Nutritional anaemia and malaria in children.

Background: The most common cause of anemia is a deficiency of iron; but it may also be caused by deficiencies of folates, vitamin B12 and protein. Some anemias are not caused by nutritional factors, but by congenital factors and parasitic diseases such as malaria. This study attempted to estimate the prevalence of anemia among pre-school and school- aged children in two rural areas of Odogbolu Local government area, and to determine whether its cause was nutritional or could be attributed to malaria. Methods: A total of 177 children between the ages of 2 and 11 years were included in the study. Children were examined for malaria parasites by microscopy. The World Health Organization (WHO) age-adjusted cut-off for hemoglobin and hematocrit were used to classify anemia. An enzyme linked immunosorbent assay for serum ferritin was compared with standard methods of determining iron deficiency. Under- nutrition (stunting, wasting and underweight) was classified according to the National Centre for Health Statistics standards. Values below  - 2SD were defined as mild-moderate under-nutrition, and those below  -3SD as severe malnutrition. Results: Most of the children were anemic, 87.1%, having PCV values below the 32% cut-off and 95% with hemoglobin levels lower than the 11g/dl, although parasite prevalence and density were low. Malnutrition was patent; 36% of the children were stunted, 18.3% wasted and 44.2% underweight. Serum ferritin was more sensitive than PCV in detecting anemic children. Although anemia was higher in boys and preschoolers compared to girls and school aged children, the difference was significant only in preschoolers (P = .004). Anaemia was also significantly higher in Irawo village school than in Iloti (P = .0001) Conclusion: The anemia detected in this population may be due more to under-nutrition than to malaria. Keywords: Anaemia, nutrition, childrenAnnals of African Medicine Vol. 7 (1) 2008 pp. 11-1

Performance and productivity changes of microfinance banks in south-west, Nigeria.

The Nigerian Microfinance sub-sector is yet to attain the desired level of global best practice. This paper thus investigates the performance and productivity changes of MFBs in South-West Nigeria, from 2006 to 2010, having had the Microfinance Policy launched in 2005. The study revealed that only 16.28% of the sampled MFBs met the recommended maximum PAR value of 5% in 2006 and that was the highest throughout the sample period. It was also revealed that 31.14% of the sampled MFBs reported a debt/equity ratio of above the recommended value of 2 in 2006, while 32.56% had gearing of over 2 in 2010. The MFBs experienced fluctuating performances in their productivity changes, with pure technical efficiency improvements in 2007 and 2009. However, the MFBs suffered technological decline throughout the study period. Overall, the MFBs experienced Total Factor Productivity improvement in 2007, while there were productivity deteriorations in 2008, 2009 and 2010

Nutritional Anaemia and Malaria in Pre-School and School Age Children

Background: The most common cause of anemia is a deficiency of iron; but it may also be caused by deficiencies of folates, vitamin B12 and protein. Some anemias are not caused by nutritional factors, but by congenital factors and parasitic diseases such as malaria. This study attempted to estimate the prevalence of anemia among pre-school and school- aged children in two rural areas of Odogbolu Local government area, and to determine whether its cause was nutritional or could be attributed to malaria. Methods: A total of 177 children between the ages of 2 and 11 years were included in the study. Children were examined for malaria parasites by microscopy. The World Health Organization (WHO) age-adjusted cut-off for hemoglobin and hematocrit were used to classify anemia. An enzyme linked immunosorbent assay for serum ferritin was compared with standard methods of determining iron deficiency. Under- nutrition (stunting, wasting and underweight) was classified according to the National Centre for Health Statistics standards. Values below \u3bc - 2SD were defined as mild-moderate under-nutrition, and those below \u3bc -3SD as severe malnutrition. Results: Most of the children were anemic, 87.1%, having PCV values below the 32% cut-off and 95% with hemoglobin levels lower than the 11g/dl, although parasite prevalence and density were low. Malnutrition was patent; 36% of the children were stunted, 18.3% wasted and 44.2% underweight. Serum ferritin was more sensitive than PCV in detecting anemic children. Although anemia was higher in boys and preschoolers compared to girls and school aged children, the difference was significant only in preschoolers (P\u2009=\u2009.004). Anaemia was also significantly higher in Irawo village school than in Iloti (P=.0001) Conclusion: The anemia detected in this population may be due more to under-nutrition than to malaria.Introduction: La cause la plus fr\ue9quente de l\u2019an\ue9mie est une carence en fer, mais elle peut aussi \ueatre caus\ue9e par des carence en folates, vitamine B12 et de prot\ue9ines. Certaines an\ue9mies ne sont pas caus\ue9es par des facteurs nutritionnels, mais par les facteurs cong\ue9nitales et les maladies parasitaires telles que le paludisme. Cette \ue9tude est pour but d\u2019estimer la pr\ue9valence de l\u2019an\ue9mie chez les pr\ue9scolaires et les enfants d\u2019\ue2ge scolaire dans deux zones rurales de l\u2019administration locale d\u2019Odogbolu, et de d\ue9terminer si sa cause est nutritionnel ou pouvaient \ueatre attribu\ue9s \ue0 la malaria. M\ue9thodes: Un total de 117 enfants \ue2g\ue9s entre 2 et 11 ans ont \ue9t\ue9 inclus dans l\u2019\ue9tude. Des enfants ont \ue9t\ue9 \ue9tudi\ue9s pour les parasites du paludisme par microscopie. L\u2019Organisation Mondiale de la Sant\ue9 (OMS), l\u2019\ue2ge corrig\ue9 de coupure de l\u2019h\ue9moglobine et l\u2019h\ue9matocrites ont \ue9t\ue9 utilis\ue9s pour classer l\u2019an\ue9mie. L\u2019an\ue9mie. Une enzyme ayant rapport avec immunosorben assay pour la ferritinemie a \ue9t\ue9 compar\ue9e avec les m\ue9thodes standard de la d\ue9termination de la carence en fer. La sous-alimentation (retard de croissance, \ue9maciation et l\u2019insuffisance pond\ue9rale) ont \ue9t\ue9 class\ue9es selon le standard du Centre national pour les statistiques de la sant\ue9. Les valeurs au dessous de \ub5 - 2SD ont \ue9t\ue9 d\ue9finis comme \ue9tant doux mod\ue9r\ue9, et sous-alimentation, et celles du moins de \ub5 - 3SD comme \ue9tant la malnutrition grave. R\ue9sultats: La plus part des enfants sont an\ue9miques, 87,1% ayant des valeurs PCV au dessous de 32% niveau de la limite et 95% avec des taux d\u2019h\ue9moglobine inf\ue9rieurs \ue0 la 11g/dl, bien que la pr\ue9valence du parasite et de la densit\ue9 \ue9tait faible. La malnutrition \ue9tait de brevets, 36% des enfants avaient un retard de croissance. 18,3% gaspille et 44,2% d\u2019une insuffisance pond\ue9rale. La ferritine s\ue9rique a \ue9t\ue9 plus sensible que PCV dans la d\ue9tection des enfants an\ue9miques. Bien que l\u2019an\ue9mie est plus \ue9lev\ue9 chez les gar\ue7ons et pr\ue9scolaires par rapport aux filles et aux enfants d\u2019\ue2ge scolaire, la diff\ue9rence \ue9tait significative seulement chez l\u2019\ue2ge pr\ue9scolaire (p = 0,004). An\ue9mie a \ue9galement \ue9t\ue9 sensiblement plus \ue9lev\ue9e dans l\u2019\ue9cole du village que dans Iloti (p = 0,0001). Conclusion: L\u2019an\ue9mie d\ue9tect\ue9e dans cette population est peut-\ueatre du davantage \ue0 la sous alimentation que de la malaria

Performance and productivity changes in microfinance banks in South-West Nigeria

The Nigerian Microfinance sub-sector is yet to attain the desired level of global best practice. This paper thus investigated the performance and productivity changes of MFBs in South-West Nigeria, from 2006 to 2010, having had the Microfinance Policy launched in 200. From the use of relevant accounting ratios, the study revealed that only 16% of the sampled MFBs met the recommended maximum PAR value of 5% in 200. It was also revealed that 31% of the sampled MFBs reported a debt/equity ratio above the recommended value of 2 in 2006, while 32% had gearing of over 2 in 2010. The Malmquist productivity index revealed that the MFBs experienced fluctuating performances in their productivity changes, with pure technical efficiency improvements in 2007 and 2009. Overall, the performance and productivity changes experienced by the MFBs depicted a sub-sector with huge potentials and hence require nurturing to achieve its goals

Biological sample donation and informed consent for neurobiobanking: Evidence from a community survey in Ghana and Nigeria

Copyright: \ua9 2022 Singh et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Introduction Genomic research and neurobiobanking are expanding globally. Empirical evidence on the level of awareness and willingness to donate/share biological samples towards the expansion of neurobiobanking in sub-Saharan Africa is lacking. Aims To ascertain the awareness, perspectives and predictors regarding biological sample donation, sharing and informed consent preferences among community members in Ghana and Nigeria. Methods A questionnaire cross-sectional survey was conducted among randomly selected community members from seven communities in Ghana and Nigeria. Results Of the 1015 respondents with mean age 39.3 years (SD 19.5), about a third had heard of blood donation (37.2%, M: 42.4%, F: 32.0%, p = 0.001) and a quarter were aware of blood sample storage for research (24.5%; M: 29.7%, F: 19.4%, p = 0.151). Two out of ten were willing to donate brain after death (18.8%, M: 22.6%, F: 15.0%, p<0.001). Main reasons for unwillingness to donate brain were; to go back to God complete (46.6%) and lack of knowledge related to brain donation (32.7%). Only a third of the participants were aware of informed consent (31.7%; M: 35.9%, F: 27.5%, p<0.001). Predictors of positive attitude towards biobanking and informed consent were being married, tertiary level education, student status, and belonging to select ethnic groups. Conclusion There is a greater need for research attention in the area of brain banking and informed consent. Improved context-sensitive public education on neurobiobanking and informed consent, in line with the sociocultural diversities, is recommended within the African sub region

Nutritional Anaemia and Malaria in Pre-School and School Age Children

Background: The most common cause of anemia is a deficiency of iron; but it may also be caused by deficiencies of folates, vitamin B12 and protein. Some anemias are not caused by nutritional factors, but by congenital factors and parasitic diseases such as malaria. This study attempted to estimate the prevalence of anemia among pre-school and school- aged children in two rural areas of Odogbolu Local government area, and to determine whether its cause was nutritional or could be attributed to malaria. Methods: A total of 177 children between the ages of 2 and 11 years were included in the study. Children were examined for malaria parasites by microscopy. The World Health Organization (WHO) age-adjusted cut-off for hemoglobin and hematocrit were used to classify anemia. An enzyme linked immunosorbent assay for serum ferritin was compared with standard methods of determining iron deficiency. Under- nutrition (stunting, wasting and underweight) was classified according to the National Centre for Health Statistics standards. Values below μ - 2SD were defined as mild-moderate under-nutrition, and those below μ -3SD as severe malnutrition. Results: Most of the children were anemic, 87.1%, having PCV values below the 32% cut-off and 95% with hemoglobin levels lower than the 11g/dl, although parasite prevalence and density were low. Malnutrition was patent; 36% of the children were stunted, 18.3% wasted and 44.2% underweight. Serum ferritin was more sensitive than PCV in detecting anemic children. Although anemia was higher in boys and preschoolers compared to girls and school aged children, the difference was significant only in preschoolers (P = .004). Anaemia was also significantly higher in Irawo village school than in Iloti (P=.0001) Conclusion: The anemia detected in this population may be due more to under-nutrition than to malaria.Introduction: La cause la plus fréquente de l’anémie est une carence en fer, mais elle peut aussi être causée par des carence en folates, vitamine B12 et de protéines. Certaines anémies ne sont pas causées par des facteurs nutritionnels, mais par les facteurs congénitales et les maladies parasitaires telles que le paludisme. Cette étude est pour but d’estimer la prévalence de l’anémie chez les préscolaires et les enfants d’âge scolaire dans deux zones rurales de l’administration locale d’Odogbolu, et de déterminer si sa cause est nutritionnel ou pouvaient être attribués à la malaria. Méthodes: Un total de 117 enfants âgés entre 2 et 11 ans ont été inclus dans l’étude. Des enfants ont été étudiés pour les parasites du paludisme par microscopie. L’Organisation Mondiale de la Santé (OMS), l’âge corrigé de coupure de l’hémoglobine et l’hématocrites ont été utilisés pour classer l’anémie. L’anémie. Une enzyme ayant rapport avec immunosorben assay pour la ferritinemie a été comparée avec les méthodes standard de la détermination de la carence en fer. La sous-alimentation (retard de croissance, émaciation et l’insuffisance pondérale) ont été classées selon le standard du Centre national pour les statistiques de la santé. Les valeurs au dessous de µ - 2SD ont été définis comme étant doux modéré, et sous-alimentation, et celles du moins de µ - 3SD comme étant la malnutrition grave. Résultats: La plus part des enfants sont anémiques, 87,1% ayant des valeurs PCV au dessous de 32% niveau de la limite et 95% avec des taux d’hémoglobine inférieurs à la 11g/dl, bien que la prévalence du parasite et de la densité était faible. La malnutrition était de brevets, 36% des enfants avaient un retard de croissance. 18,3% gaspille et 44,2% d’une insuffisance pondérale. La ferritine sérique a été plus sensible que PCV dans la détection des enfants anémiques. Bien que l’anémie est plus élevé chez les garçons et préscolaires par rapport aux filles et aux enfants d’âge scolaire, la différence était significative seulement chez l’âge préscolaire (p = 0,004). Anémie a également été sensiblement plus élevée dans l’école du village que dans Iloti (p = 0,0001). Conclusion: L’anémie détectée dans cette population est peut-être du davantage à la sous alimentation que de la malaria

Performance and productivity changes in microfinance banks in South-West Nigeria

The Nigerian Microfinance sub-sector is yet to attain the desired level of global best practice. This paper thus investigated the performance and productivity changes of MFBs in South-West Nigeria, from 2006 to 2010, having had the Microfinance Policy launched in 2004. From the use of relevant accounting ratios, the study revealed that only 16% of the sampled MFBs met the recommended maximum PAR value of 5% in 2006. It was also revealed that 31% of the sampled MFBs reported a debt/equity ratio above the recommended value of 2 in 2006, while 32% had gearing of over 2 in 2010. The Malmquist productivity index revealed that the MFBs experienced fluctuating performances in their productivity changes, with pure technical efficiency improvements in 2007 and 2009. Overall, the performance and productivity changes experienced by the MFBs depicted a sub-sector with huge potentials and hence require nurturing to achieve its goals