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Background: Women and girls who have undergone type III female genital mutilation

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Adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) remains a major public health and developmental issue worldwide. The stage of adolescence is typically characterised by a desire for information, curiosity and experimentation. Adolescent social interactions, relationships and sexual behaviour are intimately linked to information available to them during this transition period and ASRH programmes deliver sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information through a varying number of intervention strategies. The proliferation of mobile phones ownership and use across all populations worldwide has created opportunities for new interventions in health. Its use in SRH especially for adolescents and young people has been researched in a number of studies. This article explores the potential and impact of the use of mobile health (mHealth) for ASRH promotion. This study is a literature review based on analysis of secondary data from published literature. An electronic database search was conducted on Global health, Web of science, Popline, PubMed and Google-scholar. Findings of the review show that most published studies on mHealth interventions were from developed countries. The mHealth based interventions recorded positive effects on improving knowledge and promoting some aspects of positive sexual behaviour like sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing and seeking SRH information. However, the effect on other aspects of sexual behaviour like condom use and sex-partner behaviour was inconsistent. It is concluded that mobile phones can be an effective tool for engaging with adolescents concerning their SRH however, further research with randomised controlled trials are encouraged with special focus on adolescents in developing countries.

SummaryBackgroundPatent medicine vendors (PMVs) are the most common source of antimalarial drugs and treatment for majority of Nigerians. The quality of their practice could have implications for malaria control. This study sought to explore the factors influencing the malaria treatment practices of PMVs for under-five children in Akwa Ibom State.MethodsA cross-sectional survey using an interviewer-administered questionnaire was conducted among 176 PMVs selected by simple random sampling from two local government areas (LGAs). In addition, four focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted to generate qualitative data. Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS version 20 while content analysis was done on the qualitative data.ResultsArtemisinin Combination Therapy (ACT) was the most frequently recommended antimalarial treatment by PMVs (75.6%) for children as against chloroquine (17%) and Sulphadoxine/Pyrimethamine (2.8%). However, only 39.2% of PMVs recommended the appropriate antimalarial treatment (ACTs at the right dose for age), while 71% recommended referral for severe malaria.Factors found to be associated with appropriate management of malaria from quantitative analysis included Educational qualification, attending malaria training and their knowledge of malaria. The FGDs showed that severity of child's illness, parents/caregivers drug request and perceived ability of the parents/caregiver to afford the drugs influenced PMVs malaria treatment practices.ConclusionKnowledge of malaria, severity of child's illness and parents' drug request influenced the treatment practices of PMVs. Training PMVs on appropriate malaria management and community health education/sensitization to leverage on the influence of client-demand on ACT use is recommended to improve PMVs treatment practice.FundingThis study was conducted using mainly personal funds of the lead author with some support from the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital.