Community Perceptions on Health Conditions Related to Indoor Air Pollution Among Adults Living in Urban Informal Settlements in Mwanza City, Tanzania.

Introduction: Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) from biomass fuel is one of the major health threats globally. There is limited data on community awareness and perceptions of health conditions associated with IAP in urban informal settlements in sub-Saharan Africa. We explored community perceptions of IAP-associated health conditions, risk behaviors, and potential interventions to reduce IAP in urban informal settlements.

Spatial distribution of suspected and confirmed cholera cases in Mwanza City, Northern Tanzania.

Cholera, which is caused by Vibrio cholerae, persists as a devastating acute diarrheal disease. Despite availability of information on socio-cultural, agent and hosts risk factors, the disease continues to claim lives of people in Tanzania. The present study explores spatial patterns of cholera cases during a 2015-16 outbreak in Mwanza, Tanzania using a geographical information system (GIS) to identify concentrations of cholera cases.

Evaluation of a comprehensive maternal newborn health intervention in rural Tanzania: single-arm pre-post coverage survey results.

Background: In Tanzania, maternal and newborn deaths can be prevented via quality facility-based antenatal care (ANC), delivery, and postnatal care (PNC). Scalable, integrated, and comprehensive interventions addressing demand and service-side care-seeking barriers are needed.

Objective: Assess coverage survey indicators before and after a comprehensive maternal newborn health (MNH) intervention in Misungwi District, Tanzania.

Malaria Morbidities Following Universal Coverage Campaign for Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets: A Case Study in Ukerewe District, Northwestern Tanzania.

Background: Surveillance of the clinical morbidity of malaria remains key for disease monitoring for subsequent development of appropriate interventions. This case study presents the current status of malaria morbidities following a second round of mass distribution of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) on Ukerewe Island, northwestern Tanzania.

Methods: A retrospective review of health-facility registers to determine causes of inpatient morbidities for every admitted child aged <5 years was conducted to ascertain the contribution of malaria before and after distribution of LLINs.

Health worker acceptability of an mHealth platform to facilitate the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Tanzania.

Objectives: Health workers (HWs) are increasingly using mobile health (mHealth) technologies in low-resource settings. Understanding HW acceptability of mHealth is critical to increasing the scale of mHealth solutions. We examined pre- and post-pilot clinical knowledge and acceptability of a tablet-based platform, the Tanzania Health Information System (T-HIT), targeting HWs delivering prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV services in seven health facilities in Misungwi District, Tanzania.

An mHealth pilot designed to increase the reach of prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) across the treatment cascade in a resource-constrained setting in Tanzania.

Background: Data collection and integrated reporting between the multiple health facilities for supporting more efficient care linkages is an indispensable element for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) by fostering continuity of patient care and improving the treatment cascade for HIV-infected pregnant women. mHealth potentially presents timely solutions to the data challenges related to efficient and effective care delivery in resource-constrained settings, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

Methods: This randomized controlled pilot study used stratified random sampling for the selection of seven intervention and seven control sites in Misungwi, Tanzania, a rural district in the northwestern region.

Prevalence of HIV infection and uptake of HIV/AIDS services among fisherfolk in landing Islands of Lake Victoria, north western Tanzania.

Background: New HIV infections in Tanzania have been decreasing, however some populations remain at higher risk. Despite of that, evidence on the magnitude of HIV infection and the associated factors and HIV/AIDS services uptake among fisherfolk in Tanzania are inadequately explored. This study therefore aimed at determining prevalence of HIV infection and utilization of HIV/AIDS services among fishfolk in selected Islands of Lake Victoria for evidence-based interventions.

Utility of passive malaria surveillance in hospitals as a surrogate to community infection transmission dynamics in western Kenya.

Background: Malaria continued to be the major public health concern in sub-Sahara Africa, thus for better planning of control activities, periodic surveillance of both clinical and asymptomatic cases remains important. However, the usability of routinely collected malaria data in Kenyan hospitals as a predictor of the asymptomatic malaria infection in the community amidst rapid infection resurgence or reduction in different areas of disease endemicities remains widely unstudied. This study was therefore aimed to evaluate the utility of passive surveillance of malaria in health facilities as a proxy of infection transmission of the surrounding community in different transmission intensities.

Tanzania Health Information Technology (T-HIT) System: Pilot Test of a Tablet-Based System to Improve Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV.

Background: The prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV requires innovative solutions. Although routine monitoring is effective in some areas, standardized and easy-to-scale solutions to identify and monitor pregnant women, test them for HIV, and treat them and their children is still lacking. Mobile health (mHealth) offers opportunities for surveillance and reporting in rural areas of low- and middle-income countries.

Assessment of four common underfive children illnesses Routine Health Management Information System data for decision making at Ilemela Municipal Council, Northwest Tanzania: A case series analysis.

Background: In 2012, The Tanzania Ministry Of Health introduced the revised Routine Health Management Information System (RHMIS) modules and registers, and introduced the open source software for data collection at the district council level. Despite a series of data collection tools revisions, the quality of data collated from both public and private primary health care facilities has not been investigated.

Methods: A case series study design was conducted on underfive children outpatient registers and monthly reports on malaria, acute respiratory infections, acute diarrhoea and pneumonia from 10 randomly selected health facilities.

Uptake of intermittent preventive treatment with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine for malaria during pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes: a cross-sectional study in Geita district, North-Western Tanzania.

Background: Malaria infection during pregnancy is associated with adverse outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). For this reason, the World Health Organization currently recommends intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy (IPTp) with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) at each scheduled antenatal care (ANC) visit. In Tanzania, the revised IPTp policy was adopted in 2013 but the level of uptake and its association with pregnancy outcomes remains unknown.

Injury outcome among helmeted and non-helmeted motorcycle riders and passengers at a tertiary care hospital in north-western Tanzania.

Motorcycle helmets have been reported to reduce the risk of death and head injuries following motorcycle accidents. The aim of this descriptive prospective study was to determine the injury outcome among helmeted and non-helmeted motorcyclists and passengers at a tertiary hospital in north-western Tanzania. A total of 654 patients involved in the motorcycle accident were studied.

Spatial distribution of mercury and arsenic levels in water, soil and cassava plants in a community with long history of gold mining in Tanzania.

This study examined the spatial distribution of total mercury (THg) and total arsenic (TAs) in water, soil and cassava (Manihot esculenta) (leaves and roots) samples taken from areas in Rwamagasa village in northwestern Tanzania where daily living activities occur in close proximity to extensive artisanal and small scale gold mining. Results indicated that 33.3 % of the water sources had THg levels above the WHO guideline of 1.

A cross-sectional survey on knowledge and perceptions of health risks associated with arsenic and mercury contamination from artisanal gold mining in Tanzania.

Background: An estimated 0.5 to 1.5 million informal miners, of whom 30-50% are women, rely on artisanal mining for their livelihood in Tanzania.

Geriatric injuries among patients attending a regional hospital in Shinyanga Tanzania.

Geriatric injuries pose a major challenge to surgeons and general practitioners in developing countries. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence, injury characteristics and outcomes of geriatric injury among patients at Shinyanga Regional Hospital in Tanzania. Data was collected using a pre-tested, coded questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS computer system.