Samuel Ojima Adejoh

Objectives: The study explored the association between maternal transport modes and childhood mortalities in Nigeria. Method: Utilizing data and definitions from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey report, the ten-year early mortality rates of the five childhood mortalities and the percentage of live births in the 5 years before the survey, transported by eight identified means of transportation, were statistically correlated for each of Nigeria’s 36 states and the federal capital territory (FCT) in the R environment at a significance level of α < 0.05. Results: In the spatial distribution of the five childhood mortalities, a notable north-south dichotomy was observed, contrasting with the spatial spread of maternal transport modes. The five childhood mortalities exhibited a significant, moderately positive correlation with transportation by Private Car or Truck, while their associations with Public Transport or Bus and Walking were notably moderate but negative. Conclusion for Practice: While the use of private cars or trucks should be encouraged as a means of maternal transport, public transport should be better organized to provide efficient services to women who need such services for maternal and child healthcare. Additionally, steps should be taken to reduce travel distances to health facilities to manageable distances for mothers.

Purpose: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, necessitating substantial social support during diagnosis and treatment. This study examines the role of social capital in breast cancer management, focusing on the experiences of patients.Objectives: The objective of the study was to explore the role of social capital in breast cancer management among women living with breast cancer in Lagos, Nigeria.Methods: Using a qualitative design, the study recruited 23 women with breast cancer receiving treatment at a teaching hospital in Lagos, Nigeria. Data were content analyzed to identify themes related to social capital.Results: The study found that social capital, crucial for breast cancer patients’ emotional and instrumental support, stems from various sources such as relatives, immediate family, spouses, places of worship, friends, and neighbors. Effective coping and management of the condition were facilitated through this support network. However, assistance from places of worship, friends, and neighbors was only accessible to those who openly acknowledged their health conditions and had established connections with these social groups. Relationships led to support only when there was a disclosure of the health condition.Significance of results: (1) This finding reinforces the importance of integrating social support mechanisms including family, friends, and community networks into breast cancer management programs. (2) The study identifies diverse sources of social capital, including relatives, family, spouses, places of worship, friends, and neighbors, stressing the need for tailored support networks. (3) Research reveals the link between health condition disclosure and support accessibility from groups like places of worship and friends, and it emphasizes creating stigma-free environments for patients to disclose health status comfortably. (4) The study highlights family involvement in breast cancer management as crucial for effective coping. Healthcare professionals should prioritize interventions strengthening family support systems. (5) Findings of stress community support for better breast cancer outcomes, advocating for initiatives like support groups and awareness campaigns to boost social capital and aid affected individuals.Conclusion: The study emphasizes the significance of involving family members in the breast cancer management process and highlights the need for support systems within families and communities to facilitate better outcomes for breast cancer patients.

Background: Low contraceptive prevalence rates among women of reproductive age in low-income countries, including Nigeria, continue to impede efforts to improve women’s reproductive health through family planning services. This qualitative study examines the barriers to accessing family planning clinics. Methods: In-depth interviews with 30 women aged 15 to 49 were conducted at a secondary and a tertiary health facility, Lagos. Results: The research identifies two key themes: the impact of geographic proximity and the challenges faced at the clinic in accessing family planning services.” Women living far from clinics face transportation barriers. Long waiting times, stigma and privacy are issues identified, particularly in government clinics. Despite challenges, respondents praised nurses and expressed satisfaction with services. Conclusions: The study offers contemporary insights into the specific challenges faced by women in Lagos State, aiming to inform targeted interventions and policy recommendations. The study, however, suggests that even with the removal of proximity barriers, stigma remains a limiting factor for interventions, adding a novel perspective to the discourse on reproductive health in low-income settings. Addressing these barriers in a holistic manner is vital for empowering women to make informed reproductive choices, ultimately improving maternal and child health outcomes.

Objective: This study investigated the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the consumption of illicit drugs among Persons with Substance Use Disorders in Lagos, Nigeria. Methods: Using convenience sampling, 25 participants, who use different substances consented to participate in the study. Data was collected using in-depth interview guide and thematically analysed using NVivo 12 Plus. Findings: The findings show that activities of celebrities on social media were motivation for use. There was an increase in the consumption of illicit drugs during the COVID-19 lockdown period among the participants. Participants were able to purchase illicit drugs from street vendors despite the lockdown restriction, while others bought from online retailers – the social media platforms. Participants reported an increase in the price of substances and a reduction in their quantity and quality during the lockdown which may likely account for the increase in consumption reported. Conclusion: The lockdown, though used in curtailing the spread of COVID-19, had an unintended increase in the consumption of illicit drugs suggesting that drug markets can be resilient and adaptive during global crises.

Introduction: Compliance with the Government’s lockdown policy is required to curtail community transmission of Covid-19 infection. The objective of this research was to identify places Nigerians visited during the lockdown to help prepare for a response towards future infectious diseases of public health importance similar to Covid-19. Methods: This was a secondary analysis of unconventional data collected using Google Forms and online social media platforms during the COVID-19 lockdown between April and June 2020 in Nigeria. Two datasets from: i) partnership for evidence-based response to COVID-19 (PERC) wave-1 and ii) College of Medicine, University of Lagos perception of and compliance with physical distancing survey (PCSH) were used. Data on places that people visited during the lockdown were extracted and compared with the sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents. Descriptive statistics were calculated for all independent variables and focused on frequencies and percentages. Chi-squared test was used to determine the significance between sociodemographic variables and places visited during the lockdown. Statistical significance was determined by P0.05. All statistical analyses were carried out using SPSS version 22. Results: There were 1304 and 879 participants in the PERC wave-1 and PCSH datasets, respectively. The mean age of PERC wave-1 and PCSH survey respondents was 31.8 [standard deviation (SD)=8.5] and 33.1 (SD=8.3) years, respectively. In the PCSH survey, 55.9% and 44.1% of respondents lived in locations with partial and complete covid-19 lockdowns, respectively. Irrespective of the type of lockdown, the most common place visited during the lockdown was the market (shopping); reported by 73% of respondents in states with partial lockdown and by 68% of respondents in states with the complete lockdown. Visits to families and friends happened more in states with complete (16.1%) than in states with partial (8.4%) lockdowns.Conclusions: Markets (shopping) were the main places visited during the lockdown compared to visiting friends/family, places of worship, gyms, and workplaces. It is important in the future for the Government to plan how citizens can safely access markets and get other household items during lockdowns for better adherence to stay-at-home directives for future infectious disease epidemics.

The main objective of this study was to examine the influence of socio-demographic characteristics, community characteristics and fear of crime on self-reported health status among residents in selected communities in Lagos, Nigeria. The study was conducted in four selected communities in Lagos, namely Mushin, Idi-Oro, Idi-Araba and Surulere. Cross-sectional design survey was used to select 799 respondents using stratified sampling technique. Data were analysed at univariate, bivariate and ordinal logistic regression using SPSS version 22.0. Majority of the respondents rated their self-reported health status as excellent to good. The findings show that education increases the chances of achieving excellent to good selfreported health status; that female respondent reported excellent to good self-reported health status compared to the male respondents Also, Christians and Muslims reported excellent to good self-reported health status. Safely walking alone at night/day in the community positively affected self-reported health status. Fear of crime has direct relationship with self-reported health status. Sociodemographic, community characteristics and fear of crime influence self-reported health status. Policy on crime control should be specific at reducing fear of crime at individual and community levels to promote healthy individuals and communities.

The paper documents environmental health conditions and healthcare access challenges faced by internally displaced people (IDPs) from Borno State living in informal settlements in Lagos, Nigeria, in 2020, during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative study with 32 IDPs suggests a high vulnerability to COVID-19. Their accommodation often lacked basic sanitation including water and toilet facilities; overcrowding and high population density restricted ability to adhere to social distancing; and IDPs experienced serious consequences from lockdown, as the majority depended on daily wages, and did not receive food packages or other support from the State. Finally, there were obstacles to accessing healthcare. We highlight the importance of an integrated approach, consolidating the efforts of communities, non-governmental organisations, environmental and public health, and international organisations to address the health and well-being issues of IDPs in urban informal settlements.

Crimes are pervasive with the potential to disrupt the community’s socio-economic activities and academic learning. The College of Medicine University of Lagos (CMUL) Idi-Araba campus neighbourhood is predominantly slum both in physical and social characteristics thus vulnerable to criminal activities. Mapping the distribution of human activities and other geographic features that are potential crime locations (PCLs) around the university environment has not been given extensive attention. This study uses Geographic Information Science (GIS) to identify PCLs within and around the CMUL neighbourhood. An intensive field campaign through Global Positioning System (GPS) deployment was carried out and collected data were processed and analyzed using buffer tool in ArcMap 10.8 GIS environment. Classification and ranking of human activities and other spatial features as PCLs were based on neighbourhood characteristics influencing crime while the proximity of law enforcement agencies was carried out at 500, 1000 and 1,500 meters’ buffers to the CMUL. Results show that five of the nine very high PCLs including motor parks and bus stops are within the 500m of the CMUL while fifteen (15) of the forty-two (42) high PCLs such as beer sale shops, banks, and motels are within 500m buffer. Only one of three police stations within the study area is a divisional headquarters while the other two are police posts. The current situation may embolden determined criminals to perpetrate activities to the detriment of academic learning. It is recommended that surveillance be mounted at the high PCLs and regular patrol of security agents within the study area should be put in place. Les crimes sont omniprésents et peuvent perturber les activités socio-économiques de la communauté et l’apprentissage scolaire. Le quartier du campus Idi-Araba du Collège de médecine de l’Université de Lagos (CMUL) est principalement un bidonville à la fois dans ses caractéristiques physiques et sociales, donc vulnérable aux activités criminelles. La cartographie de la répartition des activités humaines et d’autres caractéristiques géographiques qui sont des emplacements potentiels de criminalité (PCL) autour de l’environnement universitaire n’a pas fait l’objet d’une attention particulière. Cette étude utilise la science de l’information géographique (SIG) pour identifier les PCL à l’intérieur et autour du quartier CMUL. Une campagne intensive sur le terrain par le biais du déploiement du système de positionnement global (GPS) a été menée et les données collectées ont été traitées et analysées à l’aide de l’outil tampon dans l’environnement SIG ArcMap 10.8. La classification et le classement des activités humaines et d’autres caractéristiques spatiales en tant que LCP étaient basés sur les caractéristiques du quartier influençant la criminalité, tandis que la proximité des organismes d’application de la loi était effectuée à 500, 1000 et 1 500 mètres de tampons de la CMUL. Les résultats montrent que cinq des neuf PCL très élevés, y compris les parcs automobiles et les arrêts d’autobus, se trouvent à moins de 500 m de la CMUL, tandis que quinze (15) des quarante-deux (42) PCL élevées telles que les magasins de vente de bière, les banques et les motels se trouvent à moins de 500 m de zone tampon. Un seul des trois postes de police situés dans la zone d’étude est un quartier général divisionnaire, tandis que les deux autres sont des postes de police. La situation actuelle peut encourager les criminels déterminés à perpétrer des activités au détriment de l’apprentissage scolaire. Il est recommandé d’installer une surveillance aux LCP élevées et de mettre en place une patrouille régulière des agents de sécurité dans la zone d’étude.