Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Antenatal Care Determines Immunization And Care For Fever And Diarrhea In Ghanaian Children, Natalie K. Mcglynn

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Enhancing maternal and child health comprise key Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), driving an analysis of whether efforts to improve maternal health through quality antenatal care (ANC) is associated with the recommended health-related care of children in Sub-Saharan Africa, where under-five mortality is the highest.

This study examines ANC as a potential determinant of immunization and appropriate care for fever and diarrhea in Ghanaian children. Data were pooled from the 1998, 2003, and 2008 Ghana Demographic Health Surveys, and Andersen’s Behavioural Model provided the conceptual framework.

Multivariate logistic regression indicated that quality ANC increases the odds of immunization and appropriate care …

Calcium Montmorillonite Clay Reduces Urinary Biomarkers Of Fumonisin B₁ Exposure In Rats And Humans, Abraham Robinson, Natalie M. Johnson, A. Strey, John F. Taylor, Alicia Marroquin-Cardona, N. J. Mitchell, Evans Afriyie-Gyawu, Nii-Ayi Ankrah, Jonathan H. Williams, Jia-Sheng Wang, Pauline E. Jolly, R. J. Nachman, Timothy D. Phillips

Environmental Health Sciences Faculty Publications

Fumonisin B1 (FB1) is often a co-contaminant with aflatoxin (AF) in grains and may enhance AF’s carcinogenicity by acting as a cancer promoter. Calcium montmorillonite (i.e. NovaSil, NS) is a possible dietary intervention to help decrease chronic aflatoxin exposure where populations are at risk. Previous studies show that an oral dose of NS clay was able to reduce AF exposure in a Ghanaian population. In vitro analyses from our laboratory indicated that FB1 (like aflatoxin) could also be sorbed onto the surfaces of NS. Hence, our objectives were to evaluate the efficacy of NS clay to reduce urinary FB1 in …

Repositioning Community-Based Family Planning In Ghana: A Case Study Of Community-Based Health Planning And Services (Chps), Stephen Ntsua, Placide Tapsoba, Gloria Quansah Asare, Frank K. Nyonator

Reproductive Health

The Population Council conducted a diagnostic appraisal of delivering family planning services using the community-based health planning and services (CHPS model) in Ghana. This study’s results indicate that the CHPS program is well appreciated by rural communities where it is operational. However, the study identified several developments with implications for service delivery: increased community health officer (CHO) workloads and concomitant reductions in outreach services and home visits by community health visitors (CHVs) have weakened the CHO-CHV working relationship, leaving both cadres working in isolation. CHPS has significantly improved health indices but its contribution to increasing family planning is limited and …

Integration Of Family Planning Into Other Health Services In Ghana: Performance Needs Assessment At Four Facilities In The Ashanti And Eastern Regions, Amos Laar

Reproductive Health

With support from the Population Council, the Reducing Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Program worked with the Ghana Health Service to conduct a performance needs assessment on family planning (FP) integration in four facilities in two of the country’s regions. The purpose of this endeavor was ultimately to pilot a project to develop and implement interventions that would improve clients’ access to FP at these facilities, based on the current and desired FP service provision levels, from the viewpoint of facility staff themselves, while taking into account client preferences. This midterm survey sought to assess the status of the integration process …