Background Nowadays, Iodine deficiency has become a huge burden to the globe, leaving 2 billion people and 29.8% of school-age children iodine deficient. It is a leading cause of preventable brain damage among children, resulting in impaired cognitive and motor development. Even though, salt iodization was started to be implemented to alleviate this burden in Ethiopia, primary studies assessing Iodine deficiency in the country show inconsistent findings which make it difficult to assess the effect of the intervention as well as to design appropriate and timely measures. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine the pooled prevalence of iodine deficiency and the common factors affecting its occurrence among school-age children in Ethiopia. Method To obtain the eligible studies, databases (EMBASE, Scopus, Hinari, and PubMed), websites (Google and Google Scholar), and references of the eligible studies were searched systematically. Data were extracted using an Excel spreadsheet and analyzed using STATA 17 version. I2 test was used to assess heterogeneity between the studies. Random-effect model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence and pooled odds ratio. Funnel plot and Egger’s test were done to detect publication bias. Result A total of 15 eligible studies, having 15,611 school-age children were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of Iodine deficiency among school-age children in Ethiopia was found to be 58% (95%CI: 44.00–77.00), while the highest prevalence was recorded in Oromia region, which was 64% (95% CI: 49–79). Goitrogenic food consumption (AOR: 2.93, 95% CI: 1.60–5.35) and sex of the child (AOR: 1.87, 95% CI: 1.43–2.44) showed a significant association with the prevalence of iodine deficiency. Conclusion Iodine deficiency among school-age children in Ethiopia was found noticeably high. Goitrogenic food consumption and the sex of the child were determinant factors for the occurrence of iodine deficiency among the children. Therefore, appropriate advice should be given to the households to limit goitrogenic foods in the diet of their children by giving due attention to their female children.

Background In malaria endemic regions, Plasmodium falciparum infection is characterized by variable genetic diversity at different settings. The parasite's various forms are found at varied frequency in different geographic areas, resulting in different levels of multiplicity of infection. This study was under taken to determine the status of P. falciparum genetic diversity and MOI in different regions of Ethiopia.Methods Relevant publications were identified from electronic databases such as; PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, Google scholar and Google. Besides, an online search was done using the above databases for all articles published in English on genetic diversity of P.falciparum in Ethiopia. STATA software was used for data analysis. The pooled estimates were calculated using random effect model. The summary estimates were presented using forest plots and tables.Results A total of 11 studies were included in the systematic review. However, only 8, 10 and 2 studies were included for Pfmsp-1, msp-2 and glurp gene meta-analysis, respectively. However, the meta-analysis result showed that the pooled prevalence of Pfmsp-1, msp-2 and glurp gene were 84% for both msp-1/2 and 51%, respectively. The pooled prevalence of msp-1 gene was higher in Amhara region followed by Oromia region and lower in SNNPR while, for msp-2 gene the pooled prevalence was higher in Benshangul gumez region and lower in SNNPR. Among the allelic family of msp-1 and msp-2 genes, MAD20 (34%) and FC27 (44%) were the most predominant respectively.Conclusion Based on the review, there is evidence of the presence of high genetic diversity of P. falciparum parasites in Ethiopia, suggesting that malaria transmission remain high and that strengthened control efforts are needed. The approaches and methods used for investigation, confirmation and reporting of diversified parasites have similarity between studies and across regions and should use advanced molecular techniques, like microsatellite, whole genome sequence and capillary electrophoresis to assess the genetic diversity of P. falciparum for better determination of P. falciparum genetic diversity.

Background: Morbidity and mortality associated with poor dietary practice among pregnant women are a common public health burdens especially in low income countries like Ethiopia, for which, household food insecurity can be a determinant factor. Productive safety net program (PSNP) is implemented in Ethiopia to alleviate this problem with emphasis on pregnant and lactating mothers even though little is known about the dietary practice among pregnant women in the program user and non-user households. Therefore, this study is aimed to compare the proportion of good dietary practice and associated factors among pregnant women in productive safety net program user and non-user households in Kacha Birra District. Method: A Community based comparative cross sectional study was conducted in Kacha Birra District from March 12 to April 20, 2019. A total of 715 pregnant women were included by simple random sampling technique. A pretested and structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data was entered into EpiData version 3.1 and transferred to Stata version 14 for analysis. Binary logistic regression model was fitted to identify factors associated with dietary practice. Crude odds ratio and adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated to assess the strength of associations and significance of the identified factors with dietary practice. Result: The overall proportion of good dietary practice among pregnant women was 14.97% (95%CI: 12.3-17.6), while it was 11.17% (95%CI: 6.5-15.8) and 16.23% (95%CI: 13.09-19.36) among pregnant women in PSNP user and non PSNP user households respectively. Dietary knowledge (AOR=2.64, 95%CI:1.67-4.18), nutrition information (AOR=2.36, 95%CI:1.41-3.95) and husband occupation (AOR=3.51, 95%CI:1.02-12.08) were significantly associated with dietary practice of the pregnant women. Conclusion: The proportion of good dietary practice of the pregnant women in the study area was low with no significant difference among the comparative groups. Dietary knowledge, nutrition information and husband occupation were significantly associated with the dietary practice. So, giving due attention to the improvement of knowledge of the pregnant mothers about nutrition during pregnancy and enhancing their exposure to nutrition information is crucial. Also, strengthening the PSNP is important.