Background Polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) could cause adverse drug events leading to poor health outcomes. This burden is addressed through deprescribing practice. However, data on deprescribing practices are lacking in Nigeria, where the healthcare systems are fragile. Aim This review aimed to summarise the literature on the burden of polypharmacy and PIMs and identify the need for deprescribing practice in Nigeria. Method A systematic search of the literature was conducted on MEDLINE through PubMed (Public Medline), Google Scholar, and a manual search of included articles to identify information on deprescribing, polypharmacy, and PIMs in Nigeria from the inception of the database to date. Relevant information from the articles was summarised and presented as subsections in the manuscript. Results In this review, we reported the burden of polypharmacy, PIMs, and the need for deprescribing practice in Nigeria. The estimated prevalence of polypharmacy was up to 23.8% among older patients with chronic disorders. Polypharmacy and PIMs have been reported to be a significant cause of medication non-adherence, drug addiction, drug interactions, adverse drug reactions, hospitalisation, morbidity, and mortality. Thus, there is the need to consider deprescription practice in the country. Conclusion This review revealed that polypharmacy and PIMs are common in Nigeria. Therefore, there is a need for deprescribing practice to improve drug safety in the country. This could be achieved through patient education, increasing awareness of deprescribing practice among the healthcare professionals, and ensuring adherence to the core prescribing indicators of the World Health Organization (WHO) and National Standard Treatment Guidelines.

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Background: Immunization and vaccination are essential public health interventions constituting a cost-effective strategy to reduce morbidity and mortality. Despite successes recorded with such interventions, Vaccines preventable diseases (VPD) remain the most common causes of childhood mortality globally. Objectives: This study assessed the knowledge, attitudes and barriers to accessing vaccination in Kano metropolis, Nigeria. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a validated questionnaire across selected households in six local governments of the Kano metropolis, Nigeria. The survey collected relevant data from the participants, including socio-demographic data, knowledge, attitudes and barriers to accessing vaccination. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 23.0. Results: A total of 290 respondents participated in this study. The majority of the respondents were females 181 (62.4 %), married 244 (84.1 %), and had a tertiary education of 187 (64.5 %). Most respondents, 275 (94.8 %), reported knowing about immunization and were given as the national guidelines recommended. More so, 142 (49.0 %) disagreed that immunization does not provide benefits, while 120 (41.4 %) of the respondents reported that despite their agreement with immunization, their spouses do not agree. About 142 (49.0 %) reported religion or culture as barriers. The parents’ socio-demographics were found to be positively associated with the knowledge and practice score toward immunization. Conclusion: There was relatively adequate knowledge and good practice of immunization among the study population. The barriers identified include religion/culture, perceived side effects of the vaccines, financial and busy schedules hindering parents from taking children for immunization.

Background The plant Laggera aurita (Asteraceae) is a commonly utilized medicinal plant growing as a weed in African countries used in the treatment of many diseases. Besides, several phytochemical and pharmacological studies were conducted to check its phytocompounds and therapeutic potentials. However, there is unavailable information on the plant documenting its ethnomedicinal uses and medicinal properties. Therefore, the current article aims to provide updated information on the ethnomedicinal values, phytochemical compounds, and therapeutic potentials of Laggera aurita for further studies to develop noble bioactive molecules. Main text Studies regarding the plant Laggera aurita were sourced from online academic databases such as Google Scholar and PubMed. The search terms used include Laggera aurita, ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemistry, pharmacological activity, and toxicology. The plant has ethnomedicinal applications against epilepsy, cancer, atherosclerosis, thrombosis, malaria, fever, pain, stomatitis, asthma, bronchitis, nasal congestion, infections, rheumatism, dyspepsia, indigestion, constipation, dysentery, and many more. Several phytochemical agents were isolated from various plant parts. Besides, pharmacological studies have shown that the plant has antipyretic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anticonvulsant, anxiolytic, antimicrobial, antimalarial, and antioxidant effects. Conclusions Various pharmacological evaluations conducted on the plant have validated the traditional values of the plant Laggera aurita. However, more research is paramount to validate many of the reported traditional uses. Also, the phytochemical molecules need to be screened for biological properties to develop potential therapeutic agents. The plant is relatively safe on sub-chronic administration and slightly toxic in acute studies. Hence, further toxicological studies on the plant are required to establish its safety. There is a need to also standardize doses to establish safety and efficacy.

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