ABSTRACT
Objectives: The caregiver’s knowledge, attitudes and practices on the utilization of Zinc and ORS for diarrhea treatment in Northern Nigeria call for concerns. We conducted a baseline in Northern Nigeria to determine the coverage, adherence, barriers and facilitating factors that affect utilization of Zinc and lo-ORS supplementation from service delivery and recipient perspectives. Methods: Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to collect data from eligible caregivers of under-five children between March-July 2013. Results: We found that awareness on use of zinc and lo-ORS in treating diarrhea is low among caregivers across surveyed states, awareness in Jigawa (44.5%) and Katsina (14.9%) states were higher than in Benue state (2.7%) while it was lower in Yobe (0.3%) and Zamfara states (0%). The percentage of caregivers of under-5 children with diarrhea using recommended dose of Zinc and Lo-ORS at home was also low (2.1% for Jigawa, while katsina, Yobe and Zamfara recorded 0%). In contradiction, the percentage of caregivers who seek any form of treatment for diarrhea ranges from 66.7% in Jigawa to 97.2 in Zamfara. Barriers to utilization of zinc and lo-ORS were similar across the surveyed states. They included non-availability, lack of adequate knowledge of the benefits and efficacy of zinc and lo-ORS and preference for herbal (traditional) medicine. Conclusions: The findings formed the basis for development of SBCC strategies, for each segment of the population with special focus on caregivers of children under-fives to address the gaps in knowledge, attitudes and practices on the utilization of zinc and ORS for diarrhea treatment.