Search

Though hormonal contraception is known to precipitate depression in some women, it is a successful public health initiative and has numerous personal and community advantages. It contributes to reducing unsafe abortions and maternal and child mortality. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of depression among women who use the hormonal contraceptive (HC) method in Mogadishu, which at times led to circumstances for discontinuation of the contraceptives. A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among women who use HCs and attend a tertiary Benadir mother-and-child hospital and a Somali-Sudanese hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, from August 2022 to December 2022. The data were collected using Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Data were analysed in both descriptive and inferential statistics such as percentage, t-test, analysis of variance, and binary as well as multiple logistic regression. On the HC usage characteristics, 43.6% of the participants have been on Jadelle Implants (a levonorgestrel-releasing implant), with a significance, while only 18.1% use pills (progestin and oestrogen), and the rest used Norplant capsules. In evaluating the physiological side effect incurred by respective HC, 39.6% of respondents were taking anti-depression therapy with a comparative significance, 78.9 were in overall good health, while 21.1% of participants were in poor health. Based on PHQ-9 majority of the respondents (26.9%) had moderate depression, and thirteen (13.1%) had minimal depression, fifty (22.0%) had mild depression. Yet, 43 (18.9%) experienced moderate depression, while another 43 (18.9%) had severe depression. Female housewives were 1.91 times more at risk of any form of depressive disorder than those who are employed. Respondents who had more than $600 were 0.45 times less likely to develop depression compared to those who had less than $600. However, women who used implants (Jadelle) and pills were more likely to develop depression with a p-value of 2.4x10-2 and 1.40x10-2, respectively, than those who used Norplant, respectively. In addition, women who use HCs for one year and more/over are less likely to develop depression compared to those who use HCs for more than 3 months and 6 months, respectively. In conclusion, housewives, low-income level, type of HC, and long duration of HCs were the determinants of depression. As a result, women should be aware of the Hormonal Contraceptives' side effects related to depression and seek the advice of doctors or other medical professionals.

Background:Hypertension is defined as blood pressure ≥140/90 mm Hg. It is emerging as one of the major healthcare challenges in low- and middle-income countries. Hypertension is considered as a silent killer and is the leading risk factor for cardiovascular mortality and accounts for a large proportion of premature deaths in developing countries. Most people with hypertension are asymptomatic and are undiagnosed for years. Objectives:This study aimed to find out the prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension and related risk factors among adults in Wad Medani Alkobra locality in Gezira State, Sudan. Methods:A community-based cross-sectional study involving 464 adults in different locations in Wad-Medani Alkobra locality, from June 2022 to August 2022 was performed in collaboration with the Sudanese Society of Hypertension within May Measure Month (MMM) 2022 study. WHO Stepwise Approach to Surveillance (STEPS) questionnaire was used to collect data, and was analyzed by SPSS version 20. Demographics, blood pressure, pulse, and socioeconomic status were measured. Diagnosis of hypertension was defined based on a systolic and diastolic blood pressure of ≥140 mmHg and ≥90 mmHg, respectively and three readings were obtained. Blood pressure was measured in all women and men aged 15 years and above. Results:Total number of study population was 464, males were 239 (52%), females were 225 (48%). Mean age was 45 years. 68 were known hypertensive (15%). Of those who are hypertensive, 27 (39%) had high blood pressure. Undiagnosed hypertension in the study population was found to be 10% (39 individual) which equals to 59.1% from the total number of the populations who had HTN (66). The prevalence of HTN (new and old cases) in this study group was 25%. There was positive relation between high blood pressure and old age, diabetes mellitus increased body weight and sex (more common in males}, P-value was (,0.00, 0.026, 0.014, 0.033) respectively. Conclusions:The prevalence of hypertension was high and associated with some modifiable risk factors which should be addressed. Frequent screening and proper treatment is required to prevent complications of this hidden epidemic.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the top ten leading causes of death worldwide due to a single infectious agent. In 2018 alone, it was responsible for killing 1.5 million people with 10 million people experiencing the illness. In addition to affecting so many around the world it can be found in all countries despite being a preventable disease. In an ideal world timely diagnosis and treatment would be available to all thus drastically reducing transmission and severity of the illness.

The main intent of this study is to examine if secondary education in Somalia, particularly in Puntland, meets both as a transition between primary and tertiary education and agreed quality indicators such as access/enrolment, retention, and transition. That could be attributed to elements such as funding, teacher preparation programs, student-teacher ratio, class-teacher ratio, or educational facilities, and both direct and indirect costs of secondary education were the main topics of the data gathering. The findings are presented in a logical sequence of tables, numbers, figures, and statistical inferences that address the goals and objectives, discussion, and recommendations. The retention of enrolment and transition into either the workforce or tertiary education has been examined. It was found that only 18% of students were enrolled in secondary school. When comparing the enrolment rates for boys and girls, there is a noticeable difference between the two genders, with 62% for boys and 38% for girls. This may be an indicator of the compromised quality of secondary education in the nation, based on inadequate facilities, ineffective instructional delivery, and maintenance of standards. The above sheds light on the secondary school dropout rate in the nation, and Puntland in particular, as, on average, just 15% of candidates for the Form IV final exam passed the four secondary stages and appeared in the final generalised certificated examination. The average student-classroom ratio and student-teacher ratio are 40±6:1 and 30±7:1, respectively, which subsequently indicates the less one-on-one time with students and teachers and less individualised instruction. The last six years’ trends for secondary teachers and schools have also been tested to determine gender parity and gathered that only 5% have been female instructors. Similarly, the certified teachers are almost four times as many as the qualified ones. In addition, the female pre-service teachers trained were a mere 28%, while the in-service ones were 29% of their male counterparts. Female subject preferences were 8%, 42%, and 35% in math/physics, biology/chemistry, and history/geography, correspondingly. The average cost of fees per month was found to have been $36.4±9.4 per child. The study highlights that the Puntland administration, with the aid of international funders and partner NGOs, to revisit their rule of engagement as far as the secondary school states of enrolment and dropouts are concerned; increase the number of teachers, particularly female teachers; and train school teachers to first lower the high student-teacher and pupil-classroom ratios and bolster the quality of the delivered education in order to lower dropout rates and improve enrolment, retention, and transition into the workforce or tertiary education. Educational reforms are to be formulated periodically to meet the future needs of education financing

The aim of this study is to assess the medical as well as voluntary staff expertise and awareness on the importance of exclusive breastfeeding and complementary feeding and system-level barriers that prevent families and communities from getting lactation assistance that might have impacted upon breastfeeding practices altogether. A cross-sectional survey was conducted to recruit a random sample of the staff working in the different units. All were interviewed through a structured questionnaire which included their knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs regarding their skill and awareness of the matter. Descriptive as well as inferential statistics (t-test, ANOVA, and Chi-square) were employed to obtain results and their significance. The significant demographic characteristics of participants indicate that 50% were 25–35 years old, 62.5% were female, 25% were single, 50.0% were university graduates, and almost half (45%) had been full-time employees of the hospital. The staff overwhelmingly recognised that the first yellowish colostrum should be fed to the baby and the potential benefits the baby gains from the mother’s milk, such as nutrition, getting antibodies and reducing the risk of disease. Also, the maternal benefits such as reduced breast cancer and increased postpartum emotional health. In addition, the response was sweepingly positive when it came to nursing and supplemental feeding lower child morbidity and mortality. The practices that may prevent early mother-and-baby contact range from requiring the mother to lie in bed during labour and delivery to drug-induced sleep. The respondents believed that all factors contributed. With the intention of protecting every parent’s and child’s human right to breastfeed, it is vital that high-quality breastfeeding education be implemented across the health service providers (hospitals) and the entire spectrum of medical education in the country. This will facilitate future medical staff to acquire the knowledge, abilities, and attitudes necessary to practice medicine and will also help practising doctors keep their skills and competency up-to-date.

Escherichia coli (E. coli) is an adaptable gram-negative bacillus facultative an aerobic bacterium that belongs to the family of Enterobacteriaceae. It is well known to be a commensal of the human and animal gastrointestinal tract and environments unrelated to the host, such as water, soil, manure, and food. This study was focused on identifying the pathogenicity of three local isolated E. coli strains (Malaysia) compared to the other 22 completed genome strains from the available database. The local strains are INF13/18/A [1], INF32/16/A [2], and INF191/17/A [3]. which are identified as extended-spectrum beta-lactamase types. 16S rRNA was used to build a phylogenetic tree by using MUSCLE for alignment and MEGA with 1000 bootstraps to build a tree (Figure 1), and then Figtree was used for visualisation. The outlier in this phylogenetic analysis is H3RV (a mycobacterium strain). The analysis revealed that the 22 completed genome strains can be divided into two main clusters with one cluster mainly more pathogen and least pathogen. Based on previous pathogenicity studies revealed that Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli are pathogens that are ER strains that cause diarrheal disease in humans and are of a public health concern due to their ability to cause outbreaks and severe diseases such as haemorrhagic colitis or haemolytic-uremic syndrome [4]. Furthermore, CVM strains also reported as pathogen (GCA_008385405.1, GCA_008386375.1, GCA_004281435.2, GCA_008385205.1, and GCA_008383145.1). Therefore, the first cluster containing all ER strains and CVM is pathogenic. The second cluster included all local strains, two of the local strains (INF13/18/A and INF191/17/A) closely with Al Ain [5] and AR-0427 (GCF_008727195.1) which both are known to be Shiga-toxin producing strains (0157). This suggested that these two local strains are true pathogens. While one of the other local strains INF32/16/A shares a recent common ancestor with a non-pathogenic laboratory strain K-12 substr. MG1655 [6], which could be probably suggested that this local strain is non-pathogenic. In addition to that the second clusters, JME strains were clustered together with ecMN1F (GCA_008824125.1). The distribution of lineage is also not related to sampling locations because the first cluster has CVM strains and ER strains from the USA and New Zealand, respectively. While the two local strains from Malaysian strains were also found close to the United States of America (K-12 substr. MG1655) [6]. In conclusion, this study shows the pathogenicity group classification of E. coli strains and requires further investigation to determine the level of pathogenicity of these organisms. A phylogenetic of E. coli used 16S rRNA, shows dividing into two common ancestors and the outlier, the strains of the above common ancestor such as CVM and ER [7] strains are true pathogenic, while the strains of the second common ancestor are showing some pathogenic and some non-pathogenic which closely related with the local sample.

This paper examines the overlap that exists in the governance systems of higher education institutions (HEIs) in Somalia. Then, it tries to contribute to the appropriate remedies for effective higher education leadership. With the exception of four universities, all of the investigated universities and their boards exist nominally. Only eight university boards of trustees/directors are structured in ways where the delegation of responsibilities is achieved in a way that gives other bodies a sense of who answers to whom. For the publicly-owned Somali National University (SNU), it is the incumbent President of the Federal Republic of Somalia is the rector and patron. There is a great deal of confusion and overlap in the respective roles of its council and Senate. As a result, the immediately felt knock-on effect has been the quality of education delivered, which in turn impacted the employability of graduates. To achieve better, a good corporate governance system, which is cascaded down into middle and lower-tier management that guarantees a balance of power between different investors and management, is sine qua non. Finally, the FGS and FMEs need to set up proper external quality control mechanism bylaws for the universities to form an internal quality assurance (IQA) apparatus.