Teen pregnancy in rural western Kenya: a public health issue

Reproductive health issues in rural Western Kenya

BACKGROUND We describe reproductive health issues among pregnant women in a rural area of Kenya with a high coverage of insecticide treated nets (ITNs) and high prevalence of HIV (15%). METHODS We conducted a community-based cross-sectional survey among rural pregnant women in western Kenya. A medical, obstetric and reproductive history was obtained. Blood was obtained for a malaria smear and...

Teen Pregnancy: A Cross-Cultural Phenomenon but a Western Problem?

Rural-urban differences in the public health workforce: local health departments in 3 rural Western states.

✖ Rural LHDs are very small, with fewer than 5 working professionals in the average office, compared with nearly 32 in an average urban office. ✖ The per capita public health workforce supply is slightly greater in rural than in urban LHDs (32:100,000 versus 29:100,000). ✖ Public health nurses form the core of rural LHDs; urban LHDs have a wider variety of professional categories represented wi...

Child feeding practices in a rural Western Kenya community

Background: Breastfeeding is nearly universal in Kenya. However, supplementation of breast milk starts too early, thereby exposing the infants to diarrhoea and other infections. Despite the recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO) of exclusive breastfeeding (EB) from birth to six months, EB is rare and poorly timed and complementary feeding (CF) practices are still common. The stud...

A Neglected Public Health Issue

ISBN 978 92 4 156348 2 The aim of this Consultative Meeting was to discuss strategies for improving the quality and quantity of therapeutic antisera, essential drugs for the effective treatment of suspected rabid dog bites and envenoming by snake bites and scorpion stings. Inadequacies in the effi cacy, safety and production of these antisera have created a major global public health crisis, es...