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Abstract The study presents the economic feasibility assessment of converting the produced biogas from water hyacinth biomass into electricity. Approximately, 0.3793 m3CH4/kgVS was generated from the water hyacinth biomass. The research indicated that the available water hyacinth population on the Lower Volta River in the year 2020 could potentially generate a methane yield of 53.676 × 106m3. The volume of methane gas generated had the potential to produce an annual electricity output of 110.792 × 106 kWh, which could be integrated into the national grid. The economic analysis indicated positive results with an initial total investment cost of $67,273,700. The project showed a positive net present value (NPV) of $8,923,769 and a levelized cost of 0.172 $/kWh. The simple payback and equity payback periods were determined to be 5.5 and 11.3 years, respectively. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis conducted showed that the project’s NPV remained positive when variations in input parameters such as initial cost, operations, and maintenance cost were less than 15% sensitive range. However, a 30% reduction in the feed-in tariff cost resulted in a negative NPV. In conclusion, biogas production from water hyacinth biomass in Ghana can make a significant contribution to the country’s energy mix and help alleviate the energy shortfall in rural areas.

Abstract Background The World Health Organization recommends universal iron supplementation for children aged 6–23 months in countries where anaemia is seen in over 40% of the population. Conventional ferrous salts have low efficacy due to low oral absorption in children with inflammation. Haem iron is more bioavailable, and its absorption may not be decreased by inflammation. This study aims to compare daily supplementation with haem iron versus ferrous sulphate on haemoglobin concentration and serum ferritin concentration after 12 weeks of supplementation. Methods This will be a two-arm, randomised controlled trial. Gambian children aged 6–12 months with anaemia will be recruited within a predefined geographical area and recruited by trained field workers. Eligible participants will be individually randomised using a 1:1 ratio within permuted blocks to daily supplementation for 12 weeks with either 10.0 mg of elemental iron as haem or ferrous sulphate. Safety outcomes such as diarrhoea and infection-related adverse events will be assessed daily by the clinical team (see Bah et al. Additional file 4_Adverse event eCRF). Linear regression will be used to analyse continuous outcomes, with log transformation to normalise residuals as needed. Binary outcomes will be analysed by binomial regression or logistic regression, Primary analysis will be by modified intention-to-treat (i.e., those randomised and who ingested at least one supplement dose of iron), with multiple imputations to replace missing data. Effect estimates will be adjusted for baseline covariates (C-reactive protein, alpha-1-acid glycoprotein, haemoglobin, ferritin, soluble transferrin receptor). Discussion This study will determine if therapeutic supplementation with haem iron is more efficacious than with conventional ferrous sulphate in enhancing haemoglobin and ferritin concentrations in anaemic children aged 6–12 months. Trial registration Pan African Clinical Trial Registry PACTR202210523178727

In order to gain understanding on the utilization of biogas fuel derived from water hyacinth (WH) biomass and render it appealing as a sustainable gaseous fuel, the study reports on its various thermophysical, combustion and thermodynamic parameters. The parameters include, specific enthalpy, internal energy, low heating value, Wobbe number index, changes in Enthalpy, Entropy and Gibbs free energy. The experimental procedure was performed at temperature range of 29±3 °C for 61 days in a BlueSens laboratory-scale anaerobic digestion equipment. It comprised of three fermenter bottles designated as F1, F2 and F3. F1 served as the control and the rest served as the test fermenter bottles. The digestion of water hyacinth and fruit waste sludge (WH+FWS) recorded the highest biogas volumes of 19,798.79 ml in fermenter F2 and 19,168.55 ml in fermenter F3 with methane contents of 53.46 % and 51.85 %, respectively. In comparison, the biogas produced exclusively from the water hyacinth (WH) biomass yielded 12,014.49 ml in F2 and 11,384.25 ml in F3, with methane contents of 46.41 % and 43.31 %, respectively. The best biogas fuel was produced from the digestion of (WH+FWS) in fermenter F2 with an internal energy and enthalpy values of 258.6 KJ/kg. K and 344.9 KJ/kg. K, respectively. A low heating value and Wobbe number of 17.51 MJ/m³ and 17.78 MJ/m³ were determined respectively. The biogas production was simulated using the Gompertz modified kinetic equation in MATLAB and an average specific rate (Kexp) of 371.49 ml/gVS.day was obtained. The rate constant (Kexp) was applied in the linearized form of the Erying-Polanyi equation to determine the changes in Enthalpy Entropy, and Gibbs free energy as -2510.66 J, -304.78 J and 94,219 J, respectively which indicated that, the anaerobic digestion process in this study was only thermodynamically feasible at low temperatures.

The study presents the results of the laboratory experiment performed on the anaerobic digestion of water hyacinth biomass harvested from the Volta River basin of Ghana and Fruit waste sludge as the inoculum. Batch mode of experiment was performed under mesophilic conditions (29 ± 3 °C) with a hydraulic retention time of 61 days. The experimental setup was made up of three (3) fermenter bottles of 5.0 L capacity namely F1, F2 and F3. F1 served as the control whiles F2 and F3 served as the test fermenter bottles. Each of the fermenter bottles was fitted with BlueSens methane sensor and BlueVcount flowmeter for the measurement of methane composition and biogas volumes, respectively. The Theoretical Biomethane Potential (BMP) of the water hyacinth biomass was estimated to be 422.23 ml/gVS. The experimental BMP was determined to be 402.62 ml CH4/gVS and 356.03 ml CH4/gVS for F2 and F3, respectively. Consequently, a biodegradability value of 95.36 and 84.32 % was obtained from F2 and F3, respectively. Moreover, the F2 fermenter bottle recorded a cumulative net methane and biogas volumes of 5576.3 ml and 12,014 ml, respectively. Likewise, a total net cumulative methane and biogas volumes of 4931.0 ml and 11,384 ml were produced from the F3 fermenter bottle. Using the First order kinetic model, an average value of hydrolysis constant for water hyacinth biomass was determined as 0.051 day−1. Furthermore, the modified Gompertz model, the logistic function model and Transference function models were used to fit the experimental cumulative biogas and methane production data. The outcome of the study shows that, the production of biogas from water hyacinth biomass harvested the Volta River basin of Ghana could offer sustainable control solutions to its invasion on water bodies whiles providing a cheap and reliable means of biofuel to the riparian communities.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic is evolving differently in Africa than in other regions. Africa has lower SARS-CoV-2 transmission rates and milder clinical manifestations. Detailed SARS-CoV-2 epidemiologic data are needed in Africa. We used publicly available data to calculate SARS-CoV-2 infections per 1,000 persons in The Gambia. We evaluated transmission rates among 1,366 employees of the Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia (MRCG), where systematic surveillance of symptomatic cases and contact tracing were implemented. By September 30, 2020, The Gambia had identified 3,579 SARS-CoV-2 cases, including 115 deaths; 67% of cases were identified in August. Among infections, MRCG staff accounted for 191 cases; all were asymptomatic or mild. The cumulative incidence rate among nonclinical MRCG staff was 124 infections/1,000 persons, which is >80-fold higher than estimates of diagnosed cases among the population. Systematic surveillance and seroepidemiologic surveys are needed to clarify the extent of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in Africa.

Health systems in sub-Saharan Africa have remained overstretched from dealing with endemic diseases, which limit their capacity to absorb additional stress from new and emerging infectious diseases. Against this backdrop, the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic presented an additional challenge of insufficient hospital beds and human resource for health needed to deliver hospital-based COVID-19 care. Emerging evidence from high-income countries suggests that a ‘virtual ward’ (VW) system can provide adequate home-based care for selected patients with COVID-19, thereby reducing the need for admissions and mitigate additional stress on hospital beds. We established a VW at the Medical Research Council Unit, The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, a biomedical research institution located in The Gambia, a low-income west African country, to care for members of staff and their families infected with COVID-19. In this practice paper, we share our experience focusing on the key components of the system, how it was set up and successfully operated to support patients with COVID-19 in non-hospital settings. We describe the composition of the multidisciplinary team operating the VW, how we developed clinical standard operating procedures, how clinical oversight is provided and the use of teleconsultation and data capture systems to successfully drive the process. We demonstrate that using a VW to provide an additional level of support for patients with COVID-19 at home is feasible in a low-income country in sub-Saharan Africa. We believe that other low-income or resource-constrained settings can adopt and contextualise the processes described in this practice paper to provide additional support for patients with COVID-19 in non-hospital settings.

Background: A rural young girl continues to be vulnerable in many societies of the world, including Nigeria because sexual and reproductive health needs are often underserved. Adolescent sexual and reproductive health (SRH) refers to the physical, mental and emotional well-being of adolescents which includes freedom from sexual violence, STIs, unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortion, maternal death, and disability. These young individuals experience new mental, physical and hormonal changes that predispose them to issues associated with discovering their sexuality. Objectives: The study sought to determine the reproductive health knowledge as well as the reproductive health challenges of female rural adolescents in a rural area of South Eastern Nigeria. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted of 250 secondary school students in Anaocha local government area in South Eastern Nigeria. The classes of the students varied from both junior and senior secondary classes. Multistage sampling technique was used in the selection of participants. Simple random sampling of towns and schools were done. Stratified sampling of the various classes in the schools was done and finally simple random sampling of respondents was done. Self administered questionnaire was used to obtain data from selected respondents. Results: Two hundred and fifty female adolescents were studied with a mean age of 14 ± 2.01 years. Majority of the students (82.8%) had attained menarche while 99.6% of students had a good understanding of puberty. Thirty-two had engaged in sexual activity with mean age of coitarche being 11 ± 3.3 years and modal age group being 12-14 years. Thirteen (5.2%) of the respondents had sex for economic reasons. Four (1.2%) had been raped while 22 (8.8%) of the respondents had been sexually harassed. Of those who had engaged in sex, only 7 (21.8%) used contraceptive while only one case of unwanted pregnancy was reported. Conclusion: Many of the respondents had good knowledge about puberty with cycle length and fertile period but poor knowledge on prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. There was also early coitarche with poor contraceptive use. Reproductive health challenges such as STIs, vaginal infections, unprotected intercourse, substance abuse, and same-sex relationship were still present among adolescents in the rural south Eastern Nigeria. There is still need for sexuality education to prepare young adolescents for a healthy sexual and reproductive life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Objectives To determine the prevalence, case-fatality rate, and associated risk-factors of Noma in children in Nigeria. Methods Search was conducted in PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Library databases. Data were extraction using a double-blind approach. Discrepancies were resolved by a third reviewer. Heterogeneity was evaluated using I2 statistics. Random-effects model was used for the meta-analysis and subgroup analysis was conducted. The study quality was evaluated using standard Critical-Appraisal-Checklist. Results Of the 1652 articles identified, 12 studies that met the inclusion criteria included 871 cases of Noma. Two studies had high-risk of bias and were excluded in the meta-analysis. Pooled prevalence of Noma was 2.95% (95%CI:2.19–3.71; Z = 7.60; p