A cross-sectional assessment of expanding basic healthcare services to rural and underserved communities through proprietary patent medicine vendors in Northern Nigeria.

The poor health indices in Nigeria are widely reported to be fueled by an acute shortage of skilled medical personnel. Opinions are converging that Proprietary and Patent Medicine Vendors (PPMVs) can bridge this human resource for health gaps. This study therefore aimed to assess the acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of providing expanded basic health services among the skilled health workers operating PPMVs in underserved communities in Northern Nigeria states.

Interventions to reduce and prevent childhood obesity in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: 70% of children with obesity and overweight live in low-income and middle-income countries. Several interventions have been done to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity and prevent incident cases. Hence, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the effectiveness of these interventions in reducing and preventing childhood obesity.

The reemergence of the human monkeypox: strengthening Africa's epidemic preparedness and response system.

The reemergence of the monkeypox (MPX) virus poses a serious threat to global health security. While the first human case was reported in Democratic Republic of Congo in 1970, a recent outbreak of this disease in May 2022 has gone 'viral,' spreading to most continents and occurring in nonendemic countries. Outside Africa, there have been reports of cases of MPX in countries such as Singapore in May 2019, Israel in September 2018, UK in September 2018, among others which have been traced back to importation of infected wild rodents from Africa.

Evaluation of accuracy and performance of self-reported HIV and antiretroviral therapy status in the Nigeria AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (2018).

Background: Data on awareness of HIV status among people living with HIV (PLHIV) are critical to estimating progress toward epidemic control. To ascertain the accuracy of self-reported HIV status and antiretroviral drug (ARV) use in the Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS), we compared self-reported HIV status with HIV rapid diagnostic test (RDT) results and self-reported ARV use with detectable blood ARV levels.

Methods: On the basis of responses and test results, participants were categorized by HIV status and ARV use.

Optimizing community linkage to care and antiretroviral therapy Initiation: Lessons from the Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) and their adaptation in Nigeria ART Surge.

Background: Ineffective linkage to care (LTC) is a known challenge for community HIV testing. To overcome this challenge, a robust linkage to care strategy was adopted by the 2018 Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS). The NAIIS linkage to care strategy was further adapted to improve Nigeria's programmatic efforts to achieve the 1st 90 as part of the Nigeria Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Surge initiative, which also included targeted community testing.