Abstract:Background: There is growing evidence suggesting that young people in school are practicing risky sexual behavior. Ethiopian young people age 10 -24 years have emerged as the segments of the population most vulnerable to a broad spectrum of serious sexual health problems including STI/HIV, unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion. Objectives: To identify factors determining risky sexual behavior among preparatory school students. Methods: A cross-sectional quantitative study design was employed among preparatory school students in Gurage zone (SNNPR) from May to June 2009. The study participants were selected using multistage sampling. A structured self administered questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants. Results: A total of 418 participants with a response rate of 97.6% were enrolled in the study. A significant proportion of the participants 108(25.8%) were sexually initiated. About 66.6% of them were sexually active in the last one year. The overall condom use at first sexual debut was only 39.8%. Out of 108 sexually active students, 58(53.7%) had had multiple sexual practice. About 62% of the participants who practiced sex had history of sexually transmitted infection. Female students who engaged in sexual practice, 17(44.7%) encountered unwanted pregnancy and 16(94%) of them committed unsafe abortion, of which 4(25%) committed more than two abortion. Multivariate analysis showed age, poor parental attachment and substance use were significantly associated with risky sexual behavior of young students in school. Conclusion: The study has revealed that young people in preparatory schools, despite having good knowledge about their sexual health and its unwanted consequences, a significant proportion of them were found to be sexually at risk. Institutionalization of youth friendly service, condom promotion, open and regular discussion with main actor, and wide rage further studies seem to be compulsory.
Introduction Following the declaration of COVID-19 as a global public health threat, disease surveillance activities were crippled in 2020. Documenting surveillance improvements of Sidama province in 2021 has to be endorsed to boost the performances. Methods A comparative analysis study design of acute flaccid paralysis and measles surveillance data of 2020 and 2021 for Sidama province was used. The non-polio AFP rate and stool adequacy rate were used to assess the sensitivity of the AFP surveillance. Whereas, the non-measles febrile rash rate was used to assess the measles surveillance. Results A total of 91 AFP cases in 2021 and 44 in 2020 have been detected and investigated for polio analysis. All cases were discarded in both years. The stool adequacy rate for 2021 was 90.1%; whereas, 86.4% in 2020. Annualized non-polio AFP rate was 2.2/100,000 for 2020 and 3.8/100,000 for 2021, which the latter is much higher to the minimum expected rate in outbreak areas of 3/100,000. A total of 154 suspected measles cases in 2021 and 111 in 2020 have been investigated for IGM analysis. In 2020, 64 and 11 in 2021 IGM positive for measles were identified. The non-measles febrile rash rate for 2020 was 1.1/100,000; whereas, 2.5/100,000 for 2021. Conclusion There is an improved in the sensitivity of AFP and measles surveillance performance for Sidama province in 2021. Sustaining high quality measles and AFP surveillance is suggested to maintain measles and polio free statuses.
Background: Adolescents and young people don’t hesitate to make any decisions pertaining to their sexual and reproductive health matters without sufficiently examining the consequences and taking precautions to protect themselves. Fewer studies have been conducted in Ethiopia to assess school adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health behaviours despite the fact that, their number is continuously mounting across all corners of the country. The purpose of this study was therefore to improve the sexual and reproductive health needs of preparatory school adolescents in Addis Ababa city administration through provision of vibrant and effective adolescent specific sexual and reproductive health service strategies. Methods: The study employed a qualitative study design to explore in-depth understanding and insights about school adolescents risky sexual behaviors. A series of open ended questionnaires were used to collect data from the participants. A step by step computerassisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) was used to transcribe collected data. Results: The study has documented that, significant number of preparatory school adolescents in Addis Ababa were lacking adequate knowledge about their sexual and reproductive health issues. They were the most neglected and passive to make informed decision despite quite a lot of them were engaged in risky sexual practices. Their health service seeking behavior was very low; health service providers were not well equipped, the existing health services were mal-distributed and adult centered. Conclusions: Fairly large numbers of preparatory school students in Addis Ababa were suffering from unpleasant consequences resulting from risky and harmful sexual practices. Unprotected sex leading to unintended teenage pregnancy, attempt to terminate pregnancy usually reported to be unsafe, sexually transmitted infection, school drop-out, physical and psychological abuses were reported by the participants left and right. Given the findings of the study, the researcher has developed aadolescents sexual and reproductive health promoting strategies under the corresponding thematic areas after it was validated by a group of qualified and experienced experts and their feedbacks have been incorporated for enrichment.
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