Gender disparities in hypertension prevalence, awareness and healthcare seeking behaviour among young adults in Nigeria.

Background: The burden of hypertension and healthcare seeking behaviour can be driven by gender-related inequalities in access to care. Low hypertension awareness often originates in early adulthood, determining gender patterns in hypertension. The factors that contribute to these patterns in this life stage are critical for improving hypertension control and reducing cardiovascular disease risk.

Co-creation and application of a framework for the de-prioritization of urban communities during insecticide-treated bed net mass campaigns for malaria prevention and control in Kwara State, Nigeria.

Background: Malaria continues to be a major cause of illness and death worldwide, particularly affecting children under the age of five and those living in high-burden countries like Nigeria. Long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) are one of the effective interventions for malaria control and prevention. In response to funding constraints in the Global Fund Grant Cycle 7, Nigeria's National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) aimed to develop an approach that maximizes the impact of limited malaria interventions by focusing on areas with the greatest need.

Understanding malaria treatment patronage from informal healthcare providers in Nigerian urban settlements: insights from community members and providers.

Background: Informal Healthcare Providers (IHCPs), including Proprietary Patent Medicine Vendors (PPMVs), drug peddlers, traditional healers, and herbal drug sellers are often the first choice for malaria treatment, especially in urban slums. Unplanned urbanization significantly impacts malaria transmission by creating cities with inadequate safety nets and healthcare access, increasing reliance on IHCPs. While the World Health Organization recognizes IHCP's crucial role and emphasizes integrating them into formal healthcare for improved malaria care, they lack requisite training in malaria management and operate outside official regulations, raising concerns about the quality of care they provide.

Differentials in lifestyle practices and determinants among hypertensive adults from three geopolitical zones in Nigeria.

Introduction: hypertension is a major public health problem globally. The occurrence has been associated with unhealthy lifestyles (such as high salt consumption, physical inactivity, excessive intake of alcohol and unhealthy diet), which are very critical for hypertension control. The study was conducted to assess the lifestyle practices and their determinants among adults with hypertension in Nigeria.

Leveraging community health workers for COVID-19 response in Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Senegal, and Uganda: roles, barriers, and facilitators.

Background: The Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic overwhelmed health systems and disrupted the delivery of health services globally. Community Health Workers (CHWs) play a critical role in linking communities to health systems, supporting the prevention and control of diseases in many low- and middle-income countries. However, their roles, barriers, and facilitators in the response and control of the COVID-19 pandemic have not been well documented.

Health systems challenges, mitigation strategies and adaptations to maintain essential health services during the COVID-19 pandemic: learnings from the six geopolitical regions in Nigeria.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic control strategies disrupted the smooth delivery of essential health services (EHS) globally. Limited evidence exists on the health systems lens approach to analyzing the challenges encountered in maintaining EHS during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to identify the health system challenges encountered and document the mitigation strategies and adaptations made across geopolitical zones (GPZs) in Nigeria.

Improving testing capacity for COVID-19: experiences and lessons from Senegal, Uganda, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Background: African countries leveraged testing capacities to enhance public health action in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper describes experiences and lessons learned during the improvement of testing capacity throughout the COVID-19 response in Senegal, Uganda, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Methods: The four countries' testing strategies were studied using a mixed-methods approach.

Regional differences in the utilisation of antenatal care and skilled birth attendant services during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria: an interrupted time series analysis.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial negative impact on the utilisation of essential health services (EHS) globally, especially in resource-limited settings such as Nigeria. High maternal deaths associated with low access to and utilisation of EHS such as antenatal care (ANC) and skilled birth attendants (SBAs) remain a concern during the COVID-19 era. The study assessed the COVID-19 pandemic effects on ANC and SBA utilisation across regions in Nigeria.

Description of the design of a mixed-methods study to assess the burden and determinants of malaria transmission for tailoring of interventions (microstratification) in Ibadan and Kano metropolis.

Background: Rapid urbanization in Nigerian cities may lead to localized variations in malaria transmission, particularly with a higher burden in informal settlements and slums. However, there is a lack of available data to quantify the variations in transmission risk at the city level and inform the selection of appropriate interventions. To bridge this gap, field studies will be undertaken in Ibadan and Kano, two major Nigerian cities.

COVID-19 surveillance in Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda: strengths, weaknesses and key Lessons.

Introduction: As part of efforts to rapidly identify and care for individuals with COVID-19, trace and quarantine contacts, and monitor disease trends over time, most African countries implemented interventions to strengthen their existing disease surveillance systems. This research describes the strengths, weaknesses and lessons learnt from the COVID-19 surveillance strategies implemented in four African countries to inform the enhancement of surveillance systems for future epidemics on the continent.

Methods: The four countries namely the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Nigeria, Senegal, and Uganda, were selected based on their variability in COVID-19 response and representation of Francophone and Anglophone countries.

Spread and seasonality of COVID-19 pandemic confirmed cases in sub-Saharan Africa: experience from Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Senegal, and Uganda.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the world negatively with huge health and socioeconomic consequences. This study estimated the seasonality, trajectory, and projection of COVID-19 cases to understand the dynamics of the disease spread and inform response interventions.

Method: Descriptive analysis of daily confirmed COVID-19 cases from January 2020 to 12 March 2022 was conducted in four purposefully selected sub-Saharan African countries (Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Senegal, and Uganda).

Improving timeliness and completion of infant vaccination among infants in Nigerian urban slums through older women's participation.

Nigerian urban slums have a high population of infants with suboptimal vaccination despite previous interventions. Older women traditionally play supervisory roles in infant care in Nigeria but their influence is untapped in infant vaccination. This study sought to determine if training of older women (≥35 years) in urban slum communities in Ibadan, South west Nigeria, and involving them in infant vaccination will improve infant vaccination timeliness and completion.

Private sector engagement in the COVID-19 response: experiences and lessons from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda.

Background: Private entities play a major role in health globally. However, their contribution has not been fully optimized to strengthen delivery of public health services. The COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmed health systems and precipitated coalitions between public and private sectors to address critical gaps in the response.

Development and evaluation of a package to improve hypertension control in Nigeria [DEPIHCON]: a cluster-randomized controlled trial.

Background: Nigeria's healthcare system capacity to stem the increasing trend in hypertension is limited in coverage, scope and manpower. Use of trained community-based care providers demonstrated to be an effective complement in improving access to, and supporting healthcare delivery has not been adequately examined for hypertension care in Nigeria. This study is proposed to evaluate the effectiveness of using trained community-oriented resource persons (CORPs) to improve hypertension control in Nigeria.

Contextual interpretation of COVID-19 pandemic among public space users in Ibadan Metropolis, Oyo State, Nigeria: An ethnographic review.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all dimensions of lives and has become a social problem as it continues to spread widely through the continuous interactions of people in public spaces where they earn a living. Curbing the spread of COVID-19 requires restrictions in these public spaces, however, the compliance to these measures depends largely on the understanding and interpretations of COVID 19 by users of these public spaces. This study examined the contextual interpretations of public space users about COVID-19 prevention in Ibadan Metropolis, Oyo State.

Effect of intensive training in improving older women's knowledge and support for infant vaccination in Nigerian urban slums: a before-and-after intervention study.

Background: One of the strategies for improving vaccination uptake is to make communities understand the importance of immunization and this is expected to drive the demand for vaccines. Building the capacity of older women who supervise child care in Africa may improve infant vaccination in underserved communities. This study determined the impact of training of older women on their knowledge and support for infant vaccination in selected urban slum communities in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Epidemiology of Lassa Fever and Factors Associated with Deaths, Bauchi State, Nigeria, 2015-2018.

We report the epidemiology of Lassa fever in Bauchi State, a disease-endemic region, in Nigeria. Since 2015, major increases in Lassa fever attack rate and in the case-fatality rate have occurred in this state. A delay in seeking care by a case-patient for >7 days after symptom onset was the major predictor of death.