Prevalence of Trachoma in Kano State, Nigeria: Results of 44 Local Government Area-Level Surveys.

PURPOSE: We sought to determine the prevalence of trachoma in 44 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Kano State, Nigeria. METHODS: A population-based prevalence survey was conducted in each Kano LGA. We used a two-stage systematic and quasi-random sampling strategy to select 25 households from each of 25 clusters in each LGA. All consenting household residents aged 1 year and above were examined for trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF), trachomatous inflammation-intense (TI) and trichiasis. RESULTS: State-wide crude prevalence of TF in persons aged 1-9 years was 3.4% (95% CI 3.3-3.5%), and of trichiasis in those aged ≥15 years was 2.3% (95% CI 2.1-2.4%). LGA-level age- and sex-adjusted trichiasis prevalence in those aged ≥15 years ranged from 0.1% to 2.9%. All but 4 (9%) of 44 LGAs had trichiasis prevalences in adults above the elimination threshold of 0.2%. State-wide prevalence of trichiasis in adult women was significantly higher than in adult men (2.6% vs 1.8%; OR = 1.5, 95% CI 1.3-1.7; p = 0.001). Four of 44 LGAs had TF prevalences in 1-9-year-olds between 10 and 15%, while another six LGAs had TF prevalences between 5 and 9.9%. In 37 LGAs, >80% of households had access to water within 30 minutes round-trip, but household latrine access was >80% in only 19 LGAs. CONCLUSION: Trichiasis is a public health problem in most LGAs in Kano. Surgeons need to be trained and deployed to provide community-based trichiasis surgery, with emphasis on delivery of such services to women. Antibiotics, facial cleanliness and environmental improvement are needed in 10 LGAs

Development and Standardization of a Substitute Triangular Prism for Creative Physics and Basic Science Instructions

The Nigerian National Policy on Education requires that education given to students should inculcate sound scientific knowledge for reflective thinking. However, our science classroom instructions generally and physics in particular, today, learners are not giving the desired experiences due to lack of instructional materials. To change the status quo, this study developed  a substitute triangular prism using plastic materials and water. The study employed one shot experimental group design to test the functionality as well as standardize the material. thirty students were made to locate the image of the rays through the improvised triangular prism and find the refractive index (RI) of the material. The RIs obtained by the students were compared with that of water using the one sample t-test. The results revealed no significant difference in the students observed RIs and that of water (1.33). This confirms the functionality of the improvised materials and their Ability to instill the desired skills in learners. It is recommended that teachers should not limit their improvisation to the classroom only, but should seek for avenues to standardizing the materials and making them available for others to use. Keywords: Development, Standardization, triangular prism, refractive index DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-15-10 Publication date:May 31st 202

Gross Alpha and Beta Radioactivity of Water from Gubi Dam Water Treatment Plant Gubi Village, Bauchi

In this research work, a total of 25 replicate samples from the study area comprising source water, treated water, as well as water from some boreholes around Gubi dam and Gubi water treatment plant, were collected for the analysis using Gas-flow Detector Dual Phosphor (counting system) method to determine the gross alpha and beta concentrations. The results showed that the values for the gross alpha and beta measurements were found to be (7.057E-03Bq/ m3 ), ( 1.0253E-02 Bq/ m3) and (2.693E-02 Bq/ m3) for samples from the dam, treated water and the borehole respectively. Furthermore, the mean concentrations were also determined to be (4.11E-02Bq/ m3), (3.74E-02Bq/ m3) and (1.0756E-01Bq/ m3). The study revealed that water from Gubi dam whether treated, untreated or groundwater around the dam purses no radiological hazards for agricultural and other domestic uses

Table_1_An assessment of primary health care costs and resource requirements in Kaduna and Kano, Nigeria.docx

IntroductionThe availability of quality primary health care (PHC) services in Nigeria is limited. The PHC system faces significant challenges and the improvement and expansion of PHC services is constrained by low government spending on health, especially on PHC. Out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditures dominate health spending in Nigeria and the reliance on OOP payments leads to financial burdens on the poorest and most vulnerable populations. To address these challenges, the Nigerian government has implemented several legislative and policy reforms, including the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) Act enacted in 2022 to make health insurance mandatory for all Nigerian citizens and residents. Our study aimed to determine the costs of providing PHC services at public health facilities in Kaduna and Kano, Nigeria. We compared the actual PHC service delivery costs to the normative costs of delivering the Minimum Service Package (MSP) in the two states.MethodsWe collected primary data from 50 health facilities (25 per state), including PHC facilities—health posts, health clinics, health centers—and general hospitals. Data on facility-level recurrent costs were collected retrospectively for 2019 to estimate economic costs from the provider’s perspective. Statewide actual costs were estimated by extrapolating the PHC cost estimates at sampled health facilities, while normative costs were derived using standard treatment protocols (STPs) and the populations requiring PHC services in each state.ResultsWe found that average actual PHC costs per capita at PHC facilities—where most PHC services should be provided according to government guidelines—ranged from US$18.9 to US$ 28 in Kaduna and US$15.9 to US$ 20.4 in Kano, depending on the estimation methods used. When also considering the costs of PHC services provided at general hospitals—where approximately a third of PHC services are delivered in both states—the actual per capita costs of PHC services ranged from US$20 to US$ 30.6 in Kaduna and US$17.8 to US$ 22 in Kano. All estimates of actual PHC costs per capita were markedly lower than the normative per capita costs of delivering quality PHC services to all those who need them, projected at US$44.9 in Kaduna and US$ 49.5 in Kano.DiscussionBridging this resource gap would require significant increases in expenditures on PHC in both states. These results can provide useful information for ongoing discussions on the implementation of the NHIA Act including the refinement of provider payment strategies to ensure that PHC providers are remunerated fairly and that they are incentivized to provide quality PHC services.</p