Malaria prevention in pregnancy among traditional birth attendants in rural Lagos, Nigeria

Background: Malaria accounts for approximately 1 million deaths annually and about 300,000 deaths in Nigeria alone. Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to adverse consequences of malaria. The National Malaria Policy has adopted the use of Intermittent Preventive Treatment and Insecticide Treated Net for prevention of malaria in pregnant women. This study therefore determined the knowledge and practice of Traditional Birth Attendants regarding prevention of malaria in pregnancy in 2 rural Local Government Areas of Lagos State, Nigeria.Method: A cross sectional, descriptive study design was adopted and a total of 68 Traditional Birth Attendants were studied. Data was collected using a structured, interviewer administered questionnaire. Analysis was done with EPI info 2008 and WinPepi statistical softwares.Results: Age range of respondents was 20-75 years and the mean age was 46.4±8.7 years. Most (67.7%) of the respondents were not aware of Intermittent Preventive Treatment. However, most(81.8%) of the respondents who were aware got the information from the health workers, while only 31.6% of those that aware knew the right drugs to be used.Conclusion: Overall knowledge of malaria prevention with Intermittent Preventive Treatment in pregnancy was poor. The knowledge and practice of malaria prevention in pregnancy among the Traditional Birth Attendants in Ikorodu and Badagry Local Government Areas was poor. It is therefore recommended that a sensitization and training of the Traditional Birth Attendants be carried out since a good number of women still patronize them.Keywords: Malaria, Pregnancy, Traditional Birth, Attendants, Rural, Lagos, Nigeri

Anthropometrically determined nutritional status of children in public and private primary schools in Lagos, Nigeria

Background: Under-nutrition remains high while overweight/obesity are on the rise in developing countries. Little is known about the differences in the prevalence of malnutrition among public and private primary school children in urban areas of Lagos, Nigeria. This study determined and compared the nutritional status of children in public and private primary schools in an urban area of Lagos, Nigeria.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among public and private primary school children in an urban town in Lagos, Nigeria using multi-stage sampling technique to select 206 pupils. A structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used to obtain information on sociodemographic characteristics while anthropometric measures were obtained and compared to standards using WHO AnthroPlus, to determine the nutritional status.Results: The prevalence of underweight (WAZ <-2SD) in the public primary schools, 6.8% (n=7) was higher than in the private schools, 1.9% (n=2) but the difference was not statistically significant. (p = 0.085). However, the higher prevalence of stunting (HAZ <-2SD) in public (20.4% (n=24) compared to private schools 3.9% (n=4) was statistically significant (P<0.000). The prevalence of overweight and obesity were significantly higher among respondents in private schools (8.7% and 4.9%) compared to those in public schools (0.0% and 1.0% ) (p=0.0003).Conclusions: Stunting was higher in the public schools, while obesity and overweight were higher in the private schools. Appropriate feeding from birth should be promoted to prevent under-nutrition among children in public schools and overweight/obesity among children in private schools. Keywords: Anthropometry; Children; Nutrition; Stuntin

Knowledge, attitude and practice of drug abuse among public secondary school students in Lagos, Nigeria

Background: The use of alcohol, tobacco and other substances constitutes one of the most important risk–taking behaviour among adolescents and young adults in secondary schools. This study was conducted to determine the knowledge, attitude and practices of secondary school students in Lagos, Nigeria concerning drug abuse. Methods: This was a descriptive cross sectional study which employed a multistage sampling method to select 400 participants. Data was collected using semi-structured pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaires. Results The mean age was 13.8±1.9 years. More than 50% knew the meaning of drug abuse, the dangers in using drugs wrongly and the legal status of drug abuse. Many of the respondents had positive attitudes to using illegal drugs (58.5%). The drugs mostly used by the students were coffee and analgesics while Indian hemp, alcohol and cigarettes were abused sparingly. Conclusion: The level of knowledge of the students concerning drug abuse was fair, many of the respondents had positive attitudes to using illegal drugs and the drugs mostly used were the socially acceptable ones; but they are likely to lead to the use of stronger ones later in life. Drug and alcohol education should therefore be strengthened in schools through the curriculum and drug abuse days. Legislation guiding sales of drugs should beenforced, the public should be educated and the sale of drugs monitored.Keywords: Attitude, Drug Abuse, Knowledge, Students.High Med Res J 2013;13:44-4