Africa Science News

Youths Using Talents To Champion HIV/AIDS Advocacy in Informal Settlements

PDF | Print | E-mail

Written by Anthony Aisi

Fifty four groups in Kenya ‘s informal settlements gearing up HIV and AIDS advocacy to make their areas a better living place.

It all started from a 'merry-go-round' in 2002 with an initiative to facilitate economic empowerment through contribution and loaning facility to its members little by little accelerating its pace to zero rating HIV in the society. 

The organization has established and empowered 54 youth groups from Kibera, Mukuru, kawangware and Kibagare slums, four Bar Waitresses and two grandmother support groups.

Marking their 10 years anniversary, the groups celebrated the grandmothers who have flipped the tide in the fight against HIV/AIDS by actively taking the responsibility of a mother, father and guardian despite being physically weak.

The anniversary also indicated how they have sensitized and conducted capacity building on basic entrepreneurship to total of 130 bar waitresses/grandmothers and supported 72 of their dependents with information on HIV and AIDS.

The population of orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) has grown at alarming rate recently due to HIV/AIDS pandemic, the young women campaign against AIDS organization(YWCAA) aims at strengthening the capacity of families and households to care for OVC within the community as the key strategic response in addressing the situation

Victor Apolo, programme manager at YWCAA echoed how youth-to-youth activities has sensitized youth and most at risk population on sexual behaviour change.

" We have held activities in the informal settlements including talent shows, concerts, popular drama, inter group debates based on HIV/AIDS topics, speaking competitions, youth challenge meetings and football matches, we have used what the society like so as to seek their attention and boost our outreach."

" We have also distributed contraceptives to the youths in the informal places using the youth groups so as to reach more people. This has been received warmly by the MARPS and other youths after creating awareness on the importance of using condoms in relation to HIV spread.  We aim to open our scope not only in Nairobi, Makueni and Kisumu but also to other counties in Kenya," Apolo added

According to YWCAA, girls out of school and would love to go to school or undertake tertiary courses are now being targeted.

The organization will work with ministry of Education to establish means of assistance to schooling of poor persons.

0 Comments

Dissemination of paediatric clinical guidelines can save more children’s lives

PDF | Print | E-mail

Written by Erick Akasa

A new study by KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Researchers suggests that the active dissemination of pediatric clinical guidelines can greatly improve the quality of care and service received by seriously sick children in Kenya.

The results, which were published yesterday in PLOS ONE, further propose that more attention must be given to broader implementation strategies that target institutional and organizational aspects of service delivery to further enhance quality‐of‐care.

The study, which was carried out at the Kenyatta National Hospital, set out to evaluate the impact of purposefully and widely disseminating Clinical Management Guidelines including Emergency Triage Assessment and Treatment Plus admission care training (ETAT+) to targeted clinical and nursing care providers in the general paediatric wards.

Researchers in this study focused on three common childhood diseases of pneumonia, dehydration (due to diarrhea) and severe malnutrition. This is because these three diseases are known to have a high disease burden, high levels of mortality and their WHO/ Kenyan case management guidelines have remained unchanged for the last twelve years.

Commenting on the results, Dr Grace Irimu, the study’s lead author, said, “Our study found that active efforts to change practice that build on the distribution of guidelines and provision of training and that engage multiple health workers can significantly improve the uptake of nationally and internationally recommended practices.”

“We also observed a fall in mortality over the same time period. However, this could be due to a number of other factors that our study could not account for. Taken with other studies, there is reason to expect that the adherence to simple and low‐cost recommendations, as stipulated in national and WHO case management guidelines, combined with other improvements in service provision, may reduce case fatality of common serious illnesses” she added.

Also commenting on these results, co-author Prof Mike English observed “The slow pace of getting evidence into routine health care practice is a global concern. This work illustrates that it can be done but also indicates that we have to do more than simply printing guidelines or running training courses, we need to actively promote new practices, work with hospitals and sustain efforts”.

Health workers compliance to evidence based Clinical Management guidelines including ETAT+ is an important part of ensuring the timely, appropriate and safe hospital care of seriously ill children.

This study emphasized the need for more deliberate and targeted dissemination of these guidelines to paediatric health workers even in large teaching hospitals in low income countries such as Kenya.

If health workers learn how to use guidelines during their training in major hospitals, they should be better able to support efforts to reduce childhood mortality and ultimately help in meeting the Fourth Millennium Development Goal.

0 Comments

Nigeria’s Green Light for Ogoniland Oil Clean-Up lauded

PDF | Print | E-mail

Written by Kevin Wafula

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has welcomed the Government of Nigeria’s decision to proceed with a major oil contamination clean-up of Ogoniland in the Niger Delta.

Twelve months ago UNEP presented its scientific assessment of oil pollution in Ogoniland to Nigerian President The Hon. Goodluck Jonathan, underlining serious public health and environmental impacts.

The report emphasized the need for swift action to prevent the pollution footprint from spreading further and exacerbating the already tragic legacy for the Ogoni people.

Diezani Alison-Madueke, the Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources, announced late last month that the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project had been established to “fully implement the United Nations Environment Programme’s Assessment Report on Ogoniland”.

The clean-up will reportedly be conducted under a new Nigerian government initiative—the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project.

The Government of Nigeria has indicated that it will now define the scope, actions and financing of the project.

The UNEP Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland had proposed an initial sum of US$1 billion to cover the first five years of clean-up operations.

While some on-the-ground results could be immediate, overall the report estimated that countering and cleaning up the pollution and catalyzing a sustainable recovery of Ogoniland could take 25 to 30 years and will require long term financing.

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said today: “On the anniversary of the Ogoniland assessment there are now clear and encouraging signals that the government is keen to move on the recommendations—this is a welcome development for the people and the environment of this region who have suffered, and continue to suffer, the legacy of some 50 years of unsustainable oil exploration and production.”

“UNEP stands ready to assist the government and its agencies with expertise for getting the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project up and running so as to improve the lives and livelihoods of the Ogoni people,” he said.

Over recent weeks, UNEP has held discussions with Sir Peter Idabor, the Director-General of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and is engaged with the government to chart transformative pathways forward in order to realize the assessment’s recommendations.

“The immediate need is for the necessary funds to be mobilized and to be deployed to take the Project forward at a scale and speed commensurate with the challenge. Everyone has a part to play in realizing significant and positive results from the Government of Nigeria, local authorities and the oil industry to NGOs and local communities,” said Ibrahim Thiaw, Director of UNEP’s Division of Environmental Policy Implementation, who on 4 August last year presented the UNEP report to the government.

0 Comments