Ethnobotanical survey of plants used in the management of hypertension in Ibadan North Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria

Background: Among diseases that affect humans, the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are quite a number of which hypertension is a leading member of the group and a leading contributory cause of death worldwide.Objective: To identify and document medicinal plants used in ethno-medical management of hypertension in selected communities within Ibadan metropolis. This is with the aim of contributing to a database of plants for future systematic biological and chemical evaluation for possible templates of anti-hypertensive agents and drug leads.Materials and methods: An inventory of plant species/natural remedies used in folk medicine to manage hypertension in Ibadan North Local Government Area of Oyo State was undertaken. Interviews using semi-structured questionnaires and open-ended conversations were conducted among one hundred and seventy-six (176) respondents aged 30 years and above to obtain relevant information.Results: A total of one hundred and one (101) plants belonging to fifty-four (54) families were identified of which the highest number of plants mentioned belong to family Compositae. The usage profiles of the plants were quantified by the quotation frequency/ mention index.Conclusion: It was observed that Ibadan is a rich source of plants indicated in management of hypertension. More scientific work especially biological studies are needed to ascertain the efficacy, toxicity, safety and appropriate dosage regimen of these ethno-medicinal remedies.Keywords: Hypertension, Kigelia africana, Non-communicable diseases, ethnobotanical surve

Influence of Festivals and Recreational Facilities on Tourism Development in Calabar Municipality of Cross River State.

This study examined the influence of festivals and recreational facilities on tourism development in Calabar Municipality of Cross River State. This Ex-Post Facto research involved two hundred respondents consisting of tourism operators, tour guides and tourism research officers selected through stratified random sampling technique. A questionnaire constructed by the researchers was used for data collection while Pearson Product Moment Correlation statistical analysis was used for data analysis. The research findings revealed that there is a significant influence of festivals and recreational facilities on tourism development in Calabar Municipality.  Based on these findings, it was recommended that cultural and Christmas festivals should be expanded to cover every local government in the state in order to expose the rich tourism potentials of the state as well as promote tourism development across the state. It was further recommended that recreational facilities should be fully developed in Calabar Municipality and other parts of the state as a means of attracting visitors both locally and internationally to such facilities, in order to promote tourism development

“I don't like to be seen by a male provider”: health workers’ strike, economic, and sociocultural reasons for home birth in settings with free maternal healthcare in Nigeria

Background: Ending maternal mortality has been a significant global health priority for decades. Many sub-Saharan African countries introduced user fee removal policies to attain this goal and ensure universal access to health facility delivery. However, many women in Nigeria continue to deliver at home. We examined the reasons for home birth in settings with free maternal healthcare in Southwestern and North Central Nigeria. Methods: We adopted a fully mixed, sequential, equal-status design. For the quantitative study, we drew data from 211 women who reported giving birth at home from a survey of 1227 women of reproductive age who gave birth in the 5 y before the survey. The qualitative study involved six focus group discussions and 68 in-depth interviews. Data generated through the interviews were coded and subjected to inductive thematic analysis, while descriptive statistics were used to analyse the quantitative data. Results: Women faced several barriers that limited their use of skilled birth attendants. These barriers operate at multiple levels and could be grouped as economic, sociocultural and health facility–related factors. Despite the user fee removal policy, lack of transportation, birth unpreparedness and lack of money pushed women to give birth at home. Also, sociocultural reasons such as hospital delivery not being deemed necessary in the community, women not wanting to be seen by male health workers, husbands not motivated and husbands’ disapproval hindered the use of health facilities for childbirth. Conclusions: This study has demonstrated that free healthcare does not guarantee universal access to healthcare. Interventions, especially in the Nasarawa state of Nigeria, should focus on the education of mothers on the importance of health facility–based delivery and birth preparedness

Teen mothers and depression : lack of support from partners and violence are big drivers in Malawi and Burkina Faso

Up to one in four African girls have their first child before the age of 18. Becoming a mother at such a young age can lead to mental health problems like depression. Research suggests that pregnant and parenting teenagers have poorer mental health than adult mothers. Several factors make teenage mothers vulnerable to mental illness. For example, in conservative societies pregnant, unmarried adolescent girls are shamed and excluded. Parenting is stressful. Early and unintended pregnancy can add to the pressure. Moreover the loss of childhood can overwhelm and distress adolescent girls

Prevalence and correlates of induced abortion: results of a facility-based cross-sectional survey of parturient women living with HIV in South Africa

Background: There is a paucity of studies examining the prevalence and correlates of induced abortion among women living with HIV. Our study fills this gap by examining the prevalence and correlates of induced abortion among parturient women living with HIV in Eastern Cape, South Africa. Methods: We analysed cross-sectional survey data of the East London Prospective Cohort Study, which took place between September 2015 and May 2016 in three large maternity facilities in the Buffalo/Amathole districts of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. A total of 1709 parturient women living with HIV who gave birth over the study period were recruited. We carried out descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The prevalence of induced abortion was 19% (95% CI: 17.2–20.9%), but varied by women’s socio-demographic characteristics. Induced abortion prevalence was higher among women aged 25 years and over (21.4%), than among women aged less than 25 years (11.0%). Those ever married or cohabiting (26.8%) reported a higher level of induced abortion than those never-married women (15.6%). Those already diagnosed HIV positive before their index pregnancy (20.2%) had a higher prevalence of induced abortion than those diagnosed during their index pregnancy (14.1%). In the adjusted logistic regression, women were more likely to have ever induced abortion if they were ever married or cohabiting (aOR; 1.86 95% CI; 1.43–2.41), ever smoked (aOR: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.01–2.28) and diagnosed with HIV before their index pregnancy (aOR:1.44; 95% CI: 1.02–2.05) but less likely if younger than 25 years (aOR; 0.51 95% CI:0.35–0.73). Conclusion: About one in five women living with HIV had ever induced abortion in the study settings, indicating that abortion service is one of the main reproductive health services needed by women living with HIV in South Africa. This is an indication that the need for abortion is somewhat high in this group of women. The finding, therefore, highlights the need for concerted efforts from all stakeholders to address the unmet need for contraception among women living with HIV to prevent unintended pregnancy

Prenatal care coverage and correlates of HIV testing in sub-Saharan Africa: insight from demographic and health surveys of 16 countries

Background: Prenatal screening of pregnant women for HIV is central to eliminating mother-to-childtransmission (MTCT) of HIV. While some countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have scaled up their prevention of MTCT programmes, ensuring a near-universal prenatal care HIV testing, and recording a significant reduction in new infection among children, several others have poor outcomes due to inadequate testing. We conducted a multi-country analysis of demographic and health surveys (DHS) to assess the coverage of HIV testing during pregnancy and also examine the factors associated with uptake. Methods: We analysed data of 64,933 women from 16 SSA countries with recent DHS datasets (2015-2018) using Stata version 16. Adjusted and unadjusted logistic regression models were used to examine correlates of prenatal care uptake of HIV testing. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: Progress in scaling up of prenatal care HIV testing was uneven across SSA, with only 6.1% of pregnant women tested in Chad compared to 98.1% in Rwanda. While inequality in access to HIV testing among pregnant women is pervasive in most SSA countries and particularly in West and Central Africa sub-regions, a few countries, including Rwanda, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia have managed to eliminate wealth and rural-urban inequalities in access to prenatal care HIV testing. Conclusion: Our findings highlight the between countries and sub-regional disparities in prenatal care uptake of HIV testing in SSA. Even though no country has universal coverage of prenatal care HIV testing, East and Southern African regions have made remarkable progress towards ensuring no pregnant woman is left untested. However, the West and Central Africa regions had low coverage of prenatal care testing, with the rich and well educated having better access to testing, while the poor rarely tested. Addressing the inequitable access and coverage of HIV testing among pregnant women is vital in these sub-regions