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Population-based surveys in Southern Africa suggest a substantial burden of undiagnosed HIV-infected long-term survivors of mother-to-child transmission. We conducted an HIV prevalence survey of primary school pupils in Harare, Zimbabwe, and evaluated school-linked HIV counselling and testing (HCT) for pupils, their families and schoolteachers. Population-weighted cluster sampling was used to select six primary schools. Randomly selected class-grade pupils underwent anonymous HIV testing,...

To promote rational drug use in developing countries, it is important to assess drug use pattern using the World Health Organization (WHO) drug use indicators. The aim of this study was to assess the drug prescription patterns at the Medical Outpatient Pharmacy of Hawassa University Teaching and Referral Hospital, using some of the WHO core drug use indicators.A descriptive, quantitative, and cross-sectional survey was conducted to determine the current prescribing practices at Hawassa...

The aims of this research was to understand how education in the rural African faming setting can contribute to development and well-being in a way that is empowering for the poor. The Farmer Field School (FFS) approach, provided an empirical frame for the research. By reflecting on experiences of FFS participants in East Africa, the research tried to answer how the FFS learning experience play out in the daily lives of participants and their families and the role that FFS play in assisting...

This chapter explores the current state of research knowledge about climate change and its consequences in pastoral areas of East Africa. It reviews traditional and current pastoral climate risk management strategies in a changing economic and political context. The chapter presents downscaled climate projections to 2050, describing several different types of impact thresholds. It provides evidence on how climate change might affect pastoral systems through changes in vegetation, frequency...

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a large country (2,345,000 km2) located in Central Africa. Although no reliable census has been carried out for decades, the population is estimated to be 70 million, of whom about 12% live in Kinshasa, the capital and largest city of the country.

Abstract In this paper, we study the impact of climate change on river regimes in several parts of Africa, and we look at the most probable causes of these changes either climatically or anthropogenically driven. We study time series of updated monthly and annual runoff of rivers of North Africa, West Africa (Sahelian and humid tropical regions) and Central Africa, including the largest river basins: Niger and Volta rivers in West Africa, and Congo and Ogooue rivers in Central Africa. The...

Background In Uganda, the current national health sector strategic and investment plan underscores schistosomiasis as one of the diseases targeted for elimination by the year 2015. However, uptake of treatment among school children is unknown but suspected to be low. We estimated the uptake and predictors of preventive treatment with praziquantel. Methods In a cross sectional study carried out in Jinja district of Uganda, a random sample of 1,010 children in 12 primary schools was questioned...

Falling fertility and increasing life expectancy contribute to a growing elderly population in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA); by 2060, persons aged 45 y and older are projected to be 25% of SSA's population, up from 10% in 2010. Aging in SSA is associated with unique challenges because of poverty and inadequate social supports. However, despite its importance for understanding the consequences of population aging, the evidence about the prevalence of disabilities and functional limitations due to...

In 2011 a powerful drought gripped East Africa. Vastly reduced 2010 fall rains and 2011 spring rains caused a drought that stacked on an already unstable political climate, caused a famine that led to hundreds of thousands of deaths. Whenever an extreme weather event strikes a population—a drought, a hurricane, or a powerful flood—questions arise as to whether ongoing global climate change is complicit. Most scientists, when confronted with such questions, suggest that no one act of weather...

Demand for education among pastoralists, including children actively involved in production, is rapidly increasing. Education is seen by impoverished households as a pathway out of poverty, and by the households actively involved in pastoral production as a way to support their production system in an increasingly globalized world.

Andreas Stuck and colleagues discuss research by Collin Payne and colleagues on disability in older Malawi adults and next steps for research and policy. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary

Provision of education for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo generally adopts a charitable model of disability thought. This model complicates the ability of students, families, teachers, and administrators to ensure quality standards and improvement in the provision of special education services. Moreover, viewing special education as a charitable endeavor is problematic for local movements aimed at social inclusion,...

Today’s educational challenges in Africa have their roots in the colonial education system. The article explores the consequences of linguistic choices for quality education, self-determined development and children’s rights in education. The analysis centers on a case study of a curriculum change in Zanzibar in which English has replaced Kiswahili as the language of instruction in the last years of primary school in Mathematics and Science subjects. The case study is grounded in an...

This qualitative case study in a rural school in Umgungundlovu District in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, explored Grade 12 learners’ mental constructions of mathematical knowledge during engagement with optimisation problems. Ten Grade 12 learners who do pure Mathemat-ics participated, and data were collected through structured activity sheets and semi-structured interviews. Structured activity sheets with three tasks were given to learners; these tasks were done in groups, and the group...

Background: Despite the fact that UNICEF declared freedom from hunger and malnutrition abasic human right in 1948, more than 20 million children were severely malnourished in 2010 and a further 170 million were stunted. Malnutrition attributes to > 50% of child deaths by potentiating infectious diseases.Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the extent of malnutrition in Grade 1 pupils in public sector schools in Bloemfontein. An objective of the study was to identify...

In 1940, the British parliament passed the Colonial Development and Welfare Act (CDWA), which set the stage for African development after World War Two. The development side of the Act has received much scholarly attention, especially due to its connection to Britain’s attempt to exploit African resources after 1945. The welfare side has been covered less well, despite its influence on the growth of colonial welfarist initiatives. In the Gold Coast (colonial Ghana), these programs dated from...