Sickle cell anaemia: awareness among health professionals and medical students at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos.

Background: Sickle cell anaemia (SCA) is a chronic haemolytic disorder caused by homozygous inheritance of abnormal haemoglobin called 'haemoglobin S' (HbS). The disease burden is enormous to the patient, family and community. One potential weapon in its prevention is health information and awareness among the populace.

Upgrading obstetric care at a secondary referral hospital, Ogun State, Nigeria. The Lagos PMM Team.

Preliminary Studies: A 1991 inventory at the State Hospital, Ota, in Ogun State, Nigeria, showed inadequate surgical equipment, drugs, blood and power supply. A time-motion study indicated substantial delays in receiving obstetric care.

Interventions: In 1994, medical officers and midwives were given refresher courses in emergency obstetric skills.

Environmental and behavioural risk factors for prolonged diarrhoea in Nigerian children.

Prolonged diarrhoea is a particular health concern because it contributes significantly to diarrhoea-related deaths. Studies of risk factors for prolonged or persistent diarrhoea are virtually nonexistent in Africa. In the present study conducted in a semi-urban area of Lagos, we used a case-control design to evaluate the roles of household environment, mothers' food hygiene behaviour, and child-care practices as possible risk factors for prolonged diarrhoea in children 6-36 months old.

A quantitative assessment of the Nigerian mothers' ability to prepare salt-sugar solution for the home management of diarrhoea.

This study aimed at assessing qualitatively and quantitatively the ability of Nigerian mothers to prepare salt-sugar solutions (SSS) (according to the Nigerian standard formula) under the usual home environment. Mothers were provided with the ingredients but not with measurement spoons nor containers. 274 mothers randomly selected from a peri-urban community participated in the study.

Ethnographic study on childhood diarrhoeal diseases in a rural Nigerian community.

Mothers in thirty households in a rural Nigerian community were subjected to ethnographic studies on food handling practices as they relate to diarrhoeal diseases in children. The study had a first phase of three open-ended unstructured interviews each lasting about 2 hours and a second phase of direct observations on food handling practices during preparation, administration and storage by mothers. Results indicated that as many as 20 (66.