http://41.74.91.244:8080/handle/123456789/62 Sun, 05 Apr 2026 05:07:50 GMT 2026-04-05T05:07:50Z http://41.74.91.244:8080/handle/123456789/4861 Morphological and genetic diversity of Persea americana Mill. (Avocado) in two regions of Ghana Abraham, J.D This paper establishes the awareness levels of the Factories, Offices and Shops Act 328 (FOSA), which relates to occupational safety and health (OSH) in Ghana. Data collection involved administering questionnaires to sampled individuals and key informants from the campus of KNUST. Questionnaires were designed to capture data on FOSA awareness levels, compliance and respondents’ perception of its effectiveness. There is generally low awareness level of FOSA and other existing laws on health and safety. Less respondents, between 40% and 25% from the general and key informant surveys respectively were aware of OSH laws. There is relatively high awareness level associated with the Labour Act 651 representing 60%, followed by FOSA (27%) and finally Workmen’s Compensation Law 187 (13%). On compliance, while over 90% have access to sanitary facilities, findings on fire-detecting and fire-fighting equipment availability, and reporting of incidents to authorities are worrying. Also most emergencies exits have no inscriptions to guide premises users incase of any emergencies. It is recommended that nationwide study should be conducted to establish the extent of low OSH awareness levels. Discussions on exploring the opportunities to incorporate OSH into Ghana’s educational and job trainings should be stimulated. Thu, 19 Sep 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://41.74.91.244:8080/handle/123456789/4861 2013-09-19T00:00:00Z http://41.74.91.244:8080/handle/123456789/4860 Assessing hand hygiene practices in schools benefiting from the Ghana School Feeding Programme Monney, I. School Feeding Programmes have been shown to impact positively on nutritional status and cognition of school children as well as hunger and poverty alleviation. There is however, dearth of information regarding hand hygiene in schools benefiting from these programmes. This study assesses hand hygiene practices, barriers and compliance to proper hand hygiene in schools benefiting from the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP). Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through the administration of structured questionnaires and extensive field observation respectively. Fifty three (53) GSFP beneficiary schools were selected from four different locations in Ghana; Winneba (6), Mpraeso (10), Mampong-Ashanti (17) and Bolgatanga (20). Findings from the study indicate availability of hand washing facilities (HWFs) in most schools (79%; n = 53); high pupil-to-HWF ratio resulting in poor hand washing practices (Range: 15-372; average: 105); availability of soap for handwashing (83%; n = 42) but extensive use of shared containers (53%; n = 42); delays in acquisition of HWFs, fragmented private sector efforts in hand hygiene promotion and non-compliance with conventional hand washing practices. The study observes that the incorporation of schools into the GSFP without concurrently instituting a comprehensive hand washing programme is rather a retrogressive step considering the possible health repercussions on pupils. To avert this, it is proposed that hand washing with soap should be a mandatory practice in schools benefiting from the GSFP. This requires institution of a sustainable, impact-driven school hand hygiene programme involving both public and private sector agencies to be instituted along with the GSF Fri, 20 Dec 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://41.74.91.244:8080/handle/123456789/4860 2013-12-20T00:00:00Z http://41.74.91.244:8080/handle/123456789/4859 Anaemia awareness, beliefs and practices among pregnant women: A baseline assessment at Brosankro community in Ghana. Dwumfour-Asare, B. Anaemia in pregnancy is among the top health threats in developing countries. Ghana has adopted several strategies over the years against anaemia but it remains a major cause of infant and maternal deaths. This paper assesses anaemia awareness levels, beliefs and practices among pregnant women of an endemic community. A baseline survey was conducted on 28 pregnant women randomly selected from first 100 consistent antenatal attendees from August to October 2011 at Brosankro Health Centre. The results show high anaemia consciousness with few respondents claiming no knowledge of the causes (3%) and effects (14%). The easily known cause of anaemia is poor diet (63%) followed by malaria (26%), worms (5%) and others (6%). Meanwhile, food sources that can fight anaemia are poorly known (18%). Cultural and religious beliefs in food restrictions exist and fairly a significant number of women (38%) are denied potential dietary nutrients. There are potential health risks (including anaemia) associated with existing practices since barriers to parasitic infections like malaria and worms via use of insecticide treated bed nets, intermittent preventive treatment, improved drinking water sources and effective handwashing are compromised. Respondents’ understanding on effective barriers against anaemia in pregnancy needs to be deepened. Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://41.74.91.244:8080/handle/123456789/4859 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z http://41.74.91.244:8080/handle/123456789/4858 Determination of selected heavy metals and iron concentration in two common fish species in Densu River at Weija District in Grater Accra Region Makimilua, T.B. The concentrations of heavy metals namely; Manganese, Cadmium, Lead, Mercury and Arsenic (Mn, Cd, Pb, Hg and As) including Iron (Fe), were determined in catfish and tilapia samples from Densu River at Weija in 2012. The fish Muscles were carefully dissected for digestion and the levels of heavy metals were determined using Microwave Milestones Ethos 900 double beam Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). Concentrations of heavy metals in the fish samples analyzed in descending order of Fe > Mn > Cd were detected, but, the rest (Pb, Hg and As) were not detected. The highest concentration of Cadmium (0.808mg/kg) was detected in the muscles of Catfish while the lowest value (0.129mg/kg) in Tilapia. The lowest concentration of Mn (0.78mg/L) and Iron (44mg/L) were detected in catfish whereas the highest Mn = 1.74mg/L, Fe = 53mg/L were in the Tilapia samples. Cadmium and Iron accumulated by the two fish species exceeded the maximum permissible limits prescribed by the World Health Organization guideline well as the Food and Agriculture Organization standard. Higher levels of heavy metals accumulated by the fishes might be due to increase in the agricultural influx waters, domestic wastes and some anthropogenic activities which merit further investigation Mon, 01 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://41.74.91.244:8080/handle/123456789/4858 2013-07-01T00:00:00Z