Common Methods of Contraception Used at Monkey Bay Community Hospital in Mangochi District, Malawi

To determine commonly used methods of contraception at Monkey Bay Community hospital, to compare different methods of contraception used by people of various age groups, parity, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Marital status, a clinical audit of family planning methods used by clients at Monkey Community hospital from January 2018 to June 2019 was done. Data was collected from the registers. A total number of 1734 clients reported at family planning clinic of Monkey-Bay Community Hospital between January 2018 and June 2019. All the clients were females. Most of these clients were in the age range of 15 - 34 years (83.33%). There were 1,486 (87%) HIV negative clients, 208 (12%) HIV positive clients and 24 (1%) had unknown HIV status. Most clients had a parity of 1 - 2 (905, 52.71%) followed by 3 - 4 (540, 31.45%) and 5 or plus (272, 15.84%). There were more married people (1641, 97.23%) than unmarried ones (46, 2.73%). There was only one person who was divorced (1, 0.05%). Education status was not recorded. The five commonly used contraceptive methods were: Intramuscular (IM) injectable Depo-IM (1366, 79.51%), Jadelle (122, 7.10%), Subcutaneous (SC) injectable Depo-SC (65, 3.78%), Combined Oral Contraceptives (COC) (60, 3.49%) and Implanon (40, 2.33%). None of the clients was used female condoms as a method of contraception. The contraceptive use was common between the age group of 15 - 24 (707, 44.92%) and 25 - 34 (709, 45%). Depo-IM was most used in age group 25 - 34 (44.5%) while Jadelle was mostly used by 15 - 24 years old (48%). 1181 clients (79.5%) of HIV negative clients used Depo-IM as the contraceptive method while 164 clients (78.8%) of HIV positive clients used Depo IM as a method of contraception. More HIV negative clients used Jadelle and COC as compared to HIV positive clients. The choice of a particular method of contraception was influenced by many factors. Parity, marital status, age as well as HIV status did have some association with the preferred method of contraception. Our study shows that there could be varied reason for women chose types of contraception in this part of Malawi. Interventions that aim to increase access to family planning methods, should consider exploring the reasons why clients use some methods more than the other for better planning of these services. Absence of male clients accessing vasectomy at the hospital raises concern and more studies will be needed to determine the reason why men do not come forward for family planning services at Monkey Community Hospital.

Renewable Biofuel Production Using Red Ginseng Marc in Microbial Fuel Cells

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is one of the clean and sustainable energy technologies, often referred to as renewable energy, and directly chemical energy contained in organic matter into electrical energy by using the catalytic activity of microorganisms. Cellulosic biomass is a particularly attractive renewable resource for its abundant supply at low cost and its neutral carbon balance. However, methanogenesis had been negatively linked to anaerobic cellulosic power generation in MFCs. Ginseng root is a saponin-rich plant material and red ginseng marc (RGM) has not been reused as a high-value resource for industry although its residue contained both electron donors and saponin, the potential power generation enhancers for MFC. In this study, RGM was supplemented into MFC to evaluate its effects on methanogenesis and power generation. Two-chamber H-type MFCs were established using rumen fluid as anolyte to ferment cellulose at 2% (w/v). RGM, the residue from the steam and press process for red ginseng beverage preparation, was freeze-dried and ground to pass 0.5 mm sieve and added to the anode of MFC at 1% (w/v;Exp. 1) or 0.1% (Exp. 2) dose for treatment. Open circuit voltage, voltage and current across an external resistor were measured daily for 10d. On d10 of operation, collected biogases were measured for total gas production and analyzed for its components. In Exp. 1, power density was between 44.0 and 97.2 with an average of 83.8 mW/m2 in 1% RGM MFCs and was between 45.2 and 76.3 with an average of 61.5 mW/m2 in control. In Exp. 2, power density was between 44.8 and 75.6 with an average of 60.9 mW/m2 in 0.1% RGM MFCs and was between 45.1 and 54.1 with an average of 49.7 mW/m2 in control. Total gas production for 10d was 563 and 523 mL for RGM and control, respectively, in Exp 1, and was 546 and 477 mL for RGM and control, respectively, in Exp 2. Methane took up 58.6 and 67.9% of total gas for RGM and control, respectively, in Exp 1, and 59.1 and 67.3% of total gas for RGM and control, respectively, in Exp 2. Both greater (P < 0.05) power generation less (P < 0.05) methane proportion in RGM MFCs in both Exp. 1 and 2 strongly supports the potential use of red ginseng marc as MFC supplements.