ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: HIV/AIDS has contributed to increasing orphans and vulnerable children in Nigeria. A measure of vulnerability is household hunger. OBJECTIVE: To assess level of household hunger and associated factors among OVC households in Lagos State. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 1300 OVC households in 5 selected Local Government Areas. The LGAs were selected using the Household Vulnerability Assessment index. Data collection was by personal interview of households' heads/caregivers using a structured questionnaire capturing socio-demographic, household economic profile and food-related variables. A multivariate logit model was fitted to identify independent predictors of household hunger after adjusting for confounding variables. RESULTS: The population density was 5.1 and 52.8% were females. A larger proportion of females (84.6%) than males (78.3%) reported that they had no food to eat in the last four weeks prior the survey. Poor household economic status (OR=1.41, CI: 1.03-1.92), age and marital status of caregiver were independent predictors of household hunger. The odds of hunger increased with caregiver's age; higher in households headed by never married (OR=3.99, CI: 1.15-13.89) and divorced/separated caregivers (OR=2.39, CI: 1.11-5.12). CONCLUSION: OVC households experienced severe hunger. Household economic strengthening would be useful strategy to mitigate the nutrition challenges of OVC in Lagos state.
Subject(s)
Child, Orphaned/statistics & numerical data , Food Supply/statistics & numerical data , Hunger , Social Class , Vulnerable Populations/statistics & numerical data , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Caregivers , Child , Cross-Sectional Studies , Family Characteristics , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Socioeconomic Factors , Surveys and Questionnaires , Young AdultABSTRACT
Our aim was to assess whether a combination of seasonal climate forecasts, monitoring of meteorological conditions, and early detection of cases could have helped to prevent the 2002 malaria emergency in the highlands of western Kenya. Seasonal climate forecasts did not anticipate the heavy rainfall. Rainfall data gave timely and reliable early warnings; but monthly surveillance of malaria out-patients gave no effective alarm, though it did help to confirm that normal rainfall conditions in Kisii Central and Gucha led to typical resurgent outbreaks whereas exceptional rainfall in Nandi and Kericho led to true malaria epidemics. Management of malaria in the highlands, including improved planning for the annual resurgent outbreak, augmented by simple central nationwide early warning, represents a feasible strategy for increasing epidemic preparedness in Kenya.
