RESUMO
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Immunisation coverage remains sub-optimal, especially in rural hard-to-reach communities in Nigeria. Nigeria's immunisation program suffered set-backs in recent years due to socio-cultural, religious and health system barriers. Grassroots Civil Society Organisations could play a role in addressing some of these barriers with resultant increase in demand for and uptake of immunisation services. The objective of this study was to carry out strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis of grassroots civil society organisations regarding engagement for increasing demand for and uptake of immunisation services. SUBJECTS, MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a qualitative study. A pre-tested SWOT analysis template was used to collect data from 26 grassroots CSOs in Odukpani local government area (LGA) of Cross River State of Nigeria. The data were manually entered into a matrix made up of four quadrants. The results were presented as tables of frequencies and percentages. RESULTS: The CSOs have the numerical strength to carry out immunisation advocacy, communication and social mobilization. There is pool of non-CSO community members who are willing to volunteer. However, some of the CSOs are not good in record keeping. There are also several security threats due to communal clashes. CONCLUSION: There are several strengths and opportunities that the CSOs can leverage on while dealing with identified weaknesses and threats in order to contribute towards increasing the demand for and uptake of immunisation services in this community.
Assuntos
Imunização , População Rural , Humanos , Nigéria , Pesquisa Qualitativa , VacinaçãoRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Nigeria is the most populous nation in Africa and the seventh most populous in the world. Despite a high fertility rate of 5.5 per woman and a high population growth rate of 3.2%, Nigeria's contraceptive prevalence is 15%, which is one of the lowest in the world. The objective of this study was to determine the knowledge of family planning and family planning preferences and practices of rural community women in Cross River State of Nigeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study involving 291 rural women. Convenience sampling method was used. The women were assembled in a hall and a semi-structured questionnaire was administered to every consenting woman until the sample size was attained. Data obtained from the study were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20 and presented in tables as frequencies and percentages as well as figures. Association between categorical variables was explored using chi-square test. Binary logistic regression was also performed to determine predictors of use of at least one family planning method at some point in time. RESULTS: Fifty (17.2%) respondents were using at least one family planning method. One hundred and ninety-eight (68.3%) respondents had used at least one family planning method at some point in time. Reasons given for not using any family planning method included "Family planning is against my religious beliefs" (56%); "it is against our culture" (43.8%); "I need more children" (64.9%); "my partner would not agree" (35.3%); "family planning does not work" (42.9%); "it reduces sexual enjoyment" (76%); and "it promotes unfaithfulness/infidelity" (59%). Binary logistic regression conducted to predict the use of at least one family planning method at some point in time using some independent variables showed that who makes the decision regarding family planning use was the strongest predictor of family planning use (OR = 0.567; 95% CI = 0.391-0.821). This suggests that family planning uptake is more likely when couples make a joint decision. CONCLUSION: The proportion of respondents who were currently using at least one family planning method was low. The findings of this study suggest that family planning uptake would increase if couples make joint decisions in this regard.
