Browsing by Author "Paul, Bogere"

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    Consumption of Raw Herbal Medicines Is Associated with Major Public Health Risks amongst Ugandans
    (Journal of Environmental and Public Health, 2020-06-03) Fred, Ssempijja; Keneth Iceland, Kasozi; Ejike, Daniel Eze; Andrew, Tamale; Sylvia Anurika, Ewuzie; Kevin, Matama; Justine, Ekou; Paul, Bogere; Regan, Mujinya; Grace Henry, Musoke; Jovile Kasande, Atusiimirwe; Gerald, Zirintunda; Muhamudu, Kalange; Joel, Lyada; Ritah, Kiconco; Theophilus, Pius; Christopher, Nandala; Roland Mugisha, Kamugisha; Yunusu, Hamira; Edgar Mario, Fernandez; Simon Peter, Musinguzi
    Community consumption of herbal plants in developing countries is a common practice, however, scarcity of information on their physiochemical composition is a major public health concern. In Uganda, Vernonia amygdalina is of interest in rural communities due to its therapeutical action on both bacterial and protozoal parasites, however no studies have been conducted to assess the heavy metal concentrations in traditional plants used in alternative medicine. +e aim of the study was to establish concentrations of heavy metals in Vernonia amygdalina, model the estimated daily intake (EDI), and assess both the non- cancer-related health risk using the target hazard quotient (THQ), and the risk related to cancer through the incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) for the Ugandan population. Methods. Leaves of Vernonia amygdalina were collected from 20 georeferenced villages and processed into powder in the laboratory using standard methods. +ese were then analyzed in the laboratory using an atomic absorption spectrometer for lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), cobalt (Co), iron (Fe), cadmium (Cd), and nickel (Ni). Concentrations were compared against the World Health Organization (WHO) limits. +e EDI, THQ, and ILCR were modelled and significance was measured at 95% confidence. Results. +e study showed that mean ± SEM concentrations of heavy metals were highest in the order of Cr, 121.8 ± 4.291 ppm > Ni, 84.09 ± 2.725 ppm > Zn, 53.87 ± 2.277 ppm > Pb, Hindawi Journal of Environmental and Public Health Volume 2020, Article ID 8516105, 10 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/8516105 40.61 ± 3.891 ppm > Cu, 28.75 ± 2.202 ppm > Fe, 14.15 ± 0.7271 ppm > Co, 7.923 ± 0.7674 ppm > Cd, 0.1163 ± 0.005714 ppm. Concentrations of Pb, Cr, Zn, Co, and Ni were significantly higher than the WHO limits. +e EDI was significantly higher in children than in adults, demonstrating an increased risk of toxicity in children. +e THQ and ILCR were over 1000 times higher in all Ugandans, demonstrating the undesirable health risks following oral consumption of Vernonia amygdalina due to very high Cr and Ni toxicities, respectively. Conclusion. Consumption of raw Vernonia amygdalina was associated with a high carcinogenic risk, demonstrating a need to enact policies to promote physiochemical screening of herbal medicines used in developing countries against toxic compounds
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    Descriptive Analysis of Heavy Metals Content of Beef from Eastern Uganda and their Safety for Public Consumption.
    (Frontiers in Nutrition, 2021) Keneth Iceland, Kasozi; Paul, Bogere
    In this study, we initiated an effort to generate information about beef safety in Uganda. Our entry point was to assess by atomic absorption spectrophotometry the levels of essential elements copper (Cu), cobalt (Co), iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn), and non-essential elements lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), and cadmium (Cd) in 40 beef samples collected from within and around Soroti (Uganda). The information was used to evaluate the safety of consuming such beef against the World Health Organization (WHO) limits. The latter was accomplished by (i) estimating the daily intake (EDI) of each metal in the study area, (ii) modeling the non-cancer health risk using the target hazard quotient (THQ) and (iii) modeling the cancer risk using the incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR). The study finds that the mean concentrations (±95% CI) and EDI were in the order of Fe > Zn > Cr > Ni > Pb > Co > Cu > Cd. Cancer risk was found to be due to Ni > Cr > Cd > Pb and significantly higher in children than adults. The latter particularly demonstrates the importance of Ni poisoning in the study area. Overall, while essential elements in our beef samples were below WHO limits (hence no health risks), non-essential elements had high health and cancer risks due to higher levels of Cr and Ni.
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    Pandemic panic and anxiety in developing countries. Embracing One Health offers practical strategies in management of COVID-19 for Africa
    (The Pan African Medical Journal., 2020) Keneth Iceland, Kasozi; Regan, Mujinya; Paul, Bogere; Isaac, Echoru; Simon Peter, Musinguzi
    The coronavirus, COVID-19 outbreak has now affected over 60% of African countries in less than two months [1], gaining a foothold through major economic and transport hubs on the African continent including Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya. Travel restrictions imposed against citizens from countries with major outbreaks including China, USA and those in Europe were too late [2,3]. African Union member states as of early April 2020 are reporting 6,470 cases and 241 deaths from COVID-19 reporting growth as “close to exponential”.