BackgroundCervical cancer remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality among the women in the world. Early screening for cervical cancer is a key intervention in reduction of maternal deaths. Health care workers have a significant contribution to improve cervical cancer screening practice among women. Hence, this study aimed to assess the knowledge and practice of cervical cancer screening among female health care workers in southern Ethiopia.MethodsInstitution-based cross-sectional study was conducted during March and April, 2015. All hospitals in Hawassa city administration and Sidama zone were purposively selected. A simple random sampling technique was used to draw the health centers. After proportional allocations to their respective health facilities, a total of 367 female health workers were selected by simple random sampling technique. A structured and pretested questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data were entered to SPSS version 20.0 for further analysis. Logistic regression analyses were used to see the association of different variables.ResultsOut of the total respondents, 319 (86.9%) had a good level of knowledge on cervical cancer. Similarly, a majority of them, 329 (89.6%), 321 (87.5%), and 295 (80.4%), knew about the risk factors, symptoms, and outcomes of cervical cancer, respectively. More than two thirds of the respondents, 283 (77.1%), knew that there is a procedure used to detect premalignant cervical lesions and 138 (37.6%) of them mentioned visual inspection with acetic acid as a screening method. In this study, only 42 (11.4%) of the respondents were screened for cervical cancer (confidence interval [CI]: 8.7, 13.9). Being a physician (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =0.12, 95% CI: 0.02, 0.79) and working in a cervical cancer screening center (AOR =0.14, 95% CI: 0.03, 0.68) had a lower odds of cervical cancer screening practices.ConclusionsSignificant numbers of health care workers were knowledgeable on cervical cancer. Cervical cancer screening among health care workers in southern Ethiopia was found to be low. Being a physician and working in a screening center had lower odds of cervical cancer screening practice. In spite of having adequate knowledge on cervical cancer the reasons for low practice of cervical cancer screening among health care workers needs to be investigated.

Background: Kangaroo mother care (KMC) is a universally available method of care particularly, for premature babies for maintaining their body temperature. However, its prevalence is very low in Ethiopia. Thus, this study was intended to assess utilization of kangaroo mother care (KMC) and factors influencing among mothers and care takers of preterm /low birth weight babies in Yirgalem town, southern, Ethiopia Materials and Method: A community based cross sectional study was conducted from of February to March, 2017 among 215 mothers of preterm/low birth weight (LBW) infants in Yirgalem town. Mothers of preterm/LBW infant of age less than 36 months were included in study. Data was collected by using interviewer administered questionnaire that is adapted from relevant literatures and standardized accordingly. Data analyses ere accomplished using SPSS version 20. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify the association of different variables.Results: A total of 215 mothers with their preterm infants ranged 1-36 months of age voluntarily participated, with response rate of 100%. A hundred ninety (88.4%) of the mothers had normal vaginal delivery, and 11.6% had cesarean section. Among all study subjects 90(41.9%) practice KMC. Of these, 31(14.4%) started KMC immediately after birth as the infant had been stabilized, and 59(27.4%) practice it after 24 hours. However, only sixty of the infants showed improvement after they used continuous KMC at home compared to those infants that did not use KMC. It was found that some variables were statistically associated with the utilization of KMC. Respondents who gave birth spontaneously were 4.3 times more likely to practice KMC than those had caesarean section delivery [(AOR 4.341) 95%CI(1.435, 13.130)] and mothers who delivered at governmental hospital were 20.4 times more likely to practice KMC than those who gave birth at home [(AOR (20.458) 95%CI(2.644, 158.299))]. Conclusion:In this study only very low mothers initiated KMC immediately after birth and were practiced continuously KMC at home. Thus, it is recommended to promote KMC at home and develop studies on acceptability and applicability of the KMC and affecting factors that prevent the use of KMC at home method in Ethiopian context.

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Background Obstetric fistula repair failure is a combination of unsuccessful fistula closure and/or incontinence following a successful closure. It causes a burden on both the patients and the fistula centers. The aim of this study was to assess the magnitude and associated factors of obstetric fistula repair failure among women who underwent fistula repair at Yirgalem Hamlin fistula center in Southern Ethiopia. Methods A facility-based retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted among women who underwent fistula repair at Yirgalem Hamlin fistula center, Southern Ethiopia, during the period from January 2016 to December 2020. All 562 women who underwent fistula repair in the last 5 years were included in the study. The data were collected using a pre-tested checklist from September 22 to October 22, 2021. The data were then imported into EPI info-data version 3.1, exported to SPSS version 25, and analyzed. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were performed, and the significant statistical test was assessed at a 95% confidence interval. Variables with a p value of < 0.05 in multivariable logistic regression were regarded to have a statistically significant relationship. Results The magnitude of obstetric fistula repair failure in this study was 28.8%. Obstetric fistula repair failure was found to be associated with labor duration > 48 h (AOR = 2.037; 95% CI 1.268, 3.272), Goh Type 4 fistulas (AOR = 3.939; 95% CI 1.623, 9.560), fistula size > 3 cm (AOR = 6.627; 95% CI 3.802, 11.554), completely destructed urethra (AOR = 3.192; 95% CI 1.234, 8.256), and bladder catheterization > 14 days (AOR = 2.944; 95% CI 1.380, 6.281). Conclusions The magnitude of obstetric fistula repair failure was significantly higher than the World Health Organization standard. Obstetric fistula repair failure had a positive association with a longer duration of labor, Goh Type 4 fistulas, large fistula size, total urethral injury, and a longer period of bladder catheterization. Therefore, the concerned bodies need to implement interventions on factors affecting obstetric fistula repair failure to reduce or prevent the failure of obstetric fistula repair.

Cancer causes the highest economic loss of all of the leading 15 causes of death worldwide. The economic loss includes the loss of income and the expenses associated with health care costs. The Low awareness of the community toward cancer, the inadequacy of professionals and service providers, and the high budget consuming nature of the treatments are creating a great burden on the cancer patients. The objective of this study was to calculate patient side cancer treatment cost and to assess the contributing factors, among the cancer patients who were treated at Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital. The health facility based cross-sectional study design was employed using a consecutive sampling technique. Questionnaires was used to collect primary data; while chart was used to collect the secondary data. Indirect costs incurred on these patients due to off job days were checked. Descriptive and inferential statistics were applied to illustrate the data. On average, $209.99 was spent on treatment by each cancer patients. Of these, medication cost is the highest ($20.77, IQR = 0.53-112.56) from the direct medical costs, and transportation cost is the highest ($58.33, IQR = 22.0-131.67) from the indirect medical costs. Inpatients paid $245.16 (IQR = 147.64-439.20); while outpatients paid $147.37 (IQR = 81.42-240.50). The patients lose about 55.99% of their average annual income. Outpatients pay $0, 92 less than in patients ( P = 0.00, CI -0.72-0.34), and the cost increases by $0.2 for the patients who came from Oromia. The cost of transportation and medication were the one which were significantly affecting the burden; but the total cost of treatment was lesser when compared to similar studies done in different areas. The cost balances toward the patients who came from the Oromiya region. Treatment service has to be extended to West Arsi Zone to minimize the cost of transportation and awareness about cancer is needed in the first place and due attention has to be given to thyroid cancer. Furthermore, facility side study should be done to see the complete picture of the burden.