Maternal Environmental Factors as Predictors of Occurrence of Gastroenteritis among Under-five Children in Akure South Local Government Area, Ondo State

Aim: To examine maternal environmental factors as predictors of the incidence of gastroenteritis among under-five children in Akure South Local Government Area, Ondo State. Materials and Methods: A descriptive study was carried out in two state-owned hospitals between April and August 2019 using a purposive and convenience sample of 120 mothers of under-five children. Data collected were analyzed using PPMC and regression to test the hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level. Results: The study shows that three out of four environmental predictors were potent predictors of the incidence of gastroenteritis. They include: quality of water source (β = .387, t = 7.638, P 0.05) was not a potent predictor. Area of residence, quality of water source, hygienic practices and method of sewage disposal had a significant joint contribution used to predict the incidence of gastroenteritis. Conclusion: Area of residence, quality of water source, hygienic practices and method of sewage disposal all increase the incidence of gastroenteritis when proper attention is not paid to them. Education about handwashing is necessary for mothers and environmental health workers in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Environment should ensure that every house has the proper means to dispose of sewage, especially a septic tank (flush toilet); this will help reduce the disposal of feces in the environment

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic across Africa : current status of vaccinations and implications for the future

The introduction of effective vaccines in December 2020 marked a significant step forward in the global response to COVID-19. Given concerns with access, acceptability, and hesitancy across Africa, there is a need to describe the current status of vaccine uptake in the continent. An exploratory study was undertaken to investigate these aspects, current challenges, and lessons learnt across Africa to provide future direction. Senior personnel across 14 African countries completed a self-administered questionnaire, with a descriptive analysis of the data. Vaccine roll-out commenced in March 2021 in most countries. COVID-19 vaccination coverage varied from low in Cameroon and Tanzania and up to 39.85% full coverage in Botswana at the end of 2021; that is, all doses advocated by initial protocols versus the total population, with rates increasing to 58.4% in Botswana by the end of June 2022. The greatest increase in people being fully vaccinated was observed in Uganda (20.4% increase), Botswana (18.5% increase), and Zambia (17.9% increase). Most vaccines were obtained through WHO-COVAX agreements. Initially, vaccination was prioritised for healthcare workers (HCWs), the elderly, adults with co-morbidities, and other at-risk groups, with countries now commencing vaccination among children and administering booster doses. Challenges included irregular supply and considerable hesitancy arising from misinformation fuelled by social media activities. Overall, there was fair to reasonable access to vaccination across countries, enhanced by government initiatives. Vaccine hesitancy must be addressed with context-specific interventions, including proactive programmes among HCWs, medical journalists, and the public

Development and clinimetric testing of willingness to pay tool for physiotherapy

Background: Lack of technical knowledge on Willingness to Pay (WTP) for health services may have contributed to paucity of WTP studies in physiotherapy. Objective: To develop and establish clinimetric properties of WTP tool for physiotherapy. Methods: A WTP tool with five sections exploring information on socio-demographics, physiotherapy experience, satisfaction with physiotherapy, cost of physiotherapy services and patients’ preferences for physiotherapy was developed. The WTP tool was tested for content validity, readability and thereafter completed on test–retest after one-week interval by 97 consenting physiotherapy outpatients. Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) with 95% confidence intervals and Cronbach’s alpha (α) were used to assess the data for reliability and internal consistency. Results: The tool's readability indicated a Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level and Reading Ease scores of 5.6 and 66.7 respectively. ICC for aggregate score of ‘patients’ satisfaction’ was ‘moderate’ (0.644, p < 0.05), while the ‘cost of physiotherapy services’ section was ‘excellent’ (0.837, p < 0.05). The internal consistency of the ‘satisfaction with physiotherapy’ (0.783, p < 0.05) and ‘cost of physiotherapy services’ (0.911, p < 0.05) sections were ‘excellent’. The stability of the different sections of the instrument over one week period, as reflected by the ICC, ranged from ‘poor’ to ‘excellent’. Also, the Cronbach’s alpha and the ICC for the WTP characteristics were ‘poor’ to ‘excellent’, respectively. Conclusion: The WTP tool for physiotherapy appears comprehensible and reliable among patients with chronic conditions attending the physiotherapy clinic. Availability of this WTP tool will promote studies examining the demand for physiotherapy services

A multicentre point prevalence study of antibiotics utilization in hospitalized patients in an urban secondary and a tertiary healthcare facilities in Nigeria : findings and implications

Objectives: The understanding of antimicrobial utilization patterns is pertinent to successful implementation of the National Action Plans on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). There is, however, limited information on antibiotics utilization in Nigeria. This study was undertaken to build on existing information and provide direction for appropriate interventions including Antibiotics Stewardship Programs (ASP). Method: A Point Prevalence Study (PPS) was conducted in two public urban health facilities in Lagos, Nigeria using a design adapted from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and Global-PPS surveys. Results: The prevalence of antibiotics use was 80.6% administered mostly parenterally (83.1% of total prescriptions) with concerns with extended surgical antibiotics prophylaxis. The mostly used antibiotics in the secondary hospital were parenteral metronidazole (32.4%), ceftriaxone (27.5%), and amoxicillin + clavulanate (8.2%) while the mostly used in the tertiary hospital were ceftriaxone (25.3%), parenteral metronidazole (19.1%), and amoxicillin + clavulanate (9.3%). There was an appreciable lack of specific functional capacities, policies, and processes to promote appropriate antimicrobial use in both hospitals. Conclusions: There is high rate of antibiotics utilization in these facilities with lack of institutional frameworks and processes for ensuring appropriate antibiotic use. The study provides the information needed to improve future antimicrobial use in hospitals and reduce AMR