There is a myriad of diseases that plague the world ranging from infectious, cancer and other chronic diseases with varying interventions. However, the dynamism of causative agents of infectious diseases and incessant mutations accompanying other forms of chronic diseases like cancer, have worsened the treatment outcomes. These factors often lead to treatment failure via different drug resistance mechanisms. More so, the cost of developing newer drugs is huge. This underscores the need for a paradigm shift in the drug delivery approach in order to achieve desired treatment outcomes. There is intensified research in nanomedicine, which has shown promises in improving the therapeutic outcome of drugs at preclinical stages with increased efficacy and reduced toxicity. Regardless of the huge benefits of nanotechnology in drug delivery, challenges such as regulatory approval, scalability, cost implication and potential toxicity must be addressed via streamlining of regulatory hurdles and increased research funding. In conclusion, the idea of nanotechnology in drug delivery holds immense promise for optimizing therapeutic outcomes. This work presents opportunities to revolutionize treatment strategies, providing expert opinions on translating the huge amount of research in nanomedicine into clinical benefits for patients with resistant infections and cancer.

The fight against malaria is a continuum as the epidemic is not abating. For proper deployment of tools in the fight against malaria, an assessment of the situation is necessary. This work assessed the level of antimalarial drug treatment failure in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Both survey and in vitro analyses were adopted. The survey was used to obtain qualitative information from both the malaria subjects and the pharmacies where antimalarial drugs are sourced. The results from the survey were complemented by an in vitro assay of the level of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in the commonly used artemisinin combination in Nigeria; artemether/lumefantrine. Results from the survey revealed that artemisinin combination therapies (ACTs) remain the mainstay in the treatment of malaria, even though other non-artemisinin drugs are still used. It also revealed that many patients still self-medicate, although, this may not be connected to the treatment failure seen among some malaria subjects. The in vitro assay showed that ACT contains the right quantity of APIs. Further surveillance is, therefore, necessary to understand the real cause of treatment failure among malaria subjects in Nigeria.

Breast cancer incidence is on the rise regardless of several interventions available for its management. This scenario may be worse in resource-limited countries. This study, therefore, aimed to evaluate the knowledge and attitude of women towards Breast Cancer Screening (BCS) in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Kano State, a typically resource-limited state in Nigeria. This was a cross-sectional study. The study population comprised female individuals aged 18–45 years attending the Antenatal and Postnatal clinics of AKTH. An adopted questionnaire instrument was used to extract vital information on the knowledge and attitude of women towards breast cancer screening in the Antenatal and Postnatal clinics of AKTH. Our findings showed that there is much awareness about BCS, even though most participants’ knowledge about the methods and timing of the scan is low. Much enlightenment is achieved through the availability of print and electronic media on BCS. A better attitude is shown when trained personnel conduct BCS. A good number of participants who have knowledge are yet to translate their knowledge and attitudes into practice. Based on our findings, coordinated and timely awareness campaigns should be organized by local health authorities to improve knowledge and attitude towards BCS.

Background: HIV-related opportunistic infections like Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia (PCP) remain a major contributor to child morbidity and mortality globally. PCP accounts for over 60% of AIDS in the first year of life and is responsible for a third of AIDS in children globally. Cotrimoxazole prophylaxis, which is an intervention directed towards tackling this burden, has not attained remarkable coverage despite advocacy towards scale-up. This work was therefore aimed at evaluating the efficacy of cotrimoxazole in the prevention of PCP among children exposed to and infected with HIV by carrying out a systematic review. Methods: Key scientific databases were searched for primary studies not older than 15 years old without language restrictions. Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) and Cohorts comparing the effectiveness of cotrimoxazole versus placebo in the prevention of PCP among children (<17 years) exposed to and infected with HIV were selected. Studies with a duration of follow-up not less than 3 months long were included. A meta-analysis was conducted on RevMan 5.3 statistical application software following data extraction, and the data quality and risk of bias were also assessed. Exactly Ten (10) studies were selected and analyzed. Findings: It was observed that cotrimoxazole had beneficial effects in terms of a reduction in mortality among HIV-exposed and infected children, as 72 fewer children in 1000 (based on an absolute 95% CI) will die as a result of cotrimoxazole compared to a placebo. Cotrimoxazole also significantly reduces hospital admissions (p-value of 0.008). The adverse events associated with cotrimoxazole are comparable to a placebo when co-administered with ARTS (p = 0.90), which did not impact adherence. Conclusion: The benefits of cotrimoxazole prophylaxis far outweigh its risks. Therefore, scaling up the intervention is recommended as a prophylactic for wider coverage, especially in resource-limited settings.