Clara Ejembi

Ahmadu Bello University | ABU · Department of Community Medicine

Background: Despite the acknowledged health and socioeconomic benefits of use of modern contraceptives, their use in Nigeria remains persistently low, with wide variations in pattern of use. Given Nigeria’s commitment to doubling her contraceptive prevalence within four years, it is imperative to investigate the mediating role of contextual factors...

WHO recommends hospital-based treatment for young infants aged 0-59 days with clinical signs of possible serious bacterial infection, but most families in resource-poor settings cannot accept referral. We aimed to assess whether use of simplified antibiotic regimens to treat young infants with clinical signs of severe infection was as efficacious a...

WHO recommends referral to hospital for possible serious bacterial infection in young infants aged 0-59 days. We aimed to assess whether oral amoxicillin treatment for fast breathing, in the absence of other signs, is as efficacious as the combination of injectable procaine benzylpenicillin-gentamicin. In a randomised, open-label, equivalence trial...

Background: At least four out of ten women will develop unpredictable complications during pregnancy, childbirth and time after delivery which if not treated, contributes to the high observed maternal mortality worldwide. Access to Emergency Obstetric Care (EmOC) has been identified as one of the key strategies for maternal mortality reduction. Thi...

Introduction: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are major causes of morbidity and mortality particularly for developing countries. Large proportion of all NCDs deaths are occurring in low- and -middle-income countries are estimated to occur in people under 70-years-old. These low- and middle-income are undergoing epidemiological transition which al...

In Nigeria, most deaths due to postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) occur in the absence of skilled birth attendants. A study using community mobilization and the training of community drug keepers to increase access to misoprostol for PPH prevention was conducted in five communities around Zaria in Kaduna State, Nigeria. Community-oriented resource persons...

New global guidance has emerged to support countries as they consider introducing or scaling-up misoprostol for postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) recognize the critical role that community and lay health workers play in preventing PPH and increasing...

This paper describes the interdisciplinary and international collaborative reform process followed to develop a competeency-based Masters in Public Health (MPH) programme for Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in Nigeria with the support of University of Aberdeen, Scotland. The process involved a departmental retreat, two workshops held in Nigeria, an i...

Childhood illness plays an important role in the adverse health status of children under five years of age in northern Nigeria. Since around 1989, concerted efforts have been made to reduce the problem of infant morbidity and mortality in Nigeria, mainly through routine immunization and supplemental campaigns (door to door), and in spite of a 99% r...

a b s t r a c t The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the importance of community mobilization in the uptake of a health intervention, namely, community-based distribution of misoprostol to prevent postpartum hemorrhage. Community mobilization to increase access to misoprostol for postpartum hemorrhage prevention was implemented in northweste...

The use of molecular diagnostic tools in epidemiological investigations of Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and Enterocytozoon has provided new insights into their diversity and transmission pathways. In this study, 157 stool specimens from 2-month to 70-year-old patients were collected, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymo...

Maternal mortality ratios often reflect on the quality and availability of emergency obstetric care (EmOC) services. Ten health facilities in Kaduna State were assessed to determine their capacity to provide EmOC. Each community had the recommended number of both primary and secondary health facilities per population. All secondary health facilitie...

The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) is a good indicator of national development but its calculation is challenging. Estimation can be expensive, labour-intensive and time consuming. Incomplete vital registration of maternal deaths further compounds the difficulty. This scenario necessitates the exploration of other means of estimating maternal morta...

This study measured contraceptive knowledge, contraceptive use and fertility intentions among 1408 women of reproductive age in three communities in Kaduna state, Nigeria. Contraceptive knowledge was relatively high, with 64.6% of women having heard of at least one method. Radio and health facilities were the primary sources of information. The pil...

Nigeria has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world, and most deaths occur in the northern part of the country. Concerns about the persistence of the problem prompted some Nigerian academics to partner with their American colleagues to establish a postgraduate fellowship programme that builds the capacity of Nigerian scholars acro...

The UN Millennium Project aims to reduce poverty, hunger, and disease while promoting education, health, gender equity, and environmental sustainability. Fertility is not mentioned anywhere within the eight goals, but population growth rates profoundly impact the achievability of all goals by increasing the budgets required to meet the population's...

The health care sector depends to a large extent on human labor. Poor worker motivation can greatly affect health outcomes and patient safety. There is little information on the health workers' perceptions of working conditions in resource-poor settings. Three state-owned facilities in each state were selected by simple random sampling technique. T...

In an effort to increase tuberculosis (TB) case detection, the Kaduna State TB program in Nigeria started Public-Private Mix (PPM DOTS) in 2002. This study assessed and compared the TB case management practices and treatment outcomes of the public and private health facilities involved in the TB program. A comparative cross-sectional descriptive st...

Malaria accounts for 1 million deaths among children under five annually. It has been shown that improving home treatment and preventing delays in seeking treatment, by teaching women to respond promptly when their children have fever, can decrease malaria related complications and mortality. This study looks at the impact of health education on kn...

To determine the level of maternal care in Northern Nigeria. A cross-sectional descriptive study design was used. The Study was Community based and carried out in the ten states that constitute UNICEF D zone in northeast Nigeria. Women who delivered in the 11 months preceding the survey and resident in the study area. The WHO cluster sampling metho...

The study was undertaken to determine the prevalence and significance of Cryptosporidium infection in humans based on their regular contact with domestic animals. A total of six hundred fecal samples from respondents were examined for Cryptosporidium oocyst using the cold Ziehl-Neelson staining method. Questionnaires were also administered to the r...

Background: Household expenditure on health is increasingly becoming a major source of health care financing in Nigeria. Recognizing the limitations of this pattern of financing health care, the government has introduced a social health insurance scheme policy that has provided for government meeting the health care costs of children. However, ther...

Context: The continued poor reproductive health behaviour and outcomes among youths informed the investigation of the knowledge, attitudes, sexual behaviour, outcomes and care-seeking among university students in Zaria, north western Nigeria. Methods: Using a cross-sectional descriptive study design, self-administered structured questionnaires wer...

Background: Referral is a crucial component of primary care and when appropriately carried out is believed to result in favourable outcome of illnesses. This study sought to determine the reasons and outcomes of Paediatric (under-five) referrals from first-level health facilities, and the factors influencing the outcomes. Methods: A cross-sectional...

The strategy of integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI) aims at improving the skills of first level health workers and consequently, improving the survival chances of children. The guidelines have been shown to be cost-effective. We aimed to determine the potential impact of using IMCI guidelines on drug treatment cost. The cost of drugs...

The 1996 cerebrospinal meningitis epidemic in Nigeria exemplified a medical situation that was linked with political concerns at the local, national, and international levels. It is argued that these political aspects must be understood, as they have implications for the treatment of future outbreaks. This article examines local attempts to stem th...