A PhD holder in Public Health-One health with 6 years working experience as a senior Monitoring and Evaluation and Research Specialist. Posses a sound background in Programs/Projects Management as well as extensive training in Monitoring and Evaluation and community based program's on the areas such as Water, sanitation and hygiene, Livelihood, Governance, Gender, and Education. Experience on working with range of stakeholders such as Government, Partners and Donors. Supervisors: Professor Kim Abel Kayunze and Professor John Bwalya Muma
The study was driven by the fact that there is a great proportion of registered voters who do not... more The study was driven by the fact that there is a great proportion of registered voters who do not vote in the elections. This will have negative impact on consolidating democracy and expanding collective decision making through representation if not taken care of. The main objective of the study was to analyze the determinants of voting in Morogoro Municipality while the specific objectives were to assess the knowledge and attitude of voters towards the elections in the study area, estimate the minutes spent by voters going to and queuing at the polling stations, and determine how political party adherence is related to voting. A cross- sectional study design was employed. Data were collected in October and November 2010 during and immediately after the 2010 general elections through a questionnaire, and a semi-structured interview guide, which were administered to a sample of 200 respondents. Data analysis was done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software. The study findings showed that the overall respondents’ attitude towards elections was unfavourable in the study area hence voters’ participation in 2010 general elections was low. Using a chi- square test, research findings revealed that the relationship between individuals’ levels of civic education and their participation in voting was significant (χ 2 = 8.648, p = 0.003), which means that those with higher education participated more than those with lower education. In view of the above findings, it is concluded that in order to increase participation in voting some basic democratic requirements have to be met. These include civic education, timely and adequate information about elections, and trust and transparency to electoral processes as well as free and fair elections. On the basis of this conclusion, it is recommended that the electoral commission and election candidates should address these issues to increase citizens’ participation in elections
One Health in terms of collaboration, particularly between human and animal health sectors to pre... more One Health in terms of collaboration, particularly between human and animal health sectors to prevent and control zoonoses has been low while the sectors have a lot of things in common. Such common things include aspects of disease causative agents (viruses, bacteria, parasites, etc.) and those of disease occurrence mediator conditions (social, cultural, economic or climatic). Therefore, the research from which this paper is based was done with the objectives to: (a) assess the extent to which human and animal health policies facilitate one health in terms of collaboration; (b) rank opportunities for and challenges to collaboration among medical, and veterinary officers according to the views and experiences of the respondents in the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture; and (c) determine the attitude of the respondents towards One Health approaches in terms of collaboration in dealing with zoonoses. A cross-sectional research design was used in this study whereby data wer...
In Zambia, human anthrax cases often occur following cases of animal anthrax. Human behaviour has... more In Zambia, human anthrax cases often occur following cases of animal anthrax. Human behaviour has been implicated in this transmission. The objective of the study was to explore human behavioural patterns that may contribute to outbreaks of anthrax among affected communities. A mixed methods study was conducted in four districts of Zambia from November 2015 to February 2016. A cross sectional survey involving 1,127 respondents, six focus group discussions and seven key informant interviews with professional staff were conducted. Descriptive statistics on socio-demographic characteristics, awareness of anthrax, attitudes towards cattle vaccination and risk factors for anthrax and vaccination practices were run using STATA 12 for analysis. Overall, 88% of respondents heard about anthrax, 85.1% were aware that anthrax is transmitted by eating infected meat and 64.2% knew that animals and humans can be infected with anthrax. However, qualitative data suggested that awareness of anthrax ...
Elections in Tanzania, like in any other country in the world, has three main functions: first is... more Elections in Tanzania, like in any other country in the world, has three main functions: first is to create a sentiment of popular consent and participation in public affairs; second is to provide for orderly succession in government by peaceful transfer of authority to new rulers when the time comes for the old rulers to go through elections and third is to elect representatives of the people. However, there is a great proportion of registered voters who do not vote in the elections. This will have negative impact on consolidating democracy and expanding collective decision making through representation, if not taken care of. The underlying causes for this problem are not yet clear. Therefore, the research from which this paper has emanated was conducted in Morogoro urban constituency to analyse the determinants of voting in general elections in Tanzania. Using an index scale, it was found that the overall respondents' knowledge about elections was low (23 out of 50 points); hence voters' participation in 2010 general elections was low. Furthermore, the results show that more than one-fifth (22.6%) of all the respondents had spent fifteen minutes to reach the polling stations. Using a chi-square test, the research findings revealed that the relationship between individuals' levels of civic education and their participation in voting was significant (χ 2 = 8.648, p = 0.003), which means that those with higher education participated more than those with lower education. It is recommended that such education should be increased through various media in order to increase citizens' participation in voting.
— Brucellosis is a highly contagious zoonotic and devastating disease that affects households' po... more — Brucellosis is a highly contagious zoonotic and devastating disease that affects households' potential to improve their well-being through trade in livestock and livestock commodities. Despite the disease being endemic in Zambia, there is inadequate information, on its socioeconomic impact on the well-being of households rearing livestock. Therefore, a cross-sectional study was conducted in Western and Southern provinces of Zambia to determine the impact of brucellosis on socioeconomic well-being of livestock farmers at households. The specific objectives of the study were to determine losses and costs associated with brucellosis in livestock; determine socioeconomic wellbeing levels at the household; evaluate the linkages between brucellosis and socioeconomic wellbeing status; assess the extent to which the current health policies address One Health practice and the attitude towards One Health practices among policy makers. Structured questionnaires, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with key informants were used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data in this research. All monetary losses were estimated in both domestic currency; the Zambian Kwacha (ZMW) and the equivalent international currency (USD); the exchange rate was 1 USD to 11.45 ZMW Zambian Kwacha (ZMW). The overall total losses attributed to brucellosis-related calf mortality, in the studied households was 1,535,800 ZM W (USD 134,131); 77,700 ZMW (USD 6,786.02) was due to milk losses and 13,240 ZMW (USD 1156.33) due to vaccination costs. Lack of money to pay for livestock health services was significantly associated with poor household socioeconomic well-being (p = 0.003), while level of education of the household head was associated with the highest positive brucellosis impact (p = 0.005) on socioeconomic well-being. Further, the alternative hypothesis that socioeconomic wellbeing levels differ significantly where there is less impact of brucellosis in livestock and where such impact is higher, was confirmed (F = 11.268, p = <0.001). Consequently the null hypothesis was rejected. On the basis of these findings, it can be concluded that reduced cost of disease prevention and losses due to brucellosis can improve socioeconomic well-being of livestock farmers in Western and Southern provinces of Zambia. Accordingly, in order to reduce costs and losses attributed to brucellosis, livestock services and surveillance systems for brucellosis should be prioritised and One Health collaboration framework should be adopted.
One Health in terms of collaboration, particularly between human and animal health sectors to pre... more One Health in terms of collaboration, particularly between human and animal health sectors to prevent and control zoonoses has been low while the sectors have a lot of things in common. Such common things include aspects of disease causative agents (viruses, bacteria, parasites, etc.) and those of disease occurrence mediator conditions (social, cultural, economic or climatic). Therefore, the research from which this paper is based was done with the objectives to: (a) assess the extent to which human and animal health policies facilitate one health in terms of collaboration; (b) rank opportunities for and challenges to collaboration among medical, and veterinary officers according to the views and experiences of the respondents in the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture; and (c) determine the attitude of the respondents towards One Health approaches in terms of collaboration in dealing with zoonoses. A cross-sectional research design was used in this study whereby data were collected at a single point in time without repetition. Purposive sampling method was used to make sure that the respondents were only officials who usually participated in policy formulation in the two Ministries. It was found that almost three quarters (73.1%) of the respondents from both ministries agreed that there was no policy which directly facilitated One Health in terms of collaboration. It was also found that 83.6% of the respondents pointed out that human and animal health policy making process was a top-down process. Furthermore, it was found that the main opportunities that could enhance collaboration were sufficient money in budgeting; advocacy for control of neglected zoonotic diseases in human and animal health; and one health policy formulation (71.3%, 68.2% and 65.5% respectively). The overall attitude towards collaboration among respondents was favourable; they scored an average of 62.2 out of 100.0 points on a Likert scale. It is concluded that if opportunities enhancing collaboration were strengthened and challenges to collaboration were overcome, human health and animal health experts could collaborate more in reduction of disease burden in both humans and livestock. Introduction Zoonotic diseases have been lingering on despite efforts that have been made to control them, if not eradicating them. Therefore, One Health approaches have increasingly been being adopted in order to pool together medical, veterinary, and socioeconomic types of expertise to exploit synergies that such collaboration can bring about. One Health is a comprehensive approach to health that focuses on improving health and well-being through the prevention of risks and the mitigation of effects of crises (e.g. emerging diseases) that originate at the interface between humans, animals and their various environments, and promoting multi (cross) sectoral collaborations and a " whole of society " treatment of health hazards, as a systemic change of perspective in the management of risk" (Stone, 2011). However, in most developing countries including Zambia, surveillance of zoonotic diseases is not done in collaboration between veterinary medicine and human medicine due to the fact that many developing countries lack diagnostic capacity, health infrastructures and financial resources (Zinsstaget al., 2007). Therefore, the aim of the research on which this paper is based was to assess the extent to which the current Zambian human and livestock health policies facilitate One Health practice and explore the challenges and opportunities for collaboration in preventing and controlling zoonotic diseases.
The study was driven by the fact that there is a great proportion of registered voters who do not... more The study was driven by the fact that there is a great proportion of registered voters who do not vote in the elections. This will have negative impact on consolidating democracy and expanding collective decision making through representation if not taken care of. The main objective of the study was to analyze the determinants of voting in Morogoro Municipality while the specific objectives were to assess the knowledge and attitude of voters towards the elections in the study area, estimate the minutes spent by voters going to and queuing at the polling stations, and determine how political party adherence is related to voting. A cross- sectional study design was employed. Data were collected in October and November 2010 during and immediately after the 2010 general elections through a questionnaire, and a semi-structured interview guide, which were administered to a sample of 200 respondents. Data analysis was done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software. The study findings showed that the overall respondents’ attitude towards elections was unfavourable in the study area hence voters’ participation in 2010 general elections was low. Using a chi- square test, research findings revealed that the relationship between individuals’ levels of civic education and their participation in voting was significant (χ 2 = 8.648, p = 0.003), which means that those with higher education participated more than those with lower education. In view of the above findings, it is concluded that in order to increase participation in voting some basic democratic requirements have to be met. These include civic education, timely and adequate information about elections, and trust and transparency to electoral processes as well as free and fair elections. On the basis of this conclusion, it is recommended that the electoral commission and election candidates should address these issues to increase citizens’ participation in elections
One Health in terms of collaboration, particularly between human and animal health sectors to pre... more One Health in terms of collaboration, particularly between human and animal health sectors to prevent and control zoonoses has been low while the sectors have a lot of things in common. Such common things include aspects of disease causative agents (viruses, bacteria, parasites, etc.) and those of disease occurrence mediator conditions (social, cultural, economic or climatic). Therefore, the research from which this paper is based was done with the objectives to: (a) assess the extent to which human and animal health policies facilitate one health in terms of collaboration; (b) rank opportunities for and challenges to collaboration among medical, and veterinary officers according to the views and experiences of the respondents in the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture; and (c) determine the attitude of the respondents towards One Health approaches in terms of collaboration in dealing with zoonoses. A cross-sectional research design was used in this study whereby data wer...
In Zambia, human anthrax cases often occur following cases of animal anthrax. Human behaviour has... more In Zambia, human anthrax cases often occur following cases of animal anthrax. Human behaviour has been implicated in this transmission. The objective of the study was to explore human behavioural patterns that may contribute to outbreaks of anthrax among affected communities. A mixed methods study was conducted in four districts of Zambia from November 2015 to February 2016. A cross sectional survey involving 1,127 respondents, six focus group discussions and seven key informant interviews with professional staff were conducted. Descriptive statistics on socio-demographic characteristics, awareness of anthrax, attitudes towards cattle vaccination and risk factors for anthrax and vaccination practices were run using STATA 12 for analysis. Overall, 88% of respondents heard about anthrax, 85.1% were aware that anthrax is transmitted by eating infected meat and 64.2% knew that animals and humans can be infected with anthrax. However, qualitative data suggested that awareness of anthrax ...
Elections in Tanzania, like in any other country in the world, has three main functions: first is... more Elections in Tanzania, like in any other country in the world, has three main functions: first is to create a sentiment of popular consent and participation in public affairs; second is to provide for orderly succession in government by peaceful transfer of authority to new rulers when the time comes for the old rulers to go through elections and third is to elect representatives of the people. However, there is a great proportion of registered voters who do not vote in the elections. This will have negative impact on consolidating democracy and expanding collective decision making through representation, if not taken care of. The underlying causes for this problem are not yet clear. Therefore, the research from which this paper has emanated was conducted in Morogoro urban constituency to analyse the determinants of voting in general elections in Tanzania. Using an index scale, it was found that the overall respondents' knowledge about elections was low (23 out of 50 points); hence voters' participation in 2010 general elections was low. Furthermore, the results show that more than one-fifth (22.6%) of all the respondents had spent fifteen minutes to reach the polling stations. Using a chi-square test, the research findings revealed that the relationship between individuals' levels of civic education and their participation in voting was significant (χ 2 = 8.648, p = 0.003), which means that those with higher education participated more than those with lower education. It is recommended that such education should be increased through various media in order to increase citizens' participation in voting.
— Brucellosis is a highly contagious zoonotic and devastating disease that affects households' po... more — Brucellosis is a highly contagious zoonotic and devastating disease that affects households' potential to improve their well-being through trade in livestock and livestock commodities. Despite the disease being endemic in Zambia, there is inadequate information, on its socioeconomic impact on the well-being of households rearing livestock. Therefore, a cross-sectional study was conducted in Western and Southern provinces of Zambia to determine the impact of brucellosis on socioeconomic well-being of livestock farmers at households. The specific objectives of the study were to determine losses and costs associated with brucellosis in livestock; determine socioeconomic wellbeing levels at the household; evaluate the linkages between brucellosis and socioeconomic wellbeing status; assess the extent to which the current health policies address One Health practice and the attitude towards One Health practices among policy makers. Structured questionnaires, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with key informants were used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data in this research. All monetary losses were estimated in both domestic currency; the Zambian Kwacha (ZMW) and the equivalent international currency (USD); the exchange rate was 1 USD to 11.45 ZMW Zambian Kwacha (ZMW). The overall total losses attributed to brucellosis-related calf mortality, in the studied households was 1,535,800 ZM W (USD 134,131); 77,700 ZMW (USD 6,786.02) was due to milk losses and 13,240 ZMW (USD 1156.33) due to vaccination costs. Lack of money to pay for livestock health services was significantly associated with poor household socioeconomic well-being (p = 0.003), while level of education of the household head was associated with the highest positive brucellosis impact (p = 0.005) on socioeconomic well-being. Further, the alternative hypothesis that socioeconomic wellbeing levels differ significantly where there is less impact of brucellosis in livestock and where such impact is higher, was confirmed (F = 11.268, p = <0.001). Consequently the null hypothesis was rejected. On the basis of these findings, it can be concluded that reduced cost of disease prevention and losses due to brucellosis can improve socioeconomic well-being of livestock farmers in Western and Southern provinces of Zambia. Accordingly, in order to reduce costs and losses attributed to brucellosis, livestock services and surveillance systems for brucellosis should be prioritised and One Health collaboration framework should be adopted.
One Health in terms of collaboration, particularly between human and animal health sectors to pre... more One Health in terms of collaboration, particularly between human and animal health sectors to prevent and control zoonoses has been low while the sectors have a lot of things in common. Such common things include aspects of disease causative agents (viruses, bacteria, parasites, etc.) and those of disease occurrence mediator conditions (social, cultural, economic or climatic). Therefore, the research from which this paper is based was done with the objectives to: (a) assess the extent to which human and animal health policies facilitate one health in terms of collaboration; (b) rank opportunities for and challenges to collaboration among medical, and veterinary officers according to the views and experiences of the respondents in the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture; and (c) determine the attitude of the respondents towards One Health approaches in terms of collaboration in dealing with zoonoses. A cross-sectional research design was used in this study whereby data were collected at a single point in time without repetition. Purposive sampling method was used to make sure that the respondents were only officials who usually participated in policy formulation in the two Ministries. It was found that almost three quarters (73.1%) of the respondents from both ministries agreed that there was no policy which directly facilitated One Health in terms of collaboration. It was also found that 83.6% of the respondents pointed out that human and animal health policy making process was a top-down process. Furthermore, it was found that the main opportunities that could enhance collaboration were sufficient money in budgeting; advocacy for control of neglected zoonotic diseases in human and animal health; and one health policy formulation (71.3%, 68.2% and 65.5% respectively). The overall attitude towards collaboration among respondents was favourable; they scored an average of 62.2 out of 100.0 points on a Likert scale. It is concluded that if opportunities enhancing collaboration were strengthened and challenges to collaboration were overcome, human health and animal health experts could collaborate more in reduction of disease burden in both humans and livestock. Introduction Zoonotic diseases have been lingering on despite efforts that have been made to control them, if not eradicating them. Therefore, One Health approaches have increasingly been being adopted in order to pool together medical, veterinary, and socioeconomic types of expertise to exploit synergies that such collaboration can bring about. One Health is a comprehensive approach to health that focuses on improving health and well-being through the prevention of risks and the mitigation of effects of crises (e.g. emerging diseases) that originate at the interface between humans, animals and their various environments, and promoting multi (cross) sectoral collaborations and a " whole of society " treatment of health hazards, as a systemic change of perspective in the management of risk" (Stone, 2011). However, in most developing countries including Zambia, surveillance of zoonotic diseases is not done in collaboration between veterinary medicine and human medicine due to the fact that many developing countries lack diagnostic capacity, health infrastructures and financial resources (Zinsstaget al., 2007). Therefore, the aim of the research on which this paper is based was to assess the extent to which the current Zambian human and livestock health policies facilitate One Health practice and explore the challenges and opportunities for collaboration in preventing and controlling zoonotic diseases.
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Papers by Dr. Mwinyi O Mwinyi