Publications by authors named "Anyakora Chimezie"

Background: HIV remains a significant public health problem, particularly in Africa, where two-thirds of global cases occur. Nigeria is among the three countries with the highest burden. Despite free access to pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP and PEP) in Nigerian hospitals, stigma, distance, and restrictive clinic hours hinder uptake, especially among vulnerable populations.

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The COVID-19 pandemic unveiled the vulnerability of many African healthcare systems, amplifying inadequacies and constraints in the supply chain for medical products and technologies on the continent. Disruptions in the global supply chain due to the pandemic resulted in the continent's population of over one billion people grappling with shortages in the supply of essential medicines. The shortages and their consequences set back achievement of Sustainable Development Goals and progress towards universal health coverage.

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Background: Oxytocin is recommended as an affordable and effective drug in the prevention of postpartum hemorrhage-one of the leading causes of maternal morbidity and mortality in low- and middle-income countries, however, there are concerns about its proper use and quality. This study builds on earlier work conducted in a South-Western state in Nigeria.

Objective: The study assessed the knowledge around oxytocin, usage, storage practices and perceived quality of oxytocin used by healthcare providers that directly administer oxytocin for the prevention of postpartum hemorrhage across Nigeria.

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Emerging organic contaminants (e.g., active pharmaceutical ingredients and personal care products ingredients) are ubiquitous in the environment and potentially harmful to ecosystems, have gained increasing public attention worldwide.

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Background: Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is a leading cause of maternal mortality in Nigeria and in most low- and middle-income countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) strongly recommends oxytocin as effective, affordable, and the safest drug of first choice in the prevention and treatment of PPH in the third stage of labor. However, there are concerns about its quality.

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Human pharmaceutical residues are a serious environmental concern. They have been reported to have eco, geno, and human toxic effects, and thus their importance as micropollutants cannot be ignored. These have been studied extensively in Europe and North America.

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Background: The high level of maternal mortality and morbidity as a result of complications due to childbirth is unacceptable. The impact of quality medicines in the management of these complications cannot be overemphasized. Most of those medicines are sensitive to environmental conditions and must be handled properly.

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Background: Pharmaceutical companies in Africa need to invest in both facilities and quality management systems to achieve good manufacturing practice (GMP) compliance. Compliance to international GMP standards is important to the attainment of World Health Organization (WHO) prequalification. However, most of the local pharmaceutical manufacturing companies may be deterred from investing in quality because of many reasons, ranging from financial constraints to technical capacity.

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Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) comprise the largest class of cancer-causing chemicals and are ranked ninth among chemical compounds threatening to humans. Although interest in PAH has been mainly due to their carcinogenic property, many of these compounds are genotoxic, mutagenic, teratogenic, and carcinogenic. They tend to bioaccumulate in the soft tissues of living organisms.

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It is always desirable to achieve maximum sample clean-up, extraction, and pre-concentration with the minimum possible organic solvent. The miniaturization of sample preparation devices was successfully demonstrated by packing 10 mg of 11 electrospun polymer nanofibers into pipette tip micro column and mini disc cartridges for efficient pre-concentration of 1-hydroxypyrene in urine samples. 1-hydroxypyrene is an extensively studied biomarker of the largest class of chemical carcinogens.

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Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a major component of fuel generator fumes. Carcinogenicity of these compounds has long been established. In this study, 37 Swiss albino rats were exposed to generator fumes at varied distances for 8 hours per day for a period of 42 days and the level of 1-hydroxypyrene in their blood was evaluated.

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In order to capture the extent of exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), various biomarkers have been employed. The biomarkers employed for PAHs include PAHs genetoxic end points in lymphocytes, urinary metabolites, PAH-DNA adducts, and PAH-Protein adducts. Of these, excretory 1-hydroxypyene, a metabolite of pyrene, has been used extensively as a biological monitoring indicator of exposure to PAHs.

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Thirteen sediment samples from different locations in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria were analyzed for the presence of 16 polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) via gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The specific target compounds for this study included naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, flourene, phenanthrene, anthracene, flouranthene, pyrene, benz[a]anthracene, chrysene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k]flouranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, benzo[ghi]perylene, dibenz[a,h]anthracene, and indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene. Four isotopically labeled polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (acanaphthene-d10, phenanthrene-d10, chrysene-d12 and perylene-d12) were used for internal standardization.

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Analysis for the presence of 16 priority polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was carried out in fish, sediment and water samples of a fishing settlement in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria which is supposed to be extensively polluted by seepages from oil discharge terminals. The determination and quantification of PAHs in water, fish and sediment samples were done by GC-MS with the aid of isotopically labeled internal standards. The 16 priority PAHs, namely naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, flourene, phenanthrene, anthracene, flouranthene, pyrene, benz[a]anthracene, chrysene, benzo[b]flouranthene, benzo[k]flouranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, benzo[ghi]perylene, dibenz[a,h]anthracene and indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene, were found to be present in significant amount in all three samples.

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