Child marriage and maternal health risks among young mothers in Gombi, Adamawa State, Nigeria: implications for mortality, entitlements and freedoms.

Background: Efforts toward liberation of the girl-child from the shackles of early marriage have continued to be resisted through tradition, culture and religion in some parts of Nigeria. Objective: This study therefore examines the maternal health implications of early marriage on young mothers in the study area. Methods: Multistage sampling technique was employed to obtained data from 200 young mothers aged 15-24 years who married before aged 16 years. Findings: The study reveals that more than 60% had only primary education while more than 70% had experienced complications before or after childbirth. Age at first marriage, current age, level of education and household decision-making significantly influence (P<0.005) maternal health risks in the study area. The study establishes that respondents in age group 15-19 years are 1.234 times more likely to experience complications when compared with the reference category 20-24 years. Entitlements and freedom that are highly relevant to reduction of maternal mortality, provided by international treaties are inaccessible to young women in the study area. Conclusion: Strategies to end child marriage in the study area should include mass and compulsory education of girls, provision of other options to early marriage and childbearing and involvement of fathers in preventing and ending the practice

HIV/AIDS and home-based health care

This paper highlights the socio-economic impacts of HIV/AIDS on women. It argues that the socio-cultural beliefs that value the male and female lives differently lead to differential access to health care services. The position of women is exacerbated by their low financial base especially in the rural community where their main source of livelihood, agricultural production does not pay much. But even their active involvement in agricultural production or any other income ventures is hindered when they have to give care to the sick and bedridden friends and relatives. This in itself is a threat to household food security. The paper proposes that gender sensitive policies and programming of intervention at community level would lessen the burden on women who bear the brunt of AIDS as caregivers and livelihood generators at household level. Improvement of medical facilities and quality of services at local dispensaries is seen as feasible since they are in the rural areas. Other interventions should target freeing women's and girls' time for education and involvement in income generating ventures. Two separate data sets from Western Kenya, one being quantitative and another qualitative data have been used

Predictors of contraceptive use among migrant and non-migrant couples in Nigeria

Evidences reveal low level of contraceptive usage in Nigeria despite high knowledge and efforts of different institutions to influence behavior. It therefore necessary to examine the predictors of contraceptive use. Data for study are from 2008 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey matched couples. Logistic regression was employed to examine predictors of contraceptive use among migrants and non-migrant couples. Majority of migrant couples live in urban areas are Christians with fewer children while most of non-migrant couples live in rural areas are Muslims and belong to poor household. Use of contraceptives is more pronounced among migrant couples. Predictors of contraceptive use among migrant couples are age, education, fertility desire and preference while predictors of contraceptive use among non-migrant couples are age, residence, wealth status, religion, number of living children and fertility desire. Population policies on contraceptive use in Nigeria should be revised for effectiveness by taking cognizance of these predictors.Keywords: contraceptives, couples, migratio

Gender inequities in sexually transmitted infections: implications for HIV infection and control in Lagos State, Nigeria

Beyond the statistics of sex-based differences in infection rates, there are profound differences in the underlying causes and consequences of HIV infections in male and female which need to be examined. The study therefore examines; the gender differences in the STI knowledge and gender-related potential risks of HIV heterosexual transmission. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected. A multi-stage random sampling procedure was employed in administration of 1358 questionnaires. For qualitative data, four focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted to collect information from stakeholders within the study population, while In-depth interview was employed to collect information from 188 people living with HIV/AIDS through support groups in the State. The data collected were subjected to basic demographic analytical techniques. Combination of univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analysis were employed. Information from focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were transcribed and organized under broad headings that depict different aspects of the discussions. Majority of the respondents interviewed did not inform their partners about their infection in the study area. It was also discovered that stigmatization did not allow some women to disclose their status to their sexual partners. Some of the HIV-positive patients interviewed agreed that they did not attend the health facilities to treat the STI’s before they were finally confirmed positive. The study hypothesis revealed that communication between partners about STI’s was associated with an increase in risk reduction behaviour. The paper concluded that there is need for more information and education on communication about STI’s between the sexual partners; to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases within the nation

Intra-Lagos migration and spread of COVID-19: revisiting the structural vulnerability theory

AbstractThis article reviews how the intra-Lagos migration and routinized lifestyle activities of residents impact the spread of COVID-19 in the context of structural vulnerability theory. This study collected data from 32 purposively selected in-depth interview participants using a qualitative method. The data were thematically and content analyzed. It found that the lockdown worked between 6:00 am and 6:00 pm daily at night, social community replaced social distancing. The participants, who lived on daily incomes without palliatives, embarked more on intra-Lagos migration in defiance of the lockdown to justify the assumptions of structural vulnerability theory. The study concludes that the government should impose a dusk-to-dawn curfew to prevent night migration-induced infection in Lagos if a future pandemic occurs. The Ministry of Education should monitor Lagos communities to protect vulnerable children from the threat of infections. Moreover, public policy should improve the capacity of children to display the appropriate forms of lifestyle and routine activities that discourage careless infection-spreading migration as a means of promoting solidarity for public health in Lagos. In readiness for future epidemics, the article suggests a probe of the handlers of the distribution of the COVID-19 palliatives that caused residents to throng the streets of Lagos and Nigeria for food

Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles by Plant-Mediated Green Method: Optical and Biological Properties

In this study, silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were successfully synthesized by plant-mediated green route. The leaf extracts of locally sourced Canna indica and Senna occidentalis acted as the reducing agents/capping agents instead of toxic chemicals leading to unprecedented bioreduction which promoted nucleation and particle growth within 2 minutes of reaction. Optical measurements were characterized by high intensities of absorption revealed by narrow absorption peaks indicating confinement of excitons, with surface Plasmon resonance (SPR) bands of silver nanoparticles at 340–380 nm (S. occidentalis-stabilized Ag NPs) and 400–430 nm (C. indica-stabilized Ag NPs). Morphological characterization with scanning electron microscope coupled with energy dispersed spectrometer (SEM-EDS) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) revealed quasi-spherical, cubic and truncated edge Ag NPs with mean sizes of 9.10 ± 1.12 nm and 9.4 ± 1.95 nm. Formation of crystalline Ag NPs was also supported by X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) showing peak broadening. FTIR analysis revealed some characteristic vibrational bands of O–H, C=O, C=N functional groups at 3306, 1647 and 1246 cm–1 respectively in the organically capped silver nanoparticles. The mechanism of reaction in both syntheses was considered to be diffusion controlled Ostwald ripening process. The antimicrobial activity of the synthesized nanoparticles was tested against clinically isolated Gram positive bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus , Streptococcus pyogenes and clinically isolated fungus-Candida albicans. Significant growth inhibitions were found using analysis of variance (ANOVA), SPSS statistical tool at P < 0.05. The highest activity of C. indica-synthesized Ag NPs was against C. albicans, while S. occidentalis-derived Ag nanoparticles were most active against S. aureus and S. pyogenes. Hence, the findings of this research suggest potential applications of the bionanoparticles as optical materials, electronically conductive adhesives (ECA), and as a candidate for therapeutic drugs because of their biogenic nature

From Unpaid to Paid Care Work: The Macroeconomic Implications of HIV and AIDS on Women's Time-Tax Burdens

This paper considers public employment guarantee programs in the context of South Africa as a means to address the nexus of poverty, unemployment, and unpaid work burdensall factors exacerbated by HIV/AIDS. It further discusses the need for genderinformed public job creation in areas that mitigate the time-tax burdens of women, and examines a South African initiative to address social sector service delivery deficits within the government's Expanded Public Works Programme. The authors highlight the need for well-designed employment guarantee programsspecifically, programs centered on community and home-based careas a potential way to help offset the destabilizing effects of HIV/AIDS and endemic poverty. The paper concludes with results from macroeconomic simulations of such a program, using a social accounting matrix framework, and sets out implications for both participants and policymakers