Female adolescents and the future of female genital mutilation/cutting: a report from an endemic area

Background: Despite collaborative efforts aimed at its eradication, Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) continuesin endemic areas. Objective: To evaluate the experience and preparedness of female adolescents to protect their future daughters from FGM/C. Methods: A cross-sectional survey involving adolescent secondary school girls in North Central Nigeria. Participants were secondary school students who completed the study’s self-administered questionnaire after informed parental or participant’s consent. Data management was with SPSS 20.0 (IBM, USA), P-value <0.05 was significant. Results: There were 2000 participants aged 13-19 years (mean 15.56±1.75), prevalence of FGM/C was 35.0%, awareness was 86.1%, mutilation was performed between infancy and eight years of age (mean 3.85±3.24 years), 644(32.2%) desire to mutilatetheir future daughters, 722(36.1%) expressed support for FGM/C and 63.1% of victims of FM/C reported adverse post-mutilation experiences. Support for FGM/C was associated with low social class (P0.0010), opinion that FGM/C has benefit (P0.001) and desire to mutilate future daughters (P0.001) while awareness of efforts to eradicate FMG/C was 813(40.7%). Conclusion: FGM/C remains prevalent with potential support for its continuation among female adolescents despite reported adverse post-mutilation experiences. The multi-pronged approach to eradicate FGM/C should prioritize re-orientation for adolescent girls, rehabilitation of mutilated girls and girl child formal education. Keywords: Female genital mutilation/cutting; female circumcision, harmful traditional practices, adverse childhood experiences

Non-fistulous urinary leakage among women attending a Nigerian family planning clinic

Urinary leakage is an important gynecological challenge, which has a substantial impact on quality of life. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and types of non-fistulous urinary leakage among women attending the family planning clinic of the University of Ilorin teaching hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria. The study was a cross-sectional study carried out between January 3 and April 25 2009. One hundred and two women experienced urinary leakage out of 333 women interviewed, giving a prevalence rate of 30.6%. Stress incontinence was the most common urinary leakage (prevalence rate 12.0%). This is followed by urge incontinence (10.8%), urinary incontinence (4.8%), and overflow incontinence (3.0%). None of the women afflicted sought medical help. Conclusively, this study has demonstrated that non-fistulous urinary leakage is a common problem among women of reproductive age in this environment

Determinants Of The Right Of Access To Food In Sub-Saharan Africa

Food is one of the most important basic needs of human beings since it provides the energy for the physiological functioning of the body. The right to food is thus the right of all individuals alone or in community with others to enjoy physical and economic access to adequate food or the means for its procurement. Adequate food also implies the availability of food in sufficient quantity and quality to satisfy the dietary needs of all individuals and the accessibility of food in ways that are sustainable. Generally, a number of factors are considered important in the determination of the right of access to food. Key among these factors are availability of agricultural resources such as land, water, energy and fertilizer; increase in the demand for food as a result of the increase in population, increase in personal income, development of transportation and storage facilities, macroeconomic stability, socio-political stability; seasonal fluctuation in availability of food due to natural disaster, access to safe water, access to health care services, access to sanitation facilities and many others. This paper examines the extent to which these factors have impacted on the ability of the people in Sub-Saharan Africa to have access to food, using a set of cross-country data and a multiple regression analysis. The results obtained indicate that factors like the increase in population, access to sanitation facilities, access to safe water, access to health care services, access to information and increase in the price of food have to some extent impacted on the right of the people to have access to food in the sub-region. Food supply, income of the people, the presence of democratic values, access to education and access to transport play little or no significant role in determining the right of the people to access food. Given these results, measures, such as, the provision of stable macroeconomics policies, reduction in income poverty, provision of basic social services and good governance were suggested as possible solutions to the right of access to food in Sub-Saharan Africa

Impact Of Low Nutrient Intake On Infant Mortality Rate In Sub-Saharan Africa

Eating good quality food is necessary for good health given the importance of food to the people as one of their most basic needs, which they cannot live without, because it gives energy for everything they do (walking, working, talking, playing, reading and even thinking and breathing). Food also provides the energy for the nerves, muscles, heats and glands to work; and the nourishing substances the bodies require to build and repair tissues and regulate the body organs and systems. Given these assertions, a healthy body through adequate nutrient intake will not only affect the capacity of an individual to learn, but will improve the well-being and the productivity of that individual and the economic growth of the nation in general. Adequate nutrient intake will not only reduce the tendency for individuals to contact communicable diseases like tuberculosis, but if not properly managed can increase diseases of dietary excess like obesity. On the contrary, when there are inadequate intakes of nutrients, the resultant effect will include malnutrition, which in turn could lead to impaired mental development, poor scholastic and intellectual performance and a wide range of illnesses, disability and possibly death, most especially among infants. Using a cross-country data, drawn from sub-Saharan Africa and a multiple regression analysis, this paper examines the extent to which low nutrient intake has impacted on infant mortality rate in sub-Saharan Africa. The results obtained first indicate that the model used for the study is of good fit, since 61 percent variation in the dependent variable (infant mortality rate) is explained by the independent variables (low nutrient intake, proxied by daily per capita calories intake and per capita income). Second, the result also indicates that low nutrient intake has a significant influence on infant mortality rate and third nutrient intake (drawn from the values of the co-efficient and t-value) has the expected sign, which is inversely related to infant mortality rate, thus fulfilling our a-priori expectation which said that the lower the nutrient intake, the more the rate of infant mortality rate in sub-Saharan Africa. Given these result, measures such as, increase in food availability, macro-economic stability (especially, a reduction in inflation rate and exchange rate stability), improved nutrition through micro-nutrients fortification and supplementation, ensuring good governance and combating ethnic/religious/ civil conflicts and HIV/AIDS are suggested as possible solutions to improving nutrient intake in sub-Saharan Africa