How much do antenatal care attendees in a tertiary hospital in Jos, north central Nigeria know about gestational diabetes?

Background-The increasing prevalence of GDM has attracted global concern. The associated hyperglycaemia is a source of perinatal morbidity and mortality. Knowledge of GDM is known to prevent complications to mother and baby through adoption of life style modification behaviour and good health seeking behaviour.Methodology- It was a cross sectional study conducted over a 3 month period. Women were recruited into the study from the antenatal clinic. A structured questionnaire was used to extract information from the respondents. Data was analyzed with EPI INFO 3.5.4 CDC Atlanta, USA.Results- The response rate was 96.2%. The mean age of the respondents was 29±6 years. Only 2% had no formal education while 46.6% had tertiary education. Most of the women (55.3%) were unemployed and 53.0% of the women were multiparous. The respondents generally have a good knowledge of GDM with an average score of 9±3. The awareness on GDM and its risk factors and awareness on screening and treatment were good. Only 41.5% of the women knew GDM resolves after pregnancy. Knowledge on the other  consequences of GDM was good. Health professionals and friends and family served as source of information on GDM in 80.9 and 60.1% of the women respectively.Conclusion- the knowledge of antenatal women in our centre is good. Continuous training of health workers and women empowerment are strategies that can maintain and improve this knowledge. Key words: Gestational diabetes, Antenatal care attendees, Knowledg

Female genital mutilation: opinion of outpatients of a department of obstetrics and gynaecology in north central Nigeria

Background: Female genital mutilation is known to exist especially in developing countries like Nigeria. This study aimed to determine women's views on aspects of female genital mutilation, types of female genital mutilation, reason for and attitude towards female genital mutilation.Method: A Pretested questionnaire was administered to women attending the antenatal clinic in Jos University Teaching Hospital from October 2013 to February 2014. The data obtained were analysed using SPSS version 20Result: The prevalence of FGM from this study was 21.9%. In total, 429 respondents (97.9%) reported the existence of FGM at the time of the interview. Majority of respondents [(283) 66.0%] said that the clitoris was the main part removed. The main reason given for genital cutting was to prevent sexual promiscuity in sexual practice, and was the response of one hundred and thirty two (30.8%) of the women, while thirty five (8.2%) women responded that it was done to preserve virginity. Three hundred and eighty four(89.5%) were aware of the campaign against female genital mutilation and two hundred and ninetyeight (69.5%) were in support of the legislation against FGM. Seventy nine(18.4%) were not in support of the legislation out of which nineteen (24.1%) feel that to stop is to interfere with the norm.Conclusion: Female genital cutting/mutilation is still practiced in our environment and some of the women knew the negative reproductive health consequences of FGM and had experienced them during sexual intercourse and childbirth. However, with regard to stopping FGM, majority had not taken any steps towards stopping the practice. There should be public enlightenment about the dangers of FGM and policies against this harmful practice should be enforced

Trends in prevalence of HIV infection: a 4-year review of the general population in Plateau State, Nigeria

Background: Plateau state is among the HIV hot zones with HIV prevalence above national average and the 6th state with the highest HIV burden in Nigeria. The study sought to determined the trend of HIV prevalence in the general population and the pattern by age and sex in Plateau state.Methodology: The study was a 4-year descriptive analysis of the trend in Prevalence of HIV in the general population of Plateau state, Nigeria based on the data generated between January 2012 and December 2015. The data on HIV services were managed through the electronic Nigerian National HIV/AIDS Response Information Management System (eNNRIMS) which was a web-based software. The data analyses were done using excel to obtain the proportions and trend of HIV prevalence in the general population and by year, age and sex.Results: Out of a total of 495,718 tested for HIV, 30,450 people tested positive, with the highest (13.1%) HIV prevalence recorded in 2012 and the lowest (3.2%) HIV prevalence recorded in 2015. The age groups 25 – 49 years and 50 years and above accounted for higher HIV prevalence, and the female population had higher HIV prevalence for most of the age groups.Conclusion: The HIV prevalence is on a downward trend with relatively less decline among the older female population in Plateau state.Keywords: HIV, Prevalence, Infection, Trends, Plateau Stat