Determinants of Community Participation in Planning HIV and AIDS Interventions under National Multisectoral Strategic Framework in Mtwara Region, Tanzania (Published)
This paper is based on a research which was conducted in Mtwara Region, Tanzania, to assess determinants of community participation in planning HIV and AIDS interventions under the National Multisectoral Strategic Framework (NMSF) on HIV and AIDS. The findings indicated that 69.0% of the respondents were not aware of NMSF interventions; 77.0% had unfavourable attitude towards the interventions; and 81.8% did not participate in planning the interventions. Furthermore, using ordinal logistic regression, it was found that community awareness of (p ≤ 0.001) and attitude towards HIV and AIDS interventions (p ≤ 0.005), access to planning information (p ≤ 0.001), education level (p ≤ 0.05), and community satisfaction with involvement in planning (p ≤ 0.001) had significant impacts on the chances of participating highly in planning the interventions. The results substantiate a need for decentralisation in order to address obstacles which constrain participation in planning HIV and AIDS interventions.
Keywords: Aids, Community, HIV, NMSF, Participation, Planning
Chelation Therapy in the Neonatal Period: D-Penicillamine Has Possible Beneficial Effects on the Lethality of HIV or Ebola Infection Due To Vertical Transmission (Published)
D-penicillamine (DPA) was first recognized as a potential benefit for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia (NHBI). During this time there was a remarkedly low incidence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in the infants treated with DPA. Later, our studies were replicated in other institutes in Hungary, Poland, U.S. A., India and Mexico. It is important to note that there was no intolerance or short- or long-term toxicity of the medication, in spite of the fact that in the newborn period DPA was used 10-20 times higher doses than those in adult. On the basis of an American research work concerning the beneficial effects of DPA-therapy in adult AIDS-patients (although in these cases there were many unpleasant, adverse effects), it would be reasonable to treat neonatal HIV- or Ebola-positivity due to vertical transmission with short-term DPA therapy (300 – 400 mg/kg/bw/day for 5-7 days). In addition, neonates born to mothers with Ebola virus disease have not survived yet, i.e. the lethality of this disease is 100 %. Therefore, we have a moral obligation to help the fight against HIV and EBOLA with this inexpensive (~30 US Dollar/baby) drug in the neonatal period.
Keywords: Aids, D-Penicillamine, Ebola, HIV, Neonatal Hypeerbilirubinemia, Retinopathy of Prematurity, Therapy