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Background: Globally, 15 million babies are born preterm (<37 weeks gestation) each year, and more than 1 million of those do not survive their first month of life. (Lawn, 2006). Preterm birth accounts for 75% of all perinatal mortality in some series. Causes of deaths and antecedent pregnancy...

Background: Ectopic pregnancy is defined as a pregnancy outside the uterine cavity and is a life-threatening emergency in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology. It is a most common cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in the first trimester of pregnancy. In resource-constrained settings,...

Objectives: Infertility is a public health problem which in Africa south of the Sahara affects up to 40 percent of women. As such, infertility has devastating psychosocial consequences on affected couples. The World Health Organization estimates that there are 60-80 million infertile couples...

Background: Sexual assault, which encompasses defilement and rape, is a public health and public safety problem with most victims being women and children. The consequences of sexual assault include physical injuries, psychological trauma, depression, suicide or suicidal attempt and...

Caesarean section, an obstetric abdominal operation which allows for the delivery of an infant from the uterus poses a risk of infection to women. Most of these cases have been reported in developing countries such as Zambia. Patient records at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka show a...

Background: Mycobacterium tuberculosis is treated with four drugs: Isoniazid (INH), Rifampicin (RIF), Pyrazinamide (PZA) and Ethambutol (E). The emergence of drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis threatens the success of national tuberculosis (TB) programmes. Zambia has recorded a...

A pelvic abscess is a pus filled cavity in the pelvis due to infection. It is typically the result of acute Pelvic Inflammably Disease (PID). Pelvic abscesses are a major gynaecological problem in contemporary gynaecological practice. This research paper made a retrospective study into a 3...

Background: HIV1&2, HBsAg, anti-HCV and syphilis antibody are mandatory disease marker tests of Transfusion Transmissible Infections (TTIs) conducted on every donated unit of blood in Zambia. Blood is donated by first time voluntary donors and repeat/regular donors of different ages. Both...

Cervical cancer universally is clinically staged using the FIGO staging system performed on examination under anaesthesia (EUA). The EUA staging method is no longer thought to be mandatory but optional in staging cervical cancer. This is emerging from the on-going debate within scientific...

Background: Fetal distress is a common indication for an emergency caesarean section (C/S). The term fetal distress refers to the presence of signs in a pregnant woman that suggests that the fetus may be compromised and this is manifest by fetal heart rate abnormalities and/or presence of fresh...