Magister Public Health - MPH / The aim of the study is to determine the characteristics associated with ART adherence to , in Albert Horsfall Medicacal Center (AHMC), Abuja, Nigeria. The Objectives are to measure the adherence to ART, assess the association of the demographic characteristic of patients on ART with adherence to medications in the facility; and to establish patients' perspectivesto adherence and impediments to compliance to ART in the center. / South Africa

No abstract available. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

The growth of international tourism and the attendant economic benefits to the world nations, has been phenominal since the end of the second world war. It is considered that the industry's upsurge will continue even in the phase of various constraints exemplified in high fuel cost, constant increase in fares and the threatening world-wide recessions. Developed as well as developing countries have gained substantially from the industry. A recent development shows increasing tourist traffic towards developing countries, while developed countries still hold their fort in stable growth of tourist receipts. The strategic beneficial effects of international tourist industry are often quantified in terms of foreign exchange earnings, employments offered, and the Real Estate super-structures; but in general,the industry has innumerable direct and indirect benefits to any nation engaging in the trade. The objective of this thesis is to demonstrate by comparative analysis and proven parameters that the international tourist industry which is given low priority in development in Nigeria, can equally contribute to the nation's economic growth as other industrial sectors which receive high priority and patronage in development. The data for this paper are gathered from primary sources which are i) responses by the Federal and State Governments' tourism-related offices; ii) government publications e.a. the Third National Development Plan of Federal Republic of Nigeria; and iii) Books and collections. The secondary sources include reports,periodicals and hospitality industry publications. To formally establish the international tourist industry in Nigeria, all the governments (Federal, State and Local) and the private sector in the country, should commence the development of the industry with research and feasibility studies, to be followed by proper planning at all levels and based on the result of the research and feasibility studies.

The reduction of disease burden in the context of mother-to-child HIV transmission in Nigeria invokes a multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary approach, which incorporates using research evidence to promote relevant policies. Nurses as health workers play a central role in health sector responses to ameliorate disease burdens such as those affiliated with HIV. Situated within critical social theory and using theoretical perspectives on power, this qualitative study examines the extent of nurses' contributions to research production and policy development in mother-to-child HIV transmission in the Cross River State, Nigeria. The study was guided by four specific objectives: 1) to assess nurses’ knowledge of current global strategies; 2) to describe nurses’ contributions to research and policy development; 3) to identify issues that encourage or impede the involvement of nurses in research and policy development and ;4) to identify promising models to actively engage nurses in research and policy development. A case study approach and participatory action research methodologies facilitated a comprehensive examination of the extent of Nigerian nurses' research and policy involvement and provided collective action for change. Interviews, document reviews, and focus group discussions were methods utilized for data collection and validation of collected data. Four major themes emerged: intimate knowledge of healthcare, marginal involvement in knowledge creation, limited involvement in mother-to-child transmission (MCTC) policy decision making and going with the flow. The study findings revealed that the nurses had good knowledge of local/global HIV trends, MTCT ameliorating strategies, barriers to MTCT uptake, processes of mobilizing local strategies, and an in-depth understanding of the integral role of implementing partners and the nursing workforce in ameliorating the impact of HIV on mother and child. However, this intimate knowledge did not translate into knowledge creation through independent research productivity in this context. The study further revealed that nurses were mostly involved in data collection and validation of collected data, which was not leading to publications. Barriers to knowledge creation included individual or personal constraints, as well as institutional and systemic barriers. Solving this problem requires funding of research studies, building research capacity, mentoring, earmarking research grants for nurses, increasing budgetary allocations to research, creating research awareness, creating a stimulating research environment with computers and internet access, using research as a criterion for promotion, and providing incentives. The study also revealed the insignificant participation of nurses in policy decision making, with involvement limited to implementation of PMTCT policy. Barriers to nurses' involvement in decision-making emanated from individual and health care system constraints, and nurses' contributions to decision making can only be improved by educational upgrading, integrating policy courses into nursing curricula, mentoring, group advocacy, involvement in politics, and organizational restructuring. The study showed that nurses were generally complacent about their involvement in knowledge creation and policy development. They tended to move with the flow of events and were afraid to question the status quo. A tree animation nursing (TAN) model provided a promising model for change with four main components:1) university education, 2) strong nursing leadership, 3) the identification of barriers, 4) and envisioned solutions, all of which are necessary to enable nurses to actively engage in research productivity and policy formulation. University education is recommended as a prerequisite for all nurses, and policies that foster a culture of nursing research productivity and policy development should be promoted.

Maternal mortality is the leading cause of death among women in Nigeria, especially women aged between 15 and 19 years. This research examines the geography of maternal mortality in Nigeria and the role of cultural and religious practices, socio-economic inequalities, urbanization, access to pre and postnatal care in explaining the spatial pattern. State-level data on maternal mortality rates and predictor variables are presented. Access to healthcare, place of residence and religion explains over 74 percent of the spatial pattern of maternal mortality in Nigeria, especially in the predominantly Muslim region of northern Nigeria where poverty, early marriage and childbirth are at its highest, making them a more vulnerable population. Targeting vulnerable populations in policy-making procedures may be an important strategy for reducing maternal mortality, which would also be more successful if other socio-economic issues such as poverty, religious and health care issues are promptly addressed as well.

The health care industry in Nigeria is increasingly grappling with challenges of meeting end users’ requirements and expectations for quality antiretroviral therapy (ART) service provision. This study sought to explore and describe the quality of antiretroviral therapy in public health facilities in Nigeria and the perceptions of the end users. A descriptive qualitative research design was used in the study in order to generate ideas from end users for improving quality of ART service provision, and prompt additional research activities. Unstructured focus group discussions were conducted with end users (n=64) in 6 locations across the 6 geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Data was analysed using the framework approach because it reflects the original accounts and observations of the end users and the Weft QDA version 1.0.1 software to validate the results. Findings revealed that end users were satisfied with uninterrupted antiretroviral drug supplies, courtesy treatment, volunteerism of support group members and quality counselling services. End users expect public health facilities to accept diagnostic results from collaborating facilities, implement continuous quality improvement (CQI), maintain clean and adequate health infrastructure, reduce end user waiting time, reduce stigma, comprehensively assess end users during each clinic visit and ensure uninterrupted ART services. They also expect effective collaboration between healthcare providers and support group members, to enhance the quality of life of people living with HIV (PLHIV). End users identified the following as quality gaps in ART service provision: weak health facility leadership, non-attractive ART service infrastructure, frequently interrupted laboratory services, demotivated and inadequate health care workers, long waiting time, interrupted medicine supplies and inadequate procedure for complaints management. In conclusion, the following recommendations were proffered: deploy and train additional health care workers, integrate ART into regular health services, improve supply chain management of health commodities, and reduce end user overload in clinics. Finally, a best practice guideline for the provision of end user focused ART service provision was developed. / Health Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

A newly competitive environment is developing in Nigeria, the business environment has altered rapidly and unpredictably, and new knowledge and capabilities are consequently needed to survive in such a turbulent environment. This study suggests market-focused strategic flexibility as one survival strategy needed. Though a fair amount of literature exists on strategic flexibility and the performance of a firm the extant literature has been somewhat silent on market-focused strategic flexibility since it was conceptualized by Johnson, Lee, Siani and Grohnmann (2003). The mixed relationship of market orientation and firm performance (for example as found in studies by authors such as Jaworski and Kohli (1993), Zhou et al.2005, and Ellis 2006) causes one to suspect that certain moderating variables may be responsible; market-focused strategic flexibility is suggested as one of them. The effect of environmental variables on market-focused strategic flexibility and sales growth was also studied. In order to investigate these issues, the research instrument, a questionnaire, was distributed to the chief executive officers and marketing managers of five hundred firms in Nigeria. A 58.4% response rate was achieved. The psychometric properties of the instrument showed it to exhibit a good fit with the model. The data was then analyzed and tested using factor analysis, correlational and regressional analysis. The overall results suggest that market-focused strategic flexibility is a driver of organizational positioning in a dynamic environment, and it is also found to moderate the market orientation -sales growth relationship studied and environmental variables influence its relationship with sales growth in most firms. The results also established that while firms operating in a dynamic environment may gain advantage by adopting market-focused strategic flexibility, firms operating in a relatively stable environment may not achieve particularly good results if they do so. If most firms in a particular industry operating in a dynamic environment adopt market-focused strategic flexibility, they are not likely to achieve competitive advantage. The need for skills relating to selection of options, identification of resources, deployment capabilities, and sense-making capacities constitute an impetus to the implementation of effective market-focused strategic flexibility. It is recommended that research into the key characteristics of industries and market-focused strategic flexibility be carried out to further explain the differences in the results obtained for different industries, and that this study be repeated for other countries to facilitate comparative analysis. / Business Management / D.B.L.

Includes bibliographical references. / Some people have argued that there is no reason to expect economic efficiency in a government enterprise because the funds allocated to various ends have to be exhausted to meet targets. In a social and welfarist sense, this argument seems valid if in essence, such earmarked targets, to improve societal welfare, are met. However, in the face of rising hospital costs and insufficient government funds, the issue of effectively allocating government funds to alternative uses becomes paramount. The setting for this research paper is Nigeria. This research work aims at investigating how well financial resources are used in government hospitals in Nigeria. It not only explores the resources employed in hospitals, but also how well these hospitals use minimum resources to achieve maximum outpatient and inpatient output. Hospital cost and expenditure data are collected from 40 government cottage and general hospitals in South East Nigeria (Anambra and Enugu states specifically). The data is collected by means of open-ended questionnaires, which are filled in by relevant administrators in the hospitals visited and also by ministry of health personnel at the state levels. The main research question asked is whether hospitals in this part of the country (and indeed Nigeria as a whole) are allocatively inefficient. A second question as to whether hospitals in Anambra State are more efficient than Enugu State is also posed. The major component of the research involves using the cost and expenditure data to build cost functions for the entire hospitals studied. The main thrust of analysis is the stochastic frontier process, which also incorporates an efficiency effects model. The choice of this model, above all else, is because it provides numerical efficiency estimates and thus provides quantifiable proof of how well poorly Nigerian hospitals fare. It is found in the analysis of the data collected that the hospitals studied are generally inefficient, as 70 percent of them operate at costs above the average permissible cost frontier.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History at the University of Zululand 2016 / The study examines the historical process that laid the solid foundation for the establishment of industries in Kaduna State. The study argues and demonstrates that Kaduna possesses large markets and cheap labour occasioned by the incessant migration to the town at the early period of its establishment. Availability of raw material and its strategic location with regard to industrialization at both federal and state level led not only the establishment of industries but to the proliferation of large, small and medium industries in the state. The study also establishes that infrastructure such as adequate electricity, a good road network, and a reliable water supply have played a critical role in the survival of such industries. It is shown in the research that the industries enjoyed prosperity and development for nearly two- and-a-half decades after 1954. Industrial decline began in 1976 with the nationalization and indigenization of the industrial sector of Nigeria. By the late 1980s a number of industries had collapsed as a result of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) which gave room for second tie foreign exchange market. This resulted to a substantial devaluation of the naira, the abolition of import licences, changes to import duties intended to reduce the protection of domestic industries and the import-dependence of manufacturing, the abolition of export duties, deflationary management policies, deregulation of the banks, and a programme of privatization for some parastatals. Production and use of locally produced basic intermediate inputs by local industries were discouraged. The profitability of local production compared to imports fell significantly because of the substantial depreciation of the exchange rate of the naira against major international currencies. The study also establishes that other factors had contributed immensely on the decline and eventual collapse of industries in Kaduna state, import of foreign goods and materials, lack of proper control of borders, and the negligent attitude of politicians with the helm of the country’s affairs in their hands, production of inferior goods, corruption, and unfavourable and multiple taxation, among other things. The study also establishes that the collapse of industries in Kaduna state has created a wide economic gap which may take a long time to be filled. The effects include widespread unemployment, with hundreds of thousands of workers losing their jobs, particularly in the manufacturing industries such as textiles and food processing; widespread insecurity and interethnic religious crises in virtually all the nooks and crannies of Kaduna state. In fact the current security challenges that the country faces have a direct connection with the proliferation of unemployed youths. Poverty and popular hostility are increasing, which has created a huge problem the state which is finding them very difficult to contain. Finally, the study offers suggestions for the way forward. The challenges facing the power sector (shortages) must be squarely addressed, especially in the areas of energy generation, transmission, and distribution; corruption; unfavourable policies and multiple-taxation. When these are addressed, Kaduna State and Nigeria in general can be reindustrialized since they have both the human and mineral resources for such enterprise. / Tertiary Educational Trust Fund

Thesis advisor: Daniel J. Daly / Thesis advisor: James F. Keenan / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.