Search

The article presents a study on the potential effects of alternative rainfall regimes and antipoaching in the wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) migratory population in the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem (GSE) in East Africa. The study used the socioecological model HUMan-EnvironmenT interactions (HUMENTS) to investigate the dynamics of wildebeest and human populations. It says that changes in rainfall and antipoaching have converse effects on socioeconomic and ecological portions of the system.

The article discusses the effect of changes in herbivore population density on the tree cover in savanna ecosystems in Serengeti, east Africa. A spatially realistic simulation model of vegetation, fire, and dominant herbivore dynamics was developed to project the ecosystem 100 years into the future from its present state under different fire. It shows that grazers can modulate the effect of fire and the strength of the interaction between fire and browsers by altering fuel loads and responding to the distribution of grass across the landscape.

This paper presents the results of an evaluation of community perception of two large-scale, government-run, school-based health programmes delivering anthelmintic drugs to primary school children, in Ghana (80 442 children in 577 schools) and Tanzania (110 000 children in 352 schools). Most teachers (96% in Ghana and 98% in Tanzania) were positive about their role in the programme, including administration of anthelmintic drugs, and parents and children fully accepted their taking on this role. The benefits of the programme were apparent to teachers, parents and children in terms of improved health and well-being of the children. Over 90% of parents in both Ghana and Tanzania indicated a willingness to pay for the continuation of drug treatment. The evaluation also highlighted areas that are critical to programme effectiveness, such as communication between schools and parents, the issue of collaboration between the health and education sectors, parents' perception of the importance of helminth infection as a serious and chronic health problem (compared with more acute and life threatening illnesses such as malaria), and who should pay for treatment of side-effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We evaluated the effect of weekly doses of 400 mg of ferrous sulphate for 4 months on the iron status of adolescent girls in a controlled trial in Tanga, Tanzania. Supplementation led to a significantly greater increase in serum ferritin compared with the control group (+ 15.6 microg/l vs. 8.6 microg/l) (P = 0.002) but there was no significant difference in change in haemoglobin. Children given iron showed a significantly greater weight gain than controls (+ 2.4 kg vs. + 1.4 kg) (P = 0.03). Weekly iron supplementation may be an effective means of increasing iron stores and growth in children vulnerable to iron deficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary This paper examines children's potential access to school health services by analysing data on the demographic structure, enrolment patterns and reported causes of early school-leaving in 347 schools in Tanga Region, Tanzania served by a school-based health programme. The analysis indicates that net enrolment ratios have risen over the previous 6 years, particularly among children under 10 years. However, in 1994 children were still much older than expected for a basic school population: 81% were adolescents ($10 years) and the mean age was 12 years. These data suggest that schools can provide equitable access to health education and school-based health services for a majority of children, even in a low-income country, and that the primary school population is predominantly adolescent and would benefit from health programmes targeted at that age group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]