The World Malaria Report 2021 revealed that Nigeria accounted for 27% of 241 million malaria cases worldwide and 31% of 602,000 malaria deaths. This WHO report is in sharp contrast to the ambitious goal of the National Malaria Strategic Plan (NMSP) 2014-2020, which aimed to transition Nigeria from malaria control to malaria elimination status by 2020. In this study, we combined contact bioassay with HPLC analysis to investigate how the end users' treatment of Long-Lasting Insecticide Treated Nets (LLINs) inadvertently contributes to the unabated rise in malaria cases.We randomly selected a few LLINs used under normal household conditions in Port-Harcourt and one on sale in Lagos, Nigeria. The continued potency of these LLINs to protect the users against malaria vectors, assuming the local vectors are insecticide-susceptible, was evaluated by exposing laboratory- susceptible Anopheles gambia Kisumu strain to the nets according to the WHO cone bioassay protocol. After the exposure, the active ingredients (AI) in the LLINs were extracted and analysed using reverse phase HPLC to establish the quantity of the AIs and correlate it to bio-efficacy. The AI loss per wash was also computed based on the information provided by the users. The labels on the LLINs revealed them to be Royal Sentry, PermaNet 2.0 and DuraNet. The bio-efficacy of these LLINs under household usage is less than two years. AI lost per wash was higher by 2.5-fold in LLIN made of polyethylene nets than polyester nets: 0.35g/Kg/wash and 0.14g/Kg/wash, respectively. The AI lost per wash increased by 31% for net exposed longer to the harsh environmental conditions of this region. The LLIN (ParmaNet) purchased in the open market has the highest AI concentration but only achieved 70.62% mortality, far below the acceptable standard. The AI in the LLIN bought from the open market was the highest, but of poor quality. This bed net was a counterfeit product, not approved by WHOPES. More importantly, this study revealed that field examination of LLINs under normal household use should be examined per region for policy makers to have informed knowledge of the duration of the bio-efficacy of the LLINs being distributed.

Vaccination prepares the body's immune system ready to recognise, destroy and remember foreign disease-causing agents when it encounters them. It is the most effective way of averting communicable diseases if fully accepted and demanded by the population at risk of spreading contagious diseases. Social mobilisation has been a critical way of encouraging demands, as well as acceptance and compliance, by the general public for immunisation services. Vaccination campaign against poliovirus by WHO since 1988 was a huge success across the globe except in three countries: Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Up until 3 years ago, polio eradication remained a challenge in Nigeria due mainly to non-acceptance of the vaccination by the hard-to-reach (HtoR) group. In this study, carried out at the height of the epidemic in Nigeria, we investigated the effects that social mobilisation on polio vaccination had on the hard-to-reach group. The participants were selected based on three criteria: age of the child, religion and social status. Semi-structured interview was employed and data analysed using the thematic content analysis. The results revealed that religion, service factor-distance to health facility and health staff behaviour are the key factors limiting the social mobilisation effort among the HtoR group. Nigeria began to make success only when one of the most respected Muslim leaders took ownership of the campaign for the elimination of polio, which has now placed Nigeria among the poliofree countries. Therefore, effective social mobilisation for vaccination programs of the HtoR group could be achieved faster with the involvement of religious leaders because of the enormous influence they have on their followers. This revelation is very important to note for the success of the upcoming vaccination campaign against COVID-19 disease, now that effective vaccines against the disease have been developed and ready for distribution.

This study investigated parents' and children's perception of the challenges of acquiring primary and post-primary education in Tai and Etche communities of Rivers State. Qualitative data were obtained via individual interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGD). Parents within the age range of 16 to 45 years and children in the secondary school within the ages of 14 to 18 years participated in this study. One hundred questionnaires were administered to the adults while a focus group discussion was conducted among thirty four children. The findings revealed lack of infrastructure, lack of funds/poverty and long distance walk to school as the three major barriers to acquiring education in these communities; which could also be said to cut across several schools in Rivers State. Over 60% of the population are peasant farmers with meagre earnings and less than 8% are civil servants. About 10% of the children are fully responsible for the funding of their education while the remaining also hawk goods to support their parents' meagre earnings paying for their education. This study recommends full implementation of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) which makes education free and compulsory for all children. Philanthropic aids and governmental or non-governmental interventions would equally be needed to create enabling environments for learning and motivation for the children of these communities.

The current National Malaria Strategy Plan (NMSP) 2014 to 2020, aims to transit Nigeria from malaria control to malaria elimination status by 2020. However, the most recent WHO Malaria Report 2018 revealed that Nigeria accounted for 25% of 219 million of the global malaria cases and 19% of 435,000 malaria deaths in 2017. The strategies of NMSP among others are: To significantly scale up Indoor Residual Spray (IRS); universal coverage of Long Lasting Insecticide Net (LLIN) and emphasis on parasite confirmation before malaria treatment. This study was carried out to determine how these core strategies have impacted pregnant and nursing mothers in the proper use of these malaria control tools. We surveyed 183 nursing and pregnant mothers with a total of 560 children, most under five years, and employed quantitative questionnaire and interviewed the mothers on how their perceptions of the malaria strategies are limiting the effort of malaria elimination in Nigeria. Our findings revealed that LLIN is still low: 1 bed net to 4 persons instead of the recommended 1 to 2 persons by WHO. Over 90% believed that sleeping under LLINs produce heat and nightmares and therefore reluctant to use them. IRS is unpopular and rarely used with just 3% applying IRS for malaria bite prevention. All the women claimed to be familiar with malaria symptoms and by implication, 76% use the antimalarial drugs without parasite confirmation. The Nigerian government needs to support strategies with awareness campaign to educate on the proper use of vector control tools and the risk of drug resistance due to indiscriminate use of antimalarial drugs. It can be concluded that the war against malaria in Nigeria can only be won when the target beneficiaries are made to understand and take ownership of strategies to eliminate the malaria burden.