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Introduction. The use of e-cigarettes has been increasing globally especially among the youth population due to rigorous advertisement, marketing, and promotion which has become a significant public health concern. Hence, this study is aimed at identifying the prevalence, correlates, and perception of e-cigarettes among undergraduate students of Kathmandu city. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 405 undergraduates of capital city of Nepal from April 2022 to December 2022. A two-stage systematic random sampling was used to select the respondents. An anonymous, semistructured, self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. A descriptive, bivariable, and multivariable analysis was done using SPSS version 20. Results. The prevalence of ever use and current use of e-cigarettes was 21.2% and 5.9%, respectively. Number of close friends (AOR = 5.23 , CI: 1.26, 16.39), number of friends using e-cigarettes (AOR = 7.23 , CI: 0.93, 22.82), male sex (AOR = 2.88 , CI: 2.15, 10.35), and age (COR = 5.07 , CI: 0.93, 8.19) were the major predictors of current e-cigarette usage. Similarly, number of friends using e-cigarettes (AOR = 5.90 , CI: 2.15, 10.35), male sex (AOR = 3.53 , CI: 2.15, 10.35), age (COR = 4.56 , CI: 0.98, 6.24), and place of residence (COR: 5.19, CI: 0.83, 8.02) were the major predictors of ever e-cigarette usage. The prevalence of e-cigarette consumption was higher in males than females (5.4% vs. 0.5%). Approximately, 34.8% respondents had perceived e-cigarettes as a means to help in smoking cessation. 56.5% adults knew that e-cigarettes promoted conventional smoking. Majority (64.7%) of the undergraduate students had presumed e-cigarettes as less harmful to conventional smoking. Conclusion. Ever use, current use, and misconception on e-cigarettes were widespread among the undergraduate students. Age, male sex, number of close friends, number of peers using e-cigarette, and place of residence were the major predictors for e-cigarette usage. To deal with the increased e-cigarette consumption state, awareness on the harmful addictive properties of e-cigarettes along with its adverse health consequences must be propagated and an appropriate intervention must be implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper has highlighted the mental health development in Nepal. It covers the current state of mental health system and services and a throwback on the significant changes over a period of time. This review grabs a sneak into mental health plan/policies, prevalence; health facilities and human resources, monitoring and supervision, budget allocation, nongovernmental sector involvement, and international agreements. Every description in this paper is substantially based on the progression made at the different time frames, which provides clear understanding of the mental health situation in Nepal. Furthermore, this article throws insights on the main challenges to overcome the current situation on mental health and the associated treatment gap due to stigma toward mental illness, lack of appropriate budget allocation, shortage of human resources, and fear of discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To explore the knowledge of menstrual hygiene management among adolescent girls in different domains like culture, social learning and belief. Methods: This review paper explored the knowledge of menstrual hygiene management under several domains. Literature published in Pub Med, Medline, Google Scholar and HINARI from 2010 to 2020 was reviewed to prepare this paper. Results: The studies revealed that there is a general silence about menstruation. Adequate and accurate information about menstruation and the need for good menstrual hygiene management is limited. It further revealed that girls are not provided with comprehensive information before menarche while growing up, and therefore the first experience of menstruation is without any preparation and usually comes as a shock. Menstruation is widely regarded as a curse from God or as a disease or as being impure or as a taboo. Schools are doing very little to impart education on Menstrual Hygiene Management to adolescents. A majority of the teachers themselves are least or unprepared to address this issue with the girls, even when it is part of the school curriculum. The studies provide a weal th of information for designing interventions to improve menstrual hygiene management. Conclusions: Young girls are not well aware of the menstrual event and the hygienic measures. They are neither well informed nor properly taught by elders and teachers. Effective interventions must be contextualized, designed, and implemented to generate awareness and change the mindset of people surrounding menstruation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farmers in developing countries are exposed to pesticide hazards due to unsafe handling. his study was conducted to identify the prevailing practices of pesticide use and factors affecting the handling of pesticides among the farmers of Chitwan, Nepal. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 125 farmers. None of the farmers completely followed all the protective measures. About 59% disposed the empty pesticide containers to a nearby water source and 62% preferred house ceilings as a storage place. Males (aOR = 3.99, CI = 1.63-9.78) and older farmers (aOR = 6.18, CI = 2.59-14.72) were more likely to smoke or chew tobacco during the process of spray. Males (aOR = 2.42, CI = 1.03-5.67), literate farmers (aOR = 3.56, CI = 1.51-8.33), and farmers aware of color coding (aOR = 2.67, CI = 1.13-5.67) were more likely to read the labels on pesticide bottles. In spite of an extensive use of pesticides, the farmers were not following proper and safe handling practices, exposing them and the community to a potential pesticide hazard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Butchers have a huge role in prevention of meat-borne diseases and illness. Hence, this study was conducted to ascertain factors associated with meat hygiene among the butchers. A cross-sectional study was conducted among goat and poultry butchers. None of the butchers fall into "adequate" knowledge and "good" practice category. Butchers who had no side job other than butchering (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 3.04, CI = 1.11-8.33), had secondary or higher education (aOR = 3.17, CI = 2.60-14.72), greater workload (aOR = 5.45, CI = 1.01-29.57), and whose shop were closed shop (aOR = 3.33, CI = 1.10-10.38) were more likely to have fair knowledge. Butchers whose shop were temporarily constructed close shop (aOR = 3.07, CI = 1.04-9.06), permanently constructed close shop (aOR = 23.56, CI = 1.91-291.11), and whose ethnicity was Brahmin/Chhetri (aOR = 3.39, CI = 1.10-10.46) were more likely to have satisfactory practices. Despite regular handling of meat, butchers had lack of knowledge and practice on meat hygiene.