Strengthening care for emergencies: what is the level of awareness and utilization of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in FCT, Nigeria?

BACKGROUND: As part of the Federal Government of Nigeria's desire to increase medical coverage among the citizenry, the National Emergency Medical Service and Ambulance Scheme (NEMSAS) was set up and piloted in the FCT in 2022. To gauge the progress so far, this study sought to assess the level and determinants of public awareness and utilization of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) among residents of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in June 2023 among 1177 respondents residing in FCT Abuja at the time of the survey. Data was collected by trained research assistants using an interviewer-administered questionnaire and purposive sampling was adopted. The level of awareness and the socio-demographic determinants of the level of awareness in the FCT were assessed. Logistic regression was used to find predictors of EMS awareness and utilization. RESULTS: 57.8% of respondents are aware of EMS, while 42.2% are not. 62.7% are uncertain about the source of information for EMS with only a minority relying on word of mouth (17.7%), traditional media (11.1%), or social media (8.5%). 91.4% have not accessed or utilized EMS via the toll-free emergency line, while only 8.6% reported doing so. There are median EMS awareness and utilization differences across gender, age, location, and employment status of the respondents. Additionally, the multivariate logistic regression showed that age, location, and employment status are significant predictors of EMS awareness and utilization. Males have lower odds of awareness and utilization of EMS compared to females. Furthermore, there was a significant relationship between EMS access and utilization (Chi-square = 80.748, p < 0.001). However, awareness did not necessarily translate to utilization. CONCLUSION: The relationship between EMS awareness and utilization and the unmasked predictors in this paper should be factored into the design of interventions to increase access and utilization of EMS in Nigeria.

Addressing barriers to accessing family planning services using mobile technology intervention among internally displaced persons in Abuja, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Inadequate access to sexual and reproductive health services is prevalent among women of reproductive age in internally displaced people's camps. To address this, we implemented a mobile technology intervention, known as the Linking Underserved Populations to Sexual and Reproductive Health Services, in the Wassa Internally Displaced People's camp, Abuja, Nigeria. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the impact of the Linking Underserved Populations to Sexual and Reproductive Health Services Intervention in improving sexual and reproductive health services among women of reproductive age in Wassa Internally Displaced People's camp. STUDY DESIGN: A baseline survey was conducted among 105 women of reproductive age in the Wassa camp, followed by the deployment of the Linking Underserved Populations to Sexual and Reproductive Health Services intervention, which delivered family planning messages to camp residents between September 2020 and June 2021. This was followed by an endline survey. The FP utilization data in the camp health post were mined during the period of the intervention and were analyzed using Stata version 15 with a chi-square test performed at a significance level of 5%. RESULTS: Awareness of family planning among women of reproductive age in Wassa camp increased from 54.2% at baseline to 98% at endline. The major reason for refusal of family planning at baseline, which was a lack of spousal consent reduced from 29.5% to 7% at endline. Contraceptive prevalence rate increased from 18.1% at baseline to 26.2% at endline. In addition, 133 new family planning users were recorded at the endline. The uptake of family planning services recorded a strong association with family planning consultations (P<.05; χ2=6.41) and receipt of bulk short message service (P<.05; χ2=4.90). CONCLUSION: Mobile technology interventions are a recommended strategy that can increase family planning awareness and address barriers to family planning uptake.

COVID-19 pandemic and the widening oral health inequality in Nigeria.

The inequality in access to oral health care in Nigeria is driven by the low numbers of trained health care workers, disproportionate distribution of oral health facilities, low level of oral health awareness, and the challenge associated with out-of-pocket expenditures. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted oral health care delivery, access to oral health care services, thereby further entrenched inequality by increasing the out-of-pocket expenditure for health due to COVID-19 associated increased cost of medical services; high risk of worsening oral health care needs by patients who have routine and special oral health care needs; increased risk for oral health care needs by persons worse affected by COVID-19; and the high risk for general health problems by those whose access to routine and special health care needs were disrupted by the pandemic. The pandemic has however, also created opportunities to reduce the inequalities in the oral health care sector through adoption of teledentistry; integrated oral and general health care; improving oral health insurance coverage for the informal sector; and increasing public financing for health.