African Health Sciences Makerere University Medical School ISSN: 1680-6905 EISSN: 1729-0503 Vol. 8, Num. 3, 2008, pp. 135-135

African Health Sciences, Vol. 8, No. 3, Sept, 2008, pp. 135-135

Editor's Choice

Prof. James K Tumwine

Editor in Chief

Code Number: hs08029

In this issue we bring you very interesting papers ranging from post traumatic stress among former child soldiers in northern Uganda to emergency thryroidectomy under cervical block for relief of severe airway obstruction.

The menu in is quite varied.

Hence Emilio Ovuga from Gulu University in Uganda reports that over 80% of former child soldiers, in the LRA war, had experienced post traumatic psychological events, and almost 90 were depressed.. Here is a catalogue of long-term consequences of war on child soldiers a phenomenon very common in Africa and beyond.

Enwuru areports 10% fluconazole resistance among oropharyngeal Candida and non Candida yeast like isolates from HIV infected patients in Lagos Nigeria: highlighting the need for routine susceptibility testing. From India we have an interesting paper the effect of gemcitabine and radiation therapy for head and neck carcinomas.

Uganda has been experiencing a spate of fatal road traffic accidents and only recently the Makerere Faculty of Medicine lost a fourth year medical student to a gruesome bust accident on the Kampala Jinja highway at Lugazi. Nakitto and others from Kampala report a high incidence of pedestrian traffic injuries in Kampala's Kawempe division. Twenty five percent of the injuries were serious warranting care in health facilities. Over 80% were due to bicycles (41%) and boda boda motor cycles(40%). Clearly the traffic in this part of Kampala is out of control. Bicycles and motorcycles are a menace to child pedestrians. Why can't someone do something about this?

Agbakwuru and colleagues from Ile Ife in Nigeria report their experience with hydrocelectomy under local anaesthesia. Similarly, Musa presents a case report of emergency partial thyroidectomy under cervical block to relieve severe airway obstruction from thyroid cancer. The rest of papers concern anti-fertility activity of the leaves of Spondias mombin; antifertility potential of the Neem flower; anthropometry in Cameroon, TB immune reconstitution syndrome, training nurses and and endometriosis of the appendix.

A new college of Health Sciences born at Makerere

We wanted to inform you that 2008 will go down in the history of Makerere University as a landmark year! This year, the much awaited Makerere College of Health Sciences was officially gazetted! We wish to warmly congratulate Professors Nelson Sewankambo and Tuhe Kakitahi the principle and vice principle respectively on this. Dr. Stephen Kijjambu is the new dean of the faculty of medicine having taken over the mantle from Prof Sewankambo. We congratulate all of them on the new appointments that are very well deserved. African Health Sciences is proud to be associated with this historic achievement. Congratulations!

Web based submission of manuscripts

Finally the new system for web based submission of abstracts is up and running well despite initial teething challenges. Please submit your manuscripts online on the following website: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/mums-ahs

References

1. Emilio Ovuga, Thomas O. Oyok, E.B. Moro. Post traumatic stress disorder among former child soldiers attending a rehabilitative service and primary school education in northern Uganda. African Health Sciences 2008; 8(3): 136-141
2. C.A. Enwuru; A. Ogunledun; N. Idika; N.V. Enwuru; F. Ogbonna, M. Aniedobe, A. Adeiga. Fluconazole resistant opportunistic oro-pharyngeal candida and non-candida yeast-like isolates from HIV infected patients attending ARV clinics in Lagos, Nigeria. African Health Sciences 2008; 8(3): 142-148
3. Ashok Chauhan, Harmeet Singh, Tejpal Sharma and K. K. Manocha. Gemcitabine concurrent with radiation therapy for locally advanced head and neck carcinomas. African Health Sciences 2008; 8(3): 149-155
4. Mable T. Nakitto, Milton Mutto, Andrew Howard, Ronald Lett. Pedestrian traffic injuries among school children in Kawempe, Uganda African Health Sciences 2008; 8(3): 156-159
5. Agbakwuru EA, Salako AA, Olajide AO, Takure AO, Eziyi AK Hydrocelectomy under local anaesthesia in a Nigerian adult population. African Health Sciences 2008; 8(3): 160-162
6. Chukwuka N. Uchendu and Thomas Isek. Antifertility activity of aqueous ethanolic leaf extract of Spondias mombin (Anacardiaceae) in rats. African Health Sciences 2008; 8(3): 163-167
7. Gbotolorun S.C., Osinubi A.A., Noronha C.C., Okanlawon A.O. Antifertility potential of Neem flower extract on adult female Sprague-Dawley rats. African Health Sciences 2008;8(3): 168-173
8. Chiabi, P.F. Tchokoteu, V. Takou, F. Fru, F. Tchouine. Anthropometric measurements of children attending a vaccination clinic in Yaounde, Cameroon. African Health Sciences 2008; 8(3): 174-179
9. Ibrahim Taga, Valere Aime Soh Oumbe, Robert Johns, Mohsin Abbas Zaidi, Jeanne Ngogang Yonkeu, Illimar Altosaar. Youth of west-Cameroon are at high risk of developing IDD due to low dietary iodine and high dietary thiocyanate. African Health Sciences 2008; 8(3): 180-185
10. A.A. Musa, S.B. Adebayo, A.A.F. Banjo, E.A. Oyewole, S.O. Olateju. Emergency partial thyroidectomy under cervical block to relieve severe acute airway obstruction from thyroid cancer. African Health Sciences 2008; 8(3): 186-189
11. Joshua Baalwa, Harriet Mayanja-Kizza, Moses R. Kamya, Laurence John, Andrew Kambugu, Robert Colebunders. Worsening and unmasking of tuberculosis in HIV-1 infected patients after initiating highly active anti-retroviral therapy UgandaAfrican Health Sciences 2008 8(3): 190-195
12. Nasser S. Al Oulaqi, Ashraf F. Hefny, Sandyia Joshi, Khalid Salim, Fikri M. Abu Zidan. Endometriosis of the Appendix. African Health Sciences 2008; 8(1): 196-198
13. Ross G. Cooper and Usama ALAlami. Nursing student induction into university life a new approach. African Health Sciences 2008; 8(3): 199

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