ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Risk of heavy metal ingestion from the consumption of two commercially valuable species of fish from the fresh and coastal waters of Ghana

Background The need to evaluate the human health safety of fishery resources remain urgent in the mist of the ever-increasing fear of heavy metal toxicity from the consumption of Ghana’s fisheries resource, as a consequence of pollution from several anthropogenic activities including artisanal gold mining. Nevertheless, the bigeye grunt (Brachydeuterus auritus) and Bagrid catfish (Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus) remain commercially valuable fish species in West Africa and continue to attract high patronage. Method Forty-five specimens each of C. nigrodigitatus and B. auritus collected from the Weija Dam and the Tema Fishing Habour in Ghana, between June and September 2016, were analysed for seven heavy metals using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. Result Lead and Cadmium were below detection in all samples while Cu was not detected in B. auritus. Levels of the remaining metals (mg kg-1) were below FAO/WHO maximum permissible limits in fish and occurred in the rank order Se (3.5) &gt; Zn (2.34) &gt; Cu (0.59) &gt; As (0.37) &gt; Hg (0.19) in C. nigrodigitatus and Se (2.97) &gt; Zn (2.28) &gt; Hg (0.31) &gt; As (0.21) in B. auritus. Only As in C. nigrodigitatus recorded Estimated Weekly Intake (EWI) greater than FAO/ WHO Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake (PTWI). Also, As in C. nigrodigitatus and Hg in B. auritus had Targeted Hazard Quotient (THQ) greater than 1 for individuals consuming the fishes on daily basis and therefore, raising concerns. However, for both species of fish, cancer risk of As was 1 in 10,000,000,000 and modified Health Benefits values of Se (HBVSe) were positive indicating the health risks that might accompany Hg exposure would be negated. Since toxicity depends on the concentration and quantity of a pollutant consumed, safe maximum consumption rate of C. nigrodigitatus based on As concentrations was 0.21 mg per day and that of B. auritus was 0.058 mg per day for Hg. With an average of 0.227 kg fish per meal of an adult human, these translated into not more than 24 C. nigrodigitatus and nine (9) B. auritus meals in a month but because fish is consumed at 0.0685 kg per person per day in Ghana, these values respectively translates to 93 and 30 safe days of consumption per month. Conclusion At the rate of 0.0685 kg fish per person per day that fish is consumed in Ghana, the consumption of the two species of fish in Ghana would essentially be of little or no consequence to consumers. © 2018 Gbogbo et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Source: UG
Risk of Heavy Metal Poisoning From Consuming Grasscutter Digesta in Ghana

Grasscutter (cane rat/Thryonomys swinderianus) digesta is used as a spice in Ghana. Research shows that heavy metals from the environment may accumulate in the internal organs of grasscutters, which raises concerns about the possible contamination of grasscutter digesta, too, with heavy metals. Although grasscutter meat in Ghana has been described as safe for consumption, information is lacking on the health risks associated with ingesting the digesta. This study, therefore, aimed to assess the knowledge and perceptions of a merchant and a consumer about the safety of ingesting grasscutter digesta and to evaluate potential health risks from exposure to heavy metals from the spice. A total of 12 digesta samples were analyzed to evaluate potential health risks from exposure to Cd, Fe, Hg, and Mn using a Varian AA240FS Atomic Absorption Spectrometer. The levels of Cd, Hg, and Mn were below the detection limit of 0.01mg/kg digesta. Also, the estimated daily intake of Fe (0.02mg/kg) was less than the maximum allowable dose recommended by the US EPA (0.7mg/kg). The hazard indices of Fe for daily and weekly consumption were <1, suggesting that the consumers may be safe from iron poisoning. Because grasscutter digesta is a relatively expensive spice, it is unlikely to be consumed daily by the average Ghanaian. Moreover, if 10g of digesta is consumed daily, it can be safely ingested about 971 times in a month. Domestication of grasscutters may be a useful approach to monitor their diet and consequently the quality of their digesta.

Source: UG
Risk of transmission of viral haemorrhagic fevers and the insecticide susceptibility status of aedes aegypti (linnaeus) in some sites in Accra, Ghana

The Department of Parasitology conducts research into parasitic diseases of public health importance with the overall goal of reducing their transmission and the heavy disease burden that they impose on affected populations. The Department maintains focus on parasitic diseases in general. These include major diseases such as malaria, and others listed under the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) control initiative such as, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiasis, trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis.

Source: UG
Risk perception and communication in Sub-Saharan Africa

In this narrative review, a brief summary of theoretical approaches to risk perception is followed by an analysis of some of the special factors influencing risk perception and risk communication in sub-Saharan Africa. Examples of recent and emergent local medicines and vaccine controversies in several countries are given along with evidence and analysis of how they were managed. These demonstrate, among other things, the extent to which ethnic, religious and cultural issues influence popular perception, and the power of rumour and anecdote in shaping public opinion and official responses to events. Where safety monitoring systems exist, they are in their infancy, with limited capacity for data collection, credible scientific review, effective public communication and robust crisis management. Although increasing democratic freedoms, including less restricted media, and evolving health systems are addressing the challenges and give hope for further progress, there are still deep and intractable issues that inhibit transparent and effective risk communication and stand in the way of African populations comprehending medicines and their risks in safer and more balanced ways. Some proposals for future change and action are offered, including the pursuit of a deeper understanding of local and national values, assumptions and beliefs that drive risk perception; tailoring public health planning and communications to specifically-targeted regions and populations; strengthening of safety surveillance and data-collection systems; giving higher priority to medicines safety issues in healthcare training and public education.

Source: UG
Risk preferences and management strategies of farmers in Ghana: Does the type of crop grown matter?

This paper examined the risk preferences and management strategies of cereal and legume farmers of Ghana's savannah zones using both the exploratory factor analysis and the linear regression model. Using primary cross-sectional data and employing the multistage sampling technique made up of purposive, cluster and random sampling techniques, the paper found that cereal farmers are more risk averse than legume farmers. Rainfall variability was ranked topmost by cereals and legumes farmers. Both cereal and legume farmers employ multiple but dissimilar risk management strategies to manage these sources of risk. The commonest sources of risk to cereal and legume farmers were climate and market risk, while off-farm activities are the commonest management strategy. Production risk faced by cereal farmers was managed by both off-farm and farm production strategies whereas human risk faced by legumes farmers was managed by both off-farm and financial management strategies. The importance of market risk implies that policy initiatives should aim at reducing market-related risks by focusing on increasing off-farm opportunities for rural households.

Source: UG
The risks and benefits of antidepressant treatment for youth depression.

he U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has mandated that all antidepressants carry a 'black box' warning label indicating that antidepressants increase the risk of suicidality in youth taking these medications. In the U.K., the Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has determined that the balance of risks and benefits favors only the use of fluoxetine in the treatment of depressive illness in children and adolescents. This article reviews the PDA's analysis linking antidepressant medication use and pediatric suicidality in major depressive disorder, discusses the efficacy of antidepressants in treating depression in children and adolescents, and offers suggestions to aid clinicians, patients, and families in making clinical decisions based on an accurate assessment of the benefits and risks of medication and psychosocial treatments for pediatric depression.

Source: UG
Risks of excess iodine intake in Ghana: current situation, challenges, and lessons for the future

In Ghana, iodine deficiency was first reported in 1994 among 33% of the population. A nationwide Universal Salt Iodization (USI) program plus other complementary interventions were subsequently implemented as a response. Our paper reviews the current risks of excess iodine status in Ghana and identifies policy and research gaps. A mixed methods review of 12 policies and institutional reports and 13 peer‐reviewed articles was complemented with consultations with 23 key informants (salt producers and distributors, food processors, regulatory agency officials, and healthcare providers) purposively sampled between May and August 2017. The findings show a strong policy environment indicated by regulations on food and salt fortification (Act 851), including the USI regulation. However, currently, only a third of Ghanaian households use adequately iodized salt. Recent evidence shows that voluntarily fortified processed foods (including condiments) supply a considerable amount of iodine to the food system. Limited biological impact data suggest possible household exposure to excessive dietary iodine (>15 parts per million). Currently, there is no systematic tracking of iodine content from fortified foods and other sources. Cross‐sectoral actions are needed to understand this situation better. Key research gap is the lack of comprehensive data on iodine content and intake from other sources in Ghana.

Source: UG
Risky Driving Attitudes in Ghana: Is the Use of Fear-Based Messages Operational?

Scare tactics are often used in road safety campaigns even though years of research into fear appeals have yielded inconsistent results. In Ghana, where all efforts are being made to reduce traffic accidents, the use of fear appeals and threat of enforcement has not been spared. In an experimental study, the researchers investigated the effectiveness of this message on risky driving attitude and also explored the effect of an alternative strategy, fear of prosecution. Findings from this study suggest that fear appeals, fear of prosecution and combination of these two strategies do not have an effect on risky driving attitudes. These findings are used to make conclusions about the design of road safety campaigns incorporating such scare tactics.

Source: UG
Risky driving behaviour in urban Ghana: the contributions of fatalistic beliefs, risk perception, and risk-taking attitude

There is rapid motorisation in Ghana, leading to increases in risky driving and road crashes. Understanding pathways through which traffic risk perception and traffic fatalism affects risky driving behaviour can help with effective road safety education and health promotion interventions among drivers in Ghana. Yet, the pathways are not well understood. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was conducted to assess the hypothesised model that attitudes towards risky driving would mediate the association of traffic fatalism and traffic risk perception with risky driving behaviour. Licensed drivers (N = 519) aged 18 to 73 years (M = 27.98, SD = 9.23) completed a survey on fatalistic beliefs, traffic risk perception, and risky driving attitudes and self-reported risky driving behaviour. The model shows a good fit to the data. Attitudes towards risky driving mediated the effects of fatalistic beliefs and risk perception on risky driving behaviour. Further, fatalistic beliefs were positively associated with attitudes towards risky driving. Risk perception was negatively associated with attitudes towards risky driving. Moreover, attitudes towards risky driving positively predicted risky driving behaviour. Other multivariate results showed that risk perception and risk-taking differ among male and female drivers and among married and never married drivers. The results provide opportunities for the National Road Safety Commission to design safety promotion interventions to target the belief that road crashes are influenced, in part, by fate and destiny other than by road user behaviour. Road safety education should target favourable attitudes towards risk-taking through which fatalistic beliefs and risk perception affect driving behaviour. © 2019, © 2019 Institute of Health Promotion and Education.

Source: UG
Risky sexual behaviour and contraceptive use in contexts of displacement: Insights from a cross-sectional survey of female adolescent refugees in Ghana

Background: Difficulty in accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare is one of the challenges young refugee women face worldwide, in addition to sexual exploitation, violence and abuse. Although Ghana hosts several refugees, little is known about their sexual behaviour and contraceptive use. This study assesses sexual behaviour and contraceptive use among female adolescent refugees in Ghana. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between June and August 2016. Respondents comprised 242 female adolescent refugees aged 14–19 years. Structured validated questionnaires were used to collect data. Descriptive statistical methods and multivariate logistic regression statistical analyses methods were used to analyze data. Findings: Over 78% of respondents have had penetrative sex; 43% have had coerced sex; 71% have had transactional sex; 36% have had sex while drunk, 57% have had 4–6 sexual partners in the last 12 months before the study, and 38% have had both coerced and transactional sex. Factors that predicted ever having transactional sex included being aged 14–16 compared to those aged 17–19 (AOR = 4·80; 95% CI = 2·55–9·04); being from Liberia compared to being from Ghana (AOR = 3·05; 95% CI = 1.69–13·49); having a mother who had no formal education compared to having a mother with tertiary education (AOR = 5.75; 95CI = 1.94– 14.99); and living alone (self) compared to living with parents (AOR = 3.77; 95CI = 1.38–10.33). However, having 1–3 sexual partners in the last 12months as against having 4–6 partners significantly reduced the odds of ever having transactional sex (AOR = 0·02; 95% CI = 0·01–0·08). Awareness about contraceptives was 65%, while ever use of contraceptives was 12%. However, contraceptive use at last sexual intercourse was 8.2%, and current use was 7.3%. Contraceptive use was relatively higher among those who have never had sex while drunk, as well as among those who have never had transactional sex and coerced sex. Contraceptive use was similarly higher among those who had 1–3 sexual partners in the last 12 months compared to those who had 4–6 during the same time period. Conclusion: In this time of global migration crises, addressing disparities in knowledge and access to contraception as well as high risk sexual behaviours in refugee situations is important for reducing inequalities in reproductive health outcomes and ensuring both universal health coverage and global health justice. Sex and contraception education and counselling, self-efficacy training, and skills acquisition are needed to help young refugee women negotiate and practice safe sex and resist sexual pressures.

Source: UG
Risky sexual behaviours and HIV testing among young people in Ghana: evidence from the 2017/2018 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey

Background: Young people have a higher chance of experimenting with sex before marriage, thus they engage in risky sexual behaviours that predispose them to HIV infections. The objective of this study was to assess the relation‑ ship between engaging in risky sexual behaviours and the uptake of HIV testing services among young people in Ghana. Methods: We analysed secondary data from the 2017/2018 Ghana Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, which col‑ lected data on population and health indicators across the previous ten regions of Ghana, using a Computer Personal Assisted Interviewing application. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square test and Binomial Logis‑ tic regression. Results: Seventy-nine per cent (79%) of young women and 68% of young men did not use a condom during last sexual intercourse. In addition, 68% of young women and 87% of young men had not tested for HIV. Young women (AOR=2.19; 95% CI 1.56–3.07) and young men (AOR=3.38; 95% CI 1.18–9.64) aged 20–24 years had a higher likeli‑ hood of being tested for HIV compared to those aged 15–19 years. Young women with junior high school education (AOR=2.03; 95% CI 1.08–3.81) were more likely to test for HIV compared with those who had pre-primary/no formal education. In addition, young women who were never married or in a union (AOR=0.39; 95% CI 0.27–0.56) had 61% of reduced odds of being tested for HIV compared with those who were currently married or in a union. There was no signifcant association between risky sexual behaviours and HIV testing (p>0.05). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that condom use among sexually active young people was low. The uptake of HIV testing services was below expectation. Age, educational status, marital status and exposure to the mass media were the salient factors infuencing the uptake of HIV testing among young people. Stakeholders should implement interventions to help increase the uptake of HIV testing and condom use among young people in Ghana.

Source: UG
Ritual as mechanism for securing life and averting evil among the Krobo

Ritual is one of the ways in which a group of people or a believing community expresses in concrete terms their faith in a deity(ies). Two of the many functions of rituals are to secure blessings from the deity or toward off evil. This article studies tour Krobo rituals to explore the ultimate meaning of life in Krobo worldview: material and spiritual wellbeing. The fight against sickness, misfortune, evil and other disasters provides the framework within which they express their dependence on their creator by means of rituals. To the Krobo life without the divinity cannot attain its fullness; hence the constant appeal to the divinities for protection and blessing.

Source: UG
RNA Activation in Ticks

The Department of Parasitology conducts research into parasitic diseases of public health importance with the overall goal of reducing their transmission and the heavy disease burden that they impose on affected populations. The Department maintains focus on parasitic diseases in general. These include major diseases such as malaria, and others listed under the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) control initiative such as, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiasis, trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis.

Source: UG
RNA Aptamer That Specifically Binds to Mycolactone and Serves as a Diagnostic Tool for Diagnosis of Buruli Ulcer

The Bacteriology Department aims to improve the quality of life first for Ghanaians and the world at large by conducting research into bacterial diseases of public health importance to Ghana and globally. In addition to working on enteric pathogens and sexually transmitted diseases, the department’s current main focus is on the two most important mycobacterial diseases of public health importance to Ghana, namely Buruli ulcer (BU) and tuberculosis (TB).

Source: UG
RNA-Seq of untreated wastewater to assess COVID-19 and emerging and endemic viruses for public health surveillance

Background The COVID-19 pandemic showcased the power of genomic sequencing to tackle the emergence and spread of infectious diseases. However, metagenomic sequencing of total microbial RNAs in wastewater has the potential to assess multiple infectious diseases simultaneously and has yet to be explored. Methods A retrospective RNA-Seq epidemiological survey of 140 untreated composite wastewater samples was performed across urban (n = 112) and rural (n = 28) areas of Nagpur, Central India. Composite wastewater samples were prepared by pooling 422 individual grab samples collected prospectively from sewer lines of urban municipality zones and open drains of rural areas from 3rd February to 3rd April 2021, during the second COVID-19 wave in India. Samples were pre-processed and total RNA was extracted prior to genomic sequencing. Findings This is the first study that has utilised culture and/or probe-independent unbiased RNA-Seq to examine Indian wastewater samples. Our findings reveal the detection of zoonotic viruses including chikungunya, Jingmen tick and rabies viruses, which have not previously been reported in wastewater. SARS-CoV-2 was detectable in 83 locations (59%), with stark abundance variations observed between sampling sites. Hepatitis C virus was the most frequently detected infectious virus, identified in 113 locations and co-occurring 77 times with SARS-CoV-2; and both were more abundantly detected in rural areas than urban zones. Concurrent identification of segmented virus genomic fragments of influenza A virus, norovirus, and rotavirus was observed. Geographical differences were also observed for astrovirus, saffold virus, husavirus, and aichi virus that were more prevalent in urban samples, while the zoonotic viruses chikungunya and rabies, were more abundant in rural environments. Interpretation RNA-Seq can effectively detect multiple infectious diseases simultaneously, facilitating geographical and epidemiological surveys of endemic viruses that could help direct healthcare interventions against emergent and pre-existent infectious diseases as well as cost-effectively and qualitatively characterising the health status of the population over time.

Source: UG
‘The road is blocked’: notions of sound and silence in the Ga Hɔmɔwɔ festival, a Teshie perspective

Since the early 2000s the literature on the Ga code of silence, or what is often referred to as a ban on drumming and noise-making, has focused predominantly on the violent clashes that emerge between the Ga Traditional Council, and Pentecostal and Charismatic churches in Accra during the commemoration of the annual Ga Hɔmɔwɔ harvest festival. With most scholars perceiving the code as a ritual that instigates conflict, it has become a dominant point of reference for discussing conflict-related matters in Accra and Ghana in general. My interest here, however, is not to examine the code in relation to the conflicts it incites. As a ‘native researcher’ and ethnomusicologist, my findings suggest that the Ga code is about more than provoking conflict or settling scores with churches or non-Ga residents in Accra. The code presents selective Ga communities with an opportune moment to undergo a degree of introspection through the mediation on indigenous notions of sound and silence so as to renew themselves. In this article, I explore from a Teshie perspective the notions of the code and how it impacts the music performances of the Hɔmɔwɔ festival. I argue that the Ga code, to borrow from Turner (1979), is a ‘frame’ within which Ga society is enabled to inspect itself.

Source: UG