Background: The wellbeing of family caregivers of mentally ill persons has often been ignored, despite that family caregivers can be predisposed to psychiatric morbidities and burden in caring for their mentally ill family members. This study examined the levels of psychological distress and burden of care experienced by family caregivers who care for their mentally ill relatives in Edo State, Nigeria.Methods: This study assessed psychological distress using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Burden of care was measured using the 22-item Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) questionnaire. Multiple linear regression was done to determine factors associated with burden of care and psychological distress, while factor analysis was used to determine the underlying forms of burden of care and psychological distress among participants.Results: Caregivers studied were relatives of patients diagnosed for depression (25.1%), substance use disorder (22.2%), schizophrenia (20.2%) and bipolar affective disorder (11.1%). Approximately 15% experienced no-to-mild burden, 51.3% mild-to-moderate burden and 34.0% high-or-severe burden. Nearly halve (49.0%) of participants experienced psychological distress. Severe rate of psychological distress was observed among subjects caring for patients with schizophrenia (60.7%), epilepsy (60.0%), substance use disorder (52.2%) and depression (49.0%). High burden of care was more preponderant among caregivers of relatives with mental retardation and epilepsy (50% each) and schizophrenia (39.3%). Having a higher educational qualification and being self-employed was a predictor of psychological distress. Gender of caregiver and the diagnosis schizophrenia among relatives of caregivers predisposed to burden of care. Three factors including social and emotional dysfunction, psychological distress and cognitive dysfunction were identified as components of psychological health through factor analysis. On the burden scale, six factor components were identified as: personal strain, role strain, intolerance, patients’ dependence, guilt and interference in personal life.Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of psychological morbidity and burden of care among family caregivers providing care for persons with mental illness.

Background: Generally, social development among young people is largely influenced by their peers. Peer education is a proven and effective approach for promoting reproductive health among young people, especially HIV/AIDS education. This study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of a peer-led education intervention in addressing sexual and reproductive health related knowledge and concerns among young people in Kaduna and Kano States, northwest Nigeria. Methods: A pre and post-test study was conducted among 8930 young people aged 15–24 years who participated in the MTV Shuga Peer Education intervention selected from communities in Kaduna and Kano States. A baseline pre-test was conducted before the education program, and it was followed up with a post-test at the end of the five-day long peer education sessions. Results: Majority of the respondents, 7846 (87.9%) were adolescents aged 15–19 years while the rest 1084 (12.1%) were young adults aged 20–24 years. A total of 6099 (68.3%) of the respondents correctly stated that condoms prevent pregnancy during the pre-test compared to 6429 (72.0%) peers during the post test. Lower abdominal pain was correctly indicated as a symptom of STI by 6282 (70.3%) and 6984 (78.2%) of the respondents at pre-test and post-test respectively. More males (58.5%) had good knowledge about condom use compared to the females, 51.9% (χ² = 24.62, p < 0.001). while more females (79.6%) compared to 74.7% males opined that going for HIV test with their sexual partner is important to them during the pre-test (χ² = 19.44, p≤ 0.001).However, no significant difference was observed on knowledge of condom use and opinion on going for HIV testing with sexual partner among either gender at post-test. Conclusion: Significant positive changes in knowledge, views and opinions regarding STIs and HIV, HIV anti-stigma and the use of condoms were observed following exposure to the peer sessions of the MTV Shuga peer education intervention. Sustained exposure and access to informative and enlightening peer education sessions over time have the potential to comprehensively improve SRH knowledge, influence positive opinion change and in turn adoption of positive behaviours among young people.

Data transparency has played a key role in this pandemic. The aim of this paper is to map COVID-19 data availability and accessibility, and to rate their transparency and credibility in selected countries, by the source of information. This is used to identify knowledge gaps, and to analyse policy implications. The availability of a number of COVID-19 metrics (incidence, mortality, number of people tested, test positive rate, number of patients hospitalised, number of patients discharged, the proportion of population who received at least one vaccine, the proportion of population fully vaccinated) was ascertained from selected countries for the full population, and for few of stratification variables (age, sex, ethnicity, socio-economic status) and subgroups (residents in nursing homes, inmates, students, healthcare and social workers, and residents in refugee camps). Nine countries were included: Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Nigeria, Turkey, Panama, Greece, the UK, and the Netherlands. All countries reported periodically most of COVID-19 metrics on the total population. Data were more frequently broken down by age, sex, and region than by ethnic group or socio-economic status. Data on COVID-19 is partially available for special groups. This exercise highlighted the importance of a transparent and detailed reporting of COVID-19 related variables. The more data is publicly available the more transparency, accountability, and democratisation of the research process is enabled, allowing a sound evidence-based analysis of the consequences of health policies.

Background: The trio of commonest illnesses and causes mortality among children under five (Malaria, Pneumonia and Diarrhea) are easily treatable through timely exposure to cost effective interventions at the community level. Patent and proprietary medicine vendors (PPMVs) are a leading source of care for illnesses among under-five children in Nigeria. This study was designed to explore child health services offering, particularly commodity stocking patterns and case management knowledge for common childhood illnesses among PPMVs in Ebonyi and Kaduna States. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among PPMVs in four local government areas across Ebonyi and Kaduna States. Data was collected using semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaires. Information was obtained on medicine and supplies, knowledge of common childhood illnesses management and referral practices. Results: A total of 374 PPMVs were interviewed; the mean age was 33.7 ± 9.8 years. Among the 132 health trained respondents, 59.0% offer treatment services for sick children while 83.5% of the non-health trained respondents offer the same service. At least, 88.0% of the respondents keep stock ACTs, Amoxycilin DT, ORS and Zinc. About 38.5% reported stock-out of ACTs in the month preceding the study, 55.1% reported stock out lasting only 0 to 6 days. Only 83 (22.2%) of respondents knew the correct diagnosis of fast breathing among children aged 2 to less than 12 months old. Education and health training background were associated with a good knowledge of common childhood illnesses management (X² = 44.88, p < 0.001; X² = 27.14, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The relative constant availability of medicines and commodities for managing childhood illnesses positions PPMVs as a preferred source of care for these illnesses. There is a need to complement steady stock availability with provision of quality services by exposing PPMVs to trainings on integrated community case management of childhood illnesses and implementation of robust supervision mechanism to monitor them.

We read with deep concern about a recent study by Ren et al, which recorded an enormous, non-abating, and worsening situation of the global oral cancer burden.[1] According to Ren et al,[1] the incidence and mortality rates, and the disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of oral cancer multiplied by one-fold between 1990 and 2017. Worrisomely, a similar trend is observed with many other cancer types in the head and neck region, e.g., oropharyngeal, nasopharyngeal, salivary gland cancers.[2] Head and neck cancer (HNC) has multiple risk factors; however, its three major risk factors are tobacco smoking, harmful alcohol use, and oral sex (a route of human papillomavirus [HPV] transmission).[3] The current estimated/projected prevalence of these major HNC risk factors amongst young adults, particularly in the low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in the sub-Saharan African region—tobacco use: 20.7%; alcohol use: 18.4%; and oral sex: 1.7 to 47.2%%—is of deep concern.[4] [5] [6] The LMICs currently are the worst hit by the HNC burden, compared to the high-income countries,[1] [2] revealing the significant public health inequalities associated with HNC. Pertinently, public awareness about HNC is still very low, as evidenced by very recent studies exploring HNC knowledge among different populations in the LMICs.[7] [8] [9] In tackling the current devastating HNC burden, particularly in the LMICs, laudable strategies such as massive public education programs (for public awareness creation) on HNC, massive HNC screening programs and training of healthcare professionals on HNC detection (to boost early detection of HNC), and increasing access to HNC care (to minimize HNC-associated morbidities and mortalities in underserved populations) are of high priority.[10] Due to the deep concern regarding the current trajectory of HNC indices,[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] particularly in LMICs, the authors of this letter, who are academics, social, medical, and health professionals with multidisciplinary backgrounds and diverse institutional affiliations voluntarily came together and birthed the idea of establishing the International Head and Neck Cancer Working Group (IHNCWG). The IHNCWG is an open network that welcomes like-minded academics and public health professionals with interest in working toward alleviating the burdens due to HNC. The objectives of the IHNCWG are as follows: So far, the first multicenter public health research project on HNC led by the IHNCWG has commenced in Nigeria—a middle-income country in sub-Saharan Africa. The group aims to expand the project across multiple LMICs and HICs. This letter invites like-minded professionals with interest in tackling the current HNC burden, particularly in LMICs. This is a call to work collaboratively to alleviate the HNC burden particularly in countries badly affected. Article published online: 31 December 2022 © 2022. MedIntel Services Pvt Ltd. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd. A-12, 2nd Floor, Sector 2, Noida-201301 UP, India

Introduction: Effective management of hypertension and diabetes through accurate diagnosis and treatment can reduce the risk of complications and early deaths. This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study aimed at determining practices regarding hypertension and type 2 diabetes management among healthcare providers in Kaduna and Imo States, Nigeria. Data were collected using a semi-structured interviewer administered questionnaire consisting of questions across four major domains: 1) screening; 2) diagnosis; 3) pharmacological; and 4) non-pharmacological treatment of hypertension and diabetes. Results: A total of 77 healthcare providers were interviewed and they included; 20 (26.5%) medical doctors, 25 (32.5%) nurses/midwives, 18 (23.4%) community health extension workers and 3 (3.9%) pharmacists. Almost half (46.8%) of the respondents indicated that they prioritize routine blood pressure (BP) checks among all adult patients while only 30 (39.0%) and 8 (10.4%) correctly identified the diagnostic criteria for hypertension and diabetes, respectively. Calcium chain blockers only were the most prescribed medication for treatment of hypertension across all stages of hypertension while metformin (glucophage) was stated as the preferred medication prescribed for controlling blood glucose levels among the respondents. Only 32.5% of the respondents stated that they have a means in place in their facilities to ensure that hypertension and diabetes patients adhere to follow-on visit recommendations. Conclusion: A significant knowledge gap was identified in the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension and diabetes among the respondents due to unavailability of properly outlined management guidelines for these conditions for the different cadres of healthcare workers in Nigeria. There is a need for the development and wide distribution of guidelines highlighting cadre-specific roles for healthcare providers in hypertension and diabetes management and standard operating procedures based on such guidelines should be available at various points of care to ensure better treatment outcomes.