Antimalarial drug failures have been reported anecdotally in Nigeria, and malarial self-treatment practices could be a contributing factor. This study was designed to assess the pattern of drug use practices and self-treatment options among caregivers in Ibadan, Nigeria. We carried out a descriptive cross-sectional study among 283 study participant pairs (children under 5 years of age with suspected malaria and their caregivers). Structured questionnaires were used as research instruments. The results indicated that most caregivers were mothers (88.8%), 69% of caregivers self-prescribed and self-managed malaria for children under 5 years old without immediate hospital visits, and 76.4% of the caregivers believed most recommended and available antimalarial drugs were ineffective. Generally, 44.2% of respondents preferred and used antibiotics as a treatment strategy for malaria, 13.2% used agbo (a locally made liquid extract of plants and roots), 12.5% used prayers, and 19.6% used antimalarial drugs. Overall, only 57.1% of respondents stated that they always complete the standard antimalarial dosage regimen. The choice of malaria self-treatment options was significantly linked to the level of education. The findings identified antibiotics, agbo, and prayers as the immediate choices for self-treating malaria disease in Ibadan. Furthermore, incomplete adherence to antimalarial drugs is a general practice in Ibadan. Malaria self-treatment policy and continuous education on antimalarial drug use tailored to the different literacy and education levels of the general public is hereby recommended to reduce the risk of development of parasite resistance to effective anti-malarial drugs.

Background: Malaria and anemia among children especially those that are <5 years of age are still diseases of public health concern. This study was designed to determine the effect of malaria on the anaemia status of under five children attending a health facility in Yola, Adamawa state, Nigeria. Methods: Blood samples were collected from out-patient under five children reporting at the paediatric unit of the hospital.  The blood samples were screened for the presence of malaria parasites by microscopy while their anaemia status was determined by checking their packed cell volume (PCV). The prevalence rate of malaria, anemia, and malaria-anemia was calculated. The level of significance was determined using chi-square (χ2) statistics. Results: Of the 200 samples, 124 (62%) were positive for malaria, with the prevalence being higher in males. 103 of the patients had PCV values below 33% giving an overall anaemia prevalence of 51.5% of anemia cases. The results obtained show that the three forms of anaemia – mild, moderate and severe were seen in the sampled population with moderate anaemia being the most prevalent (29.0%); the results also show that malaria parasite density has an effect on the PCV levels of the children at p= .0001, and patients with severe anaemia had the highest parasite loads. Conclusion: Malaria remains a common infection among under five children in this environment and predisposes them to having anaemia. Moderate malaria is also the most common form of anaemia seen in malaria positive children.