Exploring the Social and Environmental Determinants of Child Health in Ilorin, Nigeria

Death of children under the age of five years is a major challenge to health profile in Africa and the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Sub-Saharan Africa has been shown to have performedpoorly in the effort to realize the goals due partly to the soaring infant and childhood mortality. This study examines the factors-social and environmental- that affect child health in the Sub-Saharan Africa using theexample of Ilorin in Nigeria. The study adopts a multi-stage sampling procedure to select 300 nursing mothers from the twenty wards of Ilorin metropolis while structured questionnaires was used to obtain information on the socio-economic characteristics of mothers as well as the residential quality in their households. Thus, ten variables were selected; covering residential quality, socio-economic status, access to health care and healthcare options mothers often adopt when illness occur in their children. These variables were expected to offer varying degrees of explanation to the observed pattern of child health in Ilorin metropolis. The surrogateadopted for child health in the study was occurrence of childhood diarrhea during the six weeks preceding the survey. A multiple regression analysis was used to determine the relative contributions of the selected variablesto the observed pattern of child health. The result shows that the variables in the residential quality domain offer the highest explanation for the occurrence of childhood diarrhea while all other variables also possessedpositive relationships. This finding corroborates earlier studies and draws implications for public health in cities of Africa. It particularly advocates for a deliberate intervention by urban administrators in the urban renewal processes that are ongoing in the inner parts of the traditional African cities with a view to providing basic home and environmental services in the old houses in these areas that are being renovated. The study  believes that the MDGs are achievable if micro-level interventions were given priority over and above the macro- scale solutions that may fall short of local realities.Keywords: Under-five mortality, diarrhea, residential quality, MDGs, child health, Nigeri

Equine dietary supplements:an insight into their use and perceptions in the Irish equine industry

Background: Nutritional supplements are frequently used by horse owners/caregivers to supplement their horse(s) diets. Some work has been done to identify the types of supplements fed and the reasons for doing so; however, this has been predominantly disciple-specific and with little focus on participants’ perceptions of supplement testing and regulation. The aim of this study was to gain an insight into the use and perceptions of equine dietary supplements in the Irish equestrian industry. Methods: An online survey was designed to ascertain the following information: demographics, types of supplements fed and reasons for use, factors that influenced respondents’ choice of supplement, where advice was sought and perceptions of testing and regulation of equine supplements Results: The survey yielded 134 responses, 70% non-professionals and 30% professionals. A greater percentage of professionals included supplements in their horse(s) diets (98%) compared to non-professionals (86%). Almost 70% of professionals fed more than two supplements, whereas 80% of non-professionals reported to feed only one supplement. Joint supplements were most commonly fed by all respondents (22%) followed by calming supplements (13%). The enhancement of performance (35%) and prevention of joint disorders (34%) were the most common reasons reported by respondents for using a supplement. Over 53% of respondents sought advice on choosing a supplement from their feed merchant, followed by their veterinarian (46%). Veterinary recommendation was given as the most influential factor when choosing a supplement by 90% of respondents, followed by cost (69%). Most (93%) respondents thought that feed supplements had to meet legal standards, with each batch analysed for quality (72%) and the supplement tested on horses before being launched on to the market (92%). Conclusion: This study has identified the main types of supplements used in the Irish equestrian industry along with the reasons for their use. However, it has also highlighted major misperceptions in how supplements are tested before being launched for sale and further work on this aspect of the findings would be beneficial

Quercetin and Allopurinol Ameliorate Kidney Injury in STZ-Treated Rats with Regulation of Renal NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation and Lipid Accumulation

Hyperuricemia, hyperlipidemia and inflammation are associated with diabetic nephropathy. The NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated inflammation is recently recognized in the development of kidney injury. Urate and lipid are considered as danger signals in the NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Although dietary flavonoid quercetin and allopurinol alleviate hyperuricemia, dyslipidmia and inflammation, their nephroprotective effects are currently unknown. In this study, we used streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic nephropathy model with hyperuricemia and dyslipidemia in rats, and found over-expression of renal inflammasome components NLRP3, apoptosis-associated speck-like protein and Caspase-1, resulting in elevation of IL-1β and IL-18, with subsequently deteriorated renal injury. These findings demonstrated the possible association between renal NLRP3 inflammasome activation and lipid accumulation to superimpose causes of nephrotoxicity in STZ-treated rats. The treatment of quercetin and allopurinol regulated renal urate transport-related proteins to reduce hyperuricemia, and lipid metabolism-related genes to alleviate kidney lipid accumulation in STZ-treated rats. Furthermore, quercetin and allopurinol were found to suppress renal NLRP3 inflammasome activation, at least partly, via their anti-hyperuricemic and anti-dyslipidemic effects, resulting in the amelioration of STZ-induced the superimposed nephrotoxicity in rats. These results may provide a basis for the prevention of diabetes-associated nephrotoxicity with urate-lowering agents such as quercetin and allopurinol

Strengthening Health Systems in Poor Countries: A Code of Conduct for Nongovernmental Organizations

The challenges facing efforts in Africa to increase access to antiretroviral HIV treatment underscore the urgent need to strengthen national health systems across the continent. However, donor aid to developing countries continues to be disproportionately channeled to international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) rather than to ministries of health. The rapid proliferation of NGOs has provoked “brain drain” from the public sector by luring workers away with higher salaries, fragmentation of services, and increased management burdens for local authorities in many countries. Projects by NGOs sometimes can undermine the strengthening of public primary health care systems. We argue for a return to a public focus for donor aid, and for NGOs to adopt a code of conduct that establishes standards and best practices for NGO relationships with public sector health systems