Background: The Home Management of Malaria (HMM) strategy was developed using chloroquine, a now obsolete drug, which has been replaced by artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) in health facility settings. Incorporation of ACT in HMM would greatly expand access to effective antimalarial therapy by the populations living in underserved areas in malaria endemic countries. The feasibility and acceptability of incorporating ACT in HMM needs to be evaluated.

Background: Intermittent preventive treatment with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (IPT-SP) is currently the recommended regimen for prevention of malaria in pregnancy in endemic areas. This study sets out to evaluate the effectiveness of IPT-SP in the prevention of maternal and placental malaria in parturient mothers in Ibadan, Nigeria, where the risk of malaria is present all year round.

No abstract

A cross sectional, community-based, descriptive study among women of reproductive age group (15-49 years) in Nigeria to explore the possible reasons for contraceptive non-use despite reported high awareness was carried out. Data were obtained using a standard questionnaire instrument and applied on 2001 respondents. Contraceptive prevalence among sexually active respondents was 14.8% for all methods, 10.1% for modern methods and only 0.8% for emergency contraceptives. The most frequently stated reasons for non-use of contraceptives, among those who had never used any contraceptives but who did not want more children were: "did not think about it", "against religious belief " and "fear of side effects." Prior counseling significantly improved the continuation rate of contraception. Multivariate analysis showed that older, married and more educated women tended to use contraceptives more. Health-care providers should be trained to offer counseling services to all clients in general, and young, unmarried and uneducated women in particular in order to improve their acceptance of contraceptives. RÉSUMÉUne étude à base communautaire sur le comportement du contraceptif au Nigéria. Nous avons mené une étude descriptive traversale à base communautaaire auprès des femmes dans le group en âge d'avoir des enfants (15-19 ans) au Nigéria afin d'explorer les raisons qui peuvent expliquer le non-usage des contraceptifs malgré le haut niveau de sensibilisation. Les données ont été recueillies à l'aide d'un instrument de questionnaires standards administrés aux 2001 répondantes. La fréquence contraceptive parmi les répondants qui sont sexuellement actives était de 14,8% pour toutes les méthodes, 10,1% pour les méthodes modernes et juste 0,8% pour les contraceptifs d'urgence. Les raisons les plus fréquemment données pour expliquer le non-usage des contraceptifs parmi ceux qui n'ont jamais utilisé les contraceptifs, mais qui ne voulaient pas encore d'enfants étaient: "je n'y ai pensé", "contre la croyance religieuse" et "la peur des effets secondaires". L'analyse multifactorielle a montré que les femmes les plus âgées, mariées et instruites avaient la tendance d'utiliser les contraceptifs. Il faut former des prestataires de services médicaux pour qu'ils puissent rendre les services d'orientation à tous les clients en général, mais sourtout aux jeunes, aux célibataires et aux femmes non-instruites afin d'améliorer leur acceptance des contraceptifs. (Rev Afr Santé Reprod 2006; 10[2]:90-104)

Background: The use of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) at the community level has been advocated as a means to increase access to effective antimalarial medicines by high risk groups living in underserved areas, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. This strategy has been shown to be feasible and acceptable to the community. However, the parasitological effectiveness of ACT when dispensed by community medicine distributors (CMDs) within the context of home management of malaria (HMM) and used unsupervised by caregivers at home has not been evaluated.