Studies and documentation on the current knowledge and practices of traditional medicine among African communities are lacking particularly in this era of modern health care expansion. This study aimed at assessing the knowledge, attitude and practice of traditional medicine in Jos South Local Government Area (LGA) of Plateau State, Nigeria. A systemic random sampling technique was employed for this study. A semi-structured open and closed ended questionnaire was used to collect data through house to house interview among 300 participants identified for the study. The data was then analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20.0 (Chicago, SPSS Inc.). The studies revealed two hundred and seventy four (94.8%) have heard about traditional medicine, while two hundred and forty two (83.7%) of them have used traditional medicine once or more in their life time, especially for the treatment of malaria and fever. One hundred and eleven (38.4%) of the respondents preferred using both traditional and modern medicine. The prevalence of Traditional Medicine patronage in Jos South LGA, Plateau state is high and this may be related to the socio-cultural acceptability, easy accessibility, and affordability of Traditional Medicine. Keywords: Knowledge; Attitude; Practice; Traditional Medicine; Nigeria

Introduction Maternal, and under-five mortality rates in Gombe State are disproportionately high. The Society for Family Health (a Non-Governmental Organization) in collaboration with Gombe State Primary Health Care Development Agency implemented the Village Health Worker (VHW) Program in Gombe to address the low uptakes of maternal neonatal and child health (MNCH) services and reduced the impact of healthcare worker insufficiency. VHWs are lay indigenous women trained to educate and encourage women to use MNCH services, provide simple community-based maternal and new-born care through home visits, and facilitate facility linkage. We assessed the acceptability of VHW services among women beneficiaries of the Program. Methods Qualitative data were obtained through six focus group discussions with 58 women beneficiaries of the VHW program who delivered within the last 12 months preceding study period (October–November 2018). Themes explored were roles and acceptability of VHWs, and the influence of VHWs on the uptake of MNCH services. We analyzed data with NVivo 12, using Grounded Theory. Results Participants’ mean age was 25.1 (± 5.3) years old. Most participants 39 (67%), had been in contact with a VHW for at least 10 months. VHWs visited pregnant women at home and registered them for antenatal care, provided them basic maternal healthcare, health education, and facilitated facility linkage. Participants generally accepted the VHW Program because it was community-based, VHWs were indigenous community members, delivered clear messages, and influenced husbands and mothers-in-law to support women’s’ use of MNCH services. VHWs’ interventions were perceived to have improved health literacy and the uptake of MNCH services. Participants generally admired the VHW occupation and recommended VHW program scale-up, and for VHWs to be offered basic obstetric training and employment by health facilities or the government. Conclusion The general acceptance and positive views of VHWs from beneficiaries of the program demonstrates the feasibility of the program to improve the uptake of MNCH services.

Traditional medicine (TM) status in population with access to modern medicine is not well clear in the whole country, even though the acceptance of TM is a well-established fact. TM has gained popularity in all regions of the developing world. This study is aimed at accessing the general knowledge, attitude, practice, the extent of use, benefits and safety of TM among people of Jos North L.G.A. A descriptive cross sectional study was carried out on 300 residents of Jos North L.G.A. A systematic random sampling was used to select households at intervals of six. Data was collected through the use of structured open and closed ended questionnaires and interview and the data were analysed using SPSS 20. 274 out of 300 questionnaires were valid. Among the respondents, 56.9% are between 19-28 years. 100% of the participants have good knowledge of TM, 62.8% had no adverse effect from the use of TM, while 70.1% do not agree that TM is safer than modern medicine. 70.4% of the participants plan to use TM in the future. 29.9% of the respondent prefer TM, 31.8% prefer modern medicine while 38.3% prefer both. The population in Jos North has good knowledge with high acceptability and use of TM. The main reasons for the high acceptability are due to lesser cost, availability, effectiveness and efficacy.

Background In Gombe State, the use of facility delivery services is low (27%), and maternal and child health indices are poor. The Gombe State Primary Health Care Development Agency in collaboration with a non-governmental organization (Society for Family Health) implemented a maternal neonatal health (MNH) project from 2016 to 2018. The project supplied essential health commodities to health facilities, provided pregnant women with cost-free emergency transportation, and implemented the Village Health Worker program. Village health workers are lay indigenous women trained to educate women on MNH care. They provided simple community-based maternal and newborn care through home visits and facilitated linkage to health facilities. We explored women's experiences with facility delivery services within the context of the MNH project. Methods Qualitative data were obtained through focus group discussions with women who delivered within the last 12 months. Participants were asked questions related to their experiences with the access and use of facility delivery services. Participants were also asked about provider gender preferences and the influence of family members on the use of facility delivery services. Data were organized with NVivo 12 (Pro for Windows) and analyzed using directed content analysis. Results Six focus group discussions were conducted with 58 participants. Mean age was 25.1 (± 5.3) years old. Thirty-seven 37 (64%) participants delivered in the facility, and 21 (36%) delivered at home within the last 12 months. All the women preferred facility delivery over home delivery for quality care. Furthermore, most women reported experiencing immediate and respectful care with facility delivery services, and healthcare workers' competence and attitude were more important than gender. However, use of facility delivery services was limited by the availability of local traditional birth attendants, absent husbands at onset of labor, imminent delivery, long distance to facility, expensive transportation fees, healthcare worker absenteeism and long clinic wait times. Conclusion Even within the context of an MNH project designed to improve use of facility delivery services, socio-economic and facility level factors could limit women’s use of facility delivery services. Therefore, MNH projects should be designed to ameliorate the effect of these factors that limit use of facility delivery services.