BackgroundNowadays, obstetric analgesia is provided routinely in most developed countries. However, in developing countries, labor pain management is not a well-established service. The poor utilization of labor analgesia in low-income countries including Ethiopia results in laboring mothers in unmeasured suffering, let alone analgesia. The aim of this study was to assess utilization of obstetric analgesia in labor pain management and associated factors among obstetric caregivers in public health facilities of KTZ, Kembata Tembaro zone, Southern Ethiopia.Materials and methodsA facility-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among all obstetric caregivers at KTZ in public health facilities from March to April 2017. Data were collected by a pretested, self-administered, and structured questionnaire. A convenient sampling technique was used and descriptive analysis was done to characterize the study population. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to identify factors associated with utilization of labor analgesia. The adjusted odds ratio with 95% CI was used to show the strength of the association and a P-value <0.05 was used to declare the cutoff point in determining the level of significance.ResultsThree hundred forty respondents participated in the study with a response rate of 93%. The prevalence of labor analgesia use by the respondents was 37.9%. On multivariable logistic regression analyses, inadequate knowledge, positive attitude, and unavailability of labor analgesia drugs were significant independent predictors of obstetric analgesia utilization.ConclusionProportion of analgesia utilization was low; inadequate knowledge, positive attitude, and unavailability of analgesia drugs in the facilities were significantly associated with obstetrics analgesia utilization. Health institutions and health personnel should work on provision of training for those obstetric care providers, and necessary drugs should be available in each facility.

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Background Labor pain is distressing and produces undue side effects to both woman and fetus. In low-income countries like Ethiopia, addressing pain relief is often neglected. Professionals attending labor may not have awareness of obstetric analgesia. Besides this, there is a lack of published research on perceptions of obstetric analgesia among health professionals in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to explore perceptions of obstetric analgesia among midwives attending normal vaginal deliveries in Durame Hospital. Methods The study adopted an exploratory descriptive qualitative approach in Durame General Hospital, Kembata Tembaro Zone, Southern Ethiopia from March 1 to April 2, 2017. Fifteen midwives were purposely selected and participated in in-depth interviews. Data from interviews were transcribed, translated to English, coded, and categorized into themes. Data analysis was initiated alongside data collection using a thematic approach. Written informed consent was obtained from all study participants. Results Scarcity of knowledge, negative attitudes, lack of trained personnel, and absence of protocols were impediments to using labor analgesia for midwives to relieve labor pain. Conclusion This study suggests that perceptions and practices of midwives with regard to labor analgesia needs special attention to address labor pain by scaling up forms and practice of labor analgesia in such a way that internationally accepted standards are met.

Background Tuberculosis, which is an infectious disease, is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Ethiopia is facing high tuberculosis burdens. Even if it is preventable and curable, individuals’ KAP towards the disease is one of the bottlenecks in decreasing the disease burdens. TGH, located in the Sheka zone, is one of the remote areas and the KAP towards TB is unknown. Therefore, the current study was undertaken in TGH to assess the KAP towards TB. Materials and Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 415 randomly selected participants. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data by a face-to-face interview from May 23 to June 23/2019. Data were entered into Epidata 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 21 for descriptive analysis. Results A total of 345 (83%) respondents have heard about TB, while 76 (18%) respondents said persistence productive cough as symptoms of tuberculosis. Only 9.9% of participants mentioned bacteria as the cause of the diseases and 170 (41%) considered that the transmission is via air droplets. The majority (70%) of participants responded that its transmission is not preventable and overall 236 (56.9%) had high overall knowledge about TB. Thirty percent of the respondents considered that TB is serious to the area while 29% considered TB is not very serious for them. Fifty-three percent of the participants were having a favorable attitude towards tuberculosis. The majority (85%) did not cover their mouth while coughing, while 79.5% did not screen for tuberculosis and 82% of participants have not received any health education about TB. Overall, 44.6% practiced TB prevention. Conclusion The majority of the study participants had high overall knowledge and positive attitude towards tuberculosis prevention, which are not seen in the practice of tuberculosis. Effective educational programs should be implemented to overcome the problem.

Introduction Antiretroviral therapy (ART) significantly increases the life expectancy of HIV positive people by improving quality of life as well as enabling them to resume sexual activity. A growing number of people living with HIV became a source of exposure to sexually transmitted infections, including other strains of HIV that place others at risk unless they consistently use condoms. This study assessed the magnitude of unprotected sexual practices and associated factors among adult people living with HIV on ART in public hospitals of the Kembata Tembaro Zone, Southern Ethiopia. Methods a facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among adult people living with HIV on ART in public hospitals of the zone from March 1-30, 2016. Data were collected by a pretested and structured questionnaire. Binary logistic regression was used to investigate variables, independently associated with the outcome variable. The adjusted odds ratio with 95% CI used to show the strength of the association and a P-value < 0.05 was used to declare the cut-off point in determining the level of significance. Results the study revealed that 40.9% of respondents practiced unprotected sexual intercourse. On multivariate logistic regression analyses, being females, having more than one sexual partner, mean monthly income of <530 Ethiopian birrs/ month, those who had a seropositive partner, a partner of unknown serostatus, and respondents who had insufficient knowledge of HIV transmission and prevention were statically significant with the outcome variable. Conclusion the scarcity of knowledge on HIV transmission, negative attitude towards condom use, non-disclosure status and having more than one sexual partnership increased likelihood of have unprotected sex among the respondents.