Syphilis serology in HIV-positive and HIV-negative Nigerians: The public health significance

Syphilis has acquired new potential for morbidity and mortality through association with increased risk for HIV infection. Case-control survey was conducted using Rapid Plasma Reagin test and confirmatory Immunochromatographic test among HIV-positive (cases) and HIV-negative (control) Nigerians. A total of 35(14.0%) of 250 HIV-positive and 5(2.0%) of 250 HIV-negative individuals studied were seropositive for syphilis, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The prevalence was higher among females than males of HIV-positive (15.0% versus 12.7%) and of the HIV-negative (2.1% versus 1.9%) individuals. Syphilis seroprevalence was highest among HIV-positive individuals aged 21-30 years (20.5%) and 41-50 years old HIV-negative individuals (4.5%). Sex education, promotion of safer sexual behaviour, prompt diagnosis of STDs and provision of effective, accessible treatment are recommende

Trichomonas vaginalis infection in human immunodeficiency virus-seropositive Nigerian women: The public health significance

Evidence from the biology and epidemiology of Trichomonas vaginalis suggests that this protozoan parasite may play an important role in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission dynamics, especially where heterosexual behaviour and a high prevalence of HIV obtain. The prevalence of T. vaginalis was evaluated among HIV-seropositive Nigerian women, in an anonymous, unlinked, cross-sectional survey. Of the total of 250 HIV-seropositive women studied using the wet mount preparations from high vaginal swab (HVS) and urine specimens, the presence of T. vaginalis was demonstrated in 61(24.4%) of the HVS specimens and 57(22.8%) of the urine specimens. The highest prevalence of T. vaginalis infection (32.6%) was recorded among individuals in the 26-30 years age category and the lowest (18.8%) among the age categories 20-25 years and above 40 years. Since the coinfection of T. vaginalis and HIV has public health implications for HIV prevention as it confirms the practice of unprotected sex, educational efforts must be aimed at sexually active persons and high risk groups and are best focused upon the use of barrier precautions, particularly condom use

A Rapid Review of the Reopening of Schools in this COVID‐19 Pandemic? How Ready are We in Nigeria?

Reopening schools raise several ethical issues, including safety, privacy, autonomy, vulnerability. Some countries have gradually reopened their schools with explicit guidelines for safety. The safe reopening of schools demands sensitivity to community inequities. We aimed to conduct a rapid review of the strategies adopted in the reopening of schools in some countries amid the Covid-19 and highlight the lessons learned and to consider the feasibility of some of the existing Nigerian guidelines on school reopening. A rapid review technique using PubMed search was conducted using the combination of the following keywords: Covid-19, school, reopening along with a Google search using the phrase ‘schools reopened in COVID-19 pandemic.’ Ten articles met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Eight countries namely China, Taiwan, South Korea, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Australia, and Israel were identified. All the countries started with phased reopening and a reduction in class size. Wearing masks was mandatory in some countries. Hand hygiene and strict cleaning of high-touch surfaces were ensured. The Nigerian government’s guidelines towards the reopening of schools sound good, but the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness need to be objectively assessed and contextualized across all tiers of the government and at all levels of development to avoid COVID-19 resurgence

Improving Maternal and Child Healthcare Programme Using Community-Participatory Interventions in Ebonyi State Nigeria

In Nigeria, the government is implementing the Free Maternal and Child Health Care Programme (FMCHCP). The policy is premised on the notion that financial barriers are one of the most important constraints to equitable access and use of skilled maternal and child healthcare. In Ebonyi State, Southeastern Nigeria the FMCHCP is experiencing implementation challenges including: inadequate human resource for health, inadequate funding, out of stock syndrome, inadequate infrastructure, and poor staff remuneration. Furthermore, there is less emphasis on community involvement in the programme implementation. In this policy brief, we recommend policy options that emphasize the implementation of community-based participatory interventions to strengthen the government’s FMCHCP as follows: Option 1: Training community women on prenatal care, life-saving skills in case of emergency, reproductive health, care of the newborn and family planning. Option 2: Sensitizing the community women towards behavioural change, to understand what quality services that respond to their needs are but also to seek and demand for such. Option 3: Implementation packages that provide technical skills to women of childbearing age as well as mothers’ groups, and traditional birth attendants for better home-based maternal and child healthcare. The effectiveness of this approach has been demonstrated in a number of community-based participatory interventions, building on the idea that if community members take part in decision-making and bring local knowledge, experiences and problems to the fore, they are more likely to own and sustain solutions to improve their communities’ health

Prevalence of antibodies to Hepatitis C virus among Nigerian patients with HIV infection

Nigeria belongs to the group of countries highly endemic for viral hepatitis; unfortunately information on the prevalence of hepatitis C amongst patients with HIV in Nigeria is very scarce. This hospital-based investigation was conducted at two major hospitals in Jos, Nigeria from June 2002 through May 2003. Serum samples from 490 confirmed HIV infected patients were assayed for the presence of antibodies to HCV, using a third generation enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Twenty eight (5.7%; 95% CI 3.66-7.76%) of the patients had antibodies to HCV. The prevalence of HCV antibodies was higher among the males (7.5%; 95% CI 3.83-11.09%) than the females (4.5%; 95% CI 2.10-6.88%). Statistical analysis showed no significant difference (x2 = 1.917, df =1, p=0.05). Individuals of the age group 41-50 years had the highest prevalence of HCV antibodies (15.4%; 95% CI. 7.37-23.29%), followed by those of age group 31-40 years (7.4%; 95%, CI 3.70-11.20%). A significant difference was observed in the association between age and prevalence of HCV antibodies (x2 = 24.151, df = 4, p =0.05). Early diagnosis of HCV in people with HIV infection is advocated to reduce risk of HCV related advanced liver disease

Implementation of a health policy advisory committee as a knowledge translation platform: the Nigeria experience

Background: In recent times, there has been a growing demand internationally for health policies to be based on reliable research evidence. Consequently, there is a need to strengthen institutions and mechanisms that can promote interactions among researchers, policy-makers and other stakeholders who can influence the uptake of research findings. The Health Policy Advisory Committee (HPAC) is one of such mechanisms that can serve as an excellent forum for the interaction of policy-makers and researchers. Therefore, the need to have a long term mechanism that allows for periodic interactions between researchers and policy-makers within the existing government system necessitated our implementation of a newly established HPAC in Ebonyi State Nigeria, as a Knowledge Translation (KT) platform. The key study objective was to enhance the capacity of the HPAC and equip its members with the skills/competence required for the committee to effectively promote evidence informed policy-making and function as a KT platform. Methods: A series of capacity building programmes and KT activities were undertaken including: i) Capacity building of the HPAC using Evidence-to-Policy Network (EVIPNet) SUPPORT tools; ii) Capacity enhancement mentorship programme of the HPAC through a three-month executive training programme on health policy/health systems and KT in Ebonyi State University Abakaliki; iii) Production of a policy brief on strategies to improve the performance of the Government’s Free Maternal and Child Health Care Programme in Ebonyi State Nigeria; and iv) Hosting of a multi-stakeholders policy dialogue based on the produced policy brief on the Government’s Free Maternal and Child Health Care Programme. Results: The study findings indicated a noteworthy improvement in knowledge of evidence-to-policy link among the HPAC members; the elimination of mutual mistrust between policy-makers and researchers; and an increase in the awareness of importance of HPAC in the Ministry of Health (MoH). Conclusion: Findings from this study suggest that a HPAC can function as a KT platform and can introduce a new dimension towards facilitating evidence-to-policy link into the operation of the MoH , and can serve as an excellent platform to bridge the gap between research and polic

Assessment of policy makers’ individual and organizational capacity to acquire, assess, adapt and apply research evidence for maternal and child health policy making in Nigeria: a cross-sectional quantitative survey

Background: Throughout the world, there is increasing awareness and acknowledgement of the value of research evidence in the development of effective health policy and in quality health care practice and administration. Among the major challenges associated with the lack of uptake of research evidence into policy and practice in Nigeria is the capacity constraints of policymakers to use research evidence in policy making.Objective: To assess the capacity of maternal and child health policy makers to acquire, access, adapt and apply available research evidence.Methods: This cross-sectional quantitative survey was conducted at a national maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) stakeholders’ engagement event. An evidence to policy self-assessment questionnaire was used to assess the capacity of forty MNCH policy makers to acquire, assess, adapt and apply research evidence for policy making.Results: Low mean ratings were observed ranging from 2.68-3.53 on a scale of 5 for knowledge about initiating/conducting research and capacity to assess authenticity, validity, reliability, relevance and applicability of research evidence and for organizational capacity for promoting and using of research for policy making.Conclusion: There is need to institute policy makers’ capacity development programmes to improve evidence-informed policymaking.Keywords: Policy maker; research; evidence; capacity; Nigeri

Promoting evidence informed policy making in Nigeria : a review of the maternal, newborn and child health policy development process

The study reviewed policy documents on maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) in Nigeria to assess the application of evidence-informed mechanisms in the policy formulation process. From a literature review, policy documents indicate that a consultative process of collection of inputs involving multiple stakeholders was employed, but there was no rigorous scientific process of assessing, adaptation and application of scientific evidence acknowledged in the policy development process. The policy documents neither reported the process of production of evidence used in their development nor indicated the mechanisms in place for knowledge transfer and use of health research findings

Promoting the use of evidence in health policymaking in the ECOWAS region : the development and contextualization of an evidence-based policymaking guidance

The need for a tool to provide systematic guidance on evidence-based policymaking necessitated the production of the evidence-based policy-making (EBPM) Guidance. A regional Guidance Validation Meeting for West African policymakers was convened by the West African Health Organization (WAHO) to review findings from existing guidance documents and validate the new EBPM Guidance edition. Among key recommendations it includes: properly defining/refining policy problems; reviewing contextual issues; initiating policy priority setting; considering political acceptability of policy; commissioning research; use of rapid response services, use of policy advisory/ technical/steering committees; and use of policy briefs and policy dialogue.West African Health Organizatio