Dire Dawa Town Research Articles

Availability of Adequately Iodized Salt at Household Level and Associated Factors in Dire Dawa, Eastern Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, Iodine Deficiency Disorder has been recognized as a serious public health problem for the past six decades. In 2011, an estimated 12 million school-age children were living with inadequate iodine, and 66 million people were at risk of iodine deficiency. One out of every 1000 people is a cretin mentally handicapped, due to a congenital thyroid deficiency, and about 50000 prenatal deaths are occurring annually due to iodine deficiency disorders. Only 5.7% of the households were using iodized salt in Dire Dawa city Administration, which is below the legal requirement.This study assessed availability of adequately iodized salt at household level and associated factors in Dire Dawa town, East Ethiopia. Community based cross-sectional study was carried out among households in Dire Dawa town during March 16-26, 2015. Multistage sampling technique was used. Data were collected using a pretested and structured questionnaire by a face-to-face interview technique. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to check associations and control confounding. A total of 694 participants were participated. The availability of adequately iodized salt (≥15 parts per million) in the study area was 7.5% (95% CI; 5.6-9.5). Multivariate result showed that health information about iodized salt (AOR=8.96, 95% CI; 4.68-17.16) (p=0.03), good knowledge about iodized salt (AOR=9.23, 95% CI; 3.34-25.5) (p=0.01) and using packed salt (AOR=3.99, 95% CI; 1.48-10.73) (p=0.006) were associated with availability of adequately iodized salt at household level. Availability of adequately iodized salt at household level was very low. Hence, households should be sensitized about importance of iodized salt and its proper handling at the household level.

Predictors of community preparedness for flood in Dire-Dawa town, Eastern Ethiopia: Applying adapted version of Health Belief Model

A cross-sectional study was conducted in June and July 2015, aiming at investigating the cross cultural utility of adapted version of Health Belief Model (HBM) in predicting disaster preparedness for flood hazards at household levels in Dire Dawa town, Ethiopia. To accommodate the fact that this work was undertaken in a collectivistic culture in which social processes play more prominent roles in interpretation and action selection, a structured questionnaire was developed by adding community participation to the prominent constructs of HBM and modifying self-efficacy to collective-efficacy. Households (660) were selected by stratified systematic random sampling technique. From each household, an individual aged 18 or above was selected by random and participated in the study. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Generalized Structural Equation Modeling (GSEM) analyses were done using STATA version-13.0. SEM analysis showed that the total effects of perceived threat (path coefficient (β)=−0.002, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): [−0.003, −0.001]), perceived benefits minus perceived barriers (β=−0.048, 95% CI: [−0.080, −0.015]), and cues to actions (β=−0.18, 95% CI: [−0.25, −0.11]) on preparedness were significant. The total effects of collective efficacy (β=0.011, 95% CI: [−0.027, 0.049]), perceived susceptibility (β=−0.0007, 95% CI: [−0.003, 0.002]), perceived severity (β=−0.002, 95% CI: [−0.007, 0.004]), and community participation (β=−0.0001, 95% CI: [−0.0003, 0.0001]) on preparedness were non-significant. In GSEM factor analysis, ethnicity, religion and residential duration were significantly associated with preparedness. Intervention is needed on barriers and perceived threat to enhance collective efficacy and preparedness.

Milk postharvest handling practices across the supply chain in Eastern Ethiopia

Objective: This study was conducted to assess hygienic cow milk handling practices of milk producers, traders (informal collectors, transporters and vendors) and consumers across the milk supply chain in the Eastern Ethiopia. Materials and methods: A total of 160 milk producers in Babile district were selected using multistage stratified sampling technique. Moreover, a total of 54 milk collectors and transporters (5, 40, 9 from Jigjiga, Harar and Dire Dawa town, respectively), 152 vendors (40 from Bable, Harar and Dire Dawa town and 32 from Jigjiga town) and 160 consumers (40 from each town) were selected using snowball sampling technique. Data from the selected actors were collected using focus group discussion, questionnaire survey and observations. Results: The study revealed that the majority of milk handling operations in the study area is carried out by females. The majority of respondent milk producers (87.5-92.5%), collectors and transporters (88.9-100%), vendors (77.5-90.7%) and some consumers (37.5-47.5%) performing milk handling operations were illiterate. Most of the observed actors in the study area perform malpractices (such as failure to stop milk handling while showing disease symptoms, improper hand washing and handling of risk factors) while working with milk. Majority of respondent milk producers (87.5-97.5%), all traders and some consumers (12.5-32.5%) use plastic containers for milk handling. Milk handling equipments were commonly washed using warm water, detergent and sand; however, in most case they were not properly protected from risk factors after washing. Majority of respondent milk producers (55-65%), collectors and transporters (60-66.7%), and some vendors (0-50%) and consumers (0-55%) use water from non-tap sources for hygienic practices. Conclusion: In general; the findings indicated that milk handling practices performed across the supply chain in the study area were unhygienic and therefore suggested the need for improving hygienic practices. http://doi.org/10.5455/javar.2016.c139

Availability and Quality of Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care Service in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia

Background: Emergency and new born care service (EmONC) is a package of medical interventions that treat the direct obstetric complications. Aim: To assess the availability and quality of emergency obstetric and new born care service in Dire Dawa town health facilities. Methods: Institution based cross sectional study was carried out on emergency obstetric and new born care (EmONC) service in Dire Dawa town of Eastern Ethiopia. All 15 health facilities were assessed. Data was collected using a standard check list that was adopted from WHO, UNICEF AND UNFPA emergency obstetric monitoring handbook and Engenderhealth emergency obstetric quality improvement assessment tool. The data were cleaned, coded and entered into SPSS version 20 for descriptive analysis. Results: Out of 5 hospitals and 1 higher private clinic that were expected to offer comprehensive emergency obstetric and new born care (CEmONC) service, 1 was qualified as CEmONC health facility. Out of 9 health centers that are expected to offer basic emergency obstetrics and new born care (BEmONC) service, 1 was qualified as BEmONC facility. Case fatality rate and population based caesarean section rate were 5.3% and 11.4% respectively. The most frequent direct obstetric complication was severe preeclampsia/eclampsia accounting for 36.6% (117/320). It was also the cause of almost one third of maternal deaths (5/17). Conclusions: BEmONC facility ratio was not adequate while CEmONC facility ratio met the minimum standard. Case fatality rate (CFR) is higher than what is recommended by the UN, which indicates poor quality of EmONC service.

Cigarette smokers' intention to quit smoking in Dire Dawa town Ethiopia: an assessment using the Transtheoretical Model

BackgroundCessation of smoking reduces morbidity and mortality related to tobacco smoking. It is essential to explore the intention of individuals to quit smoking to design effective interventions. The objective of this study was to assess cigarette smokers' intention to quit smoking in Dire Dawa town using the Transtheoretical model.MethodsFrom February 15 to 19, 2009, we conducted a community based cross-sectional study among 384 current cigarette smokers in Dire Dawa town east Ethiopia. Data was collected by trained personnel using a pretested structured questionnaire. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 16.0.ResultsTwo hundred and nineteen (57%) smokers in the study area had the intention to quit cigarette smoking within the next six months and all the process of change had an increasing trend across the stages. Based on the Fragestrom test of nicotine dependence of cigarette, 35 (9.1%), 69 (18%) and 48(12.5%) were very high, high and medium dependent on nicotine respectively. For the majority 247(64.3%) of the respondents, the mean score of cons of smoking outweighs the pros score (negative decisional balance). Only 66(17.2%) had high self efficacy not to smoke in places and situations that can aggravate smoking.ConclusionsMajority of the smokers had the intention to quit smoking. All the process of change had an increasing trend across the stages. Those who had no intention to quit smoking had high level of dependence on nicotine and low self efficacy. The pros of smoking were decreasing while the cons were increasing across the stages. Stage based interventions should be done to move the smokers from their current stage to an advanced stages of quitting cigarette smoking.

Determinants and Dimensions of Household Food Insecurity in Dire Dawa Town, Ethiopia

Based on primary data collected from 200 household in 2005, this study scrutinizes determinants and the extent of food insecurity in Dire Dawa town. A binary logit model has identified household size, daily income and proportion of expenditure on food, education of household head, sex of household head, access to credit and marital status of the household as significant determinants of food insecurity in the study area. The FGT index result has revealed that 43% of the sampled households cannot meet the daily recommended caloric requirement with a food insecurity gap of 13%. The findings call for action-based advocacy on family planning to curb population growth, provision of technical training to the unemployed that enhances job creativity and competitiveness on the market, access to credit for the needy with proper targeting criterion and expansion of both formal and informal education.

Assessment of groundwater vulnerability to pollution in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia using DRASTIC

Assessment of groundwater vulnerability to pollution is an effective tool for the delineation of groundwater protection zones. DRASTIC approach was used to determine vulnerability zones in Dire Dawa groundwater basin, a semiarid region of Ethiopia. Maps of the seven DRASTIC parameters were prepared. GIS-ArcView was used for mapping and performing weighted-overlay analysis. The result of the analysis indicated that eastern part of the study area, in which Dire Dawa town is located, is highly vulnerable. A low aquifer vulnerability class was determined for the western portion of the study area as a result of greater groundwater depths, higher relative soil-clay content, and relatively low recharge rates for this area. The area between the two zones is of medium vulnerability. Observed nitrate concentrations in boreholes are in accordance with the vulnerability map. Some of the boreholes in the Sabian well field (Dire Dawa area) already deliver groundwater with nitrate levels significantly exceeding health standards set by the World Health Organization, while boreholes in the western part (low vulnerability zone) contain almost no nitrate. The result of this study is useful for risk assessments and for the development of effective groundwater management strategies for this region and others like it.

Yä-Ingiliz Gizé or British Paramountcy in Dire Dawa (Ethiopia), 1941–1946: Notes toward a History

Yä-Ingiliz Gizé or British Paramountcy in Dire Dawa (Ethiopia), 1941–1946:Notes toward a History Getahun Mesfin Haile Inauspicious Beginnings In a lightning campaign in 1940–41, supported by Ethiopian patriots rallying to their emperor, the British liberated Ethiopia from Italian rule. On 29 March 1941, the eastern town of Dire Dawa (see figures 1 and 2 for this and other places mentioned in this article) fell rather peacefully following the crumbling of the Italian positions in the Horn to the south and east.1 The Italian army had already retreated westward toward the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa by train when British forces moved in along the southeasterly road that connected the town with the provincial capital of Harar.2 Thus, the British found themselves in control of the whole town until the beginning of 1942, at which point the Ethiopian government assumed full authority, except over those parts that, in accordance with Article 3 of the Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement and the "Schedule" attached to the Military Convention signed on 31 January 1942, continued to be part of the British-administered reserved areas in Ethiopia. Among others the reserved areas included the cantonments of Addis Ababa and Harar, the Ogaden, and a continuous belt of territory running along the Franco-Ethiopian railroad and adjoining the border with what was then Vichy-ruled French Somaliland (now Djibouti).3 Less ephemeral and longer-lasting than in other places, the British presence in parts of Eastern Ethiopia and the Ogaden became so much [End Page 47] a part of the post-liberation history of the region that the period has gone down in the local lore and historical imagination as Yä-Ingiliz Gizé, "the time of the English."4 With all its administrative, economic, and social implications, Yä-Ingiliz Gizé in Dire Dawa was to last until the final British withdrawal from the town on 31 July 1946,5 a withdrawal that had been provided for and anticipated by paragraph 4 of Article 5 of the Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement of 19 December 1944.6 Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. Ethiopia and surrounding regions, ca. 1942–46. It was not until three days after the Italian army had evacuated Dire Dawa and begun retreating in the direction of Addis Ababa that the British arrived in the town.7 In the brief interlude there was some looting of public premises and homes of Italians and other expatriates, which the remnants of the Polizia Coloniale (the Italian colonial police) who were still around were apparently unable to stop.8 [End Page 48] Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 2. Dire Dawa town quarters and other landmarks, ca. 1942–46. With the bulk of the British army continuing its advance in pursuit of the Italians, it was, therefore, a small contingent, mainly composed of members of the South African King's African Rifles, that was left behind in the town.9 It had established its main camp at the former Italian air force base by the old air terminal northeast of Käzira.10 Very [End Page 49] soon the British authorities had enlisted Ethiopian members of the Polizia Coloniale, and, together with a contingent of their own, set them to policing the town.11 In the meantime, the reestablishment of some form of Ethiopian authority in the town appears to have been somewhat delayed and seems not to have predated the arrival of Šaläqa Mär'ed Mängäšä12 as abägaz13 of Dire Dawa wäräda.14 This was after the reestablishment of the imperial government in Addis Ababa on 10 May 1941 and the subsequent appointments to governorships,15 and some time before 13 September 1941, when some of the first post-liberation municipal land grants in Dire Dawa were authorized by the abägaz.16 Given the advent of the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (OETA),17 which had literally turned the whole of Ethiopia into a protectorate, the newly established Ethiopian administration had to carry out its duties in very difficult circumstances. It was claimed that the Ethiopian governor of Dire Dawa was in continuous communication with his provincial superiors at...