Primary Health Care in Nigeria: Strategies and constraints in implemntation

The Alma Ata declaration on Primary Health Care (PHC) which was made in 1978 is meant to address the main health problems in communities by providing promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative services. Nigeriawas among the 134 signatories to this invaluable idea. Subsequently,  several re-organization of the Nigeria health structure to align with the new vision were made. The implementation of PHC, primarily through services provided at the primary health centres, vary based on the type of PHC facility in Nigeria. Several other PHC services within the health precinct include community mobilization, service integration and selected PHC programmes under the auspices of international collaborators. This review therefore, looks at the strategic trends and constraints in the implementation of PHC in Nigeria since the Alma Ata declaration.Key Words: Primary Health Care, Strategies for implementation, Constraints, Alma Ata Declaration, Nigeria

Cigarette Smoking and Adolescent Health: A Survey of Selected Senior Secondary Schools in Ekpoma

The objective of this study was to investigate the knowledge and practice of cigarette smoking among in-school adolescents in Ekpoma. A sample of 353 senior secondary students drawn from selected schools in the area was studied in a cross-sectional design using self-administered questionnaires. Respondents’ knowledge was  assessed with questions that bother on aspects of smoking with public health implications. Mean age of respondents was 16.6   years and a near-equal gender distribution. The results showed a smoking prevalence of 11.6% while the percentage attempts to quit was 26.8%. Percentage awareness about the harmful effects of smoking was 86.1% while comprehensive knowledge of important aspects of smoking was good in 60.3% of respondents. There was a  significant relationship between smoking and self-reported academic performance (X2 = 5.002; p=0.025; OR = 0.47; CI (95%) = 0.22 – 0.96). Conclusively, the prevalence of smoking was high among in-school adolescents in the study area. We recommend special programmes and services aimed at reducing smoking among adolescents in a learning environment.Keywords: Cigarette, Smoking, Adolescents, Secondary schools, Ekpoma

Knowledge and application of infectious diseases control measures among Primary Care workers in Nigeria: The Lassa fever example

The objective of this study was to investigate the knowledge and practice of Lassa fever control among primary care health workers. The study was a cross-sectional survey of health workers in 34 primary care centres in Esan West and Esan Central Local Government Areas. The LGAs were selected from Lassa fever-endemic areas in the state and studied with 231 self-administered semi-structured questionnaires. The knowledge of respondents was assessed using a ten-question scoring system. Data was analyzed and presented in tables and figures. All respondents were aware of Lassa fever and 77.9% of them had good knowledge of the control of the disease while 9.1% had poor knowledge. There was no significant association between level of knowledge and designation of the health worker (χ2=8.99, df =4, p>0.05). Only 13.0% and 16.9% of them regularly practiced barrier-nursing and hand washing, respectively, as means of containing the spread of the infection. The level of general knowledge about Lassa fever was high. However, there was poor compliance with standard preventive practices. Therefore, sustained education and re-training of Health workers at the primary care level is required to curtail nosocomial transmission of the disease.Key words: Lassa fever, health worker, infection, disease control