Socio-demographic determinants of health support services among orphans and vulnerable children in Nigeria

Abstract

Worldwide, the population of orphans and vulnerable children is estimated to be around 160 million with sub-Sahara Africa accounting for 80% of these children owing largely to the effect of HIV/AIDS, civil wars, road accidents, sectarian violence, terrorism, and other factors. Efforts have been made over the years by governments and development partners to mitigate the effects of orphanhood, but these efforts have failed to achieve the required objectives because various socio-demographic factors influence receipt of support services provided to OVC. This study therefore, examined the sociodemographic determinants of child health support services provided to OVC in Nigeria by employing a cross sectional research design utilizing secondary data obtained from the household recoded dataset of the 2013 Nigeria Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) and analyzed at univariate, bivariate, and multivariate levels (n=5114). The findings showed that region and age of child influenced receipt of health support at the bivariate level (p<0.05). Furthermore, at the multivariate level, only region of residence was significantly associated with the receipt of health support as residence in the North East, North West, and South South regions significantly influenced receipt of health support services by OVC in these regions (p<0.05). The study concluded that socio-demographic factors influenced health support services provided to OVC and recommends that interventions should ensure an equity-focused approach based on vulnerability status of children in providing support services. Also, innovative and integrated approaches should be employed in identification, service provision, tracking and monitoring of services provided to OVC in Nigeria.

Child Adoption, Posttraumatic-Stress Disorder and the Role of a Paediatrician in the Adoption Process

“…In this context, some Christians may perceive adopting a child as a sign of lack of faith in God's ability to bless them with their own child. Islamic law recognizes guardianship and foster parenting 2 . In this regard, the concept of 'Kafala' (a term derived from a word that means "to feed") requires that a child who cannot be cared for by the biological or birth parents may be taken by another family to live with them permanently but the child is not entitled to adopt the family name or inherit from the family 22 .…”

“…Over the years, Nigerian government and development partners have made some eff orts to assist orphans and vulnerable children but these eff orts have not yielded the desired results. One of the reasons for the poor impact of these eff orts is the infl uence of sociodemographic factors on access and receipt of support services provided to these orphaned and vulnerable children 2 . Another reason is the continuing presence in our society of the circumstances that either orphaned or made the children vulnerable.…”

Impact of Separation Anxiety on Vulnerability of Children without Parental Care

“…There is a diverse view on the factors responsible for child vulnerability in Nigeria. While some studies acknowledged poverty (Abdullahi, 2020;Aransiola & Zarowsky, 2014;Folami et al, 2019;Victor, 2018), others pointed out harmful cultural and religious practices (such as child marriage, child witchcraft, female genital mutilation, and Almajiri institutions), rural-urban migration, the non-availability of preventive health practices, and child labor. Others include child trafficking, a lack of essential health services for poor families, and illegal adoption (Anyacho & Anyacho, 2016;Aransiola & Zarowskyky, 2014a;Ebharevba et al, 2018;Essia, 2012;Igwe et al, 2019;Isioma, 2019;Muhammad et al, 2019;Muktar et al, 2017;Nwaolikpe, 2018).…”