Contraception among bankers in an urban community in Lagos state, Nigeria

Introduction: Contraception means procedures employed to interfere at one stage or the other with the normal sequence of events in the process of reproduction leading to a failure in conception. It means voluntary techniques adopted to achieve birth control. Its use remains sensitive worldwide. Within the same society, contraception varies amongst people of different socio-cultural, educational, religious, or occupational affiliations. It also varies between urban and rural settlements. Some contraceptive techniques also prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The prevalence of STIs also varies with these same factors. There is very limited literature on contraception exclusively amongst bankers. We sought to investigate the level of awareness and practice of contraception amongst bankers in an urban society in Lagos State, Nigeria. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 200 self-administered structured questionnaires were retrieved from bankers from 5 banks selected by simple random sampling in Surulere Local Government Area of Lagos State, Nigeria. Data was subsequently statistically analyzed using SPSS. Results: The age range was 21-45 years, mean28.8±1.4 years, 51.7% were males (72% single, 27% married, 1% separated) and 48.3% were females (52.4% single, 47.6% married). All (100%) respondents were aware of contraception, 93.3% males and 91.7% females were sexually active, 88.9% males and 84.5% females believe contraception is useful. Most (71.4%) respondents practice contraception, males (81%) being more than females (61.1%), p < 0.05. More (71.4%) females and fewer (37.8%) males believe that contraception prevents pregnancy but not STIs, 28.6% of females and 46.6% of males believe it prevents both pregnancy and STIs, whereas 14% of males and no female believe contraception prevents STIs but not pregnancy. Conclusion: The awareness of and practice of contraception was very high among the bankers but more male bankers practice contraception whereas more female bankers perceive contraceptives to be for the married only.Pan African Medical Journal 2013; 14: 8

Screening diabetes mellitus patients for tuberculosis in Southern Nigeria: A pilot study

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus (DM) and tuberculosis (TB) are of great public health importance globally, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Tuberculosis is the third cause of death among subjects with non-communicable diseases. DM increases risk of progressing from latent to active tuberculosis. The study aimed to ascertain yield of TB cases and the number needed to screen (NNS) among DM patients.Material and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at 10 health facilities with high DM patient load and readily accessible DOTS center in 6 states of southern region of Nigeria over a period of 6 months under routine programme conditions. All patients who gave consent were included in the study. Yield and NNS were calculated using an appropriate formula. Results: 3 457 patients were screened with a mean age (SD) of 59.9 (12.9) years. The majority were male, 2 277 (65.9%). Overall prevalence of TB was 0.8% (800 per 100 000). Sixteen (0.5%) were known TB cases (old cases). There were 221 presumptive cases (6.4%) out of which 184 (83.3%) were sent for Xpert MTB/Rif assay. Eleven (0.3%) new cases of TB were detected, giving additional yield of 40.7% and the number needed to screen (NNS) of 315. All the 11 patients were placed on anti-TB treatment. Conclusions: The prevalence of TB among DM patients was higher than in the general population. The yield was also good and comparable to other findings. This underscores the need for institute active screening for TB among DM patients. Further stu-dies are recommended to identify associated factors to guide policy makers in planning and development of TB-DM integrated services

Assessment of community knowledge, attitude, and stigma of Buruli ulcer disease in Southern Nigeria

Background: Poor knowledge can influence timely care-seeking among persons with Buruli ulcer disease (BUD).Objectives: To assess community knowledge, attitude and stigma towards persons with BUD in endemic settings of Southern Nigeria.Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey conducted among adult community members in four States of Southern Nigeria. A semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was administered to all participants.Results: Of 491 adults who completed the survey, 315 (64.2%) belonged to the ≤40 years age group, 257 (52.3%) were males and 415 (84.5%) had some formal education. The overall mean (SD) knowledge score was 5.5±2.3 (maximum 10). Only 172 (35.0%) of the participants had a good knowledge of BUD. A total of 327 (66.6%) considered BUD as a very serious illness. Also, there was a high-level of stigma against BUD patients; 372 (75.8%) of the participants felt compassion for and desire to help them, 77 (15.7%) felt compassion but tended to stay away from them, and 53 (10.8%) feared them because they may infect them with the disease. Having a formal education and ethnicity were independent predictors of good knowledge of BUD.Conclusion: There is poor community knowledge of BUD in endemic settings of Southern Nigeria which influenced the attitude and perceptions of community members towards persons with BUDKeywords: Mycobacterium ulcerans disease, knowledge, perceptions, practices

Raw, Unadulterated African Honey for Ulcer Healing in Leprosy:Protocol for the Honey Experiment on Leprosy Ulcer (HELP) Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Leprosy leads to nerve damage and slow-healing ulcers, which are treatable with routine therapy. There has been a recent resurgence of interest in the use of honey for the treatment of different kinds of wounds. Objective: The aim of this study, Honey Experiment on Leprosy Ulcer (HELP), is to evaluate the healing properties of raw, unadulterated African honey in comparison with normal saline dressing for the treatment leprosy ulcers. Methods: This is a multicenter, comparative, prospective, single-blinded, parallel-group, and 1:1 individually randomized controlled trial to be conducted at The Leprosy Referral Hospital, Chanchaga in Minna, Niger State, North Central Nigeria, and St. Benedict Tuberculosis and Leprosy Rehabilitation Hospital in Ogoja, Cross River State, South-South Nigeria. Raw, unadulterated honey will be used in the ulcer dressing of eligible, consenting participants in the intervention group, whereas those in the control group will be treated by dressing with normal saline. The main outcomes will be the proportion of complete healing and the rate of healing up to 84 days after randomization. Follow-up will be conducted 6 months after randomization. We aim to enroll 90‐130 participants into the study. Blinded observers will examine photographs of ulcers to determine the outcomes. Results: The recruitment of trial participants began on March 14, 2022, and has been continuing for approximately 24 months. Conclusions: Our study will provide an unbiased estimate of the effect of honey on the healing of neuropathic ulcers. Trial Registration: ISRCTN registry ISRCTN10093277; https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN1009327

Investigating the sustainability of self-help programmes in the context of leprosy and the work of leprosy missions in Nigeria, Nepal and India : a qualitative study protocol

Leprosy occurs among very poor people who may be stigmatised and pushed further to the margins of society. Programmes to improve social integration and stimulate economic development have been implemented to help break the vicious cycle of poverty, reduced quality of life and ulcer recurrence. These involve forming groups of people, with a common concern, to provide mutual support and form saving syndicates-hence the term 'self-help groups' (SHGs). While there is literature on the existence and effectiveness of SHGs during the funded periods, little is known about their sustainability. We aim to explore the extent to which SHG programme activities have continued beyond the funding period and record evidence of sustained benefits. In India, Nepal and Nigeria, we identified programmes funded by international non-governmental organisations, primarily aimed at people affected by leprosy. In each case, financial and technical support was allocated for a predetermined period (up to 5 years).We will review documents, including project reports and meeting minutes, and conduct semistructured interviews with people involved in delivery of the SHG programme, potential beneficiaries and people in the wider environment who may have been familiar with the programme. These interviews will gauge participant and community perceptions of the programmes and barriers and facilitators to sustainability. Data will be analysed thematically and compared across four study sites. Approval was obtained from the University of Birmingham Biomedical and Scientific Research Ethics Committee. Local approval was obtained from: The Leprosy Mission Trust India Ethics Committee; Federal Capital Territory Health Research Ethics Committee in Nigeria and the Health Research Ethics Committee of Niger State Ministry of Health; University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital and the Nepal Health and Research Council. Results will be disseminated via peer-reviewed journals, conference presentations and community engagement events through the leprosy missions. [Abstract copyright: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

Assessment of community knowledge, attitude, and stigma of Buruli ulcer disease in Southern Nigeria

Background: Poor knowledge can influence timely care-seeking among persons with Buruli ulcer disease (BUD). Objectives: To assess community knowledge, attitude and stigma towards persons with BUD in endemic settings of Southern Nigeria. Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey conducted among adult community members in four States of Southern Nigeria. A semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was administered to all participants. Results: Of 491 adults who completed the survey, 315 (64.2%) belonged to the 6440 years age group, 257 (52.3%) were males and 415 (84.5%) had some formal education. The overall mean (SD) knowledge score was 5.5\ub12.3 (maximum 10). Only 172 (35.0%) of the participants had a good knowledge of BUD. A total of 327 (66.6%) considered BUD as a very serious illness. Also, there was a high-level of stigma against BUD patients; 372 (75.8%) of the participants felt compassion for and desire to help them, 77 (15.7%) felt compassion but tended to stay away from them, and 53 (10.8%) feared them because they may infect them with the disease. Having a formal education and ethnicity were independent predictors of good knowledge of BUD. Conclusion: There is poor community knowledge of BUD in endemic settings of Southern Nigeria which influenced the attitude and perceptions of community members towards persons with BUD DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ahs.v19i2.34 Cite as: Nwafor CC, Meka A, Chukwu JN, Ekeke N, Alphonsus C, Mbah O, Madichie NO, Aduh U, Ogbeifo M, IseOluwa-Adelokiki BO, Edochie JE, Ushaka J, Ukwaja KN. Assessment of community knowledge, attitude, and stigma of Buruli ulcer disease in Southern Nigeria. Afri Health Sci.2019;19(2): 2100-2111. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ahs.v19i2.3

Automatic surface age dating of impact events on Mars

Counting impact craters on surfaces of terrestrial bodies is currently the only way to estimate the age of a planetary surface and the duration of geological processes occurred in the past. This approach requires a tedious mapping and morphological inspection of a large number of impact craters. We created a Crater Detection Algorithm trained on Martian orbital imagery in order to compile all small impact craters on the Martian surface down to around 100m in diameter. We applied our algorithm on the CTX mosaic (6m/px) between 45 degrees of North and South covering more than 70% of the entire Martian surface, and detected around 17M of impact structures >50m. From these detection, we are now able to obtain an estimation of the age of any geological structures having shaped the surface of Mars at different spatial scales. We primarily focused on impact event dating. Results on the estimation of the age of two impact craters formed recently in the geological history of Mars, Tooting and Mojave crater, will be presented. A spatial analysis of the distribution of impact craters detected on these two regions will be also introduced in the aim to distinguish primary impact crater population from secondaries