Perceptions of Nigerian medical students regarding their preparedness for precision medicine: a cross-sectional survey in Lagos, Nigeria

Background Advances in precision medicine in Nigeria suggest improving genomics education and competency among healthcare practitioners to facilitate clinical translation. Due to the scarcity of research in this area, this study aimed to assess Nigerian medical students’ perceptions about their preparedness to integrate precision medicine into their future clinical practice. Methods This was an institution-based cross-sectional study of medicine and surgery students in their clinical years attending the two fully accredited colleges of medicine in Lagos, Nigeria, between April and October 2022 using an adapted tool administered via Google Forms. The survey assessed their awareness, perceptions about knowledge, ability, and attitudes toward precision medicine, ethical concerns, and perceptions about their education in precision medicine. Multivariate linear regression models were used to assess factors associated with students’ perceptions of their knowledge, ability, and attitudes. Results A total of 300 students completed the questionnaires with a response rate of 40%. Awareness of genomic medicine terminology was high (92.0%). Responses to knowledge and ability questions revealed notable gaps, however, respondents had positive attitude scores overall. Higher medical school year was independently associated with lower knowledge (ptrend = 0.003) and ability (ptrend = 0.005) scores, and knowledge score was independently associated with a higher ability score (β: 0.76 95%CI: 0.67, 0.84; p Conclusion Despite high awareness of precision medicine terminology and overall positive attitudes, our findings highlight gaps in knowledge and ability to integrate genomics into the care of patients and a need to improve precision medicine education among Nigerian medical students

Awareness and uptake of the Pap smear among market women in Lagos, Nigeria

Our study evaluates the effect of an educational programme on awareness and uptake of the cervical cancer screening test (Pap smear) by women in a model market in Lagos Nigeria. This was a quasi-experimental study using a multistage sampling technique. A total of 350 women were divided into two groups. A baseline survey on awareness of the Pap test and screening practices was carried out using pre-tested, interviewer administered, structured questionnaires. Participants in the intervention group received sessions of community based health information on cervical cancer screening tests while participants in the control group received health information on hypertension. Subsequently, participants in both groups were reassessed to evaluate the effect of the educational programme on the Pap test and cervical screening uptake. Data were analysed with the Epi-info version 6.04. Awareness about the Pap test was low at baseline; only 6.9% and 12.0% of participants in the intervention and control groups, respectively, had heard of Pap smears. Furthermore, less than 10% had correct information on the use of the Pap test. Post-intervention, there was a significant and proportional increase in the knowledge of the Pap test in the intervention group (

Primary vaccination with the 10-valent pneumococcal non-typeable <it>Haemophilus influenzae </it>protein D conjugate vaccine (PHiD-CV) in infants in Mali and Nigeria: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract Background Pneumonia is still the leading cause of death among children in Africa, and pneumococcal serotypes 1 and 5 are frequently isolated from African children with invasive pneumococcal disease below the age of 5 years. The immunogenicity, safety and reactogenicity of 3-dose primary vaccination with the 10-valent pneumococcal non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae protein D conjugate vaccine (PHiD-CV) were evaluated in infants in Mali and Nigeria. Methods In an open, randomized, controlled study, 357 infants received DTPw-HBV/Hib and OPV primary vaccination with (PHiD-CV group) or without (control group) PHiD-CV co-administration at 6, 10 and 14 weeks of age. Pneumococcal antibody responses and opsonophagocytic activity (OPA) were measured and adverse events (AEs) recorded. Results One month post-dose 3, ≥ 97.2% of PHiD-CV-vaccinated infants had an antibody concentration ≥ 0.2 μg/mL for each vaccine pneumococcal serotype except for 6B (82.0%) and 23F (87.6%) versus Conclusions In sub-Saharan African infants, PHiD-CV was immunogenic for all vaccine pneumococcal serotypes and protein D. Vaccine tolerability was generally comparable between the PHiD-CV and control groups. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00678301.</p