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Background In sub-Saharan Africa, out-of-pocket expenditures constitute approximately 40% of total healthcare expenditures, imposing huge financial burdens on the poor. To tackle the effects of out-of-pocket payment for healthcare services, Ethiopia has been focusing on implementation and expansion of a community-based health insurance (CBHI) program since 2011. This study assessed willingness to pay for CBHI scheme and associated factors among rural communities in Gemmachis district, eastern Ethiopia. Methods Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 446 randomly selected participants in Gemmachis district from April 1 to April 30, 2019. Data were collected from participants using pretested structured questionnaires through face-to-face interview. Data were entered into EpiData version 3.1 and analyzed using SPSS version 24. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with willingness to pay for CBHI. Results A total of 440 (98.7%) participants were involved in the study. Three in every four (74.8%) participants were willing to pay for CBHI (95% CI: 70.7%, 78.9%). Primary education (AOR=5.1, 95% CI: 2.4, 11.1), being merchant (AOR=0.23, 95% CI: 0.10, 0.51), housewife (AOR=3.8, 95% CI: 1.3, 11.0), poor (AOR=2.5, 95% CI: 1.3, 4.7), illness in the last one year (AOR=3.1, 95% CI, 1.9, 5.2), good knowledge about CBHI (AOR=2.3, 95% CI: 1.5, 3.6) and access to public health facility (AOR=2.0,95% CI: 1.1, 3.7) were all significantly associated with willingness to pay for CBHI. Conclusion A significant proportion of participants were willing to pay for CBHI scheme. Education, occupation, wealth status, illness in the last one year, knowledge about CBHI and access to healthcare facility were factors significantly associated with willingness to pay for CBHI. If the scheme is to serve as a means to provide access to health service, the premium for membership should be tailored and customized by individual socioeconomic factors.

Background: Early sexual initiationsexual activity that begun earlier than 18 years of ageis among risky sexual behaviors which may be associated with increased risks of adverse outcomes such as sexually transmitted infections (STIs), unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortions. However, there is no nationally representative evidence on early initiation of sexual intercourse and its determinant factors among adolescent females in Ethiopia. Methods: Data were extracted from the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) to assess early initiation of sexual intercourse and factors contributing to it in adolescent females. The analysis included a weighted sample of 3881 adolescent females aged 15-19 years. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted and the results were presented as adjusted odds ratio (AOR) at 95% confidence interval (CI), declaring statistical significance at a p-value <0.05 in all analyses.

Summary :The study was conducted to determine the prevalence and risk factors of toxoplasmosis in goats in Southern and sensibilité, 480 (74,8 % IC : 71,3, 78,2) (OR = 2,33, IC : 1,490, 3,655 ; p < 0,0002) et chez les femelles que chez les mâles (p < 0,0007 ; OR = 0,68, IC : 0,542, 0,849

Background The very unprecedented virus causing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has continued causing catastrophes in economy and loss of human lives. Despite countries’ urgent and resilient public health actions against the COVID-19 pandemic, the disease is causing a large number of deaths. However, predictors of mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 patients have not been well investigated in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the predictors of mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 patients at a tertiary care hospital in Ethiopia. Methods A hospital-based retrospective cohort design study was implemented among hospitalized COVID-19 patients at a tertiary care hospital in Harar, Ethiopia from March 20 to August 20, 2021. Data of 531 admitted patients were entered using Epi-data 3.1 and exported to STATA 14.2 for analysis. Binary logistic regression was used to identify significant predictors of outcome variables with an adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval. Results Of the total 531 study participants, 101 deaths occurred. The mortality rate was 16.2 per 1000 person-days of observation with median survival time of 44 days with IQR [28, 74]. Smoking history [AOR=2.55, 95% CI (1.15, 5.65)], alcohol history [AOR=2.3, 95% CI (1.06, 4.97)], comorbidities [AOR=2.95, 95% CI (1.26, 6.91)], and increasing oxygen saturation [AOR=0.92, 95% CI (0.89, 0.95)], and lymphocyte count [AOR=0.90, 95% CI (0.88, 0.97)] were independent significant predictors of death from Covid-19. Conclusion The incidence of mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 patients was found to be high. Devising individual, tailored management for patients with “risk” behaviors, comorbid conditions, and poor prognostic markers such as lymphopenia and low oxygen saturation, may reduce the incidence of death among hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

The use of antenatal care (ANC) plays a major role in minimizing maternal and child mortality through effective and appropriate screening, preventive, or treatment intervention. Even though almost all pregnancy-related mortalities are largely preventable through adequate use of ANC, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), particularly East African Countries, continues to share the largest share of global maternal, and newborn mortality. Therefore, this study assesses if educational attainment is associated with optimal ANC utilization in East Africa. Methods: A secondary data analysis was done based on Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) from 2010 to 2018 in the 11 East African Countries. A total weighted sample of 84,660 women who gave birth in the 5 years preceding each country's DHS survey and had ANC visits were included in this study. Data processing and analysis were performed using STATA 15 software. A multilevel mixed-effect logistic regression model was fitted to examine the association of educational attainment and ANC utilization. Variables with a p-value <0.05 were declared as significant factors associated with ANC utilization. Model comparison was done based on Akaike and Bayesian Information Criteria (AIC and BIC). Results: The magnitude of optimal ANC utilization in East African Countries was 56.37% with 95% CI (56.03, 56.69) with the highest optimal ANC utilization in Zimbabwe (80.96%) and the lowest optimal ANC utilization in Rwanda (44.31%). Women who had higher education levels were more likely to have optimal ANC utilization, compared to those with no education (AOR = 2.34; 95 and CI; 2.11-2.59). Women who had media exposure were more likely to have optimal ANC utilization than those who have no media exposure (AOR = 1.07; 95% CI; 1.03, 1.10). Conclusion: Antenatal care utilization was low in East African countries. Educational attainment, maternal age, wealth index, birth order, media exposure, and living countries were factors associated with ANC utilization. Efforts to improve antenatal care and other maternal health service utilization in East Africa must take into account these factors. Specifically, working on the access to mass media by women may also improve antenatal care utilization.

Introduction: Antenatal care offers a forum for critical healthcare functions, including health education, screening, and disease prevention. Several pocket studies carried out in specific localities of East African countries were investigated. However, these were neither representative of the country nor specific to the recommended minimum of four antenatal care visits. Therefore, this study aimed to identify factors associated with quality of antenatal care among pregnant women in East Africa. Methods: A secondary data analysis was done using Demographic and Health Survey data of six East African Countries from 2008 to 2018. A total of 46,656 women who gave birth in the 5 years preceding the survey were included in this study. A multilevel mixed-effect logistic regression model was fitted. Variables with a p-value < 0.05 were declared as significant factors associated with the quality of antenatal care. Results: The magnitude of quality of antenatal care in East Africa was 11.16% (95% confidence interval: 10.87–11.45). Women of age 35–49 (adjusted odds ratio = 1.51; 95% confidence interval: 1.25–1.80), primary education (adjusted odds ratio = 1.35; 95% confidence interval: 1.18–1.55), richest wealth index (adjusted odds ratio = 2.35; 95% confidence interval: 2.02–2.74), and rural resident (adjusted odds ratio = 0.62; 95% confidence interval: 0.55–0.69) were among factors significantly associated with quality of antenatal care. Conclusion: The magnitude of antenatal care quality was low in East Africa. Age, level of education, wealth index, birth order, husband/partners’ level of education, residence, and living countries were among the factors associated with the quality of antenatal care. It would be useful to increase financial support strategies that enable mothers from poor households to use health services and enhance women’s understanding of the significance of antenatal care utilization through health education targeting both women and partners with no education is very crucial.

Introduction Modern health services utilization in developing countries has continued low. Financial shortage to access health-care services might be averted by stirring from out-of-pocket payment for health care at the time of use. The government of Ethiopia; depend greatly on foreign aid (50%) and out-of-pocket payments (34%) to fund health services for its population. This study was aimed to identify factors associated with households’ enrollment to CBHI scheme membership. Methods Case-control study design was conducted from May 18–July 27, 2019 among 332 participants (166 enrolled and 166 non-enrolled to CBHI scheme). Simple random sampling technique was used to select the study participants. Bi-variable and multivariable logistic regression model were fitted to identify factors associated with enrollment to community based health insurance. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% CI was used to report association and significance was declared at P<0.05. Result A total of 332 (100% response rate) were involved in the study. Educational status (College and above, AOR = 3.90, 95%CI; 1.19, 12.75), good awareness about CBHI scheme (AOR = 21.595, 95% CI; 7.561, 61.681), affordability of premium payment (AOR = 3.403, 95% CI; 5.638–4.152), wealth index {(Poor, AOR = 2.59, 95%CI; 1.08, 6.20), (Middle, AOR = 4.13, 95%CI; 1.11, 15.32)} perceived health status (AOR = 5.536; 95% CI; 1.403–21.845), perceived quality of care (AOR: 21.014 95%CI; 4.178, 105.686) and treatment choice (AOR = 2.94, 95%CI; 1.47, 5.87) were factors significantly associated with enrollment to CBHI. Conclusion Enrolment to CBHI schemes is influenced by educational level, awareness level, affordability of premium, wealth index, perceived health status, perceived quality of care and treatment choice. Implementation strategies aimed at raising community awareness, setting affordable premium, and providing quality healthcare would help in increasing enrollment of all eligible community groups to the CBHI scheme.