A Survey of Community Opinion and Perceptions toward Gamete Donation in North Central Nigeria

Background: Gamete donation supports in vitro fertilization services. Donation of gametes began in the developed world in 1884, but there is no documentation of when it started in Nigeria. The donors may be sourced from the community where such services are available. The objectives of this study are to determine the opinion of a community in north-central Nigeria toward gamete donation and determine the factors that influence their opinion. Materials and Methods: This is a cross‑sectional survey of 300 individuals in a community regarding their opinions and perceptions about gamete donation in the setting. The survey involved using a questionnaire with the questions structured in a Likert format. Results: Two hundred and four (68%) of the respondents had knowledge of gamete donation, and 96 (32%) had none. Fifty‑five (18%) respondents did not support gamete donation, whereas 153 (51%) did. Fifty‑five (18%) disagreed and 158 (52.7%) agreed that gamete donation is justified. Forty‑one (14%) disagreed, while 201 (67%) agreed that financial gain is the reason for gamete donation. One hundred disagreed (33.3%) and 113 (37.7%), respectively, agreed that religious beliefs prevent people from donating or receiving gametes. Forty‑seven (16%) agreed, and 180 (60%) disagreed that donation can lead to childlessness in the future. Ninety‑three (31%) agreed while, 130 (43.3%) disagreed with the possibility of their acceptance of gamete donation if needed. Eighty (2.6%) will not while 149 (49.6%) will support a friend/acquaintance who wants to donate their gamete. Significantly, more males agreed that religion forbids donating or receiving gametes (P = 0.047). Conclusion: There is a high awareness and favorable predisposition toward gamete donation but a low willingness to donate or accept same. More advocacy and enlightenment are needed to increase the participation of this community in gamete donation. Keywords: Advocacy, community opinion, gamete donatio

Knowledge, sources of information, and risk factors for sexually transmitted infections among secondary school youth in Zaria, Northern Nigeria

Background: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are responsible for a variety of health problems especially among the youth who engage in risky sexual behavior. There are few studies that describe STIs among the youths in Northern Nigeria. The objective of the study was to assess knowledge of STIs and risk factors among secondary school youth. Materials and Methods: This was a cross‑sectional study in which structured, self‑administered questionnaire was used to collect data on socio‑demographics, knowledge on STIs, and risk factors. Three senior secondary schools were purposively selected for the study. Results: A total of 1765 youths aged 10‑30 years with mean age of 16.9 ± 2.0 years participated in the study. 1371 (77.7%) and 394 (22.3%) were respectively Muslim and Christian. Mean age at first sexual intercourse was 16.7 ± 2.0 years.A majority (67.6%) of them heard about STIs; sources of information of STIs were school lessons 23.6%, mass media 23.3%, and health magazines 19.2%, respectively. Generally, knowledge on STIs was good as 75.4% of respondents knew how the disease is transmitted. This knowledge was significantly associated with class of student, place of treatment, and religious teaching (χ2 = 9.6, P = 0.047, χ2 = 22.1, P = 0.035 and 42.6, P = 0.001, respectively). Mean knowledge score was 0.698 ± 0.01. A majority of respondents were engaged in risky sexual behavior as only 16.2% use condom as a preventive measure. Eleven percent reported ever having an STI in the past and majority (52.8%) go to government hospital for treatment of acquired STI. 56% of the youth had two or more boy/girl friends and 30% had sexual relationships. Conclusion: It was concluded that secondary school youth had good knowledge about STIs; however, the opposite is true when it comes to preventive practice (use of condom). Interventions such as periodic publicity awareness and school seminars focusing on STI preventions are needed to control the disease among the youth