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Malaria is a severe febrile illness instigated by Plasmodium parasites and spread through bites of infected mosquitoes to humans and animals. This study was carried out to determine the effect of water extract of Azadirachta indica on Plasmodium berghei-induced nephropathy of male Wistar albino rats. Thirty (30) male albino Wistar rats weighing between 150 and 200 grams were used for the study. Experimental animals were weighed and grouped into six groups (A to F) of five rats per group. Groups A, B, and C were blank, negative, and positive controls, respectively while Groups D, E and F were infected with 1.0x107 Plasmodium berghei and treated with 50, 200, and 500mg/kg body weight of ethanol neem leaf extract of Azadiractha indica, respectively for twenty-one (21) days post-infection. After treatment, animals were sacrificed and serum collected for biochemical analysis. Results of the experiment showed that P. berghei caused a significant hike (p<0.05) in mean serum creatinine concentration (4.30±0.96) when compared with the blank control (2.60±0.96). With the administration of A. indica, the P. berghei-induced creatinine hike reduced significantly (p<0.05) (2.80±0.62). The present study also showed that P. berghei caused a reduction in urea nitrogen level (11.79±4.03) when compared with the blank control (28.18±5.12). The result of renal histology showed that P. berghei caused a focal tubular dilation with brush border depletion and upon the administration of A. indica, the kidney cortex still showed some levels of cell-mediated capsular injury and tubular atrophy. We therefore, concluded that Plasmodium berghei caused renal dysfunction, as shown by biochemical assay. However, the histological study inferred that the extract of A. indica could not entirely reverse the renal damages initiated by the infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information and communication technology (ICT) tools are known to facilitate communication and processing of information and sharing of knowledge by electronic means. In Nigeria, the lack of adequate capacity on the use of ICT by health sector policymakers constitutes a major impediment to the uptake of research evidence into the policymaking process. The objective of this study was to improve the knowledge and capacity of policymakers to access and utilize policy relevant evidence. A modified "before and after" intervention study design was used in which outcomes were measured on the target participants both before the intervention is implemented and after. A 4-point likert scale according to the degree of adequacy; 1 = grossly inadequate, 4 = very adequate was employed. This study was conducted in Ebonyi State, south-eastern Nigeria and the participants were career health policy makers. A two-day intensive ICT training workshop was organized for policymakers who had 52 participants in attendance. Topics covered included: (i). intersectoral partnership/collaboration; (ii). Engaging ICT in evidence-informed policy making; use of ICT for evidence synthesis; (iv) capacity development on the use of computer, internet and other ICT. The pre-workshop mean of knowledge and capacity for use of ICT ranged from 2.19-3.05, while the post-workshop mean ranged from 2.67-3.67 on 4-point scale. The percentage increase in mean of knowledge and capacity at the end of the workshop ranged from 8.3%-39.1%. Findings of this study suggest that policymakers' ICT competence relevant to evidence-informed policymaking can be enhanced through training workshop.

Background: In Nigeria, malaria, schistosomiasis and lymphatic filariasis are among infectious diseases of poverty (IDP) with severe health burden and require effective policy strategies for their control. In this study, we investigated the value of policy brief and policy dialogue as excellent policymaking mechanisms that enable policymakers to adapt effective evidence informed policy for IDP control., Methods: A policy brief was developed on the control of malaria, schistosomiasis and lymphatic filariasis and subjected to deliberations in a one-day multi-stakeholder policy dialogue held in Ebonyi State Nigeria. A modified cross sectional intervention study design was used in this investigation. Structured pre-tested questionnaires were used to evaluate the policy brief document and policy dialogue process at the end of the policy dialogue., Results: Forty-seven policymakers participated in the dialogue. An analysis of the response on the policy brief regarding context, different features of the problem; policy options and key implementation considerations indicated the mean ratings (MNRs) mostly ranged from 6.40-6.85 on 7 point scale. The over-all assessment of the policy brief had MNR at 6.54. The analysis of the response on the policy dialogue regarding the level of priority of policy issue, opportunity to discuss different features of the problem and options for addressing the problem, and the MNRs mostly ranged from 6.50-6.82. The overall assessment of the policy dialogue had MNR at 6.72., Conclusion: Policy dialogues can allow research evidence to be considered together with views, experiences and tacit knowledge of policymakers and can enhance evidence-to-policy link.

Background: In Nigeria, one of the major challenges associated with evidence-to-policy link in the control of infectious diseases of poverty (IDP), is deficient information literacy knowledge and skill among policymakers. There is need for policymakers to acquire the skill to discover relevant information, accurately evaluate retrieved information and to apply it correctly., Objectives: To use information literacy tool of International Network for Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) to enhance policymakers' knowledge and skill for policymaking on control of IDP in Nigeria., Methods: Modified "before and after" intervention study design was used in which outcomes were measured on target participants both before the intervention is implemented and after. This study was conducted in Ebonyi State, south-eastern Nigeria and participants were career health policy makers. A two-day health-policy information literacy training workshop was organized to enhance participants" information literacy capacity. Topics covered included: introduction to information literacy; defining information problem; searching for information online; evaluating information; science information; knowledge sharing interviews; and training skills., Results: A total of 52 policymakers attended the workshop. The pre-workshop mean rating (MNR) of knowledge and capacity for information literacy ranged from 2.15-2.97, while the post-workshop MNR ranged from 3.34-3.64 on 4-point scale. The percentage increase in MNR of knowledge and capacity at the end of the workshop ranged from 22.6%-55.3%., Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that through information literacy training workshop policy makers can acquire the knowledge and skill to identify, capture and share the right kind of information in the right contexts to influence relevant action or a policy decision.

Background: The lack of effective use of research evidence in policy-making is a major challenge in most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). There is need to package research data into effective policy tools that will help policy-makers to make evidence-informed policy regarding infectious diseases of poverty (IDP). The objective of this study was to assess the usefulness of training workshops and mentoring to enhance the capacity of Nigerian health policy-makers to develop evidence-informed policy brief on the control of IDP., Methods: A modified "before and after" intervention study design was used in which outcomes were measured on the target participants both before the intervention is implemented and after. A 4-point Likert scale according to the degree of adequacy; 1 = "grossly inadequate," 4 = "very adequate" was employed. The main parameter measured was participants' perceptions of their own knowledge/understanding. This study was conducted at subnational level and the participants were the career health policy-makers drawn from Ebonyi State in the South-Eastern Nigeria. A one-day evidence-to-policy workshop was organized to enhance the participants' capacity to develop evidence-informed policy brief on IDP in Ebonyi State. Topics covered included collaborative initiative; preparation and use of policy briefs; policy dialogue; ethics in health policy-making; and health policy and politics., Results: The preworkshop mean of knowledge and capacity ranged from 2.49-3.03, while the postworkshop mean ranged from 3.42-3.78 on 4-point scale. The percentage increase in mean of knowledge and capacity at the end of the workshop ranged from 20.10%-45%. Participants were divided into 3 IDP mentorship groups (malaria, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis [LF]) and were mentored to identify potential policy options/recommendations for control of the diseases for the policy briefs. These policy options were subjected to research evidence synthesis by each group to identify the options that have the support of research evidence (mostly systematic reviews) from PubMed, Cochrane database and Google Scholar. After the evidence synthesis, five policy options were selected out of 13 for malaria, 3 out of 10 for schistosomiasis and 5 out of 11 for LF., Conclusion: The outcome suggests that an evidence-to-policy capacity enhancement workshop combined with a mentorship programme can improve policy-makers' capacity for evidence-informed policy-making (EIP)., (© 2015 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.)