Improving Access to Diagnostics for Schistosomiasis Case Management in Oyo State, Nigeria: Barriers and Opportunities
by
G-Young Van 1, Adeola Onasanya 1
, Jo van Engelen 1,2, Oladimeji Oladepo 3 and Jan Carel Diehl 1,*
G-Young Van 1, Adeola Onasanya 1, Jo van Engelen 1,2, Oladimeji Oladepo 3 and Jan Carel Diehl 1,*
1
Sustainable Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, 2628CE Delft, The Netherlands
2
Department of Economics and Business, University of Groningen, 9747AE Groningen, The Netherlands
3
Department of Health Promotion and Education, University of Ibadan, 200212 Ibadan, Nigeria
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Diagnostics 2020, 10(5), 328; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics10050328
Received: 4 May 2020 / Revised: 15 May 2020 / Accepted: 18 May 2020 / Published: 20 May 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Implementation and Scale Up Point of Care (POC) Diagnostics in Resource-Limited Settings)
Schistosomiasis is one of the Neglected Tropical Diseases that affects over 200 million people worldwide, of which 29 million people in Nigeria. The principal strategy for schistosomiasis in Nigeria is a control and elimination program which comprises a school-based Mass Drug Administration (MDA) with limitations of high re-infection rates and the exclusion of high-risk populations. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends guided case management of schistosomiasis (diagnostic tests or symptom-based detection plus treatment) at the Primary Health Care (PHC) level to ensure more comprehensive morbidity control. However, these require experienced personnel with sufficient knowledge of symptoms and functioning laboratory equipment. Little is known about where, by whom and how diagnosis is performed at health facilities within the case management of schistosomiasis in Nigeria. Furthermore, there is a paucity of information on patients’ health-seeking behaviour from the onset of disease symptoms until a cure is obtained. In this study, we describe both perspectives in Oyo state, Nigeria and address the barriers using adapted health-seeking stages and access framework. The opportunities for improving case management were identified, such as a prevalence study of high-risk groups, community education and screening, enhancing diagnostic capacity at the PHC through point-of-care diagnostics and strengthening the capability of health workers.
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Keywords:
schistosomiasis; barriers to diagnostics; access to healthcare; end-user perspectives; neglected tropical diseases; Nigeria; case management
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MDPI and ACS Style
Van, G.-Y.; Onasanya, A.; van Engelen, J.; Oladepo, O.; Diehl, J.C. Improving Access to Diagnostics for Schistosomiasis Case Management in Oyo State, Nigeria: Barriers and Opportunities. Diagnostics 2020, 10, 328.
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