Background: Consumption of alcohol by secondary school students is a major public health concern globally, but its prevalence is not known in secondary schools in Port Harcourt. Objective: To determine the prevalence and factors associated with alcohol use among secondary school students in Port Harcourt. Methods: This was a cross sectional school based study conducted in Port Harcourt in March 2014. A 20 itemed structured, self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 1080 senior secondary 1 to 3 students from 10 public secondary schools selected through Multistage Sampling technique. Questions asked covered drinking of alcohol, frequency of drinking and being drunk in the past 30 days before the survey. Other behaviours sought were smoking of cigarette, use of cocaine and going out in the evening for fun. Sociodemographic was also sought. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: 1080 students participated in the study, mean age 16.09±6SD and male to female ratio of 0.9: 1. Prevalence of current drinking of alcohol was 30.6% and 38.1% of current drinkers were also drunk in the past 30 days, with 17.2 % being very frequently drunk. The behaviour which showed a strong association with drinking of alcohol, being drunk and the frequency of being drunk was going out in the evening for fun and recreation. Gender showed a positive association with drinking of alcohol, as more males drank alcohol with in the past 30 days compared to the females (p=0.000). Smoking of cigarette in the past 30 days and truancy were positively associated with being drunk, while academic grades showed an inverse relationship with consumption of alcohol. Majority of those who drank alcohol (42.6%) were experimenting with alcohol, though 5.4% drank due to addiction. Majority (39.3%) bought their drinks from stores and supermarkets. The most Common problems experienced by the drinkers were fatigue, alcohol made them behave in ways they later regretted and it hurt their relationships. Conclusion: Alcoholism is a serious problem with secondary school students in Port Harcourt. It is linked with truancy, poor academic achievement and other substances use. The most serious health and social problem experienced by the drinkers is addiction.

Abstract:Background: Early recognition of neonatal illnesses followed by care-seeking and intervention are key factors in improving neonatal health and survival. Objectives: To assess mothers' ability to recognize newborn danger signs and actions taken by mothers in the event of neonatal illness. Methods:The study was carried out in three health centres in Yenagoa Metropolis from April to May 2011. A 15 itemed Questionnaire based on the WHO/UNICEF IMCI programme handbook was administered to 146 mothers with infants younger than three months. The mothers were asked to identify danger signs of neonatal illness from a list of symptoms, to indicate which of the listed symptoms their babies experienced, to state what actions were taken in response to the symptoms and reasons for not utilizing orthodox healthcare. Results: None of the listed symptoms was recognized by up to half the mothers as danger signs of neonatal illness, the best being fast breathing by 66 (45.2%) mothers. Eighty two (56.2%) mothers reported that their children experienced some of the neonatal danger signs: the commonest were difficult breathing and convulsions in 8 (9.8%) cases each. Unconsciousness and excessive crying were thought to be caused by evil spirits and consultations sought with faith healers. The major constraint to utilization of health facilities was cost {45(29.8%)}. Conclusion: Mothers' recognition of danger signs in the newborn was poor. Self-medication and the use of home remedies delayed timely consultation. The commonest reason for non-utilization of health facilities was lack of money.

No abstract

Background: Effective school health instruction in primary schools is essential in addressing the health risks and needs of school age children and adolescents. This study sought to evaluate the status of school health instruction in public primary schools in Bonny Local Government Area. Method: This is a cross sectional school based study carried out in 20 public primary schools in Bonny Local Government Area, Rivers State, in March 2006. The availability of the various components of the school health instruction programme was evaluated using an evaluation scale. Components had weighted scores. The minimum acceptable and maximum attainable scores for school health instruction were 31 and 47. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 11. Results: There were a total of 100 teachers in all the schools. The teacher population per school ranged from 2 to 13 with a mean of 5±2.77SD. The pupil population of the schools ranged between 100-1460 with a mean of 352±336SD. Teacher/pupil ratio per school ranged from 1: 30 to 1: 128. Fourteen (70%) schools had teacher/pupil ratio less than 1:40. There was no professional health instructor in all the schools. Four schools (20%) allotted 3 periods per week to health teaching, while the rest (80%) allotted less than 3 periods per week. HIV/AIDS was not in the health education curriculum being used. The only teaching method used by all the schools was the direct teaching method. No school used teaching aids; no school went on field trips. Teachers did not receive in-service training on health education. No school attained the minimum acceptable score of 31 points using the evaluation scale. Conclusion: School health instruction was poorly implemented in the primary schools investigated. Teachers were not adequately prepared for health teaching and the classrooms were overcrowded.

No abstract