the hospital to increase their efficiency and ultimately serve more patients within the allocated budgets with reduced wait-times for the surgery.

This research presents an in-depth literature review of the elective surgery models, elective health strategies in practice and key enablers for change with regards to the elective procedures. Furthermore, we present a concept of using agent-based model (ABM) to simulate system dynamics of an elective surgery scheduling process. The model is validated by experimentations and altering parameters of the built model. As an outcome, the proposed model is capable of handling hospital resource utilization, time estimation of each case (surgery) from the waiting list and forecasting the scheduling of the surgeons.