BackgroundWomen and children constitute a large proportion of any population. They are the most vulnerable to morbidity and mortality especially in developing countries. In many situations the problem of poor maternal and child health stems from the poor use of available services even when they are not of optimum quality. This study seeks to describe the patterns of utilization of Maternal and Child health (MCH) services in a rural area of Enugu State, and identify factors that are associated with and responsible for determining them.MethodsThe study used a cross sectional analytic design. Pretested semi structured questionnaires were administered by interviewers to 602 women from a rural community in Enugu state, South east Nigeria. Two focus group discussions (FGDs) involving 8–10 men/ women each were conducted to identify factors affecting service utilization. Chi square analysis was done to identify factors associated with Maternal and Child Health services utilization. Logistic regression was used to identify determinants of utilization patterns. N vivo software was used to analyze findings of the FGDs.ResultsThe study revealed that increasing age, educational level, monthly income, number of children and occupation of both women and their husbands were associated with increased MCH service utilization. Average monthly income (OR: 1.317, p = 0.048, CI: 0.073–0.986) and number of children (OR: 1.196, p < 0.01,CI: 1.563–7.000) were determinants of increased use of child care services while educational level (OR: 0.495, p < 0.001, CI: 1.244–2.164) and age (OR: 0.115, p < 0.001, CI: 0.838–0.948) determined better use of delivery and family planning services respectively.ConclusionsImproved use of MCH services is related to socio economic challenges women face such as illiteracy and low income. Furthermore, the way health facilities and their staff are perceived by rural women affect how they use some of these services and should be considered in programs which seek to reduce maternal and child mortality.Behavioral change programs with high local content need to be implemented within rural areas especially among younger, illiterate women .

Introduction: Several Nigerians are completely denied access to adequate health care because of cultural, temporal and financial factors with inequity. Objectives: To ascertain the household perceptions, willingness to pay, benefit package preferences, and health systems readiness for Insurance Scheme. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 400 heads of households and 43 health workers in Enugu, Southern Nigeria. Results: Awareness of NHIS among the heads of household was 56.8%, while it was 86% among the health workers. Awareness of NHIS among heads of households was significantly associated to both educational level (X 2 = 16.083, P = 0.001), and occupation (X 2 = 5.694, P = 0.017). More males (61.6%) had correct perceptions of NHIS compared to females (58.6%), but not statistically significant (X 2 = 0.336, P = 0.562). Majority of households respondents 89% are willing to pay for NHIS. Willingness to pay was significantly associated to occupation (X 2 = 5.169, df = 1, P = 0.023), but willingness to pay mandatory 5% premium was not significantly associated to occupation (X 2 = 0.884, P = 347). Only 11.6% of the health facilities are enlisted as providers in the scheme. Conclusion: Willingness to pay was high, but majority are not ready to pay 5% premium of their earnings. Awareness creation programmes should be improved for the public, and more health facilities enlisted for wider coverage.

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Aims: To determine the use of contraceptives among senior secondary school students in Abakaliki metropolis, Ebonyi State. Study Design:  A cross-sectional study design was used. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in public secondary schools in Abakaliki metropolis, Ebonyi Nigeria, for a duration of six months Methodology: A two-stage sampling method was used to select 400 students from 6 out of 18 public secondary schools in Abakaliki metropolis. Information was obtained using a pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire. Chi square test and multivariate logistic regression were used in the analysis and level of statistical significance was determined by p value of <0.05. Results: The mean age of respondents was 17.4±2.3 years and majority (51.5%) were females. More than one fifth (21.5%) have been exposed to sexual intercourse. Majority of the respondents (61.8%) were aware of contraceptives. The major sources of information were school lessons (46.0%) and health workers (40.8%). The contraceptives mostly known included male condom (42.0%), female condom (22.3%) and natural methods (15.3%). Out of the 400 respondents, a small proportion (8.5%) have ever used any method of contraception, and the male condom, was the most used method (82%). Logistic regression showed predictors of contraceptive use to include being <18 years (AOR=0.4; 95% CI: 0.2-0.9), being male (AOR=6.0, 95% CI: 2.0-17.7) and being in senior secondary three class (AOR=0.2, 95% CI: 0.1-0.6). Conclusion: Only a small proportion of the respondents who were sexually active used any method of contraception. With school lectures as the main source of information on contraception, there is need for more comprehensive sexuality education to be included in the school curriculum.

Background: Human resources and their safety are central to occupational health practices. Understanding the sociodemographic characteristics and safety practices of workers helps in workplace interventions. This study aimed at comparing the sociodemographic characteristics and safety practices among roadside and organized panel beaters in Enugu metropolis, Enugu State, Nigeria. Methodology: This was a comparative cross-sectional study. A multistage sampling method was used to select 428 panel beaters in Enugu metropolis. A semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Data was entered and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 20. Comparative analysis was done using Chi-square and the level of significance was set at 5%. Results: The mean ages (standard deviation) were 31.1 ± 10.3 years and 37.9 ± 12.1 years for roadside and organized panel beaters, respectively. The majority of respondents, (70.6%) and (56.5%), from the roadside and organized sectors, respectively, had secondary education. About 59.8% of the roadside panel beaters were single compared to about two-thirds (63.1%) of organized panel beaters who were married. More than two-thirds (72.9%) of roadside workers earn more than N 35,000 monthly, while half of the organized workers earn more than N 35,000. The differences in sociodemographic characteristics and monthly income were statistically significant. Environmental sanitation was the most common safety and hygiene practices engaged by respondents. Very few respondents, more among the organized sector, noted that their workplaces were monitored or checked. The use of personal protective equipment was found to be generally deficient, in addition to poor health and safety training. Conclusion: There was a statistically significant difference in the sociodemographic characteristics between the roadside and organized sectors panel beaters with poor safety practices. Routine and improved health education and safety training on basic preventive measures would be necessary to prevent occupational hazards in the workplace.