Research Areas

1. Research Thematic Area

Theme: Human Health, Medicine and Nutrition

Attaining full health and high living standard are central aspects for all development efforts. To achieve this, several policies and strategies have been set though there are a lot of multidimensional complexities towards meeting high life standards. Therefore, it is necessary to identify these hurdles in achieving human aspirations. The government of Ethiopia has put health at its forefront goals and devised a three-tier health delivery system connecting the health extension program in health  promotion and prevention  services to highly specialized curative and rehabilitative services. Researching on major health issues and quality of health service provider or institutions is also given due emphasis in the country’s programmes.

This theme shall focus on priority areas of health promotion, disease prevention, treatment of diseases, and rehabilitative efforts to human health problems and major reproductive, maternal, and child health concerns. Host, pathogen, environment interaction in relation to the occurrence health and wellness in one aspect and disease and disability in the other hand shall also be dealt with under this theme.

Sub-theme 1.1. Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

Description

This sub-theme focuses on studies related to identification, development, and provision of safe water supply; management of human and animal wastes; prevention and control of communicable diseases with particular focus on tuberculosis, diarrheal diseases, HIV/AIDs ,water and airborne diseases, that are transmitted by vectors and animals;  diseases associated with improper housing; and occupational health and hygienic practices as well as safe working condition. The theme also deals with finding ways of protecting workers from potentially hazardous poisonous chemicals and toxic substances.

Research Areas

1. Magnitude, distribution, prevention of communicable diseases and risk of  health workers like HIV/AIDS,TB/MDR/TB, Upper respiratory and GIT infections
2. Prevention, magnitude and determinant of Non communicable diseases like diabetic, cardiovascular disease, mental Health problem , cancer , intentional and unintentional injury and renal diseases
3. Safe water supply and effective waste management
4. Awareness and performance of integrated community based case management/ICCM/
5. Occupational health safety and risk.

Sub-theme 1.2.  Curative and Rehabilitative Health Services and Disease Management 

Description

This sub-theme investigates the biopharmaceutical and pharmacological aspects of herbal medicines, development of diagnostics and diagnostic technologies, therapeutics, vaccines and biomedical technologies.  It also examines ways to enhance the quality and efficiency of human health care service delivery. In addition, it also focuses on studies related to epidemiological patterns, diagnostic, curative and control strategies for diseases and emergency cases at pediatric, surgical, medical, and obstetrics/ gynecology cases. It also focuses on chronic diseases. This sub-theme also encompasses studies on emerging but neglected communicable and non-communicable human health problems.

Research Areas

1. Diagnostic procedure, Treatment effectiveness and out come on communicable diseases like DOTS program ,IMNCI ,STI , HIV co-infection treatments, private DOTS program.
2. Diagnostic procedure, Treatment effectiveness and out come on non-communicable diseases like diabetic and cardiovascular, psychiatric, Renal diseases and suicidal attempts.
3. Drug availability, curability, procurement ,storage and disposal, toxicity, side effect, abuse, prescription pattern, resistance on infectious agents /vectors, Quality of diagnostic procedures ,Medical equipment.
4. Ethno pharmacology of traditional medicines, screening, curability

Sub-theme 1.3.  Nutrition, Food Safety , Dietetics, and Nutritional Problems

Description

Under this research sub-theme are studied food safety and wholesomeness in its production, storage, preparation, distribution, sale, and consumption. The sub-theme is meant for finding the means to safeguard quality of food from production to consumption. The sub-theme also focuses on food contamination by chemicals, toxins, and pathogenic microorganisms; food safety assurance and sanitary measures; and dietary practices. Under-nutrition, obesity, overweight and micronutrient deficiencies, and prevention and treatment of malnutrition at all levels are studied under this research area. The sub-theme gives particular attention to developing effective strategies for nutrition interventions during pregnancy, lactation, early infancy, childhood, and adolescent in both rural and urban areas, and focuses on how best to tackle micronutrient deficiencies.

Research Areas

1. Proper nutrition, food safety, food handlers’ health, health risk of straight food vender.
2. Child feeding practice ,breast feeding and weaning
3. Magnitude and determinant of maternal anemia, malnutrition, iodine salt utilization
4. HIV/AIDS and nutritional problem
5. Evaluation of nutritional measurement tools, school health interventions, essential nutritional action and other nutritional interventions.
6. Food therapy and dietetics

Sub-theme  1. 4.  Reproductive Health, Maternal and Child Health

Description 

This sub-theme focuses on reproductive health problems such as reproductive and sexual health issues with particular focus on women, children, and young people; sexually transmitted illnesses including HIV/AIDS; substance use/abuse; unmet need for reproductive health services; and harmful traditional practice on young people, women, and children. Maternal health problems associated with pregnancy and childbirth, nutrition and hygienic practices during pregnancy and lactation are vital thrusts of this sub-theme. Furthermore, research on child health issues, including health promotion activities, causes of child morbidity and mortality, ways of creating favorable and productive socio-economic and learning conditions for young people, is also a concern of this sub-theme.

Research Areas

1. Reproductive and sexual health
2. Coverage and quality of maternal and youth friendly health services
3. Maternal morbidity and mortality like Preeclampsia and Eclampsia, obstructed labor, PPH, uterine rupture, Hemorrhage.
4. Child and neonatal health ,birth adverse outcome , immunization practice and cold chain management
5. Harmful Traditional Practice

Thematic 1. 5.  Quality of health care services, Information system, referral system, and resource handling.

Health organizations encounter many challenges accompanied with new requirements, namely; customer dissatisfaction, increasing cost of the health services, competition and reducing the reimbursement for services. All of these factors force the health organizations to adopt a system that can meet these requirements, dealing with the continuous changes, technology changes, increase in the health services costing, increase in competitive position and gaining customers’ satisfaction. Supply chain management (SCM) deals with different categories of flows; flows of drugs, medical supplies, flows of information and flows of funds within and among supply chain partners in order to satisfy consumer health needs in the most efficient way. This issues determine the quality of health services and tried to  be addressed in these thematic Area.

2. Efficiency of Health care financing and supply management
3. Health care cost for chronic disease
4. Quality and timeliness of report and evidence based practices
5. Quality of laboratory facilities, referral system
6. Utilization of appropriate computerized data management technology
7. Evaluation of health extension programme, professional development ,and training

2. Projects under implementation and has been implemented

3. ave Maternal lives with a promising device in East and West Gojjam zones
4. Combating trachoma through school health trachoma prevention and control strategies in East Gojjam zone
5. Life skill training for preparatory school students
6. Straight children life improvement project
7. Podoconiasis prevention and treatment project

3.  Funded researches number and year

4. Total publications in 2013 academic year

• 308 Research Articles

5. Future priority agendas
   • Establish Model Pharmacy
   • Establish Demographic and health surveillance site/Health research center/
   • Establish Model Health center
   • Establish diagnostic center
   • Establish Counseling and rehabilitation center

Thus, the college can be effective in research. Community service and teaching