
Abraham GeremewHaramaya University, School of Environmental Health
Abraham Geremew
PhD
About
55
Publications
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Introduction
Staff at Haramaya University, College of Health and Medical Sciences, Department of Environmental Health. Research interest: Water quality, Water treatment, Sanitation, Hygiene, public health.
Education
October 2014 - July 2019
Publications
Publications (55)
Climate change presents a major threat to water and sanitation services. There is an urgent need to understand and improve resilience, particularly in rural communities and small towns in low- and middle-income countries that already struggle to provide universal access to services and face increasing threats from climate change. To date, there is...
Background: The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) service ladders are worldwide indicators for monitoring drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene elements of the sustainable development goal targets. However, evidence on how the prevalence of childhood diarrhea looks across the service ladders is limited. This study aimed to assess the rela...
Understanding the resilience of water supplies to climate change is becoming an urgent priority to ensure health targets are met. Addressing systemic issues and building the resilience of community-managed supplies, which serve millions of people in rural LMIC settings, will be critical to improve access to safe drinking water. The How Tough is WAS...
Climate change threatens the safety of water supplies globally, but small water supplies in rapidly growing and urbanizing towns in low- and middle-income countries are especially at risk. Despite the efforts of the Government of Ethiopia, research shows that that small-town water utilities in Ethiopia are poorly equipped to prioritize developing a...
Climate change poses a threat to water security where both current and future generations are concerned, with its accompanying impacts set to be greater in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs). As a result, questions pertaining to climate change adaption in LMICs are receiving increased attention from academics and policymakers alike. It is bro...
Background
Sustainable rural water supply management requires accurate estimations of water consumption and understanding factors influencing consumption. Climate change exacerbates challenges, especially in developing countries with high poverty and limited access to clean water. Ethiopia has the lowest municipal water supply in Africa. The reside...
Introduction
Although evidence exists on the impact of microbiota on pregnancy outcomes in many high-resource settings, there is a lack of research in many low-resource settings like Ethiopia. This study aims to fill this gap by studying the gut and vaginal microbiota changes throughout pregnancy and assess how these changes relate to pregnancy out...
Background
Adherence to the proper use of protective personal equipment (PPE) in health care facilities including public hospitals is challenging among sanitation workers(SWs) across the world in general and in developing countries in particular. Despite the emphasis inline up on various policies and guidelines for PPE use implementation, inconsist...
Background
Occupational or work-related injuries are mostly common among hospitals’ sanitary workers (SWs) in developing countries like Ethiopia. This is due to improper practiced of devices, unhygienic workplace, neglected and undermined risk factors, as well as due to lack of policy initiatives; but not studied well.
Objective
The aim of the stu...
Background
Hospital cleaners face a complex and varied work environment due to several potentially dangerous circumstances, including the risk of getting injured by sharp objects and being subjected to various ergonomic and physical risks. They thus acquire a combination or co-occurrence of outcomes associated to their line of work. In this study i...
Background
In the sanitation sector, occupational injuries among sanitary workers (SWs) are prevalent due to hazardous working conditions and poor environmental surroundings. Despite the significant risks faced by these workers, the issue has received limited attention, and no comprehensive global meta-analysis on occupational injuries among sanita...
Plastic pollution poses a significant threat to the environment and human health on a global level. This study aimed to investigate plastic pollution in the Harari region of Ethiopia. The result indicated that 62% of respondents demonstrated good knowledge about plastic waste, and 59% of them perceived plastic waste as harmful. Polyethylene terepht...
Background
Best practice of infection prevention and control (IPC) is a hallmark for the patient care in health care settings, but it is a major problem in developing countries like Ethiopia where resources are limited. Ethiopia Federal Ministry of Health working to strengthen its IPC program, but still it there is no organized study conducted on a...
Background
Although pesticides play an integral role in food security and preventing public health from vector-borne diseases, inappropriate handling and continual use of restricted organochlorine pesticides pose short- and long-term adverse effects and become public health concerns in the African region. This study aimed to determine the combined...
Background
Hospital sanitation workers (SWs) are exposed to numerous occupational hazards due to workplace conditions such as unsafe and unhygienic working environment in the hospitals. Therefore, knowing magnitude, types and source of occupational hazard exposures with their determinants are very significant for further mitigations.
Methods
Hospi...
Background
Open defecation contributes to the spread of different feco-oral diseases. Therefore, access to a latrine is strongly recommended, as it considerably reduces the risks. Even though provision of latrine facilities alone does not guarantee the desired health benefits, they should be integrated with behavior change. In Ethiopia, efforts hav...
DDT is banned in many countries due to its persistency and negative impact on humans and the environment. However, it is continued to be used in many low-income countries, notably those in Africa, therefore exposing people in the region to various health threats. The current paper attempts to provide evidence regarding the concentration of DDT meta...
Background
In 2020, scabies were integrated into the WHO roadmap for neglected tropical diseases, aimed at ending the negligence to realize the SDGs. Ethiopia has also introduced scabies as a notifiable disease in drought-prone localities since 2015. Many of the previous studies employed study designs that might be subject to bias. Moreover, there...
On-site sanitation systems (OSS) are a source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Although efforts have been made recently to measure and quantify emissions from septic tanks using various field-based methods, the vast majority of published literature reporting GHG emissions from OSS units (e.g., pits and tanks) is based on non-empirical evidence. T...
Building a resilient water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) system is more important than ever since climate change threatens WASH, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The Government of Ethiopia stresses climate-resilient WASH through its One WASH National Program, albeit it may be challenging to ascertain the resilience due to the abs...
Background
In 2017 WHO reported that due to a lack of menstrual hygiene management (MHM) facilities, high costs, and ignorance, 2.3 billion girls and women worldwide do not manage their menstruation properly. This leads to the use of other options, such as old clothes or other unhygienic materials, which may make them a risk group for infections an...
Background: Sanitation or sanitary workers are exposed to hepatitis virus infections because of filthy and dangerous working conditions. The current global systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the pooled sero-prevalence of occupationally associated hepatitis virus infection among them.
Methods: Preferred Reporting Items for Systema...
This is a field guide to assess climate resilience of water supplies using How Tough is WASH Climate Resilience Framework.
Background: Sanitary workers are the possibility of have hepatitis viral infections due their working conditions. Thus, the aim of the review was to estimate the pooled sero-prevalence occupational related hepatitis viral infection among sanitary workers across the world.
Methods: PRISMA and PICOS were used flow diagram and review questions, respec...
Background
Healthcare workers are in constant contact with a wide variety of materials and surfaces, including waste, body fluids, mucous membranes, food, their own bodies, and the skin of patients. As a result, their hands are colonized by different groups of pathogens. Hand hygiene of healthcare workers is recognized to be the main factor in redu...
Background
Diarrhea remains one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity, despite the global progression of eradicating the burden of diarrhea-related morbidity and mortality in the past two decades. In Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, there is inadequate supply and sanitation of safe water. However, there is a lack of literature that e...
Background
Hand washing with soap and water reduces the risk of diarrheal episode by 28–48% and acute respiratory infection by 20–50%. However, there is limited evidence on hand washing practices among students in Eastern Ethiopia, particularly in Harari town. Therefore, this study aimed to determine hand washing practice among primary school stude...
Municipal solid waste collection (MSWC) service financing is a challenge for governments in developing countries, with little or no contribution from the service users. In most Ethiopian cities, residents do not pay for MSWC. This study aims to estimate households’ willingness to pay (WTP) for improved municipal solid waste collection service in Ha...
Background
Rabies is among the most deadly and fatal diseases of all human diseases, once clinical symptoms appear. In developing countries, including Ethiopia, rabies prevention and control practices is not adequate. The study aimed to assess knowledge, attitude, and practices toward rabies prevention and control and identified factors associated...
Background:
According to the literature analysis, the majority of the studies focused primarily on public health institutions. Although assessing the compliance of healthcare workers in private and public institutions would give comprehensive evidence on existing problems and appropriate prevention method, as a result, research on adherence to sta...
Background:
Occupational exposure to blood and body fluids has become a serious public health problem for healthcare workers and is a major risk for the transmission of various infections such as human immune-deficiency virus, hepatitis B virus, and hepatitis C virus. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to determine the career time and p...
Globally, about 435 million people depend on unimproved drinking water sources, and 144 million people still rely on surface water. Specifically, a significant part of the population in Ethiopia depends on unimproved water sources. Studies have examined household water treatment practices in the country, but there is a limited research regarding th...
Background: Of the 6.2 million estimated deaths of children under 15 years of age globally, the death toll of children under 5 years of age accounted for 5.3 million. In Ethiopia, even though significant progress has been made, facility-based research shows that the mortality rate of children under 5 is still high. In the country, particularly in t...
Background Previous Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) studies have reported national health estimates for Ethiopia. Substantial regional variations in socioeconomic status, population, demography, and access to health care within Ethiopia require comparable estimates at the subnational level. The GBD 2019 Ethiopia su...
Fluoride concentration in drinking water higher than the recommended value imposes different health problems and there are advanced and chemical based defluoridation techniques, even if they are not feasible for developing countries and have limitations. Due to this, defluoridation by using locally available plants is one of the most efficient and...
Background
Improved water sources are not equally available in all geographical regions. Populations dependent on unsafe water sources are recommended to treat their water at point-of-use using adequate methods to reduce associated health problems. In Ethiopia, the spatial distribution of households using unimproved water sources have been incomple...
Background
Globally, acute respiratory infections are among the leading causes of under-five child mortality, especially in lower-income countries; it is associated with indoor exposure to toxic pollutants from solid biomass fuel. In Ethiopia, 90% of the population utilizes solid biomass fuel; respiratory illness is a leading health problem. Howeve...
Summary
Background
Rigorous analysis of levels and trends in exposure to leading risk factors and quantification of their effect on human health are important to identify where public health is making progress and in which cases current efforts are inadequate. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 provides a sta...
Background:
In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publ...
Background
Rigorous analysis of levels and trends in exposure to leading risk factors and quantification of their effect on human health are important to identify where public health is making progress and in which cases current efforts are inadequate. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 provides a standardise...
Background
Improved water sources are not equally available in all geographical regions. Populations dependent on unsafe water sources are recommended to treat their water at point-of-use using adequate methods to reduce associated health problems. In Ethiopia, the spatial distribution of households using unimproved water sources have been incomple...
Background: Globally, acute respiratory infections are among the leading causes of under-five child mortality, especially in lower-income countries; it is associated with indoor exposure to toxic pollutants from solid biomass fuel. In Ethiopia, 90% of the population utilizes solid biomass fuel; respiratory illness is a leading health problem. Howev...
In sub-Saharan countries, where a large number of populations depend on unsafe water, household water treatment is the recommended means to reduce diarrhea. However, the practice in the region is very low. The current study is intended to assess the households' water treatment using adequate methods, boiling, adding bleach, filtration and solar dis...
Objectives
Occupational exposure to chemicals causes a wide range of biological effects depending on the level and duration of exposure. The current study is intended to determine the differences in biochemical levels among garage workers compared with occupationally nonexposed participants in Harar town, eastern Ethiopia.
Methods
A comparative cr...
A consistent and correct use of water treatment options is fundamental for health gain from point-of-use water chlorination. In Ethiopia, empirical evidence about the consistent use and preference for by end users is scarce. The current study is intended to explore these issues using Waterguard and Bishan Gari in Kersa Health and Demographic Survei...
Background:
Diarrheal disease attributable to water and sanitation can be prevented using point-of-use water treatment. In Ethiopia, a small number of households treat water at point-of-use with appropriate methods. However, evidence on factors associated with household use of these treatment methods is scarce. Therefore, this study is intended to...
Point-of-use water chlorination is one of the most effective means to prevent diarrhea in under-five children although challenges remain in its adoption and effective use. In Ethiopia, evidence of pointof- use water chlorination among households with under-five children in rural and urban settings that is verified with water testing is scarce. A co...
Background
Occupational exposure to chemicals in garages causes a wide range of biological effects, depending upon the level and duration of exposure. In Ethiopia, there have been few studies conducted to assess the exposure of garage workers to chemicals. Preceding studies have not explored the effect of working in garage on blood pressure and hem...