Cancer is an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, irrespective of the level of human development. Globally, it was estimated that there were 19.3 million new cases of cancer and almost 10 million deaths from cancer in 2020. The importance of prevention, early detection as well as effective cancer therapies cannot be over-emphasized. One of the important strategies in cancer therapy is targeted drug delivery to the specific tumor sites. Nanogels are among the several drug delivery systems (DDS) being explored as potential candidates for targeted drug delivery in cancer therapy. Nanogels, which are new generation, versatile DDS with the possession of dual characteristics of hydrogels and nanoparticles have shown great potential as targeted DDS in cancer therapy. Nanogels are hydrogels with a three-dimensional (3D) tunable porous structure and a particle size in the nanometre range, from 20 to 200 nm. They have been visualized as ideal DDS with enormous drug loading capacity, and high stability. Nanogels can be modified to achieve active targeting and enhance drug accumulation in disease sites. They can be designed to be stimulus-responsive, and react to internal or external stimuli such as pH, temperature, light, redox, thus resulting in the controlled release of loaded drug. This prevents drug accumulation in non-target tissues and minimizes the side effects of the drug. Drugs with severe adverse effects, short circulation half-life, and easy degradability by enzymes, such as anti-cancer drugs, and proteins, are suitable for delivery by chemically cross-linked or physically assembled nanogel systems. This systematic review summarizes the evolution of nanogels for targeted drug delivery for cancer therapy over the last decade. On-going clinical trials and recent applications of nanogels as targeted DDS for cancer therapy will be discussed in detail. The review will be concluded with discussions on safety and regulatory considerations as well as future research prospects of nanogel-targeted drug delivery for cancer therapy.

Availability and accessibility of sexual and reproductive health services for adolescents are very crucial for prevention and control of sexual and reproductive health problems. These services also play vital roles in the promotion of adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health generally. The main purpose of the study was to determine the availability and accessibility (geographical and financial) of sexual and reproductive health services (SRHS) among adolescents in Enugu State, Nigeria. A mixed methods approach was adopted for the study. 192 health facilities were reached to check availability of SRH services. Randomly sampled 1447 adolescents (12–22 years) completed the questionnaire correctly. Twenty-seven interviews and 18 group discussions were conducted. Instruments for data collection consisted of a checklist, a questionnaire, a focus group discussion guide and an in-depth interview guide. All instruments were pre-tested. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests. NVivo 11 Pro software was used to code and thematically analyze the qualitative data. A total of 1447 adolescents (between 12 and 22 years) completed the questionnaire correctly. Among these adolescents, males constituted 42.9% while females were 57.1%. The majority (86.7%) of the adolescents reported availability of safe motherhood services, and 67.5% reported availability of services for prevention and management of STIs and HIV and AIDS. The majority reported that these services were geographically accessible but few were financially accessible to adolescents. However, qualitative data revealed that available services were not specifically provided for adolescents but for general use. Age (p = ≤ .05), education (p = ≤ .05) and income (p = ≤ .05) were found to be significantly associated with access to SRHS. SRHS were generally physically available but not financially accessible to adolescents. Adolescents’ clinics were not available and this could affect the access of SRHS by adolescents. Education and income were significantly associated with access to SRHS.