Evans Xorse Amuzu

Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital | KATH · Sickle Cell Unit- Directorate of Child Health

Background : Prevalence of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) across African countries ranges between 1–3% and contributes up to 7-16% of under-five mortality. Nigeria, Ghana and Tanzania are among the top ten countries globally, with over 11,000 babies born with SCD annually. In order to bridge the gap in management and cognate research, the SickleInAfrica...

Background Studies on Mass drug administration (MDA) in Ghana targeting various diseases, have mostly focused on factors that affect coverage and compliance to MDA with limited focus on evidence regarding awareness and community perception of the program. Therefore, this study sought to provide empirical evidence on the knowledge of onchocerciasis,...

Background and Aims Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the commonest monogenic haemolytic disorder in Africa. Despite strides made in its management, a significant proportion of patients are hospitalized from the various complications of the disease. This study set out to describe the main causes and outcomes of hospitalizations among pediatric patients...

Background and Aims Hemolysis is a fundamental feature of sickle cell disease (SCD) contributing to the vaso‐occlusive crisis of patients. The objectives of the study were to assess the link between hemolysis proteins and hematological parameters, and to validate cystatin C (CYS C) as a potent renal marker in diagnoising SCD. Method Here, a cross‐...

Introduction Globally, injuries account for about 5 million deaths every year out of which 90% occur in low- and middle-income countries. Injuries, particularly trauma, place a lifelong burden on affected individuals, families and society. In Ghana and most African countries particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, there is no effective surveillance sys...

Objective: Pneumonia is a leading cause of hospital admission among children less than five years in sub-Saharan Africa. It is also associated with considerable economic cost to the households affected. This study sought to quantitatively measure the economic burden of households with children less than 5 years admitted at the Komfo Anokye Teaching...

Background and Aims Penicillin V prophylaxis protects children living with sickle cell disease (SCD) from bacteria infections especially Streptococcus pneumonia. However, the uptake of penicillin V prophylaxis is difficult to assess and often poor among SCD patients. Therefore, this study sought to investigate oral penicillin V prophylaxis adherenc...

Introduction Hypertension is an important public health menace globally and in sub-Saharan Africa. The prevalence of hypertension is on the rise in low- and lower-middle-income countries (LMIC) such as Ghana. This rise led to the adoption of the May Measurement Month (MMM) initiative, a global blood pressure screening campaign. We aimed to create a...

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most common clinically significant hemoglobinopathy, characterized by painful episodes, anemia, high risk of infection, and other acute and chronic complications. In Africa, where the disease is most prevalent, large longitudinal data on patients and their outcomes are lacking. This article describes the experiences...

Objectives Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular mortality globally and in Ghana. May Measurement Month (MMM) is a global awareness and screening campaign initiated by the International Society of Hypertension. Methods Participants were recruited by opportunist sampling in the Ashanti region of Ghana. The blood pressures of partic...

Background Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the commonest monogenic haemolytic disorder in Africa. It continues to be a major public health burden. Newborn screening of SCD has been implemented in Kumasi, Ghana, since 1995 and SCD patients identified have been enrolled into the paediatric SCD clinic. The Sickle Pan African Research Consortium (SPARCo)...

Introduction Achieving high Mass Drug Administration (MDA) coverage and drug uptake are pivotal in the efforts to eradicate onchocerciasis. The present study investigated the extent and predictors of ivermectin MDA coverage and uptake from the individual and healthcare providers' perspectives. The extent of ivermectin distribution and uptake, and t...

Background Poor community awareness and social mobilization serve as a major barrier by increasing absenteeism and downplaying the relevance of the ivermectin mass distribution by community members. Inadequate awareness also creates confusion among community members especially when one intervention is mistaken for the other. Methods We designed a t...

Objective: Paediatric long bone fractures are prevalent and a significant source of direct medical costs and indirect costs resulting from economic production losses within affected families. Our study aimed to describe the occurrence of paediatric long bone fractures and its direct and indirect costs to the affected families. Methods: A prospectiv...

Background. There exist continuing challenges with communication medium used during health service provision. These challenges relate to clients and health institution, intra- and interhealth institution communications. This study reviewed the existing healthcare communication medium from the perspectives of clients and health professionals at a te...

Mass Drug Administration (MDA) of Ivermectin has proven to be safe and potent microfilaricide against Onchocerca volvulus. In Africa, coverage and compliance rates mostly fall below the World Health Organisation (WHO) target of 80% and 65% respectively. The study examined Ivermectin coverage, compliance and its enabling factors from the community i...

Purpose: Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) is one of the topmost childhood killers ahead of diarrhoea and malnutrition in children. This exploratory qualitative study sought to examine the influence of maternal social constructs on the recognition and care seeking for fast breathing in children to inform the development of an intervention aimed at...

Background: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) remain a global burden and is projected to increase due to aging, rapid urbanization and unhealthy lifestyles. The study was conducted to determine the prevalence of hypertension and diabetes in rural districts in the Ashanti region of Ghana and to determine factors that influence utilization of health c...

Background Plasmodium infection among children is a serious public health problem. Asymptomatic malaria infection among humans serves as a significant reservoir for transmitting Plasmodium to uninfected Anopheles mosquitoes, fueling malaria endemicity and asymptomatic malaria may progress to clinical malaria. Therefore, prompt and accurate diagnosi...

BACKGROUND. Pneumonia remains the foremost cause of death in young children in sub-Saharan Africa. This phenomenon is largely driven by poor access to healthcare and delay in seeking medical care for childhood pneumonia. OBJECTIVE. To assess the effectiveness of training caregivers to recognise the early clinical signs of pneumonia. METHODS. The st...

Background: The issue with communication mediums during service provision and for making enquiries to a hospital on the type of services available, availability of physicians and beds at the receiving hospitals, and a reminder system remains a challenge for patients and providers of the health service in sub-Sharan Africa. This present study sought...

p> Background Pneumonia remains the foremost cause of death in children under 5 years of age especially in sub-Saharan Africa killing nearly 1 million annually. Aim Identify pneumonia prevalence, mortality rate and associated factors among children under five admitted to Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Ghana. Methods Using a prospe...

Background: The Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), since its inception in 1974, has helped avert about 2-3 million deaths annually. In Ghana, there is inadequate information on the transition from knowledge acquired in the classroom to practice among vaccinators. This study seeks to provide evidence on the level of knowledge and competencies...

Objective This study sought to describe the trend of sputum organism density and the rate of bacteriological conversion among smear positive TB patients assessing care at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Kumasi, Ghana. Methods We conducted a retrospective patient folder review from January 2013 to March 2016 at the KATH, a tertiary hospi...

In the year 2000, the Millenium Development Goals were the talk of many. The MDGs targeted key issues such as poverty, hunger, primary education, gender equality, child mortality, maternal health, disease, environmental sustainability, and global partnership. These global goals were not sufficiently met by sub-Saharan Africa. 15 years down the line...

Study/Objective This study sought to identify the occupational health risks that clinical/non-clinical staff at KATH are exposed to. Background Occupational Health Assessment is the identification, evaluation, and control of risks merging from workplace hazards that affect workers’ physical, mental, and social well-being. Mostly, employers look ou...

Study/Objective This study sought to ascertain whether there is a difference in the characteristics and outcomes of patients of these categories - as measured by final triage color, health financing, mode of transportation to the AED, and treatment outcome (discharged home, transferred out to Main wards, or died). Background The Accident and Emerg...

A retrospective assessment the impact of the novel health research capacity building course Diploma in Project Design and Management (DPDM) on candidates’ research capacity and also on healthcare at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, (KATH) Kumasi-Ghana

In 2015, 88% of new cases and 90% of deaths due to malaria were in the WHO African region. WHO recommends prompt parasite-based diagnosis in all patients suspected of malaria before treatment, but the absence of accurate diagnostic tests can result in the treatment of patients who do not actually have malaria, contributing to overtreatment, wasted...

Background. Childhood poisoning is an important cause of morbidity in both developed and developing countries. Epidemiological studies on accidental poisoning in children show a consistent pattern regarding age and gender. Childhood poisoning is predominant in children <6 years of age and has a male preponderance, as boys are more active with a dri...

Access to clean water plays a critical role in advancing health in low-and middle-income countries. Over the past decade, Ghana has met United Nations targets for expanding access to clean water. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have taken part in this achievement; however, they have done so with varying success. In 2013, researchers from the...

Background:Vaccines save more than 3 million lives and prevent 750,000 disabilities each year. Optimum immunization coverage will help in the fight against infectious diseases. This study was carried out to characterize current knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding immunizations in a rural Ghanaian community and to help identify reasons fo...

Background: Hypertension is the commonest modifiable risk factor of cardiovascular diseases and a major preventable cause of premature mortality. The worldwide prevalence of hypertension will increase by more than half by 2025; almost three-quarters of people with hypertension will be living in developing countries by 2025. We set out to evaluate t...