18 research outputs found
A Rapid Review of the Reopening of Schools in this COVIDâ19 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 âschools reopened in COVID-19 pandemic.â 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 governmentâs 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 governmentâs 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 mothersâ 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 communitiesâ health
Assessment of Zinc Level and its Relationship with Some Hematological Parameters among Patients with Sickle Cell Anemia in Abakaliki, Nigeria
Background: Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is an inherited hemoglobin (Hb) disorder with susceptibility for oxidative damage due to chronic redox imbalance in red blood cells (RBCs) which often results in hemolysis, endothelial injury, recurrent vaso-occlusive episodes, and derangement in hematological parameters. Zinc is an antioxidant which helps to reduce oxidative damage. This study aimed to assess the serum level of zinc and its relationship with some hematological parameters in patients with SCA (HbSS).
Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional comparative study which involved HbSS patients in steady state with sexâ and ageâmatched HbAA control. Assay of Hb phenotype, serum zinc level, and some haematological parameters were done. Ethical approval was gotten from the institutional review board, and each participant gave informed written consent before recruitment into the study. Analysis of all data obtained was done using SPSS software, version 20.
Results: Thirty adult patients with SCA and thirty sex- and age-matched controls with a mean age of 26.7 ± 7.6 years and 27.7± 5.3, respectively, were studied. There was a significant decrease in serum zinc level among patients with HbSS compared to those with HbAA (P = 0.038). Similarly, patients with HbSS had significantly lower Hb level, packed cell volume, and RBC count compared to HbAA control (P < 0.05). On the contrary, patients with HbSS had significantly higher white cell count and platelet count compared to HbAA individuals (P < 0.05). Correlation between serum zinc level and blood counts showed weak positive relationship between zinc level and Hb level (r = 0.04, P = 0.8) and weak negative relationship between serum zinc level and platelet count (r = â0.3, P = 0.1), as well as zinc and white blood cell (WBC) count (r = â0.2, P = 0.4).
Conclusion: There was a significantly low level of zinc among patients with HbSS compared with HbAA controls. Patients with HbSS had zinc levels that weakly correlated with Hb level positively but weakly negatively correlated with platelet and WBC counts. Further studies are required on a wider scale to assess whether zinc supplementation may improve blood counts in patients with SCA
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 Governmentâs 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 Governmentâs 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
Promoting Researchers and Policy-Makers Collaboration in Evidence-Informed Policy-Making in Nigeria: Outcome of a Two-Way Secondment Model between University and Health Ministry
Background
There is need to strengthen institutions and mechanisms that can more systematically promote interactions between researchers, policy-makers and other stakeholders who can influence the uptake of research findings. In this article, we report the outcome of a two-way secondment model between Ebonyi State University (EBSU) and Ebonyi State Ministry of Health (ESMoH) in Nigeria as an innovative collaborative strategy to promote capacity enhancement for evidence-to-policy-to-action.
Methods
This study was an exploratory design with a quantitative cross-sectional survey technique. A secondment memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between heads of EBSU and ESMoH. The secondment program lasted six months with ten researchers and ten policy-makers spending up to two days per week in each otherâs organization. The secondee researchers got engaged in policy-making and implementation activities in ESMoH, while the policy-maker secondees got involved in research activities in EBSU. Secondees evidence-to-policy capacity enhancement meetings were held and questionnaires designed in 5-point Likert scale were used to assess their impact.
Results
The secondee policy-makers and researchers admitted having considerable knowledge of secondment with mean ratings (MNRs) of 3.40 and 3.74 respectively on the 5 points scale. Secondment appeared to be more common in the policy-makersâ organization (MNRs: 2.80-3.07) than in the researchersâ institution (MNRs: 2.58-2.84). The secondee policy-makers participated in some academic and research activities including serving in research ethics committee in EBSU and provided policy-making perspective to the activities. The secondee researchers supported the policymaking process in ESMoH through policy advisory roles, and provided capacity enhancement for staff of the ministry on the use of research evidence in policy-making. There was a noteworthy increase on knowledge of policy analysis and contextualization among the secondees ranging from 20.7% to 50.4% and 31.3% to 42.8% respectively following a training session. A Society for Health Policy Research and Knowledge Translation was established by mutual agreement of secondees as a platform to permanently institutionalize the collaboration.
Conclusion
The outcome of this study clearly suggests that secondment has great potential in promoting evidence informed policy-making and merits further consideration
Promoting Researchers and Policy-Makers Collaboration in Evidence-Informed Policy-Making in Nigeria: Outcome of a Two-Way Secondment Model between University and Health Ministry
Abstract
Background: There is need to strengthen institutions and mechanisms that can more systematically promote interactions
between researchers, policy-makers and other stakeholders who can influence the uptake of research findings. In this
article, we report the outcome of a two-way secondment model between Ebonyi State University (EBSU) and Ebonyi
State Ministry of Health (ESMoH) in Nigeria as an innovative collaborative strategy to promote capacity enhancement
for evidence-to-policy-to-action.
Methods: This study was an exploratory design with a quantitative cross-sectional survey technique. A secondment
memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between heads of EBSU and ESMoH. The secondment program
lasted six months with ten researchers and ten policy-makers spending up to two days per week in each otherâs
organization. The secondee researchers got engaged in policy-making and implementation activities in ESMoH,
while the policy-maker secondees got involved in research activities in EBSU. Secondees evidence-to-policy capacity
enhancement meetings were held and questionnaires designed in 5-point Likert scale were used to assess their impact.
Results: The secondee policy-makers and researchers admitted having considerable knowledge of secondment with
mean ratings (MNRs) of 3.40 and 3.74 respectively on the 5 points scale. Secondment appeared to be more common in
the policy-makersâ organization (MNRs: 2.80-3.07) than in the researchersâ institution (MNRs: 2.58-2.84). The secondee
policy-makers participated in some academic and research activities including serving in research ethics committee
in EBSU and provided policy-making perspective to the activities. The secondee researchers supported the policymaking process in ESMoH through policy advisory roles, and provided capacity enhancement for staff of the ministry
on the use of research evidence in policy-making. There was a noteworthy increase on knowledge of policy analysis
and contextualization among the secondees ranging from 20.7% to 50.4% and 31.3% to 42.8% respectively following a
training session. A Society for Health Policy Research and Knowledge Translation was established by mutual agreement
of secondees as a platform to permanently institutionalize the collaboration.
Conclusion: The outcome of this study clearly suggests that secondment has great potential in promoting evidence
informed policy-making and merits further consideration
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 governmentâs 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 mothersâ 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 communitiesâ healt
Enhancing the Capacity of Policy-Makers to Develop Evidence-Informed Policy Brief on Infectious Diseases of Poverty in Nigeria
Background:
The lack of effective use of research evidence in policy-making is a major challenge in most low- and
middle-income countries (LMICs). There is need to package research data into effective policy tools that will help
policy-makers to make evidence-informed policy regarding infectious diseases of poverty (IDP). The objective of
this study was to assess the usefulness of training workshops and mentoring to enhance the capacity of Nigerian
health policy-makers to develop evidence-informed policy brief on the control of IDP.
Methods:
A modified âbefore and afterâ intervention study design was used in which outcomes were measured on
the target participants both before the intervention is implemented and after. A 4-point Likert scale according to the
degree of adequacy; 1
= âgrossly inadequate,â 4
= âvery adequateâ was employed. The main parameter measured was
participantsâ perceptions of their own knowledge/understanding. This study was conducted at subnational level and
the participants were the career health policy-makers drawn from Ebonyi State in the South-Eastern Nigeria. A one-
day evidence-to-policy workshop was organized to enhance the participantsâ capacity to develop evidence-informed
policy brief on IDP in Ebonyi State. Topics covered included collaborative initiative; preparation and use of policy
briefs; policy dialogue; ethics in health policy-making; and health policy and politics.
Results:
The preworkshop mean of knowledge and capacity ranged from 2.49-3.03, while the postworkshop mean
ranged from 3.42â3.78 on 4-point scale. The percentage increase in mean of knowledge and capacity at the end
of the workshop ranged from 20.10%â45%. Participants were divided into 3 IDP mentorship groups (malaria,
schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis [LF]) and were mentored to identify potential policy options/recommendations
for control of the diseases for the policy briefs. These policy options were subjected to research evidence synthesis
by each group to identify the options that have the support of research evidence (mostly systematic reviews) from
PubMed, Cochrane database and Google Scholar. After the evidence synthesis, five policy options were selected out
of 13 for malaria, 3 out of 10 for schistosomiasis and 5 out of 11 for LF.
Conclusion:
The outcome suggests that an evidence-to-policy capacity enhancement workshop combined with a
mentorship programme can improve policy-makersâ capacity for evidence-informed policy-making (EIP
Cryptosporidium species and subtypes in diarrheal children and HIV-infected persons in Ebonyi and Nsukka, Nigeria
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 Governmentâs 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 Governmentâs 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 policy