University for Development Studies

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a serious threat to global public health, but obtaining representative data on AMR for healthy human populations is difficult. Here, we use metagenomic analysis of untreated sewage to characterize the bacterial resistome from 79 sites in 60 countries. We find systematic differences in abundance and diversity of AMR genes between Europe/North-America/Oceania and Africa/Asia/South-America. Antimicrobial use data and bacterial taxonomy only explains a minor part of the AMR variation that we observe. We find no evidence for cross-selection between antimicrobial classes, or for effect of air travel between sites. However, AMR gene abundance strongly correlates with socio-economic, health and environmental factors, which we use to predict AMR gene abundances in all countries in the world. Our findings suggest that global AMR gene diversity and abundance vary by region, and that improving sanitation and health could potentially limit the global burden of AMR. We propose metagenomic analysis of sewage as an ethically acceptable and economically feasible approach for continuous global surveillance and prediction of AMR.

H3Africa is developing capacity for health-related genomics research in Africa

The outbreak of COVID 19 made many poor communities in different places of the world face very challenging socio-economic and livelihood consequences. This paper targets to analyse this socio-economic impact to determine how the pandemic is causing various problems to the impoverished. An integrative literature review was carried out to sample the consequences of the global pandemic economic crisis on the poor communities in four different continents. The research points out how it is hard on the poor to adhere to the restrictive measures of social isolation or the lockdown. Immediate strategies that minimize the pandemic impact on the livelihood and the socio-economic activities of the poor are suggested. The research opens future research about more specialised programs for the poor during any future lockdowns.

BACKGROUND: In large scale cooking, food is handled by many individuals, thereby increasing the chances of food contamination due to improper handling. Deliberate or accidental contamination of food during large scale production might endanger the health of consumers, and have very expensive repercussions on a country. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the food safety knowledge, attitudes, and practices among institutional food- handlers in Ghana. METHODS: The study was conducted using a descriptive, cross-sectional survey of 29 institutions by conducting face to face interview and administration of questionnaire to two hundred and thirty-five (235) institutional food-handlers. The questionnaire was peer-reviewed and pilot tested in three institutions in the Upper East Region of Ghana, before the final version was distributed to food-handlers. The questionnaire was structured into five distinctive parts to collect information on (i) demographic characteristics, (ii) employees' work satisfaction, (iii) knowledge on food safety, (iv) attitudes towards food safety and (v) food hygiene practices. RESULTS: Majority of the food-handlers were between 41-50 years (39.1%). Female respondents were (76.6%). In our study, the food-handlers were knowledgeable about hygienic practices, cleaning and sanitation procedures. Almost all of the food-handlers were aware of the critical role of general sanitary practices in the work place, such as hand washing (98.7% correct answers), using gloves (77.9%), proper cleaning of the instruments/utensils (86.4%) and detergent use (72.8%). On disease transmission, the results indicates that 76.2% of the food- handlers did not know that Salmonella is a food borne pathogens and 70.6% did not know that hepatitis A is a food borne pathogen. However, 81.7% handlers agreed that typhoid fever is transmitted by food and 87.7% agreed that bloody diarrhea is transmitted by food. Logistic regression analysis testing four models showed statistically significant differences (p < 0.05), for models in which the explanatory variable was the level of education. CONCLUSIONS: In generally, the institutional food-handlers have satisfactory knowledge in food safety but this does not translate into strict hygienic practices during processing and handling food products.

A real-time PCR method targeting the small subunit of the rRNA gene was developed for the detection of Strongyloides stercoralis DNA in faecal samples, including an internal control to detect inhibition of the amplification process. The assay was performed on a range of well-defined control samples (n=145), known positive faecal samples (n=38) and faecal samples from a region in northern Ghana where S. stercoralis infections are highly endemic (n=212), and achieved 100% specificity and high sensitivity. The use of this assay could facilitate monitoring the prevalence and intensity of S. stercoralis infections during helminth intervention programs. Moreover, the use of this assay in diagnostic laboratories could make the introduction of molecular diagnostics feasible in the routine diagnosis of S. stercoralis infections, with a two-fold increase in the detection rate as compared with the commonly used Baermann sedimentation method.

In agricultural-dependent economies, extension programmes have been the main conduit for disseminating information on farm technologies, support rural adult learning and assist farmers in developing their farm technical and managerial skills. It is expected that extension programmes will help increase farm productivity, farm revenue, reduce poverty and minimize food insecurity. In this study, we estimate the effects of extension services on farm productivity and income with particular reference to agricultural extension services delivered by Association of Church-based Development NGOs (ACDEP). The study used cross-sectional data collected from 200 farm households from two districts in the Northern region of Ghana. The robustness of the estimates was tested by the use of regression on covariates, regression on propensity scores and Heckman treatment effect model. The study found positive economic gains from participating in the ACDEP agricultural extension programmes. Apart from the primary variable of interest (ACDEP agricultural extension programme), socio-economic, institutional and farm-specific variables were estimated to significantly affect farmers’ farm income depending on the estimation technique used. The study has reaffirmed the critical role of extension programmes in enhancing farm productivity and household income. It is, therefore, recommended that agricultural extension service delivery should be boosted through timely recruitment, periodic training of agents and provision of adequate logistics.

BACKGROUND: Diet-related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are increasing rapidly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and constitute a leading cause of mortality. Although a call for global action has been resonating for years, the progress in national policy development in LMICs has not been assessed. This review of strategies to prevent NCDs in LMICs provides a benchmark against which policy response can be tracked over time. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We reviewed how government policies in LMICs outline actions that address salt consumption, fat consumption, fruit and vegetable intake, or physical activity. A structured content analysis of national nutrition, NCDs, and health policies published between 1 January 2004 and 1 January 2013 by 140 LMIC members of the World Health Organization (WHO) was carried out. We assessed availability of policies in 83% (116/140) of the countries. NCD strategies were found in 47% (54/116) of LMICs reviewed, but only a minority proposed actions to promote healthier diets and physical activity. The coverage of policies that specifically targeted at least one of the risk factors reviewed was lower in Africa, Europe, the Americas, and the Eastern Mediterranean compared to the other two World Health Organization regions, South-East Asia and Western Pacific. Of the countries reviewed, only 12% (14/116) proposed a policy that addressed all four risk factors, and 25% (29/116) addressed only one of the risk factors reviewed. Strategies targeting the private sector were less frequently encountered than strategies targeting the general public or policy makers. CONCLUSIONS: This review indicates the disconnection between the burden of NCDs and national policy responses in LMICs. Policy makers urgently need to develop comprehensive and multi-stakeholder policies to improve dietary quality and physical activity.

Modern day computer vision tasks requires efficient solution to problems such as image recognition, natural language processing, object detection, object segmentation and language translation. Symbolic Artificial Intelligence with its hard coding rules is incapable of solving these complex problems resulting in the introduction of Deep Learning (DL) models such as Recurrent Neural Networks and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN). However, CNNs require lots of training data and are incapable of recognizing pose and deformation of objects leading to the introduction of Capsule Networks. Capsule Networks are the new sensation in Deep Learning. They have lived to this expectation as their performance in relation to the above problems has been better than Convolutional Neural Networks. Even with this promise in performance, lack of architectural knowledge and inner workings of Capsules serves as a hindrance for researchers to take full advantage of this breakthrough. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive review of the state of the art architectures, tools and methodologies in existing implementations of capsule networks. We highlight the successes, failures and opportunities for further research to serve as a motivation to researchers and industry players to exploit the full potential of this new field. The main contribution of this survey article is that it explains and summarizes significant current state of the art Capsule Network architectures and implementations.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major threat to global health. Understanding the emergence, evolution, and transmission of individual antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is essential to develop sustainable strategies combatting this threat. Here, we use metagenomic sequencing to analyse ARGs in 757 sewage samples from 243 cities in 101 countries, collected from 2016 to 2019. We find regional patterns in resistomes, and these differ between subsets corresponding to drug classes and are partly driven by taxonomic variation. The genetic environments of 49 common ARGs are highly diverse, with most common ARGs carried by multiple distinct genomic contexts globally and sometimes on plasmids. Analysis of flanking sequence revealed ARG-specific patterns of dispersal limitation and global transmission. Our data furthermore suggest certain geographies are more prone to transmission events and should receive additional attention.

Aquaculture effluent is often associated with increased organic carbon, suspended solids, phosphates, nitrogenous species (nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia), chemical oxygen demand and biological oxygen demand. This is regarded as a global threat to aquatic ecosystems due to its influence on surrounding waters as well as groundwater. The threat of aquaculture effluent is not confined to the aquatic ecosystems as high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen may become poisonous to plants and change their protein synthesis, enzyme activities, photosynthesis, oxidative stress response, membrane permeability, and respiratory processes. Other forms of water pollution such as the presence of heavy metals as well as pathogenic microbes are issues of concern since they can be transferred through the food chain. Bacillus species have demonstrated great ability in the maintenance of water quality in aquaculture which is simple and cost-effective. This review highlights that Bacillus modulates a wide range of water quality parameters including physical (transparency and total dissolved solids) and chemical (pH, conductivity, chemical oxygen demand, dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen demand, alkalinity, phosphates, nitrogenous species, hardness) water quality parameters, heavy metals, oil spillage as well as maintenance of microbial balance; hence reduction in pathogenic microbes. The efficiency of Bacillus in modulating water quality is greatly dependent on factors such as mode of application, dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature, source of nutrients, strain type, and metal ions. This review further highlights aquaculture activities that lead to pollution and the possible mechanisms used by Bacillus for improving water quality. It is recommended that a range of optimum conditions be established to increase the efficiency of Bacillus in modulating water quality. A better understanding of Bacillus to the genetic level and the development of new genetic tools is also recommended since the ability of microorganisms to modulate water quality is related to their genetic make-up.

BACKGROUND: The Ghana Community based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) strategy targets to bring health services to the doorsteps of clients in a manner that improves maternal and child health outcomes. In this strategy, referral is an important component but it is threatened in a rural context where transportation service is a problem. Few studies have examined perceptions of rural dwellers on transportation challenges in accessing maternal health care services within CHPS. METHODS: Using the political ecology of health framework, this paper investigates transportation barriers in health access in a rural context based on perceived cause, coping mechanisms and strategies for a sustainable transportation system. Eight (8) focus group discussions involving males (n = 40) and females (n = 45) in rural communities in a CHPS zone in the Upper West Region of Ghana were conducted between September and December 2013. RESULTS: Lack of vehicular transport is suppressing the potential positive impact of CHPS on maternal and child health. Consistent neglect of road infrastructural development and endemic poverty in the study area makes provision of alternative transport services for health care difficult. As a result, pregnant women use risky methods such as bicycle/tricycle/motorbikes to access obstetric health care services, and some turn to traditional medicines and traditional birth attendants for maternal health care services. CONCLUSION: These findings underscore the need for policy to address rural transport problems in order to improve maternal health. Community based transport strategy with CHPS is proposed to improve adherence to referral and access to emergency obstetric services.

The paper employs the multipurpose nature of mobile telephony to investigate its welfare implications using a large sample of households in Ghana. We use seemingly unrelated probit and instrumental variable procedure to test for two related issues: First, we investigate whether mobile telephony promotes pro-poor development by helping households to efficiently allocate consumption and navigate out of poverty. Second, we analyze whether access to a broad array of financial services enhances the capacity of households to live worthwhile lives. The results show that mobile penetration and financial inclusion significantly reduce the probability of a household becoming poor and increase per capita household consumption of food and non-food items. Our results show that the welfare benefits of mobile telephony and financial inclusion are not more pronounced in female-headed households. These insights serve as useful guide for government and other stakeholders who are looking for avenues to improve livelihoods.

Purpose Even though many studies have attempted to understand the drivers of carbon dioxide emission and energy consumption to help tackle environmental issues, not much has been done to estimate the effect of natural resources extraction on these two variables. This paper aims to analyze the long-run and short-run carbon dioxide emission and energy consumption effect of natural resources extraction in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach The theoretical foundation for this study is the Stochastic Impacts Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology (STIRPAT) model. Secondary Data sourced from World Development Indicators (2018) for the period of 1971-2013 were used. Estimation was done by using the autoregressive distributed lag. Findings It was found among other things that urbanization, and extraction of natural resources contribute to Ghana’s carbon dioxide emission, while official development assistance helps in reducing carbon dioxide emission in the long run. Again, while income and extraction of natural resources increase energy consumption, urbanization and official development assistance reduce environmental degradation in the long run. Regarding the short run, income and urbanization both increase energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission; trade openness and official development assistance decrease both carbon dioxide emission and energy consumption. Research limitations/implications The implications from the results include the need to strictly enforce laws regulating extractive activities in the country to ensure a safe environment; and also to raise tariff and non-tariff barriers on products that do not promote a friendly environment and vice versa. Originality/value The effect of natural resources extraction on carbon emission and energy consumption is examined.

Mining has played an important role in the development of Ghana. Like all industries, mining has both benefits and risks for the people living in communities where minerals are found. How these environmental and health impacts are managed by the government, nearby communities and mining companies can either worsen or improve the lives of community inhabitants. The current analysis focuses on the environmental and health impacts of mining in Ghana and blends extant data from the literature as well as the co-authors' recent findings on the causes, status, trends, and consequences of mining in Ghana. The work reviews data on environmental and health impacts of mining such as pollution of water bodies, degradation of forest resources, depletion of soil nutrients, destruction of wildlife habitat, and reduction in quality and threats to human health.

A multiplex real-time PCR was developed and evaluated for the simultaneous detection of Ancylostoma duodenale, Necator americanus, and Oesophagostomum bifurcum in fecal samples. Using well-defined control samples (N = 150), known positive fecal samples (N = 50), and fecal samples from an area in Ghana where human infections with all 3 nematode species are endemic (N = 339), the method proved to be highly specific and sensitive. Cycle threshold (Ct) values, reflecting parasite-specific DNA load, showed significant correlation with the intensity of infection as measured by microscopy using Kato-Katz fecal smears or by species specific third-stage larval count after coproculture. The multiplex real-time PCR described combined with the simple fecal sample collection procedure and the potential for high throughput makes this approach a powerful diagnostic tool to study species-specific transmission patterns of human hookworm-like infections. Moreover, this procedure facilitates monitoring of intervention programs and allows species-specific detection of treatment failure following rounds of mass treatment.

BACKGROUND: Waste poses a threat to public health and the environment if it is not stored, collected, and disposed of properly. The perception of waste as an unwanted material with no intrinsic value has dominated attitudes towards disposal. This study investigates the domestic waste practices, waste disposal, and perceptions about waste and health in an urban community. METHODS: The study utilised a mixed-method approach. A cross-sectional survey questionnaire and in-depth interview were used to collect data. A total of 364 household heads were interviewed in the survey and six key informants were interviewed with the in-depth interviews. RESULTS: The results of the study revealed that 93.1% of households disposed of food debris as waste and 77.8% disposed of plastic materials as waste. The study also showed that 61.0% of the households disposed of their waste at community bins or had waste picked up at their homes by private contractors. The remaining 39.0% disposed of their waste in gutters, streets, holes and nearby bushes. Of those who paid for the services of private contractors, 62.9% were not satisfied with the services because of their cost and irregular collection. About 83% of the respondents were aware that improper waste management contributes to disease causation; most of the respondents thought that improper waste management could lead to malaria and diarrhoea. There was a general perception that children should be responsible for transporting waste from the households to dumping sites. CONCLUSION: Proper education of the public, the provision of more communal trash bins, and the collection of waste by private contractors could help prevent exposing the public in municipalities to diseases.

Purpose: The paper empirically compares employee motivation and its impact on performance in Ghanaian Mining Companies, where in measuring performance, the job satisfaction model is used.Design/methodology/approach: The study employed exploratory research design in gathering data from four large-scale Gold mining companies in Ghana with regards to their policies and structures in the effectiveness of motivational tools and strategies used by these companies.Findings: The study observed that, due to the risk factors associated with the mining industry, management has to ensure that employees are well motivated to curb the rate at which employees embark on industrial unrest which affect performance, and employees are to comply with health and safety rules because the industry contribute hugely to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.Research Limitations/Implications: Limitation to the present study include the researcher’s inability to contact other mining companies. However, the study suggests possibilities for future research including contacting other mining companies, expanding the sample size, managers ensuring that the safety and health needs of staff are addressed particularly those exposed to toxic and harmful chemicals.Originality/Value: A lot of studies have been done on mining companies in the past. This paper fills a gap perceived that employees in this sector are highly motivated in spite of the challenges being faced by them, and knowing more about what keeps employees moving is still of national interest.

The symptoms of severe malaria and their contribution to mortality were assessed in 290 children in northern Ghana. Common symptoms were severe anemia (55%), prostration (33%), respiratory distress (23%), convulsions (20%), and impaired consciousness (19%). Age influenced this pattern. The fatality rate was 11.2%. In multivariate analysis, circulatory collapse, impaired consciousness, hypoglycemia, and malnutrition independently predicted death. Children with severe malaria by the current World Health Organization (WHO) classification, but not by the previous one (1990), showed relatively mild clinical manifestations and a low case fatality rate (3.2%). In hospitalized children with severe malaria in northern Ghana, severe anemia is the leading manifestation, but itself does not contribute to mortality. In this region, malnutrition and circulatory collapse were important predictors of fatal malaria. The current WHO criteria serve well in identifying life-threatening disease, but also include rather mild cases that may complicate the allocation of immediate care in settings with limited resources.

BACKGROUND: Malaria, anemia, and malnutrition contribute substantially to childhood morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa, but their respective roles and interactions in conferring disease are complex. We aimed to investigate these interactions. METHODS: In 2002, we assessed plasmodial infection, anemia, and nutritional indices in 2 representative surveys comprising >4000 children in northern Ghana. RESULTS: Infection with Plasmodium species was observed in 82% and 75% of children in the rainy and dry season, respectively. The fraction of fever attributable to malaria was 77% in the rainy season and 48% in the dry season and peaked in children of rural residence. Anemia (hemoglobin level, <11 g/dL) was seen in 64% of children and was, in multivariate analysis, associated with young age, season, residence, parasitemia, P. malariae coinfection, and malnutrition (odds ratio [OR], 1.68 [95% confidence interval [CI], 1.38-2.04]). In addition, malnutrition was independently associated with fever (axillary temperature, > or = 37.5 degrees C; OR, 1.59 [95% CI, 1.13-2.23]) and clinical malaria (OR, 1.67 [95% CI, 1.10-2.50]). CONCLUSIONS: Malnutrition is a fundamental factor contributing to malaria-associated morbidity and anemia, even if the latter exhibits multifactorial patterns. Our data demonstrate that malaria-control programs alone may not have the desired impact on childhood morbidity on a large scale without concomitant nutrition programs.

Abstract In this study, unmodified biosorbent was obtained from Arachis hypogea husk and applied to remove hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] from aqueous media through batch technique. The independent variables (contact time, pH of the solution and initial Cr(VI) concentration) influencing the adsorption process were optimized by central composite design (CCD) found in response surface methodology of the Design-Expert software 12.0.0 at a fixed temperature of 30 ± 0.5 °C. Furthermore, equilibrium sorption isotherms and kinetics studies were also investigated. The ANOVA component of the CCD indicated that all the process independent variables investigated had significant impacts on the sorption capacity of Cr(VI) by Arachis hypogea husk. The obtained experimental data showed that at the optimized 120 min contact time, 8.0 pH of the aqueous solution and 50 mg/L initial Cr(VI) concentration resulted in an optimum adsorption capacity of 2.355 mg/g. Equilibrium sorption isotherm and kinetic studies showed that Redlich–Peterson adsorption isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic models fitted well to the equilibrium data. The unmodified adsorbent from Arachis hypogea husk was found to be efficient for Cr(VI) decontamination from the aqueous media.