Dawit Tesfaye

Economic burden of bovine trypanosomosis in three villages of Metekel zone, Northwest Ethiopia

The study was carried out to assess the economic burden of trypanosomosis in three villages of the Metekel zone in 2009. The disease was found to cause substantial economic losses through cattle mortality, drug purchase, and draft power loss of infected oxen. The farmers in the area were spending a significantly (p < 0.05) higher amount of money for the treatment of trypanosomosis than all other diseases combined. The overall mortality rate of cattle due to trypanosomosis was 4.4%. The mortality was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in an area where trypanosomosis prevalence was also higher. Many of the farmers prioritized losses of draft power as the most important impact of the disease. The overall prevalence of the disease was 12.1%. The disease burden was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in the rainy season than at other times of the year. In general, farmers had good knowledge on the signs and seasonality of trypanosomosis. Thus, tsetse suppression activities that involve the local community can be an important tool towards minimizing the economic burden of the disease in the area.

Postnatal care utilization and associated factors among women of reproductive age Group in Halaba Kulito Town, Southern Ethiopia

BackgroundDespite postnatal care services significant role in improving maternal and new-born health, services are underutilized in most developing countries including Ethiopia. Hence, it is important to identify factors that facilitate or impede postnatal care services utilization. The aim of this study was to assess postnatal care services utilization and associated factors among reproductive age women who gave live birth in 2015 at Halaba kulito town, Southern Ethiopia.MethodsA community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 401 reproductive age women who gave live birth a year prior to the survey. Data were collected by using structured questionnaire. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis were carried out to identify factors associated with postnatal care services utilization. A significant association was declared when p-value is less than 0.05. The strength of association was determined by calculating odds ratio at 95% confidence interval.ResultIn this study, postnatal care services utilization by reproductive age women was 47.9%. Multivariable analysis revealed that government employed (AOR = 3.01, 95%CI = 1.36, 6.67), have three ANC visits (AOR = 4.29, 95% CI = 1.59, 11.55), have four ANC visits (AOR = 9.55, 95% CI = (3.46, 26.39), gave last birth at Health Centre (AOR = 10.76, 95% CI = 3.26, 35.57), gave last birth at Hospital (AOR = 13.15, 95% CI = (3.64, 47.50), didn’t aware of at least one postpartum danger signs (AOR = 0.06, 95% CI = (0.01, 0.37), didn’t know child care and had three ANC visits (AOR =0 .14, 95% CI (0.02, 0.8), and didn’t know child care and had four or more ANC visits (AOR =0 .13, 95% CI (0.02, 0.79) were significantly associated with postnatal care services utilization.ConclusionThis study assessed PNC services utilization and associated factors among reproductive age women. The study results provided a basic understanding of factors that associated with PNC services utilization by reproductive age women. The findings of this study showed direct association between postnatal care utilization and maternal employment, awareness to postpartum danger signs, frequency of ANC and attending birth at health institution. Therefore, the results suggested context-specific evidence which might be taken into consideration when rethinking policies to increase PNC utilization.