Poor availability of skilled birth attendants in Nigeria: a case study of Enugu state primary health care system

Background: The Government of Enugu State plans to offer free perinatal services at the primary health care (PHC) centers in order to improve perinatal outcomes in the state, but it was not clear whether there are skilled birth attendants (SBAs) at the PHC level to implement the program. Aims: To determine whether there are sufficient numbers of SBAs in the public PHC system in Enugu State of Nigeria. Subjects and Methods: This cross‑sectional survey involved enumeration of health workers who worked at each public PHC facility in Enugu State and included verification of the qualifications and trainings of each health worker. Data analysis was performed with the help of Stata statistical package version 13 and results were presented in tables and as simple proportions. Results: There were 55 nurses and no midwife or doctor in the 152 PHC clinics studied. This number represents 0.36 nurses per health facility or about 9% (i.e., 55/608) of a minimum of 608 SBAs required for 24‑h perinatal services at the 152 PHC clinics. There were 1233 junior community health extension worker/community health extension workers (JCHEW/CHEWs), averaging 8.1 JCHEW/CHEWs per PHC clinic. Conclusions: Enugu State has an acute shortage of SBAs. We recommend employment of qualified SBAs and in‑service training of the JCHEW/CHEW and nurses to upgrade their midwifery skills. Incorporation of competency‑based midwifery training into the pre‑service training curricula of nurses and JCHEW/CHEW would provide a more sustainable supply of SBAs in Enugu state.Keywords: Maternal neonatal and child health care, Nigeria, Primary health care, Skilled birth attendan

Pedagogical pattern of running a course on secondary school students’ achievement in waves

This study investigated the comparative effectiveness of pedagogical pattern of running a course and talk-chalk methods on senior secondary school students’ achievement in waves. It is triggered by reports of persistent students’ low achievement in physics contributed largely by students’ poor performance in waves-related items. It adopted the quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design. Three research questions and hypotheses guided the study. There were 216 students who participated in the study. Physics Achievement Test (PAT) containing 50 multiple-choice researcher-developed items were used as instrument for data collection. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while ANCOVA was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Results showed that: the pedagogical pattern of running a course method was superior method in fostering students’ achievement in waves; female students achieved higher than male students using pedagogical pattern of running a course strategy to teach waves; and there was no significant interaction effect of teaching methods and gender on students’ achievement in waves. From the findings, it was recommended that the pedagogical pattern of running a course strategy should be used in teaching physics in secondary school education system and in training of teachers

"Remembering” as a Decolonial Praxis in African HCI and Design

The fourth wave of HCI sought to engage with the ethics, politics, and values of design as an engine of modernity/coloniality. In doing so, we’ve witnessed a series of critiques and reflections on how the broadening of context and application in the third wave does not equate to any substantial structural changes in the ontologies and epistemologies informing HCI research and design. This can be attributed to the inevitable chaos of multiplicity inherent in HCI - and issues that we reckon could further implicate the efforts towards politicizing design as applied in the context of Africa. In this conceptual paper, we take the politics of design to another level by integrating distinct religious and sociopolitical practices across Africa in showing the colonizing dimension of the entirety of modern design enterprise. We argue that remembering the onomatopoeic dynamic of Amun-RA and the Ekumeku - both as theological thoughts and political praxis that are situated in African traditions - could provide a powerful instrument for ‘asking questions’ and ‘forming conversation’ on how technology can be developed and evaluated in/from African communities. Building on this year’s theme of ‘beyond limit’, this study showcases how decolonizing African design entails, on an abstract level, a decolonisation of the imagination. To go beyond colonially imposed limits in computing research and design, we ought to remember our histories and cultures clearly, there is a designerly power in remembering

Effect of Prior Knowledge of Instructional Objectives on Students\' Achievement in Selected Difficult Concepts in Nigerian Senior Secondary School Physics.

The study examined the effect of prior knowledge of instructional objectives on students' achievement in selected difficult concepts in senior secondary school physics. A total of 100 senior secondary two (SS II) physics students were involved in the study. A non-randomized pretest-posttest control group design was used. From the findings, it was determined that students' prior knowledge of instructional objectives facilitates achievement on difficult concepts in physics. Generally, prior knowledge of behavioural objectives was found to be more effective in enhancing students' achievement on difficult concepts than prior knowledge of general objectives. Also, the results showed that male students achieved higher than female students given the same condition of exposure to prior knowledge of instructional objectives of physics difficult concept. Among others, it was recommended that physics teachers should introduce their lesson objectives in behavioural terms before the learning tasks begin at the instance of teaching the concept of electricity in senior secondary school physics. African Research Review Vol. 2 (1) 2008: pp. 241-26

AI in Africa: Preliminary Notes on Design and Adoption

The authors attempt to show how the proliferation of AI-led initiatives across Africa denotes a potential rebirth of modern forms of imperialism. Building on the concept of digital colonialism, we point to how the" for good" rhetoric in the AI arena might have provided the invisible platform for the appropriation of social life for cultural dominance and control. By exploring the subtle power relations underpinning the design and adoption of AI systems in Africa, this note amplifies Kate Crawford's claim that AI is" neither artificial nor intelligent" as widely presumed--one needs to identify the human social values behind and inside the machine

Challenges and paradoxes in decolonising HCI: A critical discussion

The preponderance of Western methods, practices, standards, and classifications in the manner in which new technology-related knowledge is created and globalised has led to calls for more inclusive approaches to design. A decolonisation project is concerned with how researchers might contribute to dismantling and re-envisioning existing power relations, resisting past biases, and balancing Western heavy influences in technology design by foregrounding the authentic voices of the indigenous people in the entire design process. We examine how the establishment of local Global South HCI communities (AfriCHI and ArabHCI) has led to the enactment of decolonisation practices. Specifically, we seek to uncover how decolonisation is perceived in the AfriCHI and ArabHCI communities as well as the extent to which both communities are engaged with the idea of decolonisation without necessarily using the term. We drew from the relevant literature, our own outsider/insider lived experiences, and the communities’ responses to an online anonymised survey to highlight three problematic but interrelated practical paradoxes: a terminology, an ethical, and a micro-colonisation paradox. We argue that these paradoxes expose the dilemmas faced by local non-Western researchers as they pursue decolonisation thinking. This article offers a blended perspective on the decolonisation debate in HCI, CSCW, and the practice-based CSCW scholarly communities and invites researchers to examine their research work using a decolonisation lens

Suboptimal management of severe menopausal symptoms by Nigerian Gynaecologists: a call for mandatory continuing medical education for physicians

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Effective management of menopause is an important way to improve the quality of life of the increasing number of older women. The study sought to find out if Nigerian Gynaecologists offer effective treatment for severe menopausal symptoms.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>126 Nigerian Gynaecologists representing the six health zones of Nigeria were interviewed to determine the menopausal symptoms they had ever encountered in their practices, frequency of the symptoms, treatments ever offered for severe symptoms including their attitude to, and practice of hormone replacement therapy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A Nigerian Gynaecologist encountered an average of one patient with menopausal symptoms every three months (range: 0-3 patients per month). The commoner symptoms they encountered were hot flushes (88%), insomnia (75.4%), depression (58.0%), irritability (56.3%), night sweats (55.6%) and muscle pains (54.8%) while urinary symptoms (16.7%) and fracture (1.6%) were less common. Treatments ever offered for severe symptoms were reassurance (90.5%), anxiolytics (68.3%), analgesics (14.3), HRT (7.9%), Vitamins (4%), Beta-blockers (3.2%) and Danazol (2.4%). These treatments were offered as a matter of institutional traditions rather than being based on any evidence of their efficacy.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The result revealed that most Nigerian Gynaecologists prefer reassurance and anxiolytics for managing severe menopausal symptoms instead of evidence-based effective therapies. A policy of mandatory continuing medical education for Nigerian physicians is recommended to ensure evidence-based management of gynaecological problems, including menopause.</p