Examining appropriate diagnosis and treatment of malaria: availability and use of rapid diagnostic tests and artemisinin-based combination therapy in public and private health facilities in south east Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) have been widely advocated by government and the international community as cost-effective tools for diagnosis and treatment of malaria. ACTs are now the first line treatment drug for malaria in Nigeria and RDTs have been introduced by the government to bridge the existing gaps in proper diagnosis. However, it is not known how readily available these RDTs and ACTs are in public and private health facilities and whether health workers are actually using them. Hence, this study investigated the levels of availability and use of RDTs and ACTs in these facilities.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study was undertaken in Enugu state, southeast Nigeria in March 2009. Data was collected from heads of 74 public and private health facilities on the availability and use of RDTs and ACTs. Also, the availability of RDTs and the types of ACTs that were available in the facilities were documented.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Only 31.1% of the health facilities used RDTs to diagnose malaria. The majority used the syndromic approach. However, 61.1% of healthcare providers were aware of RDTs. RDTs were available in 53.3% of the facilities. Public health facilities and health facilities in the urban areas were using RDTs more and these were mainly bought from pharmacy shops and supplied by NGOs. The main reasons given for non use are unreliability of RDTs, supply issues, costs, preference for other methods of diagnosis and providers' ignorance. ACTs were the drug of choice for most public health facilities and the drugs were readily available in these facilities.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although many providers were knowledgeable about RDTs, not many facilities used it. ACTS were readily available and used in public but not private health facilities. However, the reported use of ACTs with limited proper diagnosis implies that there could be high incidence of inappropriate case management of malaria which can also increase the economic burden of illnesses. Government and donors should ensure constant availability of RDTs in both public and private facilities, so that every treatment with ACTs is accompanied with proper diagnosis.</p

New empiricisms in the Anthropocene: Thinking with speculative fiction about science and social inquiry

Interest in new empiricisms and transdisciplinary methods has led many social inquirers to engage with 20th-century post-classical physical science. Many of these projects have focused on alternative matter–mind mixtures and in/organic variation, concerned that past theories of sociality have dismissed the vibrancy and animacy of the nonhuman material world. This paper explores the power of speculative fiction to help us rethink empiricism in posthuman ecologies of the Anthropocene, in the midst of post-truth conditions and growing science denialism. We foreground speculative fiction as a way to open up scientific imaginaries, rethinking the relationship between nature, technics, and human “sense” making. We show how such texts offer alternative images of research methods for studying pluralist ecologies and new forms of worldly belonging

The Analysis of the Contributions of Information and Communication Technology to the Economic Development of Nigeria

The information and communication technology (ICT) revolution has a role and prospect in national development of Nigeria. Over the past decade, new applications of ICT have improved service delivery, transparency, and public access in national development. This paper highlights some of the ways that ICT tools can be used in the sustainable economic development of the society. Effective integration of ICT into the community for information sharing can enable forces which lead to a sustainable economic development. The contributions of ICT in the area of the number of subscribers, employment in the sector and its contributions to the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) were also studied. It was discovered that the sector has contributed and still contributing in no small measure to the economic growth of Nigeria