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Abstract Background In response to the growing HIV epidemic in Nigeria, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) initiated the VISION Project, which aimed to increase use of family planning, child survival, and HIV/AIDS services. The VISION Project used a mass-media campaign that focused on reproductive health and HIV/AIDS prevention. This paper assesses to what extent program exposure translates into increased awareness and prevention of HIV/AIDS. Methods This analysis is based on data from the 2002 and 2004 Nigeria (Bauchi, Enugu, and Oyo) Family Planning and Reproductive Health Surveys, which were conducted among adults living in the VISION Project areas. To correct for endogeneity, two-stage logistic regression is used to investigate the effect of program exposure on 1) discussion of HIV/AIDS with a partner, 2) awareness that consistent condom use reduces HIV risk, and 3) condom use at last intercourse. Results Exposure to the VISION mass media campaign was high: 59%, 47%, and 24% were exposed to at least 1 VISION radio, printed advertisement, or TV program about reproductive health, respectively. The differences in outcome variables between 2002 baseline data and the 2004 follow-up data were small. However, those with high program exposure were almost one and a half (Odds Ratio [O.R.] = 1.47, 95% Confidence Interval [C.I.] 1.01–2.16) times more likely than those with no exposure to have discussed HIV/AIDS with a partner. Those with high program exposure were over twice (O.R. = 2.20, C.I. 1.49–3.25) as likely as those with low exposure to know that condom use can reduce risk of HIV infection. Program exposure had no effect on condom use at last sex. Conclusion The VISION Project reached a large portion of the population and exposure to mass media programs about reproductive health and HIV prevention topics can help increase HIV/AIDS awareness. Programs that target rural populations, females, and unmarried individuals, and disseminate information on where to obtain condoms, are needed to reduce barriers to condom use. Improvements in HIV/AIDS prevention behaviour are likely to require that these programmatic efforts be continued, scaled up, done in conjunction with other interventions, and targeted towards individuals with specific socio-demographic characteristics.

Using data from the Nigerian Fertility Survey of 1981–82, the effect of polygyny on fertility is examined, by age cohort, for four regions of the country. Comparison of mean completed and current fertility suggests that changes in reproductive behaviour are taking place in Nigeria, restricting the fertility of women in polygynous unions, especially of younger women, when socioeconomic factors are taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We conduct a cross‐national study of contraceptive discontinuation among currently married nonsterilized contracepting women in Bolivia, Egypt, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Zimbabwe using the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). Since the DHS contains no true completed epochs of contraceptive use, the distribution of use times at survey is used to approximate the distribution of the completed epochs using the renewal theorem. Two techniques based on this approximation are used. The first technique uses local linear regression smoothing of a histogram estimate of the use time at survey pdf which is converted into an estimate of the discontinuation probability function. The second technique poses a proportional hazards Weibull distribution for the discontinuation probability function which is then converted into a model for the use times at survey. This second technique is used to model the observed variations in use across countries while controlling for other sociodemographic factors such as children ever born, age, and education, as well as a variable which encodes knowledge of the fertility cycle. Pill discontinuation probabilities range from 0.12 to 0.47 in the first year. IUD discontinuation probabilities range from 0.18 to 0.53 in the first year. Discontinuation probabilities in Egypt over all methods are in agreement with those reported in Ali and Cleland (1995). Logged relative risks of pill discontinuation range from ‐0.94 (Sri Lanka) to 0 (Kenya), while logged relative risks of IUD discontinuation range from ‐0.53 (Sri Lanka) to 0.41 (Zimbabwe). The ordering of risks of pill discontinuation among the six countries considered is in agreement with the ordering of total fertility rates excerpted from Westoff (1991). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports the findings at baseline in a multi-phase project that aimed at reducing maternal mortality in a local government area (LGA) of South-West Nigeria. The objectives were to determine the availability of essential obstetric care (EOC) services in the LGA and to assess the quality of existing services. The first phase of this interventional study, which is the focus of this paper, consisted of a baseline health facility and needs assessment survey using instruments adapted from the United Nations guidelines. Twenty-one of 26 health facilities surveyed were public facilities, and five were privately owned. None of the facilities met the criteria for a basic EOC facility, while only one private facility met the criteria for a comprehensive EOC facility. Three facilities employed a nurse and/or a midwife, while unskilled health attendants manned 46% of the facilities. No health worker in the LGA had ever been trained in lifesaving skills. There was a widespread lack of basic EOC equipment and supplies. The study concluded that there were major deficiencies in the supply side of obstetric care services in the LGA, and EOC was almost non-existent. This result has implications for interventions for the reduction of maternal mortality in the LGA and in Nigeria.