Reviewing the Policies and Strategies of the Nigerian Health Education for Sustainable Development in Delta State
CHAPTER ONE
- Objective of the study
General objective: the general objective of this research was to identify the achievements recorded and the challenges faced since the policies and strategies of the Nigerian health education for sustainable health development in Delta state.
Specific objectives;
the specific objectives were;
- To identify main success on the health of mother and children after policies and strategies of the Nigerian health education in Delta state.
- To identify main challenges on the health of mother and children after policies and strategies of the Nigerian health education in the local government.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
School Health Programmes In Nigeria
School health programmes are series of activities harmonized and delivered in the school environment for the promotion of the health and development of the school community (FGN, 2006). Series of activities are required to strengthen a school capacity to promote a healthy background for living, learning and working. The combination of such activities would engender conducive learning atmosphere, strive to improve the health of all within the system, decrease life threatening circumstances like malaria, waterborne diseases, drug and alcohol abuse, malnutrition and more importantly, inculcate in the learners knowledge, skills and attitudinal dispositions that are essential to healthy living. The scope and status of the programmes covered in the policy are examined thus,
Healthful school environment:
The policy provides that for schools to be healthy, all services, facilities and tools needed for physio-social and emotional well-being must be assured, provided and preserved in a sustainable manner. Accordingly, such schools are located in siren environment free from noise, cold, heat, have adequate and appropriate building, furniture, toilet facilities that are gender sensitive, waste disposal facilities and safe water supply, recreational and sport equipment, perimeter fencing, observance of annual school health Days among others. Keen observations of these indices indicate that this policy provision is not adequately implemented. For instance, in 2017, the report of epidemic outbreak in a popular government secondary school in Lagos state went viral (Uwandu, 2017 & Folarin, 2017). According to the report, the epidemic outbreak left more than 200 students sick and two dead in the hospitals at different times within a short period. The students were alleged to have been treated for abdominal pains, fever, vomiting and diarrhea which were attributed to unhealthy and unhygienic environment of the school. In an earlier occurrence, Maradun (2016) reported that two students were killed of food poisoning in Zamfara State. These instances depict the poor enforcement of the salient provision on healthy school environment as prescribed in the School Health Policy. The report of Ademokun, Osungbade, and Obembe (2012) that, the implementation of SHP was poor especially in the sphere of healthful school environment, school managers lack good knowledge of the NSHP and that the health programmes in their schools did not comply with the requirements of the policy confirmed these scenarios.
School feeding services:
The cardinal target of thispolicy provision is to provide all children enrolled in schools nationwide with a meal per day in order to improve their nutritional status, reduce hunger and enhance their learning ability (FME, 2006). Although this provision has been in place over a decade, the indices of the services such as meal provision, food fortification and supplementation, regular de-worming and sanitation and hygiene practices especially among food vendors are not consistently and comprehensively available in the The report of Tijani, Opara and Jime (2018) that the school feeding programme in Maduguri metropolis does not reduce or satisfy hunger due to inconsistency or irregular availability of the mealconfirmed this submission. Where the programmes were found to have improved the nutrition status of the children as reported in Falade, Otemuyiwa, Oluwasola, Oladipo and Adeusi (2012), the programmes did not cover all the children in basic and post basic schools.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
Achievements and challenges were carried on the health of mothers and children after the policies and strategies of the Nigerian health education in Delta state. To conduct this research both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed.
Interview and focused group discussion were used for qualitative method. Questionnaires were administered to collect quantitative data.
Sample
In order to draw representative sample, the study employed different sampling techniques. Purposive or judgment sampling was found appropriate and the selection was made based on the accessibility from woreda town. Out of thirty-one Local governments in the Warri, local government was selected because of its proximity.
The study populations are 39 mothers and caregivers having children under five years, 2 local government Health extension workers, 29 local government health development army and 2 health extension program supervisors from Warri health center. According to data observed from local government health extension workers, there are 200 mothers and caregivers between age 15-49 and 200 local government health development army registered in the local government.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
The objective of the thesis is to investigate the achievement observed and existing challenges after the policies and strategies of the Nigerian health education on the health of mothers and children. The aims of this chapter is to give explanation about collected data’s on results achieved, existing challenge and what do next to improve the health of mother and child health.
Description of the Study Participants
72 female respondents participated in the study, among them 39 were mothers who have children below five year, 29 were local government health development army and 4 were key informant/ two health extension workers, one health extension supervisors and one health center head.
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Conclusion
According to the study, the following outcomes are obtained. These are; Prevalence of communicable disease minimized, child feeding practices improved, using health institution for different purpose increased, and community started to trust health extension workers, there is an improvement in health facilities, planning, monitoring and evaluation together with stake holders are the main achievement of health extension program on mothers and children health.
Nutritional problem, communicable diseases are still challenges of mothers and children health that are identified by the research.
Furthermore, low family planning and postnatal services, low participation of stakeholders on HEP and distance and poor health facility discourages women to visit health institution regularly.
More over less attention is given for health development army selection, coaching, inadequate ambulance services, high number of illiterate for mothers and health development army are main challenges that need attention to improve mother and children health.
RECOMMENDATION
Based on the findings of the study the investigator recommends the following suggestions;
- Improvements recorded on reviewing the policies and strategies of the Nigerian health education like vaccination breast feeding practices and others should be maintained and used as an entry points to improve other
- Because of high literacy rate low number of mothers not use family planningutilization that lead to high family size. Therefore, attention should be given for mothers education and
- Low awareness on the importance of skilled delivery assistance on one sideand cultural barriers on the other side made most mothers delivered at home. So awareness must be raised and barriers removed.
- Less training provided and high illiteracy rate of health development army are great challenge to meet objective of health strategy, because of this health development army selection and training should get better
- Misbehavior of some health professionals and poor health facility discouragemothers to seek health services in health institutions. Therefore, professional ethics should maintain and disciplinary measures should be taken.
- Thisstudy indicated that awareness creation, training, workshop and education are not the end result to minimize maternal death. Rather it is important to give emphasis for accessibility of health facility, lack of professional commitments, medication and medical equipment problems, procedural guides to minimize maternal death due to pregnancy
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