Browsing by Author "Kazembe, Lawrence N."

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Age and sex-specific risk factors for non-communicable diseases among adults in Namibia: A case study of diabetes and hypertension
    (University of Namibia, 2018) Indongo, Nelago; Kazembe, Lawrence N.
    Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have become a major public health concern in both developed and developing countries. In Namibia, NCD attributable deaths are increasing; estimated at about 43% of all the deaths. Mapping context-specific risk factors of NCDs is critical for public health interventions. This study aimed to determine the age and sex-specific prevalence and associated factors of NCDs, particularly diabetes and high blood pressure among the adult population in Namibia. Using the 2013 Namibia Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) data, we generate agerelated charts for both women and men, and fitted separate multiple logistic regression models for men and women, controlling for age. Our findings show that, for both women and men, the risk of diabetes and high blood pressure increased by age. However, older men were more likely to have high blood pressure than women. Equally, for both women and men, the risk of diabetes and hypertension disease increase with body mass index and wealth index. Evidently, implementation of gender and age-specific interventions may accelerate reduction of disparities in non-communicable diseases burden. These may include interventions that encourage change of lifestyle like engaging in physical activities, eating healthy and regular check-ups.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Explaining marital patterns and trends in Namibia: A regression analysis of 1992, 2000 and 2006 demographic and survey data
    (2013) Pazvakawambwa, Lillian; Indongo, Nelago; Kazembe, Lawrence N.
    BACKGROUND: Marriage is a significant event in life-course of individuals, and creates a system that characterizes societal and economic structures. Marital patterns and dynamics over the years have changed a lot, with decreasing proportions of marriage, increased levels of divorce and co-habitation in developing countries. Although, such changes have been reported in African societies including Namibia, they have largely remained unexplained. OBJECTIVES and METHODS: In this paper, we examined trends and patterns of marital status of women of marriageable age: 15 to 49 years, in Namibia using the 1992, 2000 and 2006 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data. Trends were established for selected demographic variables. Two binary logistic regression models for ever-married versus never married, and cohabitation versus married were fitted to establish factors associated with such nuptial systems. Further a multinomial logistic regression models, adjusted for bio-demographic and socio-economic variables, were fitted separately for each year, to establish determinants of type of union (never married, married and cohabitation). RESULTS and CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate a general change away from marriage, with a shift in singulate mean age at marriage. Cohabitation was prevalent among those less than 30 years of age, the odds were higher in urban areas and increased since 1992. Be as it may marriage remained a persistent nuptiality pattern, and common among the less educated and employed, but lower odds in urban areas. Results from multinomial model suggest that marital status was associated with age at marriage, total children born, region, place of residence, education level and religion. We conclude that marital patterns have undergone significant transformation over the past two decades in Namibia, with a coexistence of traditional marriage framework with co-habitation, and sizeable proportion remaining unmarried to the late 30s. A shift in the singulate mean age is becoming distinctive in the Namibian society.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    A hurdle negative binomial regression model for non-marital fertility in Namibia
    (2014) Pazvakawambwa, Lillian; Indongo, Nelago; Kazembe, Lawrence N.
    The rise of non-marital fertility, which seems to defy the Bongaarts model by decoupling marriage from fertility, has become a subject of interest in both the developed and developing world. Consequences of non-marital fertility are mostly negative particularly in developing countries. In Namibia, although premarital childbearing has been reported to be high and increasing, no studies have explicitly analyzed factors influencing non-marital fertility. This paper uses data from the 2006/7 Namibia DHS to establish the determinants of non-marital fertility among women by applying a two-part model, with one part to describe the presence of non-marital birth and the other part to explain its intensity (number of children born). Using the number of children ever born as an outcome, we explored various count data models. Based on the Voung statistics model comparison, we settled for the Hurdle logit Negative Binomial regression to model the number of non-marital births. Non-marital fertility in Namibia is associated with the age, with young women likely to have lower fertility compared to older women. Women with secondary or higher education had lower fertility compared those with no formal education. Findings also show that rural women higher fertility propensity compared to their urban counterparts even though there was no significant difference in fertility intensity. With regard to socio-economic status, fertility intensity decreased as the women got richer. Intervention efforts should focus on promoting education among girls and women especially in rural areas to improve their socio-economic status, reduce teenage pregnancy and non-marital fertility.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Indigenous knowledge of Namibia
    (University of Namibia Press, 2015) Chinsembu, Kazhila C.; Cheikhyoussef, Ahmad; Mumbengegwi, Davis R.; Kandawa-Schulz, M.; Kasanda, Choshi D.; Kazembe, Lawrence N.
    Why this book, Indigenous Knowledge of Namibia? Nowadays, indigenous knowledge has gained prominence and attracted public interest due to its numerous applications in science and innovation: biotechnology, health, bioprospecting, pharmaceuticals, medicinal plants, agriculture, food preparation, mathematics, natural resource management, climate change and astronomy. There are many niche players in the field of indigenous knowledge in Namibia and many studies being carried out. Thus, although not all aspects of Namibia's indigenous knowledge are covered in this book, most readers from various walks of life - laypersons, scholars and policy makers - will find this book a very useful companion. The content of this book serves as a good starting point, because 'we cannot go further into the future without looking deeper into the past' (anonymous). Through their laboratory and scientific studies, the authors of this book server as guides through the journey to discover and record the indigenous knowledge of Namibia society. More importantly, their individual and collective works endevour to add value to Namibia's indigenous knowledge. The voyage and value addition are aimed at bringing greater clarity to some of the most perplexing aspects of indigenous knowledge in Namibia. Authors are aware of local communities need to benefit from their indigenous knowledge. That being said, the aim of this book is not to appropriate the indigenous knowledge of local communities, as most indigenous knowledge is already in the public domain.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Leaving no one behind
    (University of Namibia, 2015) Kazembe, Lawrence N.; Archibong, Edet F.
    The African continent continues to be faced with myriad of challenges, particularly in the public health sector. A few figures exemplify the magnitude of the problem. Infant and maternal mortality remains stubbornly high, compared to other regions of the world. According to the Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation [1-2], the risk of a child dying before completing the first year of age was highest in the WHO African Region (55 per 1000 live births), over five times higher than that in the WHO European Region (10 per 1000 live births). Similarly, every day about 800 women die due to complications of pregnancy and child birth. Of the 800 daily maternal deaths, 500 occur in sub-Saharan Africa and 190 in Southern Asia, compared to 6 in developed countries. The risk of a woman in a developing country dying from a maternal-related cause during her lifetime is about 23 times higher compared to a woman living in a developed country
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Science: An all encompassing field
    (University of Namibia, 2013) Kazembe, Lawrence N.; Archibong, Edet F.; Chimwamurombe, Percy M.; Singh, Shyam; Chinsembu, Kazhila C.
    What unites science, as Sir David Cox mentioned, is not the subject matter we all work in, but the methodology and the thought process that help solve the problems that arise [1]. Put differently, it is the replicability of its methods, the validity of its findings and reliability of its instruments and techniques. The diversity in science now emphasizes that not a single subject matter will work alone in isolation - especially if you are working in applied sciences, but has to learn from others. Even so, contemporary applied sciences have extended this collaboration to the social sciences [2]. For instance, in implementation science they have learnt to involve social sciences to inform human behaviour if scaling-up of interventions is to be a success.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Today, tomorrow, forever
    (University of Namibia, 2013) Kazembe, Lawrence N.; Neema, Isak
    Early diagnosis and prompt treatment of febrile conditions is a key strategy towards control of the disease from progressing to severe or fatal stages. In this paper, we studied the timing of treatment among children with a history of diarrhoea and fever in Namibia, while simultaneously investigated socio-economic and spatial factors that influence the treatment seeking behaviour. A multinomial probit model with ordered categories was estimated, and results confirmed that there was significant spatial variation at regional level. Socio-economic factors also explain treatment seeking having controlled for spatial dependence. The spatial variation can be interpreted as representing unobserved heterogeneity not captured by the data or possible clustering inherent in nested survey data.