Background: To confirm effective preventive practice and reduce the risk of COVID-19 data on knowledge, attitude, and preventive practices (KAP) are essential. Therefore, the current study was designed to evaluate the KAP of COVID-19 among people with hypertension (HTN) and/or diabetes mellitus (DM) attending public health facilities in Ambo town. Patients and Methods: Institutional-based cross-sectional study design was done among patients with HTN and/or DM from June 2020 to September 2020 at Ambo University Referral Hospital (AURH) and Ambo General Hospital (AGH). To identify the associated factors with poor practice and knowledge, logistic regression analyses were used. Results: The mean age of the study respondents was 44.6 years (± 9.84) of which the majority were male 235 (55.6%) and 159 (37.59%) of the participants had good knowledge. Concerning attitude, 335 (79.2%) have strongly believed that DM and HTN patients were more at risk of death because of COVID-19. Only 44 (10.4%) of them had a good level of COVID-19 prevention practice measures. Patients who use the source of information daily were 54.4% less likely to have poor knowledge about COVID-19 than those who use it weekly. Participants with no formal education were 3 times more likely to have poor COVID-19 prevention practice than those who were with formal education, and participants who have poor knowledge about COVID-19 were 2 times more likely to have poor COVID-19 prevention practice than those who have knowledge. Conclusion: The prevalence of poor knowledge about COVID-19 was low, and only less than ¾ of the participants strongly believed COVID-19 as a serious disease. A small percentage of participants had a good level of COVID-19 prevention practice. Good knowledge had an association with a good level of prevention practice. So, health sectors should work to increase accessibility of COVID-19 information.

Objective: This research aimed to systematically review and summarize the influence of Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System (RAAS) inhibitors on the outcome of COVID_19 patients with hypertension. Methods: Electronic databases; PubMed/Medline, CINAHL, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, clinical trial.gov, and Google Scholar were searched from 2019 to June 1, 2020. Additionally, the references of identified articles were also searched. Results: A total of 9 articles comprising 3,823 patients were incorporated; 1416 patients on RAAS inhibitors and 3469 on non-RAAS inhibitors. The study demonstrated that the taking of RAAS inhibitors in COVID_19 patients with hypertension significantly reduced mortality where patients on RAAS inhibitors had a 27% decrease of mortality (RR= 0.73 [95% CI: 0.63- 0.85, p<0.0001, I2=0%, random-effects model]) compared to those not taking ACEI/ARB. No significant association were observed in disease severity (RR= 0.92 (95% CI: 0.74- 1.14) and hospitalization (WMD= -2.33[95% CI: -5.60, 0.75]), random-effects model. Conclusion: This study supports RAAS inhibitors safe use among COVID_19 patients with hypertension. Keywords: COVID_19, ACEI, ARB, Hypertension, Coronavirus

Introduction Indigenous people of different ethnic groups in Ethiopia are noticeably reliant on traditional medicinal plants for their healthcare due to their effective medicinal values. The study was aimed to document different herbal medicinal plants used and the associated knowledge of herbal medicine in the communities of the Artuma Fursi district. Methodology Ethnobotanical data were collected through semi-structured interviews, field observations, focused group discussions with the informants selected from the study area. Key informants were selected by purposive sampling technique, while the rest, were selected by random sampling techniques. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics; paired comparison, preference ranking, and informant consensus factor. Results A total of 86 informants participated in the collection of the ethnobotanical data. A total of 92 medicinal plants were collected and identified. Fabaceae was the highest family cited (11.9%). The study revealed that leaves (31.1%), seeds (19.8%), and roots (12.26%) were the most cited plant parts used for the preparation of herbal medicine by the respondents. The most common method of preparation of herbal medicines was pounding (21.6%) and the most common route of administration was oral route (53.7%). The majority of the medications (60.3%) were prepared without the additive. Charcoal production was the major threat to medicinal plants in the study area. Conclusion Artuma Fursi district is rich in medicinal plant and the associated indigenous knowledge. The documented knowledge will be helpful for further research in the drug development process.

Background The medical materials, medical supplies, and medicines cover about one-third of the annual health care organization’s budget. Effective inventory management is required to balance inventory expenditure against demands for medications. The study aimed to analyze the pharmaceuticals inventory management using ABC-VEN Matrix in selected health facilities of the West Shewa zone. Methods A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted in health facilities of the West Shewa zone from March 15, 2019, to May 31, 2019, and analyzed by using an MS Excel spreadsheet. Results At selected public health facilities of West Shewa zone in three years between September 12, 2015, and September 5, 2018, about 539 pharmaceutical items were utilized and consumed 30,837,628.61 ETB. ABC analysis indicated that 64 (11.9%), 68 (13.74%), and 38 (11.14%) of items were classified as the class “A” items and consumed around 70% of the total pharmaceutical expenditures (TPE) at selected health facilities (aggregated), hospitals, and health centers (HC), respectively. VEN analysis revealed that 115 (35.94%), 99 (35.61%), and 40 (20.83%) items were categorized as vitals and consumed 53.9%, 51.59%, and 36.93% of TPE at selected health facilities. ABC-VEN matrix analysis indicated that category I items consumed 85% of TPE. Conclusion ABC-VEN matrix analysis of present study showed that the category I pharmaceuticals consumed a majority of TPE that need great attention for control.

Background: Viruses cause various human diseases, some of which become pandemic outbreaks. This study synthesized evidence on antiviral medicinal plants in Africa which could potentially be further studied for viral infections including Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) treatment.Methods: PUBMED, CINAHIL, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Google databases were searched through keywords; antiviral, plant, herb, and Africa were combined using “AND” and “OR”. In-vitro studies, in-vivo studies, or clinical trials on botanical medicine used for the treatment of viruses in Africa were included.Results: Thirty-six studies were included in the evidence synthesis. Three hundred and twenty-eight plants were screened for antiviral activities of which 127 showed noteworthy activities against 25 viral species. These, were Poliovirus (42 plants), HSV (34 plants), Coxsackievirus (16 plants), Rhinovirus (14plants), Influenza (12 plants), Astrovirus (11 plants), SARS-CoV-2 (10 plants), HIV (10 plants), Echovirus (8 plants), Parvovirus (6 plants), Semiliki forest virus (5 plants), Measles virus (5 plants), Hepatitis virus (3 plants), Canine distemper virus (3 plants), Zika virus (2 plants), Vesicular stomatitis virus T2 (2 plants). Feline herpesvirus (FHV-1), Enterovirus, Dengue virus, Ebola virus, Chikungunya virus, Yellow fever virus, Respiratory syncytial virus, Rift Valley fever virus, Human cytomegalovirus each showed sensitivities to one plant.Conclusion: The current study provided a list of African medicinal plants which demonstrated antiviral activities and could potentially be candidates for COVID-19 treatment. However, all studies were preliminary and in vitro screening. Further in vivo studies are required for plant-based management of viral diseases.