The University of Zambia Journals
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Factors Associated with Short Term Outcomes of Hypospadias Repair at the University Teaching Hospitals-Lusaka, Zambia
Get PDFThe study aimed to establish whether age at the time of surgery, glans size, urethral plate width, suture material, urethral catheter blockage/dislodgement and haemoglobin level influence short term outcomes of hypospadias surgery at the University Teaching Hospitals (UTH), Lusaka Zambia.
This was a consecutive (total enumerative) observational cohort study done at D-block and Clinic 7 at UTH Lusaka over nine months. A total of 41 patients were enrolled, and their demographic data, haemoglobin, maximum glans width size and urethral plate size before creating glans wing or midline plate incision were noted and measured. Logistic regression assessed urethroplasty complications on urethral plate size, glans size, haemoglobin, suture material and catheter problems.
The average age of participants was 34 months. Distal hypospadias was the most common type at 61%, while middle hypospadias was 27% and proximal hypospadias 12%. The complication rate was 34%. The most common complication seen was urethrocutaneous fistula at 53%. The other complications seen included 11.8% glanular dehiscence, 11.8% infections, 6% persistent chordee and 6% penile torsion. The risk factors for postoperative complications included the location of the urethral opening. The more proximal the site of the hypospadias, the higher the complication rate. Complications were strongly associated with haemoglobin levels of less than 11.5g/dl (p=0.001) and catheter blockage or dislodgment (p=0.008). There was no association of complications with Socioeconomic status, age at the time of repair, glans width size or suture material. Contrary to the finding of many authors, a wider urethral plate in this study was associated with a higher complication rate
Comparing Rectal Biopsy Using Artery Forceps And Full-Thickness Rectal Biopsy In Diagnosing Hirschsprung’s Disease At University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka
Get PDFHirschprung’s disease is a congenital disorder characterised by functional constipation whose onset is dependent on the length of the affected bowel and always involves the rectum. Rectal biopsy for histological analysis is the most definitive form of diagnosis. Full-thickness biopsy, which involves full wall laceration under general anaesthesia, continues to be commonly practiced in many African countries, including Zambia. Rectal suction biopsy, which can obtain a superficial-thickness biopsy as deep as the submucosa, has been adopted as the gold standard in the western world, leaving the invasive full-thickness biopsy with its associated risks for inconclusive cases. However, different types of forceps using the grasp and cut method have been shown to be able to obtain superficial-thickness biopsies that are as good or even superior to the rectal suction biopsy. The medium curved artery forceps was proposed to provide a simple, less invasive and hopefully cost-effective method of obtaining superficial rectal biopsies. Thirty-one (31) patients were enrolled in a prospective, single-blind study that was conducted at the University Teaching Hospital in the Department of Surgery, Paediatric Surgical unit from 2018 to 2019. Two biopsy specimens were obtained from each patient in the same sitting using the full-thickness biopsy method and artery forceps and compared the results.
Out of 31 patients, 19 (61.30%) of the full-thickness biopsy specimens were adequate for diagnosis, whereas only 4 (12.9%) of the superficial-thickness biopsy specimens using curved artery forceps were adequate. The biopsy obtained using the curved artery forceps had a high sensitivity (93.3%) and poor specificity (13.3%), and predictive value. Although not all patients required suturing hence saving on consumables, none of the patients developed any complications during or after the procedures.
Based on these results, the medium curved artery forceps is a poor choice for obtaining rectal biopsies. The traditional full-thickness biopsy procedure should be continued. Efforts should be made to acquire the necessary tools to obtain superficial thickness biopsy and reserve full-thickness biopsy for indeterminate cases
The Effect of Setting Academic and Behavioural Goals on the Performance of Students in Mathematics at the University of Namibia Science Foundation Programme
Get PDFThis study intended to find the effect of setting academic and behavioural goals
in the Science Foundation Programme (SFP) of the University of Namibia. In
this study foundation students had to set academic and behavioural goals they
intended to maintain in order to improve their mathematics performance but
the reference was test 1 which was written without set goals. The study sort
to find out the effects of setting academic and behavioural goals, classroom
factors that need to be fulfilled in the setting of goals so as to improve the
mathematics performance of students in the Science Foundation Programme
at Oshakati UNAM Campus. This study used the quantitative research design.
In order to assess the students’ current academic level in mathematics, all
students did not set goals for assessment Test 1, but started from assessment
test 2 until assessment test 4 for the 2013 academic year. A quasi-experimental
design was adopted in this study where the control group had 46 participants
and the experimental group had 80 participants. At the end of the goals setting
process the experimental group completed a questionnaire with open-ended
and closed ended questions to add to the information collected from the goal
sheets. Findings of this research study showed that the use of academic and
behavioural goals significantly improved the mathematics performance of the
students. The alternative hypothesis which stated that the experimental group
would perform significantly better than the control group was accepted at
95% level of significance. This study also established that some factors such
as students’ level of competence should be taken into consideration and that
specific teaching methods should be used in order to get maximum results in
a goal-oriented classroom environment. It was concluded that the setting of
academic and behavioural goals significantly improved the performance of
the Science Foundation Programme students at the Oshakati UNAM Campus.
Therefore, it is important for teachers of mathematics in the same educational
settings to implement the setting of academic and behavioural goals among
their students as a way of improving the students’ performance of students in
mathematics’ mathematics performance
Indigenisation of the School Curriculum: Connecting Classroom and Community Experiences
Get PDFThere are an estimated 300 million indigenous people worldwide, roughly
5 percent of the world’s population (UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre,
2004). Despite this significant presence, national schooling systems have
ignored, minimized, or ridiculed their histories pre- and post-Western contact,
as well as their cultural contributions towards social and environmental
sustainability. This in most cases has led to the education systems offered
in most nations less relevant and unproductive for the masses. The sole
purpose of any education system is to have a curriculum that offers relevant
education to its learners. The aim of this paper therefore was to explore
literature for the potentials of indigenising the school curriculum as a way
of ensuring that curriculum relevance is upheld. For this to be successful,
curriculum developers and policy makers should ensure that indigenous
education must continuously re-invent itself so that it honours the basic
cultural tenets of the ethnic groups it serves, recognizes the hybrid nature of
many indigenous practices, and uses learning as a catalyst to foster social
and environmental integrity. This paper therefore, concludes that there is a
lot that can be learnt from indigenous education if its best practices are well
synchronised with the formal curriculum thereby linking theory to practice
for an effective curriculum
Implementation of the Communicative Approach Techniques by Teachers of French in Secondary Schools in Kabwe District, Central Province, Zambia
Get PDFFrench has been taught in Zambia as a Foreign Language even before
independence. Manchishi and Chishiba (2016) indicate that French was
introduced in African schools, as a subject, in the educational system of the
then Northern Rhodesia in 1953. At that time, French was offered at Munali
Boys Secondary School, in Lusaka and Chipembi Girls in Chisamba. In
1964, when Zambia obtained its Political Independence from Britain, the
teaching of French spread to 12 other secondary schools. The French
Language Syllabus for Secondary Schools recommends that teachers of
French use Communicative Language Teaching in their teaching to enable
the learners develop Communicative Competence (MESVTEE, 2013).
The study explored the implementation of CLT in Government Secondary
Schools of Kabwe District. The purpose of the study was to establish
how teachers of French as a Foreign Language in Kabwe District were
implementing the Communicative Language Teaching Approach, as
recommended by the Syllabus and the extent of the implementation. The
objective of the study was to assess teachers’ understanding of CLT, The
study employed a descriptive design under qualitative approach. The study
participants comprised of 14 teachers, 3 subjects specialists and 178 pupils
who were purposively sampled. Data was collected through interview
guides, naturalistic observation schedules and Focus Group Discussions
guide and analyzed using thematic analysis. The study findings revealed
that teachers had very little ideas that CLT aims at making learners attain
communicative competence. Bordering on the findings of the study, the
following recommendations were made. Among them, the need for the
trainers of teachers of French to be practical and not theoretical in their
training. The study recommended that teachers of French be sensitized on
the need to implement the recommended approach. The sensitization will
act as a Continuous Professional Development (CPD) to remind them of
the pedagogical requirements of the syllabus and also that monitoring of
teachers by standard officers should be effectively done and there should
be increased funding to schools, the French Section in particular so that
equipment and materials to support CLT is procured
Effects of Direct Healthcare Financing on Strategic Health Indicators in Rural Health Facilities of Chikankata District of Zambia: 2014 – 2018
Get PDFHealthcare financing is the process of utilizing financial inputs necessary for health interventions. Health facilities do not routinely access the monthly government grant due to challenges in the access and utilization process. It is unclear if the lack of grant receipt affects strategic health indicators and thus access quality healthcare provision in rural Zambia. This study aimed at investigating the effect of funding access on health facility performance. The study analyzed data for 15 health facilities in Chikankata district from 2014 to 2018. Data was collected from the health management information system and analyzed against accounting records to determine if facilities performed better in antenatal care, Immunization and Institutional deliveries when they received their monthly grants. Grant receipt had a statistically significant (p=0.04) association with performance in maternal and child health indicators, measured by a mean composite score OR 1.46, 95% CI [1.03, 2.08]. The association between grant receipt and indicator performance was most significant on institutional deliveries OR 1.75, 95% [1.13, 2.73]. Grant receipt by the facilities was associated with an improvement in maternal and child health indicators. This demonstrates the need for effective healthcare financing mechanisms that consider the monthly grant in improving performance by facilities. Performance Based Financing mechanisms should however be combined with direct financing mechanisms to holistically improve primary healthcare. The implications of these findings are that as much as practical, funding disbursement modalities must ensure that all health facilities receive some funding
Theatre for development: a creative strategy for addressing youth unemployment among low-income communities
Get PDFThis article is based on a study that sought to explore the utilization of theatre for development as a strategy for youth capacity building programmes in the Lusaka district of Zambia. This was from the background that several adult education strategies had been used to mitigate the problem of youth unemployment among them, was theatre for development. The study was necessitated by the persistent challenge of youth unemployment despite several interventions that included adult education strategies. The focus was on exploring the utilisation of theatre for development as a strategy for youths’ capacity building programmes. The article addresses two research questions which are: what forms of theatre for development are used to address the problem of unemployment among the youth? How are the youth unemployment programmes designed and implemented? Using an interpretive qualitative design, a non-governmental organization called Africa Direction was used to collect the data on how unemployment levels among the youth were addressed through the use of theatre for development. In-depth interviews were conducted with 8 programme officers, 30 theatre group members and 12 youths who had been with the institution for more than 1 year. Observations were done on 4 activities that were carried out in the community. Data were analyzed thematically through inductive thematic analysis. The study established three creative strategies for theatre for development which included community animation, forum theatre and educational theatre. These strategies were embedded with common micro strategies that included drama, poetry, dance and songs. These carried the messages to the participants for action. However, the design and implementation of the programme followed a top-down approach which was not the best for the participants
Prevalence and Risk Factors of East Coast Fever in the Copperbelt and Central Provinces of Zambia
Get PDFEast Coast fever (ECF) is an infectious tick-borne disease of cattle, caused by a protozoan parasite Theileriaparva. Itis a disease of major economic importance in Zambia, being the main cause of cattle morbidity and mortality. Despite its economic importance, the epidemiology of ECF in Zambia is poorly understood, thereby making ECF prevention and control difficult. Further, there is limited published literature on this disease in Zambia, with the little available research concentrating on Southern and Eastern provinces.
We conducted a cross-sectional study to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of ECF in Copperbelt and Central provinces of Zambia. The provinces and districts were selected based on their vast potential for livestock production and the previously reported incidence of ECF. From each district, two veterinary camps were randomly selected and from each camp herds were randomly selected, from which individual animals were randomly sampled. Lymph node biopsies were collected from Mpongwe and Masaiti districts (Copperbelt province) and Kapiri Mposhi and Chibombo districts (Central province). Lymph smears were prepared and stained with Giemsa for microscopic examination.
Microscopic examination of lymph smears revealed that 6.4% (95%, CI=4.9-7.9) of the samples were positive for T. parva schizonts. The Copperbelt province prevalence was 6.1% (95%, CI=4.0-8.2) while in Central province it was 6.7% (95%, CI=4.5-8.9). Among the districts in these provinces, Kapiri Mposhi did not record any schizont positive cattle, while Chibombo had the highest prevalence at 13.6% (95%, CI=9.4-17.9). Risk factors that were identified to be associated with Theileria schizonts in cattle were locality (district), previous experience of ECF, tick burden, and age.
These results indicate that ECF is prevalent in Copperbelt and Central provinces of Zambia. Concerted efforts are needed to control ticks and prevent ECF through farmer sensitization, routine, regular, mandatory and supervised dipping or spraying of cattle and stringent livestock movement control to help bring down ECF prevalence
Identification of MHC Alleles Associated with Disease Resistance/Susceptibility in Smallholder Cattle in Zambia
Get PDFThe occurrence of Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) alleles associated with resistance to Mastitis, Bovine Leukaemia Virus (BLV), Theileriosis, Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and susceptibility Dermatophilosis in African cattle is ill defined.
The researchers used manual annotation to screen for five MHC alleles previously known to be associated with resistance/susceptibility to these diseases from a database of alleles sequenced from 846 cattle in Zambia.
Overall, the researchers found twenty-eight (3.3%), twenty-one (2.6%), fifty-five (6.5%), and fifteen (1.8%) animals with resistance alleles to Mastitis, BLV, Theileriosis, FMD; and thirty-nine (4.6%) animals with susceptibility alleles to Dermatophilosis, respectively.
This study provides the first evidence of resistance/susceptibility alleles in smallholder cattle in Zambia and the data could aid strategies for breeding cattle with enhanced resistance to disease in endemic countries
Effectiveness of Transient Electromagnetics in Mineral Deposit Exploration: A Case Study of the Kerry Road Cu-zn-au Sulphide Deposit, Northwest Scotland
Get PDFIt is well known that mineral deposits with surface showing have long been discovered and only
‘blind’ and deeply buried deposits are yet to be discovered. It is equally well known that the
global economic growth is dependent upon non-renewable resources, particularly minerals,
and will continue doing so for sometime to come. The global population is projected to grow
by about 1.6 billion from 6.1 to 7.7 billion people by the year 2020, with most of this growth
taking place in developing nations. The demand for minerals in developing nations will equally
increase. Finding new deposits to satisfy this demand is therefore a challenge and requires not
only the use of more effective exploration techniques but also combining a number of methods
to increase the chances of discovery. This paper discusses the Transient Electromagnetics
(TEM) method and its effectiveness in mineral exploration using the stratiform volcanogenic
massive Cu-Zn-Au sulphide deposit at Kerry Road in northwest Scotland as a case study. This
deposit is hosted in the Proterozoic Loch Maree Group (LMG) composed of metagreywackes
and metabasalts. The ore occurs in a quartz-carbonate horizon composed of 15-20% pyrite,
pyrrhotite plus chalcopyrite, sphalerite, marcasite and galena. Earlier geophysical studies and
drilling of the deposit had detected mineralisation at a depth of about 9 m. Exploration with
TEM detected the same mineralization at a depth of about 8 m with a dip of 88-90o thereby
demonstrating the effectiveness of the technique