BackgroundIn 2000, the prevalence of diabetes among the 46 countries of the WHO African Region was estimated at 7.02 million people. Evidence from North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean indicates that diabetes exerts a heavy health and economic burden on society. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of such evidence in the WHO African Region. The objective of this study was to estimate the economic burden associated with diabetes mellitus in the countries in the African Region.MethodsDrawing information from various secondary sources, this study used standard cost-of-illness methods to estimate: (a) the direct costs, i.e. those borne by the health systems and the families in directly addressing the problem; and (b) the indirect costs, i.e. the losses in productivity attributable to premature mortality, permanent disability and temporary disability caused by the disease. Prevalence estimates of diabetes for the year 2000 were used to calculate direct and indirect costs of diabetes mellitus. A discount rate of 3% was used to convert future earnings lost into their present values. The economic burden analysis was done for three groups of countries, i.e. 6 countries whose gross national income (GNI) per capita was greater than 8000 international dollars (i.e. in purchasing power parity), 6 countries with Int$2000–7999 and 33 countries with less than Int$2000. GNI for Zimbabwe was missing.ResultsThe 7.02 million cases of diabetes recorded by countries of the African Region in 2000 resulted in a total economic loss of Int$25.51 billion (PPP). Approximately 43.65%, 10.03% and 46.32% of that loss was incurred by groups 1, 2 and 3 countries, respectively. This translated into grand total economic loss of Int$11,431.6, Int$4,770.6 and Int$ 2,144.3 per diabetes case per year in the three groups respectively.ConclusionIn spite of data limitations, the estimates reported here show that diabetes imposes a substantial economic burden on countries of the WHO African Region. That heavy burden underscores the urgent need for increased investments in the prevention and management of diabetes.
Background: Hand hygiene when done satisfactorily is one of the most effective ways of preventing hospital acquired infections. However elementary the process may seem, it is one that has been shown to significantly elude health care personnel (HCP). This study aimed at assessing the knowledge, attitude and practice of hand hygiene by HCP at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Azare, North-Eastern Nigeria. Methods: The study was a cross sectional survey of HCP who make direct contact with patients at four randomly selected units of FMC Azare. Using the purposive sampling technique, a structured questionnaire was administered on the respondents. The collected data was analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. Presentation of data was done with tables, in proportions and percentages. Results: Eighty-two (82) HCP were recruited into the study, 64 (78.0%) were males and 18 (22.0%) were females, giving a ratio of 3.6:1. Nurses made up 43.9%, health assistants 34.1% and doctors 22.0% of the total number. The respondents exhibited a good knowledge of hand hygiene (93.2%). Seventy- seven (93.9%) of the respondents showed a positive attitude while 6.1% had a negative attitude towards hand hygiene. All categories of respondents had good practice scores regarding hand hygiene. Conclusion: The knowledge, attitude and practice of hand hygiene of HCP at FMC Azare is optimal. However, continuous training on infection prevention and control with emphasis on hand hygiene and other strategies is recommended to allow for improvement in compliance to the concept of standard precautions.
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