Treatment outcomes among human immunodeficiency virus and tuberculosis co-infected pregnant women in resource poor settings of South-Western Nigeria

The complex interactions between Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Tuberculosis (TB) infections may be magnified, in the presence of another potentially stressful condition like pregnancy. Though co-infection among pregnant women is rare, treatment outcomes may depend on accessibility to comprehensive treatment modalities. The objective of this study is to determine treatment outcomes among pregnant HIV and TB co-infected pregnant women in Lagos, South-western Nigeria. This retrospective, analytical study was carried out among ninety four (94) eligible pregnant women co-infected with HIV and TB at selected health-care facilities in Lagos state between January, 2008 and December, 2009. A standard checklist for data collection was used and analysis was carried out using the EPI info software. Mean age of respondents was 30.8 (±3.9) years. Sixteen (17.1%) TB cases were clinically diagnosed for tuberculosis. Among tuberculosis cases identified through sputum microscopy, 60(63.8%) were acid fast bacilli (AFB) positive and 21(22.3%) were identified in the first trimester. The mean percentage adherence to anti-retroviral drugs was 95.9% (±5.3). None of the participant smoked cigarette. Seventy three {73 (77.7%)} had contact with TB infected or suspected person in the last three months. Treatment outcome in mother showed that 74(78.7%) were cured, 8(8.5%) relapsed while 12 (12.8%) had treatment failures. Among the babies, 83(88.3%) were born alive. Women with both poor adherence (<90%) and with positive TB contact, but neither factor alone, were half-fold less likely to be cured compared with women with both good adherence (>95%) and no TB contact (OR=0.59, CI=0.45-0.95 and p=0.014). Cure rate was substantially lower in this study. This calls for extra strategies such as routine TB screening in antenatal clinics, strict adherence to national guidelines in the treatment of HIV/TB co-infections, focused antenatal care and comprehensive Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) care and treatment

Knowledge and Attitude of Civil Servants in Osun State; Southwestern Nigeria Towards the National Health Insurance

Introduction: In Nigeria; inequity and poor accessibility to quality health care has been a persistent problem. This study aimed to determine knowledge and attitude of civil servants in Osun state towards the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). Methodology: This is a descriptive; cross sectional study of 380 civil servants in the employment of Osun state government; using multi stage sampling method. The research instruments was pre-coded; semi structured; self administered questionnaires. Results: About 60were aware of out of pocket as the most prevalent form of health care financing; while 40were aware of NHIS; television and billboards were their main sources of awareness; However; none had good knowledge of the components of NHIS; 26.7knew about its objectives; and 30knew about who ideally should benefit from the scheme. Personal spending still accounts for a high as 74.7of health care spending among respondents but respondents believed that this does not cover all their health needs. Only 0.3have so far benefited from NHIS while 199 (52.5) of respondents agreed to participate in the scheme. A significant association exists between willingness to participate in the NHIS scheme and awareness of methods of options of health care financing and awareness of NHIS (P0.05) Conclusion: Poor knowledge of the objectives and mechanism of operation of the NHIS scheme characterised the civil servants under study. The poor knowledge of the components and fair attitude towards joining the scheme observed in this study could be improved upon; if stakeholders in the scheme could carry out adequate awareness seminars targeted at the civil servants