Background: Cervical cancer is preventable so awareness can be as effective as any other method to prevent it.The study aims to assess awareness and attitude regarding cervical cancer screening among reproductive age women in a tertiary level hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal. Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was carried out among 170 reproductive age women attending Nepal Medical College Teaching Hospital using purposive sampling technique. A semi structured interview schedule was used to collect data via face to face interview. Data was summarized using frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine the factors associated with awareness and attitude. Results: Among 170 reproductive age women, mean age was 31.49 ± 8.70 years. Majority 151 (88.8%) of the women had heard of cervical cancer while 119 (70%) of them had heard about cervical cancer screening. Among them, only 17 (11.3%) had adequate awareness regarding cervical cancer screening. Seventy five (46.6%) of the women had positive attitude towards cervical cancer screening. Employment status [95% CI (0.01-0.38), AOR=0.06, p=0.003] was associated with awareness whereas, ethnicity, employment status and marital status were associated with attitude. Conclusions: Most of the women were unaware about the cervical cancer screening but nearly half of the respondents had positive attitude. Therefore it is very crucial to provide health education and awareness through supervised client education. Focused group discussion as an effective approach of awareness program can be conducted in order to include specific group such as unemployed and unmarried women. Keywords: Attitude; awareness; cervical cancer; reproductive age women; screening

Background Acute respiratory infection (ARI) is responsible for about 30–50 percent of visits to health facilities and for about 20–30 percent of admissions to hospitals in Nepal for children under 5 years old. Incidence of ARI in children among under-five years of age is 344 per 1000 in Nepal. Hence, the study aims to find out the prevalence and factors associated with acute respiratory infection among under-five children. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted at Nepal Medical College and Teaching Hospital and International Friendship Children’s Hospital (IFCH) in Kathmandu among children of age 2–59 months attending Pediatric OPD. A total of 286 children were selected using the non-probability (convenient) sampling technique. Data were collected using pre-tested semi-structured tool through interview schedule, and descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were used. Results Out of 286 children, more than half of children (60.8%) had Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI). Nearly one-fifth of the children had severe or very severe pneumonia. Acute respiratory infection was significantly associated with religion followed by the family (p = 0.009, OR = 4.59 CI = 1.47–14.36), presence of the child in the kitchen while cooking (p = 0.001, OR = 2.03 CI = 1.17–3.51), and presence of respiratory tract infection in family (p = <0.001 OR = 2.83 CI = 1.59–5.05). Conclusion The study concluded that male children are more susceptible to acute respiratory infection than female children. Parents and family members should be aware of the prevention of acute respiratory infection by addressing and minimizing the factors contributing to ARI.

Background: One of the important factors that could affect better health care delivery during COVID-19 pandemic remains the better working environment for healthcare professionals. Support provided by the family, society and workplace would play an important role to boost their work performance. This study aimed to assess the perception of family, social and organizational support among the frontline healthcare professionals during COVID-19 pandemic in selected districts of Nepal. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study consisted of 325 healthcare professionals working in different hospitals of Bagmati province of Nepal. Data were collected using self-administered structured questionnaire via Google form. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Adequate support was perceived by 50.5% of the respondents and the mean overall perceived support score was 98.83±11.2. The highest perceived score (37.25±4.37) was on family support domain followed by social support (33.55±4.08) and the organizational support (28.01±5.7). Factors like advanced age, higher education level, male sex, and working in the government hospitals showed significant association with perceived family and social support. Type of the institutions and tenure status were main predictors for the perception of adequate organizational support. Conclusions: For their inspiration to work, adequate support to healthcare professionals not only from family but also from the society and organizational level would be quite important. Apart from some non-modifiable factors, other factors like adequate and timely provision of monthly salary, guaranteed medical treatment if they fall sick have been found to play important role to keep the them motivated to their work.

Introduction: Complementary feeding is defined as the process starting when breast milk is no longer sufficient to meet the nutritional requirements of infants then other foods and liquids are needed, along with breast milk. This study was conducted to assess the complementary feeding practice among mothers of 6-23 months of aged children. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Kathmandu among 240 mothers of 6-23 months of aged children attending the pediatric outpatient department and community medicine from June to September, 2022. A purposive sampling technique was used and data were collected using a structured questionnaire through a face-to-face interview. The obtained data were entered into Epi-data and converted into Statistical Package for the Social Sciences-20. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for statistical analysis. Results: The prevalence of Minimum Dietary Diversity (MDD),Minimum Meal Frequency (MMF), and Minimum Acceptable Diet (MAD) was 49.16% (0.42-0.55, 95% Confidence Interval), 44.58% (0.48-0.61, 95% Confidence Interval) and 27.91% (0.65-0.77, 95% Confidence Interval) respectively. Children of age 18-23 months were statistically significantly associated with MDD, MMF, and MAD respectively. Type of family, listening to radio as media, along with breastfeeding and bottle feeding since six months were statistically significantly associated with MMF and along with breastfeeding as well as bottle feeding since birth to six months were statistically significantly associated with MAD. Conclusions: This study concluded that the children aged 18-23 months were more likely to have recommended standard complementary feeding practices than other younger-aged groups.