Perception and willingness to accept COVID-19 Vaccines: A cross-sectional survey of the general population of Sokoto State, Nigeria.

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally is well over 400 million, however, the number of cases is showing a downward trend especially in developed countries largely as a result of effective vaccination against COVID-19. In developing countries, vaccination coverage is still very low as a result of vaccine hesitancy, which could be attributed to misconceptions about COVID-19 itself and its newly developed vaccines. This study assessed COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and perception amongst the adult population in Sokoto state, Nigeria. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Sokoto state among 854 respondents selected via a multi-stage sampling technique. Data was collected electronically using a set of structured questionnaire and analysis was done using IBM SPSS version 25. Respondents' perception was assessed using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). Respondents having a score of 3 and below were graded as having poor perception and those having scores above 3 were graded as having good perception. Respondents' ages ranged from 17 to 76 years, with a mean of 34.8±12.07; more than half [474(53.7%)] of the respondents were males, 667(75.5%) were married and 539(61.0%) had formal education. The majority [839(95.0%)] of the respondents had a good perception of COVID -19 vaccine; 49.9% agreed enough research would be required on the safety of the vaccine. The majority, (72.4%) expressed their willingness to accept the COVID- 19 vaccine (male 38.4% vs. female 34.0%); 410(47.4%) said they can spend more than one hour to get the vaccine. Significant predictors of willingness to accept COVID 19 vaccine include age (p = 0.006; aOR = 0.223; 95% CI = 0.077-0.645), education (p<0.001; aOR = 1.720; 95% CI = 1.274-2.321) and perception of COVID 19 vaccine (p<0.001; aOR = 0.020; 95% CI = 0.009-0.044). The majority of the respondents had a good perception of COVID- 19 vaccine and more than two-thirds were willing to be vaccinated with the vaccine. Government should make the vaccine available for vaccination since a significant proportion of the respondents expressed their willingness to accept the vaccine.

Intimate Partner Violence in Pregnancy: Knowledge and Experiences of Pregnant Women and Controlling Behavior of Male Partners in Sokoto, Northwest Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Violence against women perpetrated by an intimate partner is an important public health issue. In recent years, attention has focused also on intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy due to its prevalence, adverse health consequences, and intervention potentials. AIM: To determine the knowledge, experiences, and factors influencing IPV, including the controlling behaviors of male partners of pregnant women attending an antenatal clinic (ANC) of a tertiary health facility in Sokoto. Materials and method. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 260 pregnant women attending ANC in a tertiary health facility in the Sokoto metropolis. They were selected using a systematic sampling technique, and a set of pretested questionnaire items was used for data collection. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS version 20. RESULTS: The respondents' ages ranged from 19 to 40 years with a mean of 29.09 ± 4.99 years, and up to 83.5% of them were in a monogamous setting. Three-quarters of them were Muslims mostly from urban areas (72.1%), and 36.4% had a university or HND degree. Majority of them responded correctly to questions on IPV; overall, up to 99.2% of them had good knowledge of IPV. About 33% of the respondents have experienced IPV while pregnant and up to 61.7% of them said they did nothing because of fear. Some of the controlling behaviors of male partners included always asking for permission before seeing friends and family members and also controlling their finances. Factors associated with IPV include tribe, place of residence, and partner consuming alcohol. CONCLUSION: Majority of the respondents had good knowledge of IPV with about one-third of them ever experiencing it. Respondent's partners were mostly jealous and exhibited some form of controlling behaviors. Physical violence was the most prevalent form, and most of the victims did nothing about it. Government and women's right groups should push for the implementation of tougher punitive measures against perpetrators of IPV.

Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Experience of Sexual Violence among Female Employees in Sokoto Metropolis, Northwest Nigeria.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the knowledge, attitude and experiences of sexual violence among female employees in Sokoto metropolis. Multistage sampling technique was used to select 191 participants and a set of pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to obtain data from the participants. Data was analysed using IBM SPSS version 20. The mean age of the respondents was 28.9years ±6 with 102(53%) of them aged between 20-30 years. Up to 112(63.6%) of them were unmarried, 127(73%) were Muslims and 96(54.5%) in the upper socio-economic class (SEC). About 50% of respondents in both formal and informal settings had good knowledge of sexual violence and up to 36% and 64% of respondents in the formal and informal settings respectively have positive attitude towards sexual violence (SV). Overall prevalence of SV in the workplace was 63.8% (N=113) and significant predictors of SV in the work place include tribe (p=0.006), work setting (p=0.02) and society's perception of SV (P <0.001). Respondents in this study showed high levels of awareness and knowledge regarding SV in the workplace. The study revealed a high prevalence of SV in the workplace especially among females in formal settings with several factors including, perception of the society on sexual violence and working in the formal sector were found to have influenced respondents' experience of SV in the workplace. There is the need, therefore for the government and relevant stake holders to put in place measures to curb SV in the workplace and protect victims of such practices with relevant legislations.

Prevalence of non-communicable diseases and its awareness among inhabitants of Sokoto metropolis: outcome of a screening program for hypertension, obesity, diabetes mellitus and overt proteinuria.

INTRODUCTION: Developing countries confront double jeopardy of prevalent infectious disease and increasing Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) with imminent projected epidemic proportions. Nigeria has witnessed tremendous socio-economic changes and rural to urban migration culminating in emergence of NCD. The impact of these diseases on the lives of people is enormous when measured in terms of outcomes. We initiated a screening program among inhabitants of Sokoto metropolis in an attempt to unravel the prevalence and pattern of NCD. METHODS: This is a descriptive cross sectional study involving 535 participants who were randomlyselected during World Kidney Day Screening in Sokoto. Health promotion talk was organized for the participants before commencing the screening. We took anthropometric measurements and calculated body mass index (BMI) and waist/hip ratio for all individuals. We also checked blood pressure and blood glucose levels and performed urinalysis for all participants. RESULTS: There were 535 participants including 332 males and 203 females with a mean age of 37 ± 17 years. Overweight, obesity and morbid obesity were found in 12.3%, 6.7% and 0.9% of participants respectively. About 11% had waist/hip ratio greater than 1. The prevalence of pre-hypertension and hypertension was 8.5% and 30.2% respectively. Elevated random blood glucose levels were found in 6% of participants while 17.9% had at least 1+ of proteinuria in urinalysis. CONCLUSION: Non-communicable diseases are common in our environment and the level of awareness is low. Regular health education and screening programs are necessary in order to reduce the menace.