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Background: In rural communities where men have power to determine what their wives do or fail to do, male involvement in birth preparedness reduces the delays that commonly lead to maternal and perinatal deaths. We conducted a cross-sectional study to identify determinants of male involvement in birth preparedness in two rural northern Nigerian communities.Methodology: A total of 411 married men selected through multi-stage sampling were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Association between variables was assessed using bivariate and multivariate analyses at p

Background: Malaria is endemic throughout Nigeria. Majority of Nigerians live in rural areas where subsistence farming is their main occupation. Most of them live below poverty line, earning less than $1.25 a day. In rural communities, many household factors constitute barriers to effective malaria prevention and control.Objective: This study was conducted to assess the factors that constitute barriers to prevention and control of malaria in Gimba village, a rural community in Soba Local Government area of Kaduna State, Nigeria.Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive study conducted during community diagnosis posting of final year medical students of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in July 2012. An interviewer- administered questionnaire was used to collect data from the total population of household heads in the community.Results: Of the 686 respondents, most were farmers (69.7%). In terms of malaria prevention, most of the households (81.8%) own a mosquito net, but in 40.8% of the households, no member slept under a mosquito net the night before the survey. A significant proportion of the households (32.9%) use “otapiapia”, a cheap, unpatented, locally made pesticide as mosquito repellent, while 20.7% of the households do not use any method for malaria prevention. Respondents that had formal education, or with less than 5 children were more likely to use malaria preventive methods compared to those with no formal education or with more than 5 children. Regarding malaria treatment, most of the households, 73%, treated their last cases of presumptive malaria at chemist shops.Conclusion: Some socio-demographic characteristics of respondents and household practices militate against effective malaria prevention and control in the study area. Health Education and Socioeconomic Development in rural areas are recommended for successful malaria prevention and control.Keywords: Household, Barriers, Malaria, Prevention, Rural Community, Nigeria

Background: Malaria is endemic in Nigeria and there is a vicious cycle between it and poverty. It contributes towards poverty, while poverty influences the risk of its infection. Majority of Nigerians, 70%, live in rural areas, below poverty line. They earn less than $1.25 a day. Subsistence farming is their main occupation. The cost of malaria treatment represents a significant portion of their income.Objective: This study was conducted to assess the direct cost of presumptive malaria treatment on households in Gimba Village of Soba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria.Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive study conducted during community diagnosis posting of final year medical students of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in July 2012. An interviewer- administered questionnaire was used to collect data from household heads.Results: Most of the respondents (69.7%) were farmers. A large proportion of the respondents (47.3%) earned between N10,000.00 to N20,000.00. monthly. The average household size was 6 while the average number of presumptive malaria cases per household per year was 13. On average, the direct cost of presumptive malaria treatment alone, consumes 4.9 % of the annual income of household heads. There was a statistically significant association between cost of treatment and place of seeking treatment (p