BackgroundHousehold surveys are crucial to get accurate information on how medicines are acquired, and used by consumers, as they provide the best evidence in the area. The objective of this study was to document household medicine storage practices in Gondar town, northwestern Ethiopia.MethodsA cross-sectional household survey was conducted from April 5 to May 6, 2015. In the study, 809 households were surveyed from four sub-cities in the town selected through multistage sampling with 771 included in the final analysis. Data on the extent of storage, storage conditions, sources of medicines and their current status among others were collected through structured interviews and observations. The data were entered in to Epidata version 3.1, exported to and analyzed using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.ResultsOf the 771 households in the study, 44.2% stored medicines. Presence of family members with chronic illness(es) and higher levels of household incomes predicted higher likelihood of medicine storage. In the households which allowed observation of stored medicines (n = 299), a mean of 1.85 [SD = 1.09] medicines per household were found. By category, anti-infectives for systemic use (23.9%), medicines for alimentary tract and metabolism (19.2%) and those for cardiovascular system (17.7%) ranked top. Among individual medicines stored, diclofenac (10.7%), paracetamol (9.9%) and amoxicillin (8.0%) were on top of the list. Dispensaries (97.8%) and physicians (83.5%) were almost exclusive sources of medicines and advices/orders for medicines respectively. Nearly two-thirds of the medicines found were on use and a vast majority (76.5%) were stored in chests of drawers. Proportion of expired medicines was very low (3.14%).ConclusionsThe use of physicians’ and pharmacists’ advice to get medicines; use of dispensaries as principal sources, large proportion of medicines being in use and very low proportion of expiry showed good practices. However, storage places of medicines were not purpose built. Encouraging good practices through continued medicine use education and advocating appropriate medicine storage in medicine cabinets is required to improve storage conditions and consequent use of medicines.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-017-4152-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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BackgroundAntiretroviral therapy (ART) restores immune function and reduces HIV-related adverse outcomes. But treatment failure erodes this advantage and leads to an increased morbidity and compromised quality of life in HIV patients. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and factors associated with first-line ART failure in HIV patients at the University of Gondar Teaching Hospital.Patients and methodsA retrospective study was conducted on 340 adults who had started ART during the period of September 2011 to May 2015. Data regarding patients’ sociodemographics, baseline characteristics, and treatment-related information were collected through review of their medical charts. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 21. Descriptive statistics, cross-tabs, and binary and multiple logistic regressions were utilized. P<0.05 was used to declare association.ResultsAmong the 340 patients enrolled, 205 were females (60.3%). The mean age at ART initiation was 34.4 years. A total of 14 (4.1%) patients were found to have treatment failure. The median duration of treatment failure from initiation of treatment was 17.5 months (8–36 months). Poor adherence to treatment and low baseline CD4 cell count were found to be significant predictors of treatment failure.ConclusionThe prevalence of first-line ART failure was 4.1%. Treatment failure was most likely to occur for the patients who had poor drug adherence and those who were delayed to start ART till their CD4 cell count became very low (<100 cells/mm3).

Traditional healers and the community have used the roots of Ajuga integrifolia for the treatment of diabetes mellitus. It is not scientifically validated for its antidiabetic activity previously. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to determine the hypoglycemic and antidiabetic activity of Ajuga integrifolia. Ajuga integrifolia roots’ crude extract and solvent fractions were prepared. The doses of 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg, and 400 mg/kg of crude root extract and solvent fractions were used on normoglycemic, oral glucose loaded, and streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice models to determine their hypoglycemic and antihyperglycemic activities. The crude extract and solvent fractions’ effect on bodyweight was also evaluated on streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice. A standard drug in all cases was glibenclamide (5 mg/kg), and the blood glucose level was measured by using a glucose meter. Data analysis was performed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21. One-way analysis of variance followed by Tukey’s post hoc multiple comparison test was used to analyze the data. p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Hydromethanolic crude extract and its aqueous fraction of Ajuga integrifolia root showed a considerable blood glucose lowering activity at all doses. Both the repeated daily doses of the crude extract and the repeated daily doses of the aqueous fraction of Ajuga integrifolia root extract revealed the similar effect in lowering the fasting blood glucose level in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice models. It was also found that groups treated with the Ajuga integrifolia at the doses of 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg showed significant ( p < 0.05 ) bodyweight improvement at the 14th day of treatment compared to the respective baseline bodyweight, and the diabetic control group showed significant ( p < 0.01 ) reduction in bodyweight at the 14th day compared to the baseline. This study revealed that crude extract and solvent fractions of Ajuga integrifolia root possess significant antidiabetic activity which supports its traditional use for the treatment of diabetes mellitus.

BackgroundMedicine use can be influenced by several factors. Health managers need specific information about irrational use of medicines, in order to identify opportunities to enhance rational use of medicines in their communities. This study aimed to assess the pattern and factors associated with household medicine use in Gondar town, northwestern Ethiopia.MethodsAn interviewer-administered cross-sectional survey was conducted on 771 households, carried out between 5 April and 6 May 2015. The questionnaire contained items focusing on different aspects of medicine use in the households. The analysis involved descriptive summary and binary logistic regression test, which assessed association of independent variables with medicine use.ResultsOf the households interviewed, 22.4% (173/771) disclosed the presence of at least one chronic disease in the family; while 49.2% reported the use of medicine in the one month prior to the study. Almost all of the households (92.6%) reported a habit of discontinuing medicines, and 17.8% disclosed a practice of sharing medicines with household members and others. Level of education, presence of health professionals, and individuals with chronic illness in the households were linked to increased likelihood of reporting medicine use. Discarding leftover medicines with garbage (56.7%) was the principal means of disposal reported by the households.ConclusionsA high proportion of reported medicine use, together with problems such as sharing with other people and leaving medicines unfinished were found among the households in the study.

Ethiopia has a high potential for water for hydro-power development. Even though there is untapped potential, the country's electricity coverage is poor. This paper presents a technical-economic feasibility study of gunde micro hydropower at the Tindwat River, Central Gondar, Ethiopia. In the techno-economics study, the analysis was made for energy modeling, economic scenarios, and sensitivity, risk, and emission analyses. The study shows that this mini-hydropower project can be developed with an installed power of 18 kW, where the Kaplan turbine is recommended. The construction of small scale hydropower in the tindwat river is technically and economically feasible with total net present cost of US $ 253537, cost of energy $0.09/kWh, simple payback period of 5.9 years, and internal rate of return 23.9%. The result also shows that construction of hydropower curtails greenhouse gas emissions of carbon dioxide by 588.65m 3 of gasoil per year. It also showed that small hydroelectric power generation from Tindwat River would improve the electricity supply to Gunde Teklehaymanote monstery and off-grid rural communities.

Purpose:The main objective of this study is to analyze determinants of income inequality in Ethiopia from (1988 to 2018). Design/methodology/approach: This study used quantitative research approach and an explanatory research design in order to achieve its objectives. The method of analysis was econometrics analysis. This paper used Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) and Error Correction Model (ECM) in order to investigate the long-run and short run relationship between the dependent variable (income inequality) and its determinants. To test stationary Augmented Dickey -Fuller (ADF) test and Phillpes Perron (PP) test were used. The error correction coefficient, estimated at -0.84277 is highly significant, has the correct negative sign, and imply a very high speed of adjustment to equilibrium. Findings: According to the econometrics analysis, real GDP per capita and unemployment rate are the main determinants of income inequality for Ethiopia based on ARDL model estimation result, R-squared is 0.7568. This implies that 75.68 % of the income inequality function is explained by the selected explanatory variables. If the value of R-Squared is higher, that model is the greatest the goodness of fit. Therefore, is the R-Squared in the regression model reveals that there is good fitness of value for a given result. The overall model is statistically significant because of P (F-Statistics) is 0.0009, which is less than 5% percent. Practical implications: According to the research, the paper gives some policy recommendations. The government or other responsible bodies should focus on the country's growth and development, decreasing unemployment rate, inflation rate, the expansion of education access and the support of the social state. Originality value: This is an original research for the state of Ethiopia. The use of specific econometric techniques, ARDL, ECM, VIF, make this research unique.