Contraceptive access and informed use are essential components of reproductive health, enabling women to prevent unintended pregnancies, achieve desired birth spacing, and exercise informed reproductive choices. Despite increasing awareness of family-planning services in Nigeria, contraceptive acceptance and consistent utilization remain uneven across communities. This study assessed knowledge, attitudes, acceptance, utilization, communication patterns, and perceived barriers to contraceptive practices among women of childbearing age in Sapele Community, Delta State, Nigeria. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among 109 women aged 15–49 years selected through a multistage sampling procedure. Data were collected using a structured, pre-tested questionnaire with good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.85) and analysed using frequencies and percentages. Although 69 respondents (63.3%) had heard about contraceptive practices, 69 (63.3%) were classified as having poor method-specific knowledge, indicating a considerable gap between general awareness and practical contraceptive literacy. Fifty-one respondents (46.8%) reported ever or current contraceptive use, whereas 58 (53.2%) reported no use, and only 13 (11.9%) reported always using contraception. Condoms were the most frequently reported method (18.3%), followed by intrauterine devices (9.2%), injectables (approximately 8–9%), implants (5.5%), and oral contraceptive pills (4.6%). Attitudes toward contraception were predominantly unfavourable: 55.0% did not consider contraception important for women’s health, 50.5% did not regard its use as morally acceptable, and 64.2% did not believe that contraception was effective in preventing pregnancy. Fear of side effects (31.2%) was the leading reported barrier, followed by inadequate contraceptive knowledge (27.5%), partner opposition (22.9%), and religious or cultural beliefs (18.3%). Furthermore, 62.4% had never discussed contraception with a partner or healthcare provider, while 40.4% reported difficulty accessing contraceptive services. The findings demonstrate that general awareness alone does not necessarily translate into adequate knowledge, favourable attitudes, acceptance, or consistent contraceptive use. Strengthening method-specific education, nurse-led counselling, side-effect management, confidential reproductive-health communication, culturally responsive community engagement, reliable access to a broad range of contraceptive methods, and appropriate partner involvement may improve informed contraceptive decision-making and sustained utilization among women of reproductive age in Sapele.
Access to safe, affordable, and sustainable domestic water remains one of the major public health and development challenges confronting Nigeria despite the country’s extensive surface and groundwater resources. Rapid population growth, climate variability, urban expansion, poor infrastructure maintenance, weak institutional coordination, environmental degradation, and socio-economic inequality continue to intensify domestic water insecurity in rural and urban communities. The consequences extend beyond inadequate household supply to increased transmission of waterborne diseases, poor sanitation, food insecurity, reduced school attendance, gender inequality, and diminished household productivity. This review synthesizes evidence on domestic water accessibility in Nigeria using a systems-based public health perspective that integrates environmental, institutional, infrastructural, technological, and behavioural determinants. A structured narrative review approach was adopted, drawing on peer-reviewed literature, national policy documents, and institutional reports published mainly between 2015 and 2026. Building on earlier Nigerian scholarship on recurring water scarcity, this paper proposes an Integrated Water Security-Public Health Resilience Model that links climate adaptation, water governance, infrastructure resilience, community participation, digital monitoring, household water safety, and public health outcomes. The review shows that fragmented governance, inadequate financing, poor maintenance culture, insufficient water quality surveillance, and limited climate adaptation remain major obstacles to equitable water access. It further demonstrates that women, children, low-income households, and rural populations bear a disproportionate burden. The paper recommends climate-resilient infrastructure, Integrated Water Resources Management, community-owned systems, digital water governance, renewable-energypowered water supply, strengthened WASH integration in primary healthcare, and transparent institutional accountability. These strategies can support progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 6 while improving health equity and national resilience
Sickle cell disease (SCD) remains one of the most important inherited blood disorders and ncontinues to constitute a major public health challenge in Nigeria, which bears the highest global burden of affected births. Despite improvements in diagnosis and clinical management, preventable complications continue to contribute substantially to morbidity, repeated healthcare utilisation and reduced quality of life because long-term outcomes are strongly shaped by patients’ health beliefs, behavioural practices and healthcare-seeking decisions. This study investigated the behavioural determinants of Health Belief Model (HBM) constructs among individuals living with sickle cell disease attending selected healthcare facilities in Edo State, Nigeria. A hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional analytical study was conducted among 312 individuals receiving routine sickle cell care. A structured questionnaire assessed socio demographic characteristics, disease knowledge, genotype awareness, premarital counselling knowledge, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, cues to action and self-efficacy. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression to identify independent predictors of favourable health beliefs. The findings showed that adequate knowledge of sickle cell disease, awareness of personal haemoglobin genotype, knowledge of premarital genotype counselling, regular clinic attendance and stronger perceptions of the benefits of preventive healthcare were independently associated with favourable HBM constructs, whereas perceived barriers significantly reduced the likelihood of positive health beliefs. The study demonstrates that behavioural determinants are fundamental drivers of preventive healthcare utilisation among individuals living with sickle cell disease in Edo State. Integrating behavioural counselling into routine clinical management, strengthening genotype awareness programmes, expanding patient-centred health education and reducing structural barriers to care may substantially improve treatment adherence, disease self-management and health outcomes among people living with sickle cell disease in Nigeria.
