The hygienic practices of mothers during complementary food feeding are crucial in the protection of vulnerable infants and children aged 6–24 months from childhood communicable diseases such as diarrhea and malnutrition. However, sufficient evidence on the hygienic practices of mothers during complementary food feeding and their associated factors is limited. Thus, this study is aimed at assessing the levels of complementary feeding hygiene practice and its associated factors among mothers of children aged 6–24 months in the Tegedie District, Northwest Ethiopia. Method: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 17 March to 17 April 2021, among 576 mothers with children aged 6–24 months in the Tegedie District, Northwest Ethiopia. A multistage sampling technique was used to select the study participants. Data were collected using a pretested structured questionnaire, then entered into Epi Data version 4.6 and exported to SPSS version 23 for analysis. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regressions were used to identify factors associated with outcome variables, and variables with p-values of <0.05 in the final models were considered statistically significant. Result: The prevalence of hygienic practice during complementary food feeding of their children aged 6–24 months was 33.6%, with 95% (CI 29.7% to 37.6%) of them having good practice. Living in an urban area (AOR = 7.02, 95% CI: (4.14, 11.88)), the presence of a handwashing facility near the latrine (AOR = 3.02, 95% CI: (1.18, 7.70)), the presence of a separate area to store raw and cooked foods (AOR = 5.87, 95% CI: (2.84, 12.13)), and the presence of a three-compartment dish washing system (AOR = 5.70, 95%,CI: (3.41, 9.54)) were predictors of practicing good hygienic complementary food feeding. The prevalence of good hygienic practices during complementary feeding among mothers was low. The district health office and health extension workers should work to improve maternal hygienic practices during complementary feeding.

Background: Hygienic practices during complementary food preparation are suboptimal in developing countries, in Ethiopia in particular. Hygienic complementary food preparation is crucial to prevent childhood communicable diseases like diarrhea and associated malnutrition among children aged 6–24 months. However, in Ethiopia, there is a paucity of evidence on the practice of hygiene during complementary food preparation. Thus, this study is aimed to assess the hygienic practice of complementary food preparation and associated factors among women having children aged 6–24 months in Debark town, northwest Ethiopia.Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 423 mothers with 6–24 months of age children from December 1 to January 30, 2021. A simple random sampling technique was used to select the study participants. Data were collected using an interviewer-administered structured questionnaire. Epi-data version 4.6 and SPSS version 23 software were used for data entry and analysis, respectively. Binary logistic regressions (Bivariable and multivariable) were performed to identify statistically significant variables. Adjusted odds ratio with 95% CI was used to declare statistically significant variables on the basis of p-value < 0.05 in the multivariable logistic regression model.Results: The study revealed that 44.9% (95% CI (40.2, 49.4%)) of the mothers having children aged 6–24 months had good practice of complementary food preparation. Maternal age of 25–29 years[AOR:3.23, 95% CI: (1.555–9.031)], husband’s attained secondary school and above (AOR:2.65, 95% CI (1.211–5.783)], using modern stove for cooking [AOR:3.33,95% CI (1.404–7.874)], having a separate kitchen[AOR: 8.59, 95%Cl: (2.084–35.376], and having a three bowl dishwashing system(AOR: 8.45, 95% CL: (4.444–16.053)) were significantly associated with good hygiene practice of complementary food preparation.Conclusions: The findings have indicated that the majority of the mothers had poor hygienic practices of complementary food preparation. Mother’s age, husband’s educational status, type of stove used for cooking, having a separate kitchen, having a three bowl dishwashing system were factors that significantly influenced the hygiene practice of mothers during complementary food preparation. Therefore, training and counseling mothers and caregivers on complementary food processing and preparation is important and such endeavors which inform the development and implementation of complementary food hygiene interventions in urban communities are recommended.

Introduction: Providing preconception care through good practice by healthcare providers is very important in reducing maternal and child mortality and morbidity. However, there are no available detailed review articles in Ethiopia. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to ascertain the level of knowledge of preconception care and related factors among Ethiopian healthcare providers.Methods: A variety of data sources, such as PubMed, Scopus, African Journal Online (AJOL), Google Scholar, and Semantic Scholar, were used to identify studies published until March 2023. This review was performed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The data were subsequently transferred to STATA software version 11 for further data analysis. A random-effects model was used to estimate the prevalence of practice about preconception care, and the results are reported in a forest plot.Results: Eight studies involving 3,848 healthcare providers were included. The pooled prevalence of a good level of practice of preconception care among healthcare providers in Ethiopia was 53.54 (95% CI: 45.09, 61.98), p < 0.0001. Healthcare providers who had a degree and above educational status (AOR = 4.83; 95% CI: 1.80, 12.96), those working at hospital health facilities (AOR = 2.97; 95% CI: 2.07, 4.27), those ever reading preconception care guidelines (AOR = 3.49; 95% CI: 2.39, 5.07), availability of libraries at health facilities (AOR = 5.59; 95% CI: 2.84,11.04), trained healthcare providers on HIV counseling and testing (AOR = 6.86; 95% CI: 3.75, 12.53), and trained healthcare providers on preconception care (AOR = 6.19; 95% CI: 4.23, 9.06) were predictors of a good level of practice with preconception care.Conclusions: Nearly half of healthcare providers do not have good practice of preconception care in Ethiopia. Therefore, healthcare providers' knowledge of preconception care should be improved through preconception care, HIV counseling and testing training, and access to guidelines, libraries, and the internet at nearby health facilities, especially at health centers. Finally, stakeholders collaborate with policymakers to develop strategies to improve healthcare providers' preconception care practice.

Eight or more antenatal care contact sessions are recommended as part of antenatal care to prevent pregnancy-related complications. However, studies across Ethiopia have shown discrepancies and inconsistent results. The goal of this study was to determine the pooled compliance to ≥8 antenatal care contact sessions and associated factors among Ethiopian healthcare providers. Studies were systematically searched from March 1, 2024, to April 2, 2024, using Embase, Web of Science, PubMed/MEDLINE, Science Direct, African Journal Online, and the Wiley Online Library. The data were subsequently transferred to Stata software, version 11, for further data analysis. Pooled effect sizes were calculated based on the prevalence of ≥8 antenatal care contact sessions, and the odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals to indicate statistical significance were determined for the associated factors. To evaluate statistical heterogeneity, the Cochrane Q test and I² statistic were used. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, a total of 492,000 articles were retrieved from various databases and registers. Finally, 16 studies with 7781 participants were included. The overall compliance to the guidelines that recommend ≥8 antenatal care contact sessions was 18.35% (95% confidence interval, 10.98–25.73). Healthcare providers who worked at hospital health facilities (adjusted odds ratio, 5.09; 95% confidence interval, 2.26–11.47) had knowledge of the importance of ≥8 antenatal care contact sessions for pregnant women (adjusted odds ratio 2.04; 95% confidence interval, 1.10–3.78). Those who were able to clearly differentiate between the guidelines recommending 8 antenatal care contact sessions and those recommending 4 antenatal care visits (adjusted odds ratio, 3.95; 95% confidence interval, 2.10–7.33) were more likely to record ≥8 antenatal care contact sessions, which was significantly associated with the outcome variable. In this study, more than 80% of antenatal care healthcare providers did not comply with the modern and World Health Organization–recommended antenatal care contact guidelines for a variety of reasons. It is very important to address factors that prevent healthcare providers from complying with the recommended ≥8 antenatal care contact sessions. To improve compliance to the World Health Organization guidelines of ≥8 antenatal care contact sessions, training on these guidelines is recommended.

'Vision 2020, the Right to Sight', jointly coordinated by the World Health Organization's program for the prevention of blindness and deafness and the international agency for the prevention of blindness, was launched in 1999, however, the initiative faces many challenges to hitting its target. One of the challenges for this is, the absence of comprehensive data regarding eye care service utilization among diabetes mellitus patients in Africa. Therefore, this study was aimed at assessing the prevalence of eye care service utilization and associated factors among adult diabetes mellitus patients in Africa. This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted as per the international preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA) guidelines. Published articles were searched using reputable databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library) and Web searches (Science Direct, African Journals Online, and Google Scholar). Quality appraisal was assessed based on the Joanna Briggs Institute's (JBI) critical appraisal checklist. The extracted data was exported to STATA version 11 (STATA Corp., LLC) for further analysis. Heterogeneity between the results of primary studies was assessed using Cochran's Q chi-square test and quantified with the I² statistics. Publication bias was assessed by visual inspection of the funnel plot and Egger's regression tests. The database search found 26,966 articles. The pooled prevalence of eye care service utilization among diabetic patients in Africa is found to be 40.92 % (95 % CI: 27.14-54.70, P < 0.001). Good knowledge (POR = 3.57, 95 % CI: 2.67-4.76), good attitude (POR = 5.68, 95 % CI: 4.20-7.68), age greater than 65 years old (POR = 7.11, 95 % CI: 3.86-13.10), urban residence (POR = 5.03, 95 % CI: 2.12-11.96), and disease duration greater than 6 years (POR = 3.81, 95 % CI: 2.25-6.45) were factors associated with eye care service utilization. This meta-analysis revealed that a high proportion of people with diabetes failed to use eye care services. Older age, good knowledge, urban residence and longer duration of illness were found to be the contributing factors for the utilization of eye care services in diabetes mellitus patients. Therefore, by considering the negative impact of low eye care service utilization, it is important to improve the habit of regular screening of the eye into routine assessment of diabetes mellitus follow up targeting patients with older age and longer duration of illness to reduce the magnitude of the problem.

Background: Although the World Health Organization recommends 100% willingness for blood donation, the percentage of blood collected from willing blood donors and the average annual blood collection rate is extremely low in Ethiopia. Adults can serve as an essential pool formeeting the demand of safe blood. Thus, this study is aimed at examining willingness and its associated factors for blood donation among the adult population in Gondar town, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on548 respondents from 1–30 October2021. Multistage sampling techniques were used to select the study participants. The data were collected using an interviewer-administered structured questionnaire. Epi-data version 4.6 and SPSS version 23 software was used for data entry and analysis, respectively. A binary logistic regression (bivariable and multivariable) was performed to identify the statistically significant variables. Results: Less than half, 45.3% (95% CI: 41.4, 49.9), of the study participants hadthe willingness to donate blood. Participants who were renters of their own houses [AOR: 3.19; (95% CI: 2.09, 4.62)], had a history of blood donation practice [AOR: 1.90(95% CI: 1.16, 3.19)], had witnessed blood being donated [AOR: 2.56 (95% CI:1.65, 6.95)], had a history of relatives who have died through blood loss [AOR: 2.28 (95% CI:1.19, 4.36)], and had good knowledge [AOR: 2.23; (95% CI: 1.49, 3.34)] were more willing to donate blood, with these factors being the significant predictors. Conclusions: Generally, willingness towards blood donation is low in the study area. In order to increase community willingness to donate blood, healthcare providers, national blood banks, and transfusion agencies should design strategies to promote and motivate their communities. In addition to this, participants should receive information on the health benefits of donating blood, the volume of blood donated, and the number of patients benefiting from a single unit of blood donated.