Papers by Wakgari Deressa
Archives of Public Health
Despite global investments in malaria eradication and mitigation efforts, including the dissemina... more Despite global investments in malaria eradication and mitigation efforts, including the dissemination of ITNs to vulnerable communities, the goal of widespread malaria control among pregnant women has yet to be realized in many African countries. One of the explanations forwarded for this is related to the adoption and regular use of ITNs by pregnant women. Based on the available DHS and MIS data from four malaria high burden African countries– according to WHO malaria report 2020– inequality was measured by applying both relative and absolute summary measures for the four dimensions of inequality: economic status, education, place of residence and region. By considering the number of subgroups in each variable, simple and complex summary measures were used.ITN utilization by pregnant women showed an increasing trend over time in all the four countries. There was also significant inequality (variability) in the ITN utilization among population groups. DRC, Mozambique and Uganda show...
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Malaria Journal
Background Despite notable progress in the control and prevention of malaria in the Horn of Afric... more Background Despite notable progress in the control and prevention of malaria in the Horn of Africa, the disease continues to cause significant morbidity and mortality in various regions of Ethiopia, and elsewhere in the region. The transmission of malaria is affected by genetic, sociocultural, and ecological factors. Lare is an Ethiopian district adjacent to the Ethio-South Sudan border, in Gambella region. The region currently has the highest prevalence of malaria in Ethiopia. This study assesses the burden and spatiotemporal patterns of disease transmission, including the effect of climatic factors on the occurrence of malaria, across an international border crossing. This understanding can assist in crafting informed programmatic and policy decisions for interventions. Methods This study was conducted in Lare district, Southwest Ethiopia, a temperate zone. A retrospective descriptive analysis was conducted using clinical service data collected between 2011 and 2021 from the 9 hea...
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BMC Public Health
Background Tobacco, khat, alcohol, and marijuana are the main risk factors for non-communicable d... more Background Tobacco, khat, alcohol, and marijuana are the main risk factors for non-communicable diseases. There are limited studies on substance use in Ethiopia, especially among secondary school students. This study aims to determine the epidemiology of substance use among secondary school students in Ethiopia. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in March 2020 in four large regions of Ethiopia and the capital Addis Ababa. We collected data from 3,355 grade 9 and grade 10 students in 36 randomly selected high schools. Data were collected on tobacco, khat, alcohol and other substances. Mixed effect logistic regression models were fitted to determine the predictors of cigarette smoking. Results 157 (4.7%) of the participants ever smoked cigarettes and 81 (2.4%) were current smokers. 106 (3.2%) ever used smokeless tobacco, 1,342 (41.8%) had ever drunk alcohol, 290 (8.7%) ever used khat, 137 (4.8%) chewed khat regularly and 76 (2.3%) ever used marijuana. There was a signifi...
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BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
Background Antenatal health care utilization has the potential to influence maternal and new-born... more Background Antenatal health care utilization has the potential to influence maternal and new-born health. In this study, we assessed compliance of antenatal care utilization with national and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. We also examined association of antenatal care utilization with adverse pregnancy outcomes as secondary outcome. Methods This was a community-based cross sectional study conducted from July 2016 to November 2017 in rural south-central Ethiopia. We described antenatal care received by pregnant women, whom we followed at three prescheduled visits during pregnancy and collected birth data at time of delivery. Extent of antenatal care content received, timing of antenatal care, place of antenatal care and place and mode of delivery were obtained and computed in accordance with national and WHO guidelines. For adverse pregnancy outcomes, computed as sum of low birth weight, preterm birth, intrauterine foetal death, and stillbirth, the exposure variable use...
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Malaria Journal
Background Human mobility behaviour modelling plays an essential role in the understanding and co... more Background Human mobility behaviour modelling plays an essential role in the understanding and control of the spread of contagious diseases by limiting the contact among individuals, predicting the spatio-temporal evolution of an epidemic and inferring migration patterns. It informs programmatic and policy decisions for effective and efficient intervention. The objective of this research is to assess the human mobility pattern and analyse its implication for malaria disease epidemiology. Methods In this study, human mobility patterns in Benishangul-Gumuz and Gambella regions in Western Ethiopia were explored based on a cellular network mobility parameter (e.g., handover rate) via real world data. Anonymized data were retrieved for mobile active users with mobility related information. The data came from anonymous traffic records collected from all the study areas. For each cell, the necessary mobility parameter data per hour, week and month were collected. A scale factor was compute...
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Journal of Global Health Reports
Background Shisha smoking predisposes the users to cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and infection... more Background Shisha smoking predisposes the users to cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and infections, such as tuberculosis, hepatitis, and herpes. In Ethiopia, there is little data on the adolescents’ shisha smoking experience. This study aimed to explore the lived experience of high school students and inform ongoing and future prevention and control interventions. Methods This study was conducted in Addis Ababa and Adama cities in Ethiopia. Twenty-five secondary school students aged 15-22 years who had shisha smoking experience participated in this study. A topic guide was used to facilitate the in-depth interviews (IDIs) and a digital audio recorder recorded the interviews. Interviews varied between 40-90 minutes and were conducted in private open-air spaces where only the interviewee and researcher were present. Each transcript was coded using Atlas.ti version 8 software. The analytical approach was iterative, with interview transcripts analyzed at the time of coding and re-analyz...
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American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2018
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Additional file 1.
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Additional file 3. Regional age-seroconversion plots for antibody responses for Plasmodium falcip... more Additional file 3. Regional age-seroconversion plots for antibody responses for Plasmodium falciparum antigens. Y-axis represents probability of being seropositive and the X-axis age. Seroconversion curves represent the rate at which a population become seropositive to specific antigens resulting in seroconversion rates (SCR) or lambda (Îť). In each graph points represent age seroprevalence (by deciles), unbroken line represents maximum likelihood curves and broken lines represent the 95% confidence interval. Plots A and B depict the seroconversion curves for P. falciparum antigens response to MSP-1 (A) and AMA-1(B) for the major four regions Tigray, Amhara, Oromia and Southern Nations and Nationalities Peopleâ s Regions.
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BMC Public Health, 2022
Background Land use change has increasingly been expanding throughout the world in the past decad... more Background Land use change has increasingly been expanding throughout the world in the past decades. It can have profound effects on the spatial and temporal distribution of vector borne diseases like malaria through ecological and habitat change. Understanding malaria disease occurrence and the impact of prevention interventions under this intense environmental modification is important for effective and efficient malaria control strategy. Methods A descriptive ecological study was conducted by reviewing health service records at Abobo district health office. The records were reviewed to extract data on malaria morbidity, mortality, and prevention and control methods. Moreover, Meteorological data were obtained from Gambella region Meteorology Service Center and National Meteorology Authority head office. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis techniques were used to analyze the data. Results For the twelve-year time period, the mean annual total malaria case count in the ...
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BMJ Global Health, 2021
IntroductionThe debate over the impact of vertical programmes, including mass vaccination, on hea... more IntroductionThe debate over the impact of vertical programmes, including mass vaccination, on health systems is long-standing and often polarised. Studies have assessed the effects of a given vertical health programme on a health system separately from the goals of the vertical programme itself. Further, these health system effects are often categorised as either positive or negative. Yet health systems are in fact complex, dynamic and tightly linked. Relationships between elements of the system determine programme and system-level outcomes over time.MethodsWe constructed a causal loop diagram of the interactions between mass polio vaccination campaigns and government health systems in Ethiopia, India and Nigeria, working inductively from two qualitative datasets. The first dataset was 175 interviews conducted with policymakers, officials and frontline staff in these countries in 2011–2012. The second was 101 interviews conducted with similar groups in 2019, focusing on lessons lear...
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Ethiopian Journal of Health Development, 2017
A retrospective record review for the period of seven years was done on retirement and death in F... more A retrospective record review for the period of seven years was done on retirement and death in February 2001 to assess the current status of malaria control workers in Oromia Regional State. The number of malaria control workers who left Malaria Control Programme due to retirement and death has dramatically increased across the last seven years with an average of about 15 workers annually. Among 106 malaria workers who left the programme during the period, 60% of them were retired and 26% deceased. It was also found that 89% of them were malaria technicians with specialized technical expertise in vector control, while the remaining 11% were highly experienced microscopists. Training of health professionals on malaria control through incorporating the malaria curriculum into the health training schools and institutions seems mandatory. [Ethio.J.Health Dev. 2003;17(1):79-83]
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Ethiopian Journal of Health Development, 2017
Background: Intensive manual street sweeping has been performed over the last three years in Addi... more Background: Intensive manual street sweeping has been performed over the last three years in Addis Ababa to optimize the cleanliness of the surface of the street and make it convenient for public use. Street sweeping is a job, but it is a job that also has a direct link with the health of the sweepers. Street sweepers are severely exposed to street dust. Yet, the level of dust exposure among the sweepers has not been documented in Ethiopia. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the level of exposure of dust to street sweepers in Addis Ababa city. Methods: An exposure study was conducted among 10 street sweepers, measuring exposure levels for four working days. The measurements were performed by total dust samplers (37 mm Millipore plastic cassette with a PVC filter) attached to the breathing zone of the workers. Gravimetric analysis of the filters was done using a Mettler Toledo XPE105 micro-balance (detection limit 0.01mg). The sampling cassettes with filter were condition...
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Parasites & Vectors, 2021
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BMC Public Health, 2020
Background Since its inception in 1988, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) has partne... more Background Since its inception in 1988, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) has partnered with 200 countries to vaccinate over 2.5 billion children against poliomyelitis. The polio eradication approach has adapted to emerging challenges and diverse contexts. Knowledge assets gained from these experiences can inform implementation of future health programs, but only if efforts are made to systematically map barriers, identify strategies to overcome them, identify unintended consequences, and compare experiences across country contexts. Methods A sequential explanatory mixed methods design, including an online survey followed by key informant interviews (KIIs), was utilized to map tacit knowledge derived from the polio eradication experience from 1988 to 2019. The survey and KIIs were conducted between September 2018 and March 2019. A cross-case comparison was conducted of two study countries, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Ethiopia, which fit similar epidemiolo...
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BMC Public Health, 2020
BackgroundComplex global initiatives, like the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), have p... more BackgroundComplex global initiatives, like the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), have prevented millions of paralyses and improved the health status of diverse populations. Despite the logistical challenges these initiatives must overcome at several levels, scant methods exist for systematically identifying and reaching a range of actors involved in their implementation. As a result, efforts to document the lessons learned from such initiatives are often incomplete. This paper describes the development and application of the Synthesis and Translation of Research and Innovations from Polio Eradication (STRIPE) systematic approach for identifying a comprehensive sample of actors involved in the GPEI.ResultsThe survey for collecting lessons learned from the GPEI was conducted at the global level and within seven countries that represented GPEI operational contexts. Standard organizational and operational levels, as well as goals of program activities, were defined across cont...
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Journal of Craniofacial Surgery, 2020
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Journal of Dental Research, 2017
In contrast to the progress that has been made toward understanding the genetic etiology of cleft... more In contrast to the progress that has been made toward understanding the genetic etiology of cleft lip with or without cleft palate, relatively little is known about the genetic etiology for cleft palate only (CPO). A common coding variant of grainyhead like transcription factor 3 ( GRHL3) was recently shown to be associated with risk for CPO in Europeans. Mutations in this gene were also reported in families with Van der Woude syndrome. To identify rare mutations in GRHL3 that might explain the missing heritability for CPO, we sequenced GRHL3 in cases of CPO from Africa. We recruited participants from Ghana, Ethiopia, and Nigeria. This cohort included case-parent trios, cases and other family members, as well as controls. We sequenced exons of this gene in DNA from a total of 134 nonsyndromic cases. When possible, we sequenced them in parents to identify de novo mutations. Five novel mutations were identified: 2 missense (c.497C>A; p.Pro166His and c.1229A>G; p.Asp410Gly), 1 sp...
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Climate Change Management, 2017
Climate change and variability are the main drivers of several infectious and non-infectious dise... more Climate change and variability are the main drivers of several infectious and non-infectious diseases that are of great public health importance in Ethiopia. Malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, meningitis, leishmaniosis, and different forms of diarrheal diseases are the most common climate sensitive diseases. The Health Vulnerability Index (HVI) assessment is adopted from Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI-IPCC). It considers the three IPCC contributing factors to vulnerability: exposure, adaptive capacity, and sensitivity as major factors along the nine profiles/determinants using secondary data from published documents. The values for the exposure levels ranged from 0.12 to 0.69 and grouped the regions into moderately exposed and highly exposed regions to climate change. All regions are found highly sensitive to climate change induced diseases with the exception of Addis Ababa. Adaptive capacity measured in terms of several socio-economic factors such as finance, infrastructure, available health professionals and social determinants of health reveals variation between regions characterized as urban and the rest. HVI values range from less vulnerable (−0.247) to highly vulnerable (0.279). The analysis categorized regions into relatively least vulnerable (0.6%), moderately vulnerable (49.95%), highly vulnerable (10.35%) and very high vulnerable (39.5%) of the total land mass. Health adaptation strategies recommended include improved public health surveillance systems; establishing health and climate data management system; strengthening early warning systems; improved public health services; improved water, sanitation, and hygiene system; human resource development; enhanced public awareness and attitudes; targeted intervention to regional contexts by enhanced financial resources.
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Papers by Wakgari Deressa