Assessment of the knowledge, attitude and practice of voluntary non-remunerated blood donation among residents of Ekpoma, a peri-urban community in Edo State.

Background: The importance of use of blood and blood products in medical practice cannot be over emphasized. Voluntary non remunerated blood donation forms the basis for ensuring regular availability of safe blood during blood donation and transfusion. However, volunteer blood donors account for less than one-half of blood supply in developing countries. Methodology: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of voluntary blood donation by residents of a peri-urban community. A descriptive cross sectional study was carried out using a pre-tested semi-structured self-administered questionnaire among 422 respondents using the multistage sampling technique. The target population were residents of Ekpoma comprising the general public ­ workers, students of senior secondary schools and tertiary institutions. Variables were entered and analyzed using SPSS software package. The association between participants level of education and other socio-demographic factors was tested using chi square were appropriate. Results: The study involved 422 participants, majority of which were males (58.1%). A large proportion of them were between ages 16 and 26. The overall knowledge on blood donation was good, attitude towards voluntary donation was fair conversely practice was poor as 91.5% of respondents had never donated blood. A significant association was observed between sex and blood donation as only 2% of females have been donors. The commonest reason for not donating blood was fear to damage of health as reported in 40.7% of the participants. Conclusion: This study elicits the importance of adopting effective measures in our communities to motivate voluntary blood donation as majority of the participant express willingness in donating blood in the future. Health awareness campaign and motivational programmes should be organized regularly to arouse the interest of the general public in voluntary blood donation exercises.

Awareness, ownership and utilization of insecticide treated nets in Abavo community of Delta State.

BACKGROUND: Despite free distribution of insecticide treated nets in Nigeria, the use it as a means of malaria prevention and control has not been fuIly embraced. AIM: The aim of this survey was to determine the level of awareness, ownership and utilization of insecticide treated nets among residents of Abavo community, Delta State Nigeria METHOD: It is a descriptive cross-sectional survey conducted among 250 heads of households. RESULT: One hundred and seventy five (70%) respondents were aware of insecticide treated net as a means of prevention against malaria, 111 (44%) claimed to own insecticide treated nets. On further inspection of houses of those who claimed to own ITNs, seventy four (66%) actually had theirs hanged, the rest were either in their packs or not seen. Ninety five (38%) respondents out of the total sleep under insecticide treated net. About 92 (70%) households having under-five and 39 (81.3%) of households having pregnant women claim to use ITNs. It was observed that the level of education (chi2 = 48.35, p = 0.001), presence of under 5 children in a household ?2 = 7.229, p = 0.027) influenced ownership of Insecticide treated nets. In conclusion despite a high level of awareness about ITN found in this survey, ownership and utilization of insecticide treated nets were low.