Edwin Simiyu

• Lecturer at Maseno University

Based on participatory research in Nairobi, this paper aims to address the invisibility of vendors in informal settlements and to inform more appropriate, inclusive urban food security strategies.

Although branded as ‘obstructionists’ and major agents of ‘disease and filth’ by city authorities, food vendors remain the pivotal node in the local food system in most informal settlements; therefore, their interaction with the environment and infrastructure services, and challenges they face to keep the food safe to eat, requires further grounded...

Street vendors play an important role in securing access to food for the residents of low-income settlements in many cities. Yet they are often seen as providing unsafe food and contributing to environmental degradation. In Nairobi, the local federation of the urban poor, Muungano wa Wanavijiji, set out to explore how to improve food safety and wor...

To determine the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori in children less than three years of age and to determine socio-demographic correlates of Helicobacter pylori infection in these children. Cross sectional study. The "well baby clinics", in Nairobi Province. Children less than three years of age. A total of 195 children were analysed in the study....

Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN) was described in 1969 by Gersomy and co-workers as persistent foetal circulation. Supra - systemic pulmonary artery pressures result in right to left shunting of blood through the ductus arteriosus and/or foramen ovale. This results from failure of the normal adaptation to extra uterine life o...

To quantify the burden of infection among low birth weight (LBW) infants at the new born unit (NBU) of Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), identify any risk factors, causative organisms and their antibiotic sensitivities. Retrospective study utilising case notes. New born unit, Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi. All LBW infants admitted to the NBU...

Ectopia Cordis is a dramatic but rare cardiac anomaly with poor prognosis in most centers worldwide. This rare malformation occurs in 5.5-7.9 per million live births in the USA(1). This cardiac malformation is defined as a heart that is in an extra- thoracic position. In this article, we report two newborn infants admitted to our newborn unit with...

Morbidity and mortality of low birth weight (LBW) infants at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) has previously been found to be high. Other centres have shown that even with lack of neonatal intensive care facilities, selective interventions can be implemented that improve neonatal survival rates. It is important to identify those factors at KNH that...

Neonatal morbidity and mortality is high in developing countries. Facilities for specific neonatal care are limited in Kenya with no neonatal intensive care unit in the public health institutions. The new born unit at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) cannot accommodate all neonates so a number of these are admitted to the general paediatric wards....

Control of acute respiratory infections (ARI) is a major public health problem in developing countries. Implementation of case management protocols requires participation of the community to reduce morbidity and mortality from ARI. Health education programmes can only be effective when designed to take into account the prevailing knowledge, attitud...