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Background: The fifth Millennium Development Goal seeks to improve maternal health. One of its targets is to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters between 1990 and 2015. The maternal mortality rate in Nigeria is amongst the highest in the world estimated at 704 per 100 000 live births. Antenatal care presents an opportunity for recognition and appropriate intervention for some of causes of maternal mortality in developing countries especially in rural areas. Method: the study was a cross sectional descriptive study. A structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect information on awareness and utilization of antenatal care services amongst women in the reproductive age group including attendant at last delivery in Bomo village, North Western Nigeria. Results: Two hundred and sixty women in the reproductive age group participated in the study. More than half of the respondents (58%) were 29years and below. All the women were aware about ANC services while 83% had used the ANC services during their previous pregnancy. However only 8% of the women were attended to by a skilled attendant at last delivery. More than half (58%) of the women delivered at home unattended to by anyone. Conclusion: there is a high level of awareness of antenatal care but a lesser utilization compared to knowledge and very low skilled attendance at delivery.

Background: Antenatal care is one of the important keys in ensuring safe pregnancy and childbirth. The pattern of utilization of antenatal services however varies in different regions of the country as a result of certain factors such as socioeconomic and socio-cultural factors on the part of the consumers, and quality of service on the part of the providers. Objectives: To determine the pattern of utilization of antenatal care services and the services received by women in Panmadina rural community in north western Nigeria. Method: A cross sectional study that employed systematic random sampling method to interview 280 women of reproductive age group using structured interviewer administered questionnaire. The data collected was cleaned and validated and analyzed using SPSS version 15.0. Results: A total of 280 questionnaire out of the 300 administered were completely returned giving a response rate of 93.5 %. As shown in table 1 the mean age of the respondents was 26.8+8years. Almost all (98.6) were married; majority (83.2%) had only Qur'anic education. About one-quarter (26.1%) of the respondents were full time house wives. Almost two-third (61.8%) of the respondents married at the age of 10 to 14 and more than two-quarter (65.4%) of those that had been pregnant had their first pregnancies between the ages 15 to 19. With respect to parity level half (50.0%) had children between 1 and 4, more than a quarter (27.5%) had more than 8 children while less than a quarter (22.5%) had between 5 and 7 children. Less than two-third (59.3%) of the respondents attended ANC, of this figure more than four-fifth attended ANC in the primary health centre. Cultural factors accounted to almost half (45.5%) of why some do not attend ANC. The ANC services received revealed that more than 90% of the respondents received haematenics, weighing, blood pressure check and abdominal examinations, these are followed by Urine tests, tetanus Toxoid vaccination and blood tests the which accounted for more 80% each. Furthermore, more than, three-quarters (75.4%) had height measurement, while ITN provision and HIV screening accounted for the least services received accounting for 34.1% and 21.6% respectively. Conclusion: The result of the study shows that the rate of utilization of ANC services in this community is still low. The low utilization rate was significantly contributed to the cultural factors among other things. As to the ANC services received wide gaps exist in the area of ITN distribution and HIV screening. There is therefore the need to intensify health awareness campaign on ANC utilization through effective information, education and communication strategy. Furthermore, there is the need for proper integration of Roll Back Malaria and Prevention of Maternal and Child Transmission of HIV infections services in the ANC services at primary care level.

Abstract Neuroscientific research has consistently shown more extensive non-visual activity in the visual cortex of congenitally blind humans compared to sighted controls; a phenomenon known as crossmodal plasticity. Whether or not crossmodal activation of the visual cortex retracts if sight can be restored is still unknown. The present study, involving a rare group of sight-recovery individuals who were born pattern vision blind, employed visual event-related potentials to investigate persisting crossmodal modulation of the initial visual cortical processing stages. Here we report that the earliest, stimulus-driven retinotopic visual cortical activity (

The paper presents the results of studying the spatial and seasonal atmospheric temperature characteristics of Jalingo metropolis, Nigeria, with the aim of assessing seasonal temperature variations for thermal comfort planning. Temperature data for this study was collected across the local climate zones, otherwise known as thermal climate zones (TCZ), following the TZC classification of the area. Temperature data was collected for 30 days continuously and simultaneously across the TCZ. The collection of temperature data was done in the months of April and August 2021, and January 2022 – representing the dry season, the rainy season and the Harmattan period respectively. A Thermochron Ibutton sensor by Maxim Incorporation was used to collect temperature data, while the specific series used was DS1921. An improvised automated weather station was constructed to house the sensor. The result of the study indicates that air temperature varies considerably within Jalingo metropolis, as well as throughout the seasons, thus affecting human thermal comfort in the study area, as temperature is found to correlate well with both human morbidity and mortality, especially regarding cardiovascular diseases. The paper recommends increasing ventilation and nature-based solution to reduce high temperatures through tree planting in order to improve human thermal comfort in Jalingo metropolis area.

The aim of this research was to synthesize and characterize pure and magnesium chloride(MgCl2) doped L–alanine cadmium chloride (LACC) single crystals. Pure and MgCl2doped LACC single crystals were synthesized by solution method with slow evaporation solution growth technique at room temperature. The single crystal X-ray diffraction studies of pure, 1 and 2 mol% MgCl2doped LACC single crystals revealed monocliniccrystal structure with C2 space group. The optical properties of pure and MgCl2dopedLACC single crystals investigated by UV–VIS/NIR spectrometer confirmed that the crystals were transparent in the wavelength range of 230-1100nm. The optical band gap energy of pure and doped LACC single crystals were found to have the same value of 5.4eV. The energy-dispersive X-ray analysis indicated the incorporation of magnesium and chlorine atoms in an LACC single crystal. The second harmonic generation efficiency of 1 and 2 mol% MgCl2doped LACC crystals were analyzed by Kurtz-Perry powder technique and found to be 1.75 and 2 times greater than that of the standard potassium dihydrogen phosphate crystal,respectively

Persistent visual impairments after congenital blindness due to dense bilateral cataracts have been attributed to altered visual cortex development within a sensitive period. Occipital alpha (8–14 Hz) oscillations were found to be reduced after congenital cataract reversal, while participants performed visual motion tasks. However, it has been unclear whether reduced alpha oscillations were task-specific, or linked to impaired visual behavior in cataract-reversed individuals. Here, we compared resting-state and stimulus-evoked alpha activity between individuals who had been treated for dense bilateral congenital cataracts (CC, n = 13, mean duration of blindness = 11.0 years) and age-matched, normally sighted individuals (SC, n = 13). We employed the visual impulse response function, adapted from VanRullen and MacDonald (2012), to test for the characteristic alpha response to visual white noise. Participants observed white noise stimuli changing in luminance with equal power at frequencies between 0 and 30 Hz. Compared to SC individuals, CC individuals demonstrated a reduced likelihood of exhibiting an evoked alpha response. Moreover, stimulus-evoked alpha power was reduced and correlated with a corresponding reduction of resting-state alpha power in the same CC individuals. Finally, CC individuals with an above-threshold evoked alpha peak had better visual acuity than CC individual without an evoked alpha peak. Since alpha oscillations have been linked to feedback communication, we suggest that the concurrent impairment in resting-state and stimulus-evoked alpha oscillations indicates an altered interaction of top-down and bottom-up processing in the visual hierarchy, which likely contributes to incomplete behavioral recovery in individuals who experienced transient congenital blindness.

Liposomes are the most attractive and well-known nanoparticles due to their high biocompatibility and biodegradability features which make them display less toxic effects for employing in vivo. Encapsulation of antibiotics within liposomes can provide a promising strategy for the effective treatment of resistant bacterial pathogens. This research was performed to prepare, characterize and evaluate the in vitro cytotoxicity effect of free and liposomal tylosin. Liposomal tylosin was produced by the thin-film hydration method. The characterization was performed by dynamic light scattering and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Methylthiazol tetrazolium (MTT) assay was applied to evaluate the cytotoxicity of free and liposome-encapsulated tylosin against the NIH3T3 and NHDF. The obtained findings indicated well-formed liposome with ideal characteristics that efficiently encapsulated tylosin. The cytotoxicity data revealed cell viability of above 70% for liposomal tylosin and below 70% for free tylosin towards both NIH3T3 and NHDF at concentration of 1024 µg/mL. Therefore, liposome is a promising vehicle for an antibiotic delivery system with appropriate physicochemical, drug loading, release characteristics, and ideal biocompatibility properties.

Abstract Visual deprivation in childhood can lead to lifelong impairments in multisensory processing. Here, the Size-Weight Illusion (SWI) was used to test whether visuo-haptic integration recovers after early visual deprivation. Normally sighted individuals perceive larger objects to be lighter than smaller objects of the same weight. In Experiment 1, individuals treated for dense bilateral congenital cataracts (who had no patterned visual experience at birth), individuals treated for developmental cataracts (who had patterned visual experience at birth, but were visually impaired), congenitally blind individuals and normally sighted individuals had to rate the weight of manually explored cubes that differed in size (Small, Medium, Large) across two possible weights (350 g, 700 g). In Experiment 2, individuals treated for dense bilateral congenital cataracts were compared to sighted individuals in a similar task using a string set-up, which removed haptic size cues. In both experiments, indistinguishable SWI effects were observed across all groups. These results provide evidence that early aberrant vision does not interfere with the development of the SWI, and suggest a recovery of the integration of size and weight cues provided by the visual and haptic modality.

Abstract The upper Benue River watershed is undergoing remarkable modifications due to man-made and natural phenomena. Hence, an evaluation is required to understand the hydrological process of the watershed for planning and management strategies. This study aimed to assess the morphometric characteristics and prioritize the upper Benue River watershed. The boundary of the watershed and sub-watersheds, as well as stream networks, was extracted from the digital elevation model (DEM) coupled with hydrological and topographic maps. Twenty-eight morphometric parameters under three categories, i.e. linear, areal, and relief aspects were computed and mapped. Findings from the study revealed that the watershed is a seventh stream order system characterized by a dendritic drainage pattern. The result also showed that 4821 streams were extracted with a cumulative length of 30,232.84 km. The hypsometric integral of the watershed was estimated to be 0.22, indicating that it is in the old stage. In the prioritization of the watershed, the morphometric variables were utilized to calculate and classify the compound factor. The result showed that sub-watersheds 12, 16, 18, 24, 26, and 27 were ranked as very high priority for which conservation measures are required to mitigate the risk of flood and erosion. The outcome of this study can be used by decision-makers for sustainable watershed management and planning.

Summary: To clarify the role of sensory experience during early development for adult multisensory learning capabilities, we probed audiovisual spatial processing in human individuals who had been born blind because of dense congenital cataracts (CCs) and who subsequently had received cataract removal surgery, some not before adolescence or adulthood. Their ability to integrate audio-visual input and to recalibrate multisensory spatial representations was compared to normally sighted control participants and individuals with a history of developmental (later onset) cataracts. Results in CC individuals revealed both normal multisensory integration in audiovisual trials (ventriloquism effect) and normal recalibration of unimodal auditory localization following audiovisual discrepant exposure (ventriloquism aftereffect) as observed in the control groups. In addition, only the CC group recalibrated unimodal visual localization after audiovisual exposure. Thus, in parallel to typical multisensory integration and learning, atypical crossmodal mechanisms coexisted in CC individuals, suggesting that multisensory recalibration capabilities are defined during a sensitive period in development.

Background: Untreated congenital blindness through cataracts leads to lasting visual brain system changes, including substantial alterations of extrastriate visual areas. Consequently, late-treated individuals (> 5 months of age) with dense congenital bilateral cataracts (CC) exhibit poorer visual function recovery compared to individuals with bilateral developmental cataracts (DC). Reliable methods to differentiate between patients with congenital and developmental cataracts are often lacking, impeding efficient rehabilitation management and introducing confounds in clinical and basic research on recovery prognosis and optimal timing of surgery. A persistent reduction of the P1 wave of visual event-related potentials (VERPs), associated with extrastriate visual cortical activity, has been reported in CC but not in DC individuals. Using two experiments, this study developed and validated P1-based biomarkers for diagnosing a history of congenital blindness in cataract-reversal individuals. Methods: Congenital and developmental cataract-reversal individuals as well as typically sighted matched controls took part in a first experiment used for exploring an electrophysiological biomarker (NCC = 13, NDC = 13, NControl = 26). Circular stimuli containing gratings were presented in one of the visual field quadrants while visual event-related potentials (VERPs) were recorded. Two biomarkers were derived from the P1 wave of the VERP: (1) The mean of the normalized P1 amplitude at posterior electrodes, and (2) a classifier obtained from a linear support vector machine (SVM). A second experiment with partially new CC/DC individuals and their matched controls (NCC = 14, NDC = 15, NControl = 29) was consecutively used to validate the classification based on both biomarkers. Performance of the classifiers were evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses. All cataract-reversal individuals were tested after at least one year of vision recovery. Findings: The normalized P1 amplitude over posterior electrodes allowed a successful classification of the CC from the DC individuals and typically sighted controls (area under ROC curve, AUC = 0.803 and 0.929 for the normalized P1 amplitude and the SVM-based biomarker, respectively). The validation for both biomarkers in experiment 2 again resulted in a high classification success (AUC = 0.800 and 0.883, respectively for the normalized P1 amplitude and the SVM-based biomarker). In the most conservative scenario involving classification of CC from DC individuals in a group of only cataract-reversal individuals, excluding typically sighted controls, the SVM-based biomarker was found to be superior to the mean P1 amplitude based biomarker (AUC = 0.852 compared to 0.757 for the mean P1 based biomarker in validation). Minimum specificity obtained was 80% across all biomarkers. Interpretation: A persistent reduction of the P1 wave provides a highly specific method for classifying cataract patients post-surgically as having suffered from bilateral congenital vs. bilateral developmental cataracts. We suggest that using the P1 based non-invasive electrophysiological biomarker will augment existing clinical classification criteria for individuals with a history of bilateral congenital cataracts, aiding clinical and basic research, recovery prognosis, and rehabilitation efforts. Funding: German Research Foundation (DFG) and the European Research Council (ERC).

Typical human perception features stable biases such as perceiving visual events as later than synchronous auditory events. The origin of such perceptual biases is unknown. To investigate the role of early sensory experience, we tested whether a congenital, transient loss of pattern vision, caused by bilateral dense cataracts, has sustained effects on audio-visual and tactile-visual temporal biases and resolution. Participants judged the temporal order of successively presented, spatially separated events within and across modalities. Individuals with reversed congenital cataracts showed a bias towards perceiving visual stimuli as occurring earlier than auditory (Expt. 1) and tactile (Expt. 2) stimuli. This finding stood in stark contrast to normally sighted controls and sight-recovery individuals who had developed cataracts later in childhood: both groups exhibited the typical bias of perceiving vision as delayed compared to audition. These findings provide strong evidence that cross-modal temporal biases depend on sensory experience during an early sensitive period.

Objective: To evaluate the ameliorative effect of melatonin on sub-chronic chlorpyrifos (CPF) and cypermethrin (CYP)-evoked cognitive changes in male Wistar rats. Methods: Fifty adult male Wistar rats, divided into five groups of ten rats each, were used for the study. Groups 1 and II were given distilled water and soya oil (2 mL/kg) respectively. Group III was administered with melatonin at 0.5 mg/kg only. Group IV was administered with CPF [7.96 mg/kg (1/10th LD50)] and CYP [29.6 mg/kg (1/10th LD50)], and Group V was administered with CPF [7.96 mg/kg (1/10th LD50)] and CYP [29.6 mg/kg (1/10th LD50)] 30 min after melatonin (0.5 mg/kg). The regimens were administered by gavage once daily for 12 weeks. Thereafter, cognitive performances were determined and the brain was evaluated for malonaldehyde concentration. Results: CPF and CYP induced cognitive deficits and increased brain malonaldehyde concentration, which were all ameliorated by melatonin. Conclusion: Cognitive deficits elicited by CPF and CYP was mitigated by melatonin due to its antioxidant property.

The World Health Organization has launched campaigns to boost immunisation rates to 70 percent globally by the middle of 2022. However, despite the global success of about 64% COVID-19 vaccination coverage, there is a big gap in Nigeria. To date, only 13.8% of the population has received the recommended dose. This demonstrates a significant disparity between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. Amidst the wide gap in vaccination, COVID-19 vaccine wastage still occurs in Nigeria. At the end of 2021, it was estimated that over a million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine had been wasted. It is anticipated that there will be more COVID-19 vaccine wastage in Nigeria, because of the combined factors that threaten vaccination uptake including vaccine accessibility, lack of appropriate storage facilities, poor electricity supply, insecurity challenges, and inadequate health promotion. This results in concomitant financial and opportunity losses. In this paper, we discuss COVID-19 vaccine wastage in Nigeria including causes, and solutions that can be applied to mitigate this wastage., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background and Objectives: Missed opportunity (MO) for IPTp SP remains high in Nigeria even among pregnant women with four or more ANC visits. We assessed the current MO rate and its predictors, using data from the 2021 MIS., Methods: We carried out a secondary analysis of data of women who had at least one live birth and at least 4 ANC visits. Bivariate analyses assessed the relationship between socio-demographic characteristics, type of ANC facility, type of ANC provider, knowledge of malaria prevention, awareness about IPT, and missed opportunity using the Chi-square test. Multivariate analyses were presented as odd ratios at 95% CI, (P value <0.05)., Results: Nearly half (47%) had only primary education or none at all. About 30% were poor. Most had their 1st visit ANC in the 2nd trimester (58%). The missed opportunity rate was 55%. Predictors included age 20 to 34 years [aOR 1.3(1.1-1.67)], being very poor [aOR 1.6(1.1-2.4)], late ANC (in 2nd or 3rd trimester) [aOR 0.57(0.4-0.89)], ignorance about malaria prevention [aOR 1.8(1.4-2.4)], ignorance about IPT [aOR 1.3(1.3-2.5)] and residence in the South South and North East [aOR 0.46(0.31-0.68)] regions., Conclusions: The missed opportunity was high. Place of residence, poor knowledge of malaria prevention and IPT use, late commencement of ANC, poverty, and young age (20 to 34 years) contributed to the burden. Recommendations include stressing the importance of IPT during health talks. Provision of cups and drinking water for the IPT DOT policy by the Government and partners. There is a need for further research to unravel the reasons for the higher MO rates in some regions., Competing Interests: The Authors declare that no competing interest exists., (Copyright © 2023 by West African Journal of Medicine.)

Biotechnology policies and regulations must be revised and updated to reflect the most recent advances in plant-breeding technology. New Plant Breeding Techniques (NPBT) such as gene editing have been applied to address the myriad of challenges in plant breeding, while the use of NPBT as emerging biotechnological tools raises legal and ethical concerns. This study aims to highlight how gene editing is operationalized in the existing literature and examine the critical issues of ethical and legal issues of gene editing for plant breeding. We carried out a systematic literature review (SLR) to provide the current states of ethical and legal discourses surrounding this topic. We also identified critical research priority areas and policy gaps that must be addressed when designing the future governance of gene editing in plant breeding.

Immunization remains one of the most effective public health interventions offering protection for children from vaccine preventable diseases. However, many children living in low- and- middle income countries do not get adequate immunization due to several factors. Mobile phone reminder interventions have shown great potential in enhancing a number of immunization outcomes. However, the evidence supporting its use in these countries is vague. This systematic review was conducted to provide evidence for mobile phone reminder in enhancing immunization uptake, completeness and timeliness. This review was conducted in accordance to the PRISMA recommendations. Three online databases; PubMed, Cochrane Library and African Journals Online, were systematically searched for potentially relevant studies. Screening of records (titles/abstracts from and full-texts) was done using Covidence. Meta-analyses were conducted using the Cochrane Collaboration Review Manager (v5.4). The GRADEpro was used to evaluate the certainty of evidence/summary of findings. Eleven RCTs assessing immunization uptake, completeness and/or timeliness by means of SMS, phone calls or a combination of voice message and SMS were included in both quantitative and qualitative synthesis. Overall, the included studies were of moderate quality. Majority of the included studies indicated that mobile phone reminders were beneficial. Meta-analyses indicated that using mobile phone reminder interventions for the review outcomes was of variable effect with high level of heterogeneity. A combination of voice message and SMS has a greater effect followed by phone calls then SMS reminders for immunization completeness. The use of SMS for immunization uptake and timeliness were largely insignificant (p > 0.05). Furthermore, evidence to support the efficacy of mobile phone reminder from the GRADE synthesis was between low and moderate. Mobile phone reminders, particularly a combination of voice message + SMS and perhaps phone calls appears to be more effective in enhancing immunization outcomes. However, more studies are required in view of methodological inadequacies in existing studies., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have increasingly dominated commodity crop production in the world in the endeavour to address issues related to food security. However, this technology is not without problems, and can give rise to bioethical issues for consumers, particularly Muslims. The Islamic perspective on GMOs is complex and goes beyond just the determination of whether food is halal or not. If the food is halal, but the process to obtain it is not thoyibban, as it is unethical, then the food cannot be permitted under the Maqasid al-Shari'ah. This paper examines ethical issues pertaining to GM crops and how the related ethical issues contradict with Islamic principles beyond the binary distinction between the contaminated and uncontaminated food. Since GM technology is a contemporary issue that may not be directly addressed in the al-Quran and Sunnah, other Islamic sources should also be referred to when drawing up this code of ethics to achieve the objective of Syariah (Maqasid al-Shari'ah). Maqasid al-Shari'ah can be applied to frame the Islamic bioethics guideline as it is comprehensive and encompasses moral principles directly applicable to modern biotechnology. The paper subsequently explores how the principles of Maqasid al-Shari'ah are applied in addressing these ethical issues.

Background: The long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLIN) are effective against prevention of malaria and its utilization has been proven to save lives. Despite the mass distribution of LLIN, Nigeria remains the country with the highest malaria burden in Africa. The awareness of LLIN in Nigeria is high, but the utilization is low. The aim of this work is to describe factors associated with the utilization of LLIN among women of child-bearing age (WCBA) in Igabi, Kaduna, Nigeria., Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 630 WCBA selected using a multi-stage sampling at 63 randomly selected villages in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Trained female data collectors administered pre-tested structured questionnaires adapted from the Malaria Indicator Survey. Information collected were demographic profile, knowledge of LLIN as a preventive strategy for malaria, and LLIN ownership and utilization. LLIN utilization was assessed by identifying household members that slept under the hanged LLIN the night before the survey. Questions on the awareness of LLIN, ability to define what it is, use of LLIN, what differentiates LLIN from other bed nets, and duration of use before replacement, were scored and categorized as good, average and poor knowledge of LLIN., Results: A total of 629 WCBA was sampled, their mean age (± SD) was 29.3 (± 6.2) years, 22.0% were pregnant, 40.5% had no formal education, 41.1% were employed, and 47.7% lived in rural communities. Awareness and good knowledge about LLINs for the prevention of malaria was 96.0% and 24.0%, respectively. The proportion of women who slept under a LLIN the night before the survey (utilization) was 70.0% and slightly higher (74.0%) among pregnant WCBA. Women who lived in rural communities were more likely to utilize LLINs compared to their urban counterparts (OR 3.4; 95% CI 2.3-4.9). Younger women (aged < 30 years) were less likely to utilize LLINs compared to the older women (OR 0.7; 95% CI 0.5-0.9)., Conclusions: The knowledge of LLIN among WCBA was poor, but LLIN utilization was moderate. Living in rural communities and older WCBA were significant characteristics associated with LLIN utilization. Strategies that will improve the utilization of LLIN among the young and urban WCBA should be the focus of the Malaria Elimination Programme (MEP).

Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Background: Cervical cancer is the most common genital cancer and one of the leading causes of death among female population. Fortunately, this cancer is preventable by screening for premalignant lesions but this is rarely provided and hardly utilised. We assessed the knowledge, attitude and utilisation of cervical cancer screening among market women in Sabon Gari, Zaria., Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practice of cervical cancer screening among market women. A total of 260 women were administered with questionnaires which were both self and interviewer administered. These were analysed using SPSS version 11., Results: Respondents exhibited a fair knowledge of cervical cancer and cervical cancer screening (43.5%); however, their knowledge of risk factors was poor. There was generally good attitude to cervical cancer screening (80.4%), but their level of practice was low (15.4%)., Conclusions: There was a fair knowledge of cervical cancer and cervical cancer screening among Nigerian market women in this study, their practice of cervical cancer screening was poor.

Background: Despite the fact that mental illness is a common problem in society, people's perception of the mentally ill and community attitude towards them is still rather poor, making their rehabilitation and reintegration into society an uphill task., Aims: To examine the stigmatization of people with mental illness within a rural community and identify the socio-demographic variables involved., Method: A cross-sectional descriptive study using a multi-stage random sampling technique to obtain data through an interviewer-administered questionnaire to 325 adult inhabitants of a rural community in Nigeria., Results: The results showed widespread ignorance about causation, mode of transmission and remedies available for mental illness, with only 0.9% of respondents attributing mental illness to brain disease. The others attributed it to spiritual attack, punishment for evil doing and illicit psychoactive substance use, among other things. Negative views about the mentally ill were also widely expressed resulting in discriminatory practices., Conclusion: Stigmatization of people with mental illness is still rampant in our community. There is a need for adequate public education about the causes and mode of transmission of mental illness and the treatment options available in the community.

Background: Low level of utilisation of maternal health services is a major factor responsible for high maternal mortality in northwestern region of Nigeria. This study was aimed at determining the barriers to utilisation of maternal health services from the perspective of mothers in northwestern Nigeria., Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study of 150 mothers, selected through multistage technique, was conducted. Data were collected using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire, and analysed using SPSS statistics 17.0., Results: Only 2.7% utilised preconception service, 98.7% antenatal care service (ANC), 24.0% delivery, 35.3% postnatal care and 14.0% utilised family planning service. Major reasons for non-utilisation of delivery service were not having a delivery complication in the past (57% (CI = 47.4-66.1)) and negative provider attitude (23.7% (CI = 16.4-32.7)). For non-utilisation of postnatal care, the major reasons were also not having a postnatal complication in the past (60.8% (CI = 50.4-70.4)) and negative provider attitude (27.8% (CI = 19.4-38.0)). As for non-utilisation of family planning service, the major reason was desire to have more children (32.6% (CI = 24.7-41.4)). Reasons for non-use of preconception care and ANC were not computed because respondents to these questions were not enough; only 6 (4.0%) were aware of preconception care in the first place and only 2 (1.3%) were not using ANC., Conclusion: Despite living near a health facility, most of the mothers were not using maternal health services. It is recommended that while there is the need to raise awareness on the utilisation of maternal health services, bring it closer to the mothers and make it more affordable, there is a more pressing need to improve its quality, especially through the alleviation of negative attitude of health care providers.

Optimal and adequate prevention of road traffic injuries in developing countries has been hampered by limitations of knowledge and poor attitude towards use of cost effective safety and preventive measures like the seat belt. The objective of the study was to determine the level of self-reported use of seat belt and the factors affecting it among commercial motor vehicle drivers. The study was cross-sectional descriptive, data was obtained using interviewer-administered, structured and pre-tested questionnaire. Knowledge of seat belt was low, (11%), more than half (55.3%) admitted that use of seat belts prevents ejection of vehicle occupants. Less than half (47%) reported use of seat belt always. Age and educational level were significantly associated with use of seat belts (p < 0.0001), (p = 0.009). There is sub-optimal knowledge of the importance of seat belts coupled with low level of use. Innovative public health education approaches with enforcement could mitigate the low level of use.

Background: As population and access to information increases, so does the demand for health services. Unfortunately, many people who genuinely require these services do not usually have access to them. To increase access, various financing options have been used. Despite this, maternal morbidity and mortality rates remain high and spending is still largely out of pocket. This study assesses maternal health problems, preferred sources of care and the pattern of financing in a semi-rural community in North Western part of Nigeria., Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive study design was used. The study population consisted of women within the reproductive age group who had experienced childbirth 12 months or less prior to the study. A sample size of 240 was drawn using cluster and random sampling techniques. Interviewer administered questionnaires were used and the results were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS)., Results: The mean age of the respondents was 29 years and 49% had no personal income. Fever was the commonest problem. Although majority received antenatal care, those who lacked antenatal care mostly cited financial difficulties. Nearly half of the women delivered at home as opposed to a health facility. On average, women spent between Nigerian Naira (N) N1, 350-N14, 850 (USD$9-99) for a total package of maternal health services. Out of pocket spending by the husbands or household heads and the women themselves accounted for 73.3% of expenses., Conclusion and Public Health Implications: In Nigeria, women are still vulnerable to common and preventable causes of maternal morbidity and mortality due to lack of access to antenatal health care. Out of pocket spending is still a popular method of financing. Harmonization of fee exemption policies can improve access to maternal healthcare.

Background: An equitable health care system that responds to the needs of its people is important to break the cycle of poverty and ill-health. However, rising health care cost, and the preponderance of user fees to finance health care have often limited access to needed health services., Study Design: A cross-sectional descriptive study design was employed, using a pretested, semi-structured, interviewer-administered questionnaire., Results: The study was carried out among 188 respondents. Majority (88.2%) of the respondents were within the age-group 20-49 years, about two-thirds 63.8% were married and about half (42.8%) had family size between 5 and 9. The study revealed that about a quarter (26.1%) experienced hardship in settling their medical bills. While one-third (31.1%) had to sell their assets, about half (45.2%) had to secure loan while 16.6% had to resort to begging because of hardship encountered in settling the medical bills. Furthermore, of those who sold theirs asset; 46.2% sold their farmlands, 38.5% sold a piece of land, while 16.3% sold their vehicles., Conclusion: This study has revealed that inhabitants of Samaru community experience hardship in settling their medical bills. Consequently, innovative strategies like deferment of payment and fee exemption, enrolling into community-based health insurance schemes as well as voluntary contributory health insurance schemes etc need to be considered, in order to alleviate the hardship in settling the medical bills.

The study assessed the factors influencing nutritional status of children less than five years in Biye village in rural Nigeria. The study was a cross sectional descriptive study: 119 caregivers and mothers were interviewed. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data using multi-stage sampling. Anthropometric measurements of children were also taken. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 17.0. Respondents age ranged from 11-50 years, mean age of 26 (± 11.7); 79.8% had Quranic education; and 50.4% were not gainfully employed. Two-thirds (68.9%) were polygamous, and 64.7% had 1-3 children. Less than 1% of children were exclusively breast fed. From anthropometric data obtained, 62.2% were stunted, 12.6% wasted, and 48.7% underweight. A statistically significant relationship exists between family size and children's nutritional status. The prevalence of malnutrition was high with poor child feeding practices. Thus, healthcare providers should carry out community-wide health education on the need to promote appropriate infant feeding practices and nutritional status.

Background: Psycho-active substances have been used by various societies since the dawn of civilization, and still remain a major public health concern in the 21st century. Evidence has shown that in the last 2 decades in Nigeria, adolescents are a major group involved in the use of psychoactive substances. The study was carried out to determine pattern of use and the push factors for such use among in school adolescents in Zaria, Nigeria., Method: The study was cross sectional descriptive in design. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to interview 280 respondents using self administered, structured and pre tested questionnaires. Data was analyzed manually and chi-square test statistic was used to test for significance of association between categorical variables at p value of < 0.05., Results: A total of 280 respondents, 195 (69.6%) males and 85 (30.4%) females senior secondary school adolescent were interviewed. The study shows that 157 (56%) use one or more substance or the other. The commonest ones are kola nut followed by cigarette and marijuana. The commonest push factor for use is to experiment (54%). The study also shows, statistically significant relationship between family background and psychoactive substance use (chi2 = 21.57, df = 2 p < 0.05), there was however no statistical significance between age, class of the students and substance use respectively (chi2 = 1.94, df = 2 p > 0.05) (chi2 = 0.97, df = 2p > 0.05)., Conclusion: The prevalence of psychoactive substances use is unacceptably high and the main trigger identified was the process of experimentation in order to discover their effects. There is the need to institutionalize preventive strategies against substance abuse in our secondary schools. Further studies in this area are also recommended.