Masters Degrees (DCMSS)

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Electronic commerce in Namibia: Its growth, present status and potential
(University of Namibia, 2004) Magenya, John J.
Wide varieties of trading methods are rapidly being replaced by the use of computers and communications networks the world over. This new concept of trading is known as Electronic Commerce (e-commerce). Great potentials exist for saving costs and improving services by utilizing this technology. Examples of phenomenal successes and staggering cost savings are just too many. Profits in millions of dollars are mentioned with ease, as a result of applying e-commerce. It is apparent that the industry is trading a few paces ahead of the academics in the area of e-commerce. A research study on e-commerce trends in the Namibian industry was therefore found necessary. This research work is intended to make a contribution on the knowledge of e-commerce status in Namibia and help in the socio/economic development in the country, especially to the small business community. Key technological inhibitors and drivers of business-to-business and business-to-customer e-commerce have been identified and presented in this research. Electronic Commerce offers an opportunity for business development. In Namibia, we are being left behind by the developed world mainly because of lack of awareness of the existence of e-commerce and its potential advantages. Even in cases where we may be aware of its existence, the application software, which is used in this area, is expensive and not easily affordable by small businesses. Another problem is that some small businesses cannot be able to use e-commerce when they are struggling to sustain themselves economically. The specific case presented in this thesis is that of mushroom growers in Namibia. This research develops a trading software package that is used by trading partners in the country to improve their trading practices, and thereby benefit from the advantages that e-commerce offers. Although applied to mushroom growers, however, the concept is applicable to any other group of commodity producers. The hypotheses that there exist poor knowledge and poor use of e-commerce in Namibia; that companies in Namibia can improve their efficiency and cut on costs by using e-commerce; and that the existing infrastructure in the country is good enough to support e-commerce activities have been assessed and analyzed in this work. This was accomplished by administering questionnaires, personal interviews, and developing a computerized software. The computerized system, which consists of a Web site supported by a database management software and other networking technologies, has been created and used by a number of students in a computer laboratory simulating trading among each other. The effect of this method of trading has been observed and recommendations made to extend the technology to other businesses. The research was conducted in Windhoek.
Sharing open source software application services, challenges and opportunities for the Namibia SME sector
(2007) Lumbasi, Jeremiah N.
Abstract provided by author
Designing and implementing a scalable, secure network using expert systems
(2007) Lukwesa, Katongo
Deployment of a sustainable, production-grade VoIP system based on open source software component in an educational institution
(2008) Mwansa, Gardner
Abstract provided by author:Governments and their agencies are often challenged by high cost and flexible telephonic and data services. Emerging technologies, such as those of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) that allow convergent systems where voice and data networks can utilise the same network to provide both services, can be used to improve such services
An evaluation of browser-based clients for asterisk
(2010) Oyedele, Yemisi
Abstract provided by author
e-Government interoperability
(2011) Van Staden, Stefanus
Abstract provided by author
A statistical analysis of voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) data to determine the risk factors for HIV infection in Namibia
(2014) Chamboko, Richard
In an effort to provide information that can guide prevention strategies, this study determined the risk factors for HIV infection in Namibia and estimated the potential for HIV prevention. The study adopted a cross sectional research design with a sample of 14296 VCT clients from Oshana, Khomas and Kavango regions of Namibia for the period of 2009 to 2012. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify risk factors for HIV infection among VCT clients. For risk factors which are amenable to intervention, the Population Attributable Risk Percent (PAR %) was computed. The magnitudes of PAR% were then used as the basis for selecting risk factors that pose the greatest health threat to the population for prioritisation in HIV programming. From a targeting perspective, sex, condom use, marital status, region of residence, male circumcision status, age and level of education were found to be significant predictors of HIV infection. Alcohol use was not associated with HIV infection in these regions. Among these risk factors, not using condoms and not being circumcised are amenable to intervention and interventions that eliminate exposure to these risk factors can avert up to 22% and 18% of the disease burden respectively assuming all other conditions remain the same.
An event history analysis of socio-economic determinants of adult mortality in Namibia
(2014) Kandjimbi, Alina
Adult mortality remains a neglected public issue in Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA), with most policy instruments concentrated on child and maternal health. Lack of vital registration system in SSA, further, has made it impossible to accurately estimate adult mortality. However, interest to better understand the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS, which has a greater impact on adults, has rejuvenated research in adult mortality. Understanding the hazard of and factors associated with adult mortality is crucial towards designing programmes and interventions aiming at improving the well-being of adults. The main objective of the study was to apply an event history discrete time survival analysis approach to elucidate effects of socio-economic factors on adult mortality in Namibia. Specifically I simultaneously estimated the effects of socio-economic determinants on adult mortality in Namibia; as well as investigated geographical effects of location on adult mortality in Namibia, using spatial frailty models). The study used adult mortality data of 25,854 individuals aged 15 years and above, from the 2006/07 Namibia Demographic and Health Survey. The socio-economic factors used for the study included the type of residence (urban/rural); region; age of household head; sex of household head; marital status; education; nearest health facility; means to the nearest health; time to the nearest health facility and wealth index. The explanatory analysis was carried out using the Kaplan Meier curves, with the log rank test used to assess significance. Further geo-additive survival models were carried out using the Bayesian framework for joint modelling of fixed, non-linear and spatial frailties. The proposed Bayesian model assumed the following prior distributions: for the fixed effects I assigned diffuse priors, while the baseline was fitted using penalized random walks priors. For unstructured random effects and the structured spatial effects, the exchangeable normal prior and conditional autoregressive prior respectively were assumed. Results from the best model, which adjusted for the baseline, unstructured random effects, spatially structured effects as well as the fixed effects at a constituency level, showed that the overall baseline hazard of adult mortality declined constantly from age 15 up to age 40 years. The hazard of mortality subsequently increased from age 60 years. Lack of resources to improve the health, wellbeing and living standards of adult and old age people may be responsible for the increase in hazard of mortality from age 60 years. Further, results show a clear disadvantage for adults in rural areas; for those not married as well as for those of low wealth ranking particularly the poorest, for those in female headed households. Furthermore, in terms of health factor, the result shows that adult seeking health care from hospital, as well as traveling to nearest health facility within minutes and accessing the nearest health facility by means of a car provided an advantage of better survival at old age. In terms of the geographic effects, the hazard map, fitted at a constituency level, shows that that there was high hazard of an adult dying in the North Eastern part of the country while in the North Western and Central East there was a reduced risk in the hazard of an adult mortality. The unstructured random effects, again fitted at a constituency level, indicated that there was spatial variation in the hazard of adult mortality at a constituency level with constituencies for Caprivi and Erongo regions in the lower hazard, while constituencies for Oshikoto and Otjozondjupa region were at the higher hazard of adult mortality. It is hoped that this study particularly the spatial analysis section will help health planners, policy makers to identifying specific areas with high hazard of adult mortality in order to design, evaluate programmes and develop strategies aiming at improving the health and well-being of adults. Moreover, if the country is to achieve national development goals such as Vision 2030, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and National Development Programme 4 (NDP4), then efforts should be made to support adults in areas with high hazard of mortality while at the same time considering the impacts of socio-economic factors, since adults form part of the economic and productive age group for a population.
Shared-component model with application to mapping gender specific pattern in HIV testing and condom use in Namibia
(2014) Mwahi, Etuhole M.
The main objective of the study was to examine gender-specific and shared spatial variation in HIV testing and condom use in Namibia for targeted health promotion interventions. The study used data from the Namibia Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) carried out between 2006 and 2007. Bayesian hierarchical spatial mapping techniques were applied to generate specific and shared spatial patterns in HIV testing and condom use. Particularly, a number of Bayesian Structured Additive Regression (STAR) models were fitted and followed by joint spatial models through the shared component latent variables approach. Firstly, we modelled HIV testing and condom use in males and females with fixed effects such as educational level, frequency of reading newspapers and magazines, frequency of listening the radio, frequency of watching television, wealth index, times away from home, smoking, alcohol consumption, employment status, age at first sexual intercourse, type of residence and marital status whereas spatial references to the communities were modelled as structured and unstructured spatial effects. Secondly, diffuse priors were assumed for the fixed effects, while conditional autoregressive priors were assigned to the structured spatial effects and exchangeable priors for the unstructured random effects. Simulation techniques through Markov Chain Monte Carlo were applied for model estimation. Common and divergent patterns of HIV testing and condom use emerged. Common areas among men and women on HIV testing and condom use were observed in Khomas, Erongo, Oshikoto, and Oshana, while divergent patterns were estimated in Caprivi, Kavango and Karas regions. Urban influence was also captured in the model. Exposure to media was one of the covariates that were found to have a positive effect on the use of condoms and HIV testing. The study underscore the usefulness of Bayesian hierarchical mapping model in highlighting areas lagging behind in the uptake of HIV testing and condom use with emphasis on differences between men and women in the same area. We found that compared with gender-specific modeling approach, the shared component model offered useful additional information when modeling HIV testing and condom use in men and women. The information will be valuable for guiding public health actions that are targeted at the overall reduction of risk-sexual behaviours through HIV testing and the use of condoms.
Access coverage for remote connectivity framework (ACRCF): Facilitating scholarship awarding in Namibia
(2015) Ndiwakalunga, Immanuel O.
The corporate world was faced with the challenge of community development. As a result, Namibian companies have been offering scholarships to assist students as best as they can. It was however an insurmountable task to assist the populace without clarity of information or background knowledge. Consequently, the selection of students for scholarships was arguably questionable. Some students awarded scholarships were from rural areas and others from urban areas. However, notice had to be taken of those students in remote area schools where connectivity was lacking. In this age of growing technology, solutions to the dilemma of leaving out worthy students for scholarships should be available with the use of Long Term Evolution (LTE) technologies. The LTE powered technologies would provide seamless interlinking of remote students to the scholarship providers. LTE technologies based on the Access Coverage Remote Connectivity Framework (ACRCF) proposed in this study would deal with the high quality content requirements. The technology would provide a feasible service for the provision of improved interview sessions between students and sponsor selection panels. The interview panels would not have to request students to travel long distances to the interview venues, hence saving travel costs and time by ensuring students are interviewed economically. Interviews would be able to take place over Voice over Internet Protocol (VoiP) and other interfaces under the ACRCF infrastructure. The sponsors would be able to access student information readily at their fingertips through the providence of high quality presented student data on a website maintained under the ACRCF infrastructure. Terminals would be placed at the various remote schools to ensure that student data was updated and ready for use as required. These nodes at the various remote schools would hence be updated with all the student records at the specific remote schools to ensure that there was up-to-date data on the systems at the click of a button. A qualitative research approach was undertaken for the purposes of the study to explore the derivations from case studies. Interviews were held with various sponsors and students to confirm the current state of affairs. They were also held to establish the need for the ACRCF infrastructure to link sponsors to the remote students to improve the scholarship selection process. A quantitative research approach was used in the form of questionnaires handed out to various sponsoring institutions for sampling purposes. The data was analysed with use of the SPSS statistical software program. The findings indicated that selections for scholarships had a need to be improved in the area of equitability. Equitable selection would provide equal opportunities for all students whether in resource rich town centres, rural or remote areas.
Analysis of causes and risk factors associated with maternal deaths in Namibia
(2015) Mulama, Lihongeni N.
Maternal mortality is a major health concern in Namibia as it is the case in most countries. The rate at which women are dying due to pregnancy related causes is high and the cause as well as risk factors are not well explored. The main objective of this research was to identify the causes and risk factors associated with maternal mortality in Namibia and thus the study described the socio-demographic characteristics and three delays that lead to maternal deaths in Namibia. The paper also aims to propose strategies for midwifery practice, in order to prevent maternal deaths in future. Data on health facility based review of maternal records from 13 regions in the country during the period of 2008-2012 was used. This was then complemented by the 2011 Namibia Population and Housing census data. For the health facility data, a case control study design was applied, with a total number of 154 maternal deaths included in the study as cases and 770 women of reproductive ages who fell pregnant during the study period and survived as controls. A logistic regression model was used to assess the risk factors associated with maternal deaths. For the Census data, measures of maternal mortality, such as maternal mortality ratio, maternal mortality rate, lifetime risk of maternal death, and proportion of maternal deaths among women of reproductive age were estimated. Based on the health facility data, of the 154 maternal deaths reviewed, 58.4% were from direct maternal deaths and 41.6% were from indirect maternal deaths. Haemorrhage (37.8%), eclampsia (24.4%) and puerperal sepsis (23.3%) were the leading causes for direct maternal deaths. About 65% of the haemorrhage cases; 64% of the eclampsia cases and 53% of the puerperal sepsis occurred to women who lived in rural areas. The predominant recognizable indirect causes were HIV (45.3%); pneumonia (23.4%) and tuberculosis (17.2%). Maternal deaths are less likely to occur to women living together with their partner than those who are not living together (OR = 0.53). Most women experienced first (51.3%) and third delays (51.9%). Only few women experienced a second delay (12.9%). However it is important to note that some women experienced more than one delay and in some cases all delays were experienced. Using the 2011 Census data, maternal mortality ratio was 547 deaths per 100 000 live births. The highest ratio of 1954 deaths per 100,000 live births is recorded for women in the age group of 45-49 years. Maternal Mortality Ratio is also observed to be high among the teenage mothers between the age group of 15-19 years with an estimate of 421 deaths per 100,000 live births as compared to 318 deaths per 100,000 live births estimated for women aged 20-24 This analysis reinforced previous findings pointing to the fact that haemorrhage and eclampsia are the leading causes of maternal mortality in Namibia and other developing countries. This indicates the need for better obstetric care, particularly for women over thirty years of age.
Modelling stated preference of air travellers with applications towards determining the best airline business in Namibia
(University of Namibia, 2015) Amwaama, Alisa M.
Stated preference (SP) experiments are becoming an increasing popular survey methodology for investigating air travelers’ choices. Analysis of this behavior, which is an element of the demand prediction, helps for a better future planning and development of competing airlines. In this thesis, emphasis is stressed on the stated preferences of passengers in choosing between low cost carriers (LCC) and full service carriers (FSC). Binary logit and probit model and latent class model were employed on primary data collected from departing air passengers at Eros airport and Hosea Kutako International airport inWindhoek - Namibia, to model passengers’ stated preferences and examine the determinants of carrier choice between LCC and FSC in Namibia. Major findings show that: airfare, age, income and purpose of travel are significantly important with respect to passenger choice. Furthermore, we observed that passengers have different preferences for different destination regions be it domestic, regional or international. For domestic and regional flights (short haul) they prefer LCC, while for international flights (long haul) they opted for FSC. In addition, majority of the passengers were travelling for business purpose, hence their tickets were bought by their respective employers. Most passengers indicated that they were willing to fly LCC if it was available in Namibia because of it’s low fares. There was an indication that air tickets were not affordable and these are a big concern to passengers. Presumably, if ticket prices can come come down or introduce a LCC in Namibia then many will consider flying. This study concluded that, based on the interviewed passengers’ profiles, the best and appropriate carrier in Namibia is a low cost carrier. Introducing a LCC in Namibia might be a viable alternative which may ensure sustainability.
Public sector data centre consolidation (PSEDCC): Enhancing the management of information communication technology infrastructure in Namibia
(University of Namibia, 2016) Kamukwema, Tomas
Inconsistencies in the design, security, storage, disaster controls, performance, management, budget allocations, and electricity consumption were some of the challenges faced by the Namibian Public Sector Data Centres. In addition, the above challenges had led many organizations to rationalize the way they design and manage their ICT infrastructure resources. In this study, the above challenges have led to the introduction of Public Sector Data Centre Consolidation (PSEDCC) architecture which is aimed at enhancing the design and management of Government ICT infrastructure resources in Namibia. Moreover, PSEDCC integrates all Government Data Centres into two sites only-one of which is a Disaster Recovery (DR) site for countering possible disasters in case they occur. This implies that all IT personnel, physical buildings, Information Systems and critical services such as email, storage, backup, and Internet would be centralized and comprehensively managed. As a result, the design and provisioning of ICT services would be standardized henceforth the technological gap between public institutions would be significantly narrowed and overall IT spending would be reduced. It further simplifies Data Centre administration and operation management through the use of Private Cloud and virtualization technologies.
Cyber security risk management and threat contol model (CSRM-TCM) a study carried out to enhance the protection of information in the Namibian public service
(University of Namibia, 2016) Uudhila, Jambeko M.
The persistent threats of the cyber environment drives organizations to adopt risk management as a crucial practice of minimizing dangers to their information assets. However, focusing on technology alone to address these risks is no longer sufficient. IT governance which enables senior managers to align and integrate technology with business strategies through clear policy development and good practice of IT control is essential. The Namibian Public Service (NPS) currently lacks policy guidance on cyber security risk management. Consequently Offices/Ministries/Agencies (O/M/As) depend on technology to manage security risks facing them. However, this effort is not coordinated between various O/M/A. Therefore it presents security challenges to the government network as various systems continues to be interconnected. To address these risks, the study investigated behaviors of different O/M/As in the NPS. The focus was predominantly on the management of information assets in the absence of standardized cyber security best practices. The study concluded that although there may be an abundance of technologies in the (NPS), the absence cyber security policies, standards and guidelines has led to a huge disparity regarding the way in which Information Systems (IS) are managed in various O/M/As. Hence, this poses security challenges. The study further identified threats, vulnerabilities facing the NPS and developed the Cyber Security Management and Threat Control (CSRM-TC) model. The model is believed to assist IT officials and policy makers in the NPS to understand challenges facing their information assets. This would further assist them to make appropriate decisions when developing cyber security policies, standards, guidelines and procedures according to best practices.
Assessing the effects of social safety nets on poverty in Namibia: Analysis of food expenditure of elderly persons
(University of Namibia, 2016) Shimpanda, Frieda
The purpose of this study was to evaluate in-patients and out-patients satisfaction of service delivery: A case study of Katutura Hospital, Windhoek. The main objectives of this research were to: identify the factors that contribute to poor service delivery at the Katutura Hospital, explore the factors affecting provision of service delivery in the public health sector, identify the service quality dimensions used by the Patients to evaluate service delivery and evaluate customer satisfaction levels for services being delivered at the Katutura Hospital. The study used quantitative and qualitative approaches using a survey technique. Questionnaires were administered to 120 employees and 30 patients at Katutura Hospital. Participants were approached to partake in the survey after work. Quantitative data from questionnaires were analyzed using the descriptive statistics with the help of data analysis software - Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Qualitative analysis was performed to assess the views and perceptions of the respondents on service delivery by the hospital. The study made use of frequency tables, charts, graphs and pie charts obtained from the analysis using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS. The researcher adopted the stratified random sampling technique to select respondents as the study population was not homogeneous as it consisted of doctors, nurses, management and patients. The respondents were divided into two (2) strata in order to ensure that each was appropriately represented in the survey sample. Stratum 1, comprised the healthcare service providers; and Stratum 2, comprised the service healthcare receivers. Data was collected using questionnaires and the responses were collected and analysed. Data analysis included identifying and comparing existence or absence of factors using the SSPS package. The target population included all professional nurses, doctors, management (overall for Departmental and Unit level) and patients (outpatients and inpatients).Baseline results revealed various factors which affect service delivery at public health sector in Namibia.
Food innsecurity and quality of life in informal settlements of Katutura, Windhoek, Namibia
(University of Namibia, 2017) Mbongo, Laina Tulipomwene
Globally, with rapid urbanization in most cities of the World, more people are now living in urban areas than in rural areas. The housing backlog coupled with a shortage of housing subsidies means that for many there is no alternative but to live in informal settlements. Urban food insecurity is often overlooked since at aggregate level, economic and social conditions in urban areas are much better than those in rural areas. The urban poor often live in neighborhoods with poor sanitation, high environmental pollution and therefore high and chronic exposure to health hazards. Such unhealthy living conditions aggravate food insecurity and quality of life of individuals. This study explored linkages between food insecurity and quality of life in informal settlements in Windhoek, Namibia and determine how socio economic factors mediate and explain both. A cross-sectional quantitative design through a two-stage cluster survey sampling was applied. The sample size of the study was 416 respondents selected from 40 Primary Sampling Units (PSU’s). The research instrument used in this study was the face to face administered questionnaire, distributed to 416 respondents. The study measured three (3) indicators of food security namely, Household Food Insecurity Access Scores (HFIAS), Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) and Months of inadequate Household Food Provisioning (MIHFP). Lived Poverty Index (LPI) and World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQoL) instruments were used to measure quality of life. Bivariate analysis using cross-tabulations and chi-square tests, were also carried out to relate explanatory variables to food insecurity and quality of life. A binary logistic regression was used to relate quality of life status with food security, controlling for confounders like the bio-demographic and socio-economic variables. Ordinal logistic regression model was used to investigate the effect of household characteristics to food insecurity and quality of life. This study found that food insecure households in informal settlements are associated with poor quality of life. The study found that food insecure households in the informal settlements as measured by the HFIAP is 63%. Food insecure households have average levels of intake in any foods made from beans, peas, lentils, or nuts (54.1%); eggs (47.3%); potatoes, yams, manioc, cassava or any other foods made from roots or tubers (49.5%); vegetables (54.3%) and fruits (48.8%). Households in the informal settlements had less food in the months of August, November and January. Low level of education, large family size, female headed household and low/lack of income were associated with increased food insecurity. The four domains of quality of life were also assessed and it was found that the highest mean score was observed for domain 2 (Psychological health, mean= 63.8508) and domain 1 (Physical health, mean= 63.8018). The lowest mean score was observed for Domain 4 (Environmental health, mean= 37.1803). Furthermore, it was found that there is a statistical significant relationship between food insecure households and quality of life (Physical health, Psychological health, Social relationships and Environmental health, P< 0.005). It is concluded that poor quality of life is associated with high levels of food insecurity in the informal settlements of Katutura and thus a linkage between food insecurity and quality of life exists. Thus, to improve food insecurity, there is also a need to focus on advancing quality of life of individuals. Further dedicated quality of life and food insecurity research in informal settlements is required.
Mathematical models for Tuberculosis spread in humans
(University of Namibia, 2017) Amakutsi, Charlotte
We studied two models describing transmission dynamics of tuberculosis (TB) and discussed their implications to human health. The first model is analyzed in the presence of treatment of active TB persons and the screened asymptomatic TB infectives. The second model is analyzed by looking at treatment of drug sensitive TB as well as drug resistant TB individuals. The models are built with a motive to study the dynamical behaviors of the trajectories which has the potential to guide TB control and also to influence policies for decision making. The basic reproduction number for each model is calculated by using the next generation method and conditions for disease elimination/persistence are determined. Numerical simulation results show that for the first model, R0 > 1; implying that the disease-free equilibrium is unstable. For the second model, however, R0 < 1; indicating that the disease-free equilibrium is a stable steady state and that in case of an outbreak, the disease will not spread. Simulation results also shows that increasing the rate of treatment significantly reduces the value of the reproductive number. Hence, we concluded through this study that proper screening, early detection and a high treatment rate, leading to a high successful treatment rate can reduce TB spread.
Multiscale spatial modelling of diabetes and hypertension in Namibia
(University of Namibia, 2017) Harris, Tommy R.
In Namibia, non-communicable diseases are on the increase. Statistics on non-communicable diseases (cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension etc.) as a cause of morbidity and mortality indicate that it is a public health concern although population based estimates in the area are lacking. The Ministry of Health and Social Services stated that between 2004 and 2008, hospital based mortality due to cancer (all types) increased from 3.2% to 54.7%, cardiovascular diseases (all types) increased from 5.3% to 21.2% while diabetes mellitus also increased from 1.0% to 14.6%. To curb the rising trend of the burden of non-communicable diseases in Namibia, the Ministry of Health and Social Services embarked on several preventive initiatives such as raising awareness through preventive programmes, passing laws related to the use of tobacco products, developing national promotion policies as well as health promoting school initiatives. The programmes however are implemented at national level but efficient targeting of such programmes requires the identification of high risk areas of diseases to identify where the disease is most prevalent. The use of disease maps to identify areas of elevated risk for non-communicable diseases in Namibia therefore becomes important with the available limited resources. Disease mapping is one such approach that can serve as a basic tool in planning to optimize the reduction of non-communicable diseases. Furthermore, mapping of such diseases allows the study of one disease at a time or multiple disease for comprehensive programming. The study follows a quantitative cross sectional study design using multiscale disease modelling methods to describe areas of elevated risk at region, health district and constituency level in Namibia. The main aim of the study was to fit a multiscale model to identify spatial variations of diabetes and hypertension at various geographic levels in Namibia to guide better planning, monitoring and evaluation and assist in targeting of resources. The specific objectives were to; Estimate disease risk at health district, region and constituency level in Namibia; Estimate macro determinants of diabetes and hypertension; and explore various approaches to model fitting of diabetes and hypertension in Namibia. The population for the study was all persons using health facilities from 2008-2014 in Namibia. A total of 15462 cases of diabetes and 30620 cases of hypertension were reported from 444 health facilities over a period of seven years. The covariates considered for the study were safe water, wood/charcoal, main source of income: wages and salaries, main source of income: pension and education attainment: incomplete primary education. Covariates for the study were obtained from the 2011 Namibia Population and Housing Census. The random effects were modelled using a conditional autoregressive prior distribution. A Fully Bayesian Inference based on Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation techniques was used to overcome difficulties in calculating the posterior distribution. Results from the study showed that significant spatial variation exist for both diabetes and hypertension among the different levels considered in the study. The relative risk for diabetes was found to be highest in Kavango region suggesting an increased risk for diabetes in the area. At health district and constituency level, the relative risk for diabetes was found to be highest in Rundu health district and Rundu Urban constituency respectively suggesting that the was an increased risk of diabetes in the area. With respect to hypertension, the relative risk of hypertension was highest in Khomas region. At health district level, Andara, Rundu, Swakopmund and Windhoek had the highest relative risk indicating that there was an increased risk of hypertension in the areas. At constituency level, Rundu Urban constituency was found to exhibit the highest relative risk of hypertension suggesting an increased risk for hypertension in the areas. For the variance components, region had the highest posterior mean (1.0168 and 1.0262 for diabetes and hypertension respectively) suggesting that diabetes and hypertension was high among the different regions in Namibia compared to health districts and constituencies. It is hoped that the study will assist policy makers especially those involved in health planning to develop comprehensive programmes or targeted interventions in areas that were found to have elevated risk of diabetes and hypertension, in turn developing programmes and strategies aiming at improving the health and well-being of the population. Moreover, the study hopes that considering spatial factors in planning of health programmes related to diabetes and hypertension could assist in the achievement of National Development Goals such as those outlined in NDP 4 in line with the progress towards achieving international goals such as UN Millennium Development Goals.
Lyapunovfunctions in epidemiological modeling
(University of Namibia, 2018) Lazarus, Elisen N.
In this mini thesis, we study the application of Lyapunov functions in epidemiological modeling. The aim is to give an extensive discussion of Lyapunov functions, and use some specific classes of epidemiological models to demonstrate the construction of Lyapunov functions. The study begins with a review of Lyapunov functions in general, and their usage in global stability analysis. Lyapunov’s “direct method” is used to analyse the stability of the disease-free equilibrium. Moreover, a matrix-theoretic method is critically examined for its capability and overall functionality in the construction and development of an appropriate Lyapunov function for the stability analysis of the nonlinear dynamical systems. This method additionally demonstrates the construction of the basic reproduction number for the SEIR model, and it is shown that the disease-free equilibrium is locally asymptotically stable ifR0 <1, but unstable ifR0 >1. Furthermore, a Lyapunov function is constructed for the Vector-Host model to study the global stability of the disease-free equilibrium. The results indicate that the disease-free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable whenR0 1 (i.e. every solution trajectory of the Vector-Host model converges to the largest compact invariant setM=f(Sho; Ih;Svo; Iv)g) and unstable when R0 > 1.
An investigation of the strongness property for nearness frames
(University of Namibia, 2018) Haimene, Mirjam Nangombe
This study will investigate the strongness property for nearness and nearness partial frames. We initially revisit the concepts of strong and totally strong nearness frame and study their closures under completion. We also explore the properties of totally strong and uniformly completely regular nearness frames, and study the relationship between them. We show that the category of totally strong nearness frames is coreflective in the category of uniformly completely regular nearness frames. This we do by constructing the coreflection. Further, we study nearness in the context of partial frames with particular emphasis to the strong and totally strong properties. We follow [6] in constructing the respective coreflections using the notion of P-Approximations.

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