Vol 9, Issue 2, Apr-Jun, 2019

Health care workers are the most valuable resource in biomedical research and the World Health Organization (WHO) had declared the years 2006 to 2015 as the “The decade of the human resources for health”. The target of tuberculosis (TB) elimination globally is 2030, but India has proposed to eliminate it by 2025. TB research and development is essential to achieve the global TB targets set in the Sustainable Development Goals and the End TB Strategy. One of the pillars proposed by WHO for END TB strategy is intensified research and innovation.1 Priorities for TB research and development include accines to lower the risk of infection, a vaccine or new drug treatment to reduce the risk of TB disease in already latently infected, rapid diagnostics for use at the point of care and simpler and shorter drug regimens for treating TB disease. India is working hard towards intensifying research in TB with a recent surge in field-based research for the discovery and development of newer tools and their implementation; interventions and to develop strategies. Treatment for TB is domiciliary and community-based interventions are mandatory for the prevention and care. Field-based health workers (FHW) including Medical Social Workers, Nurses, RNTCP workers and DOTS providers play key role in the treatment for tuberculosis, enhancing active case finding and intensifying research and innovation.

Context: Pre-marital screening has been proven to be an effective means of reducing the overall burden of genetic disorders like Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) in the general population. Aims: To determine the knowledge, attitude and perception of traditional and religious leaders on pre-marital screening for SCD in Sokoto, North-Western, Nigeria. Settings and Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study. Methods and Material: Pre-tested interviewer administered questionnaire was administered to 375 participants selected through multistage sampling method. Data on the knowledge, attitude and perception of premarital screening for sickle cell disease were obtained. Statistical analysis used: Data were analyzed with SPSS Version 20.0. P < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The mean age ± SD of the participants was 37.0±11.6 years and the majority of respondents were male 310 (83.1%), married 247 (67.1%) and had tertiary education 179 (50.4%). Good knowledge of SCD was demonstrated by 263 (70.1%) and positive attitude was shown by 259 (69.1%) while positive perception was received from 242 (67.9%). Age, marital and educational status were significantly associated with knowledge of SCD (p< 0.05). Knowledge of the SCD had great influence on the participant’s perception for pre-marital screening in the same way their perception influenced their attitude on pre-marital screening for SCD (p=0.01). Conclusion: The traditional and religious leaders in Sokoto metropolis showed good knowledge of SCD as well as positive attitude and perception on pre-marital screening for SCD. We therefore, recommend intensive public awareness programmes and implementation of pre-marital screening of SCD as well as utilisation of the community leaders as change agents to curb the menace of SCD. Key words: Pre-marital Screening, Sickle cell disease, Religious Leaders, Traditional leaders, Sokoto.

Chronic non-communicable diseases are posing a serious threat to public health throughout the world, irrespective of whether developed and developing and thus deserve to be treated as a global health priority. Hypertension is the leading modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Poor compliance to antihypertensive therapies has been linked to a variety of problems, including poor blood pressure control, rehospitalisation and increased healthcare resource utilization. Methodology: This Cross-Sectional study was carried out among all adult hypertensive patients from September to October 2018 visiting Urban Health Training Centre of Sri Siddhartha Medical College. Results: Out of 150 study subjects Majority of them 66 (44%) were having hypertension for 10-15 yrs and least 18 (12%) were having Hypertension for >5 yrs, 81 (54%) were Purchasing drugs from Private sectors and others from Government sector. 30 (20%) were taking 2 tablets per day, 109 (72.7%) were taking 1 tablet per day. 90 (60%) were having Low adherence, 36 (24%) were having Medium adherence and 24 (16%) High adherence for Drugs using Morisky Adherence scale. When we studied association between Adherence to drugs with other Socio-demographic characteristics, we got statistically significant results with Socioeconomic status, residence and Place of Purchase of drugs (P=0.0). Conclusion: Adherence to drugs was found to be low in the present study. The level of adherence to treatment among the participants can be achieved by educating the Patients and creating awareness. Key words: Hypertension,Adherence, Blood pressure,Complications.

Background: Uterine rupture is a rare devastating obstetrical complication that endanger the women life. Objective: To compare the risk factors, complications, foetal and maternal outcome in cases of uterine rupture either unscarred or scarred uterus. Material and Methods: Retrospective study was carried out in Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at tertiary teaching hospital, Records of all pregnant women who were admitted for delivery during a follow up period of January 2015 to June 2016, data were collected from hospitals records and analyzed. A total of 96 patients were identified with rupture uterus and only 92 women records were analyzed because 4 women died before any intervention. On the basis of records these 92 cases of rupture uterus further categorized into two groups, group one consisted of unscarred rupture uterus and group two were comprised of scarred uterus with dehiscence. Results: Rupture uterus was found in 0.74% pregnant women in our study. 52.2% (48) rupture uterus was found in unscarred uterus and 47.8% (44) in scarred uterus. 70.8% (34) rupture was found at term pregnancy in unscarred uterus and 63.6% (28) in scarred uterus. Complete rupture was more common in unscarred uterus 95.8% (46) as compared to scarred uterus 36 (81.8%). Incomplete rupture was found more in scarred uterus 8 (18.1%) in comparison to unscarred uterus 2 (4.1%) (p<0.044). Uterus repair with bilateral tubal ligation was performed more in scarred 25% (11) as compared to unscarred uterus 4 (8.3%) (p<0.047). Total maternal deaths were 9.37% (9) but 4 died un investigated. Perinatal deaths were 91.30% (84). Conclusion: Morbidity is high with unscarred rupture as compared to rupture of scarred uterus, more hysterectomies performed in unscarred rupture due to involvement of both segment of uterus. Key words: Uterine rupture, Caesarean section, Hysterectomy, Hemorrhagic shock.

Introduction: Mass media provides information among people at large, so that there is acceptance of any idea to create interest. There are various types of mass media- magazines, television, internet, newspapers, etc. The media have the power to direct our attention towards certain issues. Thus it can be said that, mass media plays an important role in shaping the lifestyle and through that the habits- good or bad among the public. So, we have studied the different types of health awareness creating advertisements broadcasted in two types of mass media namely television (Audio-visual) and radio (Audio). Methods: A Content analysis of health related advertisements was done in selected channels from television and radio stations and a survey wasconducted later to know the effect of those advertisements on public. Results: The major areas covered in health awareness were on DOTS, Clean drinking water, NACO-ICTC, Iodized Salt and Zinc tablet. It was found that the health related advertisements especially those aimed at raising awareness decreased during weekends. In the survey conducted, it was found that not many people were interested in looking at advertisements. And of those who watched or listened to advertisements only a few could recall any health message. Conclusion: Many of the government sponsored advertisements do not find their place in commercial channels which attract larger viewership. It’s better to increase health awareness related advertisements during weekends and prime time. Key words: Audio-visual media, Health advertisements, Health awareness, Health education, Mass Media, Radio Advertisements, Television Advertisements.

Background: Non-communicable respiratory morbidities such as asthma and COPD are rapidly rising to emerge as leading causes of mortality worldwide. Occupational lung diseases form the majority of the work related morbidity in India, mainly in the form of occupational asthma and COPD. Due to paucity of data on respiratory disorders among construction workers in India, this study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of respiratory disorders among construction workers in Gujarat. Methods: 236 construction workers at sites across different regions of Gujarat state were screened using a Gujarati and Hindi versions of St. George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ). Full time workers, having work experience more than 2 years and above the age of 20 years were included. Those with BMI >25 kg/m2 and with history of trauma, pre-existing medical conditions like diabetes, hypertension, stroke or any obvious musculoskeletal deformities like scoliosis, genu valgum and those with history of chest trauma, previous pulmonary surgery or on medications for pulmonary diseases were excluded. Results: The prevalence of respiratory symptoms was found to be high with 60% having attacks of wheezing, 50% workers complaining of cough, 45.1% complaining of phlegm, 40% having shortness of breath. Also, those with 16-20 years of exposure in the construction industry reported a significant impact on their respiratory health as measured by SGRQ. Conclusion: The prevalence of respiratory symptoms was found to be high among the construction workers, hence it becomes imperative to highlight these impairments for appropriate prevention and intervention. Key words: Construction workers, Respiratory Symptoms, St. George Respiratory Questionnaire, Prevalence, Asthma and COPD.

Dental caries is one of the oro-dental diseases which is highly prevalent in India.1,2 DMFT index has been widely used to assess the caries status among individuals by computing the mean number of Decayed (D), Missing (M) and Filled (F) teeth in a population. This index however does not reflect the true picture since there are both individuals with considerably higher DMFT values as well as caries-free individuals in the same population. Significant Caries index (SiC) is a better indicator in this case because it records the individuals with the highest DMFT values. The Global Goals for Oral Health in the year 2000 proposed to reduce the SiC index among the 12-year-olds to less than 3 DMFT by the year 2015, globally.