COMMUNITY HEALTH INFORMATION AND GUIDE

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY HEALTH

INFORMATION AND GUIDE

NOVEMBER, 2020

OUTLINE

Background 3

Mission and Vision statement 3

Philosophy of the Department 3

The Syllabus

Undergraduate 4

Postgraduate 15

BACKGROUND

The Department of Community Health was first created in the School of Medicine, University of Benin in 1973 as one of the clinical Departments for the training of doctors to meet the health needs of the country. The department later expanded its training programme to involve post graduate training at the Masters and PhD level. The corresponding department in University of Benin Teaching Hospital was created at about the same time, and later became the training base for the first post postgraduate training programme – the residency training programme. Over the years, the department has continued to conduct training, service and research in line with existing regulations.

MISSION STATEMENT

To provide excellent undergraduate and post graduate education in different domains of Community Medicine and to conduct high-impact interdisciplinary research, on a national and international level while delivering promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative health care services.

VISION STATEMENT

To be a leading department of community health by inspiring undergraduate and post graduate education through training, quality health care services, and interdisciplinary research.

PHILOSOPHY OF THE DEPARTMENT

We believe high teaching standards are critical for developing and training medical doctors on effective interventions and policies as well as for conducting basic behavioral research that will lead to improved public health.

THE SYLLABUS

UNDERGRADUATE

OBJECTIVES OF THE DEPARTMENT

The Department has the following objectives:

To contribute to the training of medical doctors so that they can practice medicine and conduct surveys at community levels in urban and rural settings.
To train medical doctors to become public health specialists at Master’s, PhD and Fellowship levels so that they can practice public health at the highest levels of academic and professional skills.
To conduct epidemiological studies and identify the prevalent health problems in the community and ways to control them.
To carry out screening services for the early detection and prompt treatment of communicable and non-communicable diseases.
To mobilise resources for and conduct evidence-based interventions, following community diagnosis.
To empower individuals, groups and communities with health information, communication and education to enable them to take decisions and actions on their healthcare.
To contribute to evidence-based health systems development at all levels of healthcare
To develop the spirit of team-work in promoting health in all population groups.
To support the training programmes of various cadres of health workers in public health.
To organize consultant clinics on endemic diseases in the hospital.
To collaborate with departments and institutions within and outside UBTH on all matters related to the health of the public.

The Department is organized in such a way that it embraces the following sub-specialties such as: Medical Statistics, Public Health Nutrition, Health Education and Community Mobilization, Family Health/Reproductive Health, International Health, Environmental Health, Occupational Health, Health Management, Epidemiology of communicable and non-communicable disease, Social and Rehabilitative Medicine. The undergraduate courses are taught from 200 level through to 600 level at the end of which students sit for the Part IV MB:BS Examinations.

These are itemized as follows and covers the following areas:

Definition, concepts and history of community health in Africa and in the world.
Human ecology and factors affecting health.
Family structure and factors affecting health.
Health statistics
Principles of epidemiology
Environmental health
Introduction to community health
Epidemiology and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases including practical exercises, entomological and parasitological laboratory work
Principles of public health administration, management and planning
Family health services; maternal, infant and under-five children, adolescent health, school health, occupational and geriatric health services.
Epidemiology and control of chronic diseases, tuberculosis, leprosy, National Control Programmes.
Social security, effect of social and economic changes on health
Public Health Nutrition
Health Education

COMMUNITY HEALTH COURSES (WITH COURSE CREDIT), POSTINGS AND EXAMINATION

The following courses are offered by the Department:

Demography and Medical Statistics (COH 212) are taught during the 1^st Semester of the 2^nd medical year. The Course carries 2 credit units.
Medical Sociology, Social/Rehabilitative Medicine and Environmental Health (COH 222)is taught during the 2^nd semester of the 2^nd medical year. The course carries 2 credit units.
Family Health/School Health/Public Health Nutrition and Health Education (COH 322) is taught during the second semester of the 3^rd medical year and carries 2 credit units.
Epidemiology (COH 412) carries 6 credit units and is taught in the 1^st semester of the 4^th medical year.
Occupational Health (COH 422) carries 3 credit units and is taught in the 2^nd semester of the 4^th medical year.
Management of Health Services, International Health, Primary Health Care, Research Methodology and Medical Ethics (COH 512). Lectures are given during the 1^st semester of the 5^th medical year. It carries 3 credit units.
Urban Posting / One year project (COH 522). This course carries 6 credit Urban postings is carried out during the 2^nd semester in the 5^th medical year
Rural Posting, Completion of One year project, Revision and Part IV MB; BS Examination (COH 612). This course is carried out during the 1^st semester of the 6^th medical year. It carries 6 credit units.

Year	Courses
	First Semester (Credit Units)	Second Semester (Credit Units)	Total Credit Units
MED 200 Level	COH 212 (2 Credit Units) – Demography and Medical Statistics	COH 222 (2 Credit Units) – Medical Sociology, Environmental Health, Social/ Rehabilitative Medicine	4
MED 300 Level		COH 322 (2 Credit Units) -Family Health – School Health -Public Health Nutrition -Health Education	2
MED 400 Level	COH 412 (6 Credit Units) – Epidemiology of communicable & non communicable disease	COH 422 (3 Credit Units) Occupational Health	9
MED 500 Level	COH 512 (3 Credits Units) – Management of Health Services, International Health, Primary Health Care, Research Methodology and Medical Ethics	COH 522 (6 Credit Units) – Urban (Junior) Posting and One year Project	9
MED 600 Level	COH 612 (6 Credit Units)- Rural (Senior) Posting, Completion of One year Project Part IV MB.BS Examination		6
Total Credit Units	17	13	30

The above courses carry a total credit load of 30 credit units. These courses begin from 200 to 600 level. The urban and rural postings last for 8 weeks respectively. These posting lay emphasis on clinical, laboratory public health practice as well as rural medical practice. At the end of each semester, there is an end of semester examination and credit points are earned by each student.

End of semester and posting examinations form the continuous assessment of the students’ progress, which is 30 percent of the total marks for the Final MBBS examinations in Community Health. The final examination is taken in 1^st semester of the 6^th medical year and there is a repeat examination 3 months after.

Details of specific courses are given below:

Course COH 212: Demography and Medical Statistics (2 Credit Units)

200 Level First Semester:

Introduction to Community Health and Specialties in Community Health.
Demography: Definitions, uses, population composition by age, sex, occupation, ethnicity, etc and population size.
Demographic indices,
Population dynamics: fertility, mortality, migration, population growth and projection.
Demographic transition, World population policies: Malthusian theory of population, National population policy
Census: National and Local
Introduction to statistics: Type of data, sources of data and uses of statistics. Health and vital statistics: sources. International classification of diseases, Uses of statistics in Medicine
Community diagnosis: Morbidity surveys, Tools for data collection.
Measures of Health and Disease: Crude and specific rates
Patterns of distribution: Gaussian curve and other distributions
Types of variables, Presentation of statistical data: Tables, histograms, pie and bar chart, graphs, scatter gram
Measures of central tendency and dispersion
Population samples and sampling techniques, table of random numbers
Contingency tables – Tests of significance: P value, Chi-square test, Z- Test, Students t test, Confidence intervals etc
Routine and immediate notification of disease: Cancer registration

Course COH 222: Medical Sociology, Social and Rehabilitative Medicine/Environmental Health (2 Credit Units).

200 Level First Semester:

Introduction to Medical Sociology: Definitions of Health, Diseases, Sickness and illness.
Culture and Health, Traditional practices, taboos etc
Family systems, marriage types and stability
Socio-economic status and Health (Type of societies, social class, educational status, occupation, etc)
Recreation, sleep, religion and health;
Doctor-Patient relationship
Educational status and Health.
Family Systems, Role Differentiation,
Ageing and health, Dependency/working populations, unemployment, retirement and social security.
Beliefs, Values and Societal Norms, Superstitions, Religions and Health,
Social deviancy: Alcoholism, smoking, Drug/substance abuse
Social Services: Orphanages. Care of the elderly, remand homes, prisons.
Introduction to Environmental Health, classification of the environment, environmental sanitation.
Public Health Law,
Housing and Health – ventilation, floor space, etc.
Waste disposal, disposal of the dead, control of vectors and reservoirs of Infection.
Water sanitation – WHO water programmes, disinfection
Food hygiene
Air hygiene and control of atmospheric pollution

Course COH322: Family Health, School Health, Public Health Nutrition and Health Education (2 Credit Units).

300 Level Second Semester:

Introduction to family health: Maternal and Child health care services. Family planning and family planning methods: National population policy.
Health need of a child: Infant welfare clinic.
Nutrition and Health, National breast feeding policy
Care of handicapped children.
The “at risk concepts in maternal and child health”
National programme on immunization; National immunization schedule
Safe motherhood initiative
Integrated management of childhood illness
Classification of food/food values: beliefs and taboos, etc
Infant feeding and weaning practices
Assessment of nutritional status in the community,
Epidemiology and control of nutrition related disease – Kwashiorkor, marasmus
Vitamin related disease – Trace elements/minerals and diseases e.g. goitre, myxoedema, cretinism, dental caries
Diet in the aetiology and management of disease e.g. diabetes, liver failure cardiovascular diseases.
Epidemiology and control of obesity and anaemia
Food Poisoning
School Health Programme – Aims and Objectives, School Health Environment, School Health Education, Care of handicapped Children
Health Education: Principles, Methods and Strategies.
Health Education in the control of communicable and non-communicable disease;
Community Mobilization

Course COH 412: Epidemiology of Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases (6 Credit Units).

400 Level First Semester:

Definition of Epidemiology – Principles and Methods – Uses
Principles and Prevention – Isolation, quarantine, surveillance
Control of Communicable and Non-communicable diseases
Epidemiology and control of helminticinfection (Nematode, Cestodes, Trematodes
Epidemiology and control of Tuberculosis and leprosy
Epidemiology and control of Schistosomiasis
Epidemiology and control of sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS
Epidemiology and control of arthropod born disease – e.g. yellow fever, Dengue fever exotic disease
Epidemiology and control of Tyrpansosomiasis
Epidemiology and control of Malaria
Epidemiology and control of Zoonotic disease e.g. rabies, anthrax, brucellosis
Epidemiology and control of diarrhoeal diseases.
Epidemiology and control of cholera, Typhoid, paratyhoid, bacillary and Amoebic dysentery
Epidemiology and control of airborne infection e.g. measles, mumps, chickenpox
Epidemiology and control of filarial infections e.g. Loasis, Onchocerciasis, Wuchereria bancrofti
Epidemiology and control of nosocomial infection
Epidemiology and control of genetic and congenital diseases e.g sickle cell disease, albinism, mongolism, spina bifida
Epidemiology and control of accidents RTA and home accidents
Epidemiology and control of Disaster- Natural disasters, chemical spills etc
Epidemiology and control of substance abuse- Hard drugs, smoking and alcoholism
Epidemiology and control of juvenile delinquency
Epidemiology and control of asthma and peptic ulcer disease
Epidemiology and control of malignant diseases lung, breast, cervix, leukemia, hepatoma
Epidemiology and control of Cerebrospinal meningitis

Course COH 422: Occupational Health (3 Credit Units).

400 Level Second Semester.

Principles of occupational health; Introduction, history and definitions of occupational and industrial health;
Organization of occupational health services aims and objective. Occupational hazards: pneumoconiosis,
Problems of agricultural workers, problems of workers in industries, Industrial legislation: Factory’s act, workman compensation acts etc.
Safety/Prevention and control: Specific control measures,
Environmental and biological monitoring, industrial medical examination, health education in industry,
Industrial rehabilitation.

Course COH 512:Management of Health Services, International Health, Primary Health Care, Research Methodology and Medical Ethics (2 Credit Units).

500 Level Second Semester

Principles, scope and nature of health Services, Level of health care
National Health Policy
Organization of Health Services: Federal, State and LGAs in Nigeria
History and Principles of Primary Health Care
Strategies for the Implementation of Primary Health Care
The Health Team
PHC institutions – Medical Officer of Health
The Bamako Initiative
Health Services Management – Definition – History – Elements, levels of health services management
Planning of Health Services (Cybermetic cycle)
Staffing, leadership styles, control of health services
Management of resources
Budgeting in health services management
Organizing and evaluation of health services
Current national control programmes
Project Writing 1 – Choice of Topic – Introduction/Literature Review
Aims and Objectives
International health/Port health
International Health Organization/International Health Agencies e.g. WHO, UNICEF, ILO etc.
Project Writing II – Material and Methods – Questionnaire Design
Project Writing III – Presentation of Results – Discussion, conclusion and recommendation– Referencing
Referral System in Health Care delivery
Introduction to Medical Ethics: Foundation theories in ethics, Regulation of medical and dental practices in Nigeria.
General principles of Ethics of ethics of medical and dental practices in Nigeria, Misconduct, Negligence, etc.

Course COH 522: Urban (Junior) posting and One year project (6 Credit Units).

500 Level Second Semester.

Urban Postings (8 weeks intensive course): Concept of Community diagnosis to help assess and quantify the magnitude of health problems, factors that contribute to these health problems, for appropriate community prescription and treatment.

Specific steps for community diagnosis and treatment, the principle for community survey, analysis, write up and presentations are taught with practical field experiences. It also entails field visits to places of public health importance across sub-specialties of Community Health with report writing and presentations. Guest Lectures from Public Health Departments and Agencies. Executive summary of findings is sent to the Executive Chairman of the Local Government Area of survey and other relevant stakeholders.

At the end of the urban posting the students (individually or in groups) would have undertaken the following activities;

Submit type written group reports on local demographic survey of a census enumeration are (CEA) in Benin City.
Visit places of public health importance in Edo State and submit individual type written reports on all the visits, observations made during the visits are compared with the ideal, with recommendations made to address the Gaps identified. The visits will also be presented to the whole department by the sub-groups that conducted the visits.
Conduct a school health survey in a primary school and secondary school in the CEA. The aims of the survey should include:
Evaluation of the general health status of the children
Inspection of the school facilities for meals, water supply, sanitation, play, class rooms, etc.
Determine their concepts of health and disease and their attitude to illness.

Design and give health talk to pupil based on findings.
Conduct survey of interest for each sub group.
Data Management using SPSS and Epi info statistical soft wares
End of posting presentation to department
Carry out end of posting examination.

Submit the urban posting reports with the completed survey materials to the supervising lecturer on the last day of posting.

Course COH 612: Rural (Senior) Posting, Completion of One year Project (6 Credit Units)Part IV MB.BS Examination.

600 Level First Semester.

Rural (Senior) Posting (8 weeks intensive course).

The rural posting is focused on a defined community and identifying their health related events and problems and proffering appropriate interventions to solving them. It lays emphasis on principles and implementation of PHC in a defined Rural Community in Edo State. It entails the following;

Community Entry: Identifying relevant stakeholders and soliciting their cooperation and participation in identifying their health needs and finding solutions to them.
Community diagnosis:
Methods in practical Epidemiology
Methods of formal and informal data collection
Availability of health and social services
Utilization of health and social services
Identifying and prioritization of health needs (felt and real needs)

Implementation of health programme following resource mobilization with appropriate community mobilization and participation in addition to formulation and drawing up budget for a Primary Health care plan.
Evaluation of health programmme
Client response
Changes in morbidity and mortality patterns.

Emphasis is given to all components of Primary Health Care
Conduct similar surveys carried out in urban posting such as conduct of demographic characteristics and health seeking behaviour surveys in a defined community
Data Management using SPSS and Epi info statistical soft wares
Comparative assessment of urban and rural survey findings
Departmental presentation of surveys by sub-group
General revision on all courses taught in community health
Submission of posting reports and other relevant documentation fortheposting.

Specific steps for community Diagnosis

History taking for the community diagnosis
Assessment of community health problems
Prevalence study of disease problems
Incidence study of disease problems
KAP studies on prevailing health conditions / programmes
Assessment of environmental health status in communities, etc

Specific steps for community Intervention

Assessment of health problems
Assessment of available resources
Needs assessment
Organization of health care delivery
Monitoring and evaluation of progress on intervention implementation.

The students are expected to submit a report at the end of the posting.

Course objectives for Urban and Rural posting

At the end of posting course the student should possess the knowledge, attitude and skill to:

Diagnose the health problems of a defined community
Develop a primary health care plan for the defined community
Deliver the components services of primary health care
Provide essential curative care for common conditions at the primary health care center in a defined community
Assess the nutritional status, manage nutritional problems and teach sound nutritional practice at the level of primary health clinic and defined community.
Provide immunization services to a defined community
Provide maternal health services, including family planning ,at primary health clinic level and in a defined community
Give health education to individuals, groups and communities
Identify and propose solutions to health related problems in a defined community
Describe the epidemiology of locally endemic diseases and provide appropriate preventive and curative services at the level of primary health care centre and a defined community
Identify and plan for the provision of essential drugs required for primary health care services for a defined community.
Manage, monitor and evaluate the implementation of primary health services for a defined community.
Implement appropriate training programme for health personnel and members of the community for the delivering of primary health care services.

Assessment and Conduct of Examination

It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that:-

He/She attends all lectures, which must be certified and signed by the respective lecturers.
All clinical activities are carried out by (the student and signed by the Supervisors).
He/She attains a minimum of seventy percent(70%) of all the activities at the urban and rural postings in order to qualify to sit for the MB:BS part IV Examinations in Community Health.

Students are also required to carry out one project under lecturer supervision on any topic in Medicine. Topics must be approved by Lecturers at the beginning of the First Semester of 500 Level and completed during the Second Semester. Quarto size bound project duly certified by project Supervisor, in the departmental colour of NAVY BLUE, must be submitted before the CLOSING DATE; given by the department. This is a mandatory requirement for the award of the MB; BS degree.

POST GRADUATE

PROGRAMMES OFFERED:

Master in Public Health
Master of Public Health Reproductive and Family Health
PhD in Public Health
PhD in Public Health Reproductive and Family Health

PHILOSOPHY/OBJECTIVES

To broaden the scope of knowledge of doctors in medical practice, universities, ministries of health, medical school, local government especially in areas of Primary Health Care (PHC), epidemiological approach to prevention and control of diseases and industrial health.
To prepare doctors for career in Public Health.
To prepare medical doctors for the Fellowship examination of the National and West African Postgraduate Medical Colleges.
To encourage research into Public Health problems that would enhance the health of the Nigerian population.
To create opportunities for doctors to acquire appropriate skills in health management necessary to manage our health care facilities.

A MASTER IN PUBLIC HEALTH (MPH) PROGRAMME

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

The following two requirements must be met:

a. A first degree in a health-related science, not below 2nd Class.

b. Evidence of public health experience

c. A certificate of completion of or exemption from the National Youth Service Corps.

(Foreign students are exempted from this requirement).

Applicants may be required to sit for a qualifying entrance examination conducted by the

Department.

PROGRAMME STRUCTURE AND DURATION

The programme will run in two forms – a 24-month full-time programme and an option of a 48-month part-time programme. The components of the programme are coursework, (including a practicum) and dissertation/thesis. The coursework and synopses are described in additional sections below. The proposal for the dissertation/thesis is expected to be completed by the end of the first semester of the programme. The programme components and durations are outlined in Table 1.

CONDITIONS FOR GRADUATION

To graduate, candidates must pass all of the following.

A written examination for each course at the end of the respective semesters. A written examination is not required for the practicum which will be scored as described in the appropriate section below.
An oral defence for the completed dissertation/thesis, in line with Postgraduate School guidelines.
NOTE that both full-time and part-time students are required to have passes all courses before they can defend their dissertation/thesis.

CONDITIONS FOR REPEAT AND WITHDRAWAL

A student who fails a course in any year must re-register for the course in the following year, if eligible.

A full-time student who fails to meet any of the following conditions shall be required to withdraw from the programme:

A minimum of 10 credits at the end of the first semester of the programme.

b. A minimum of 20 credits at the end of the second semester of the first year of the

programme.

Completion of the programme in a maximum of 24 months (4 semesters).

A part-time student who fails to meet any of the following conditions shall be required to withdraw from the programme:

A minimum of 10 credits at the end of the first year of the programme.
A minimum of 20 credits at the end of the second year of the programme.
Completion of the programme in a maximum of 48 months (8 semesters).

EVALUATION AND GRADING PROCEDURE

The evaluation and grading shall be done using the following scale (Table 2). A student pass a course, including the practicum and must score a minimum of 50% (C grade) to pass a course including the practicum and dissertation. The course assessment will be based on 30% continuous assessment and 70% examination.

Table 2: Evaluation and Grading

Alphabetical Percentage Value interpretation Points

Grade

A 70 – 100 Excellent 5

B 60 – 69 Very Good 4

C 50 – 59 Pass 3

D 0- 49 Fail 0

COURSEWORK

The coursework lasts for two semesters. The details are shown in Tables 3 and 4.

Table 3: First Semester

Course Code Course Title L T P CU

Core courses

MPH 811 History and Evolution of Public Health; 2 0 0 2

International Health

MPH 812 Biostatistics 2 0 0 2

MPH 813 General Epidemiology 2 0 0 2

MPH 814 Applied Epidemiology 2 0 0 2

МPH 815 Primary Health Care 2 0 0 2

MPH 816 Health Promotion, Health Education and Social 2 0 0 2

Mobilisation

MPH 817 Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods; 2 0 0 2

Research Ethics

MPH 818 Demography 2 0 0 2

Elective courses (one required)

MPH 831 Health Informatics and Computers in Public Health 2 0 0 2

Practice

MPH 832 Health and Development; Health Project 2 0 0 2

Management

MPH 833 Health Laws and Conventions; Public Health Ethics 2 0 0 2

TOTAL 18

Table 4: Second Semester

Course Code Course Title L T P CU

Core courses

MPH 821 Environmental Health and Human Ecology; 2 0 0 2

Disaster and Crisis Management

MPH 822 Social and Rehabilitative Medicine, medical 2 0 0 2

Sociology and Community Mental Health

MPH 823 Occupational Health 2 0 0 2

MPH 824 Reproductive and Family Health 2 0 0 2

МPH 825 Public Health Nutrition 2 0 0 2

MPH 826 Microbiology; Public Health Laboratory Practice and 2 0 2 2

Services

MPH 827 Health Economics 2 0 0 2

MPH 828 Health Policy, Planning and Management 2 0 0 2

МPH 829 Field practicum 2 0 2 2

MRH 899 Dissertation 2 0 4 4

TOTAL 22

GRAND TOTAL = 40 CREDIT UNITS

COURSE SYNOPSES

MPH 811: History and Evolution of Public Health; International Health

This course examines the historical foundations and trends in public health discipline and

practice at global and local (national) levels. Topics covered include the history and evolution of

public health in the ages; global review and historical trends in public health activities: the poor

law and social security; history of health services in Nigeria – colonial, religious, etc; important

names and landmarks in the history of public health in Nigeria; historical and contemporary

place of traditional health services in Nigeria.

International health in the course covers the scope and content of international health:

objectives, organisation and functions of health services in developed and underdeveloped

countries; history, structure and functions of international health organisations (multinational

governmental agencies, bilateral governmental agencies and non-governmental organisations)

and partnerships between them; international health regulations; role of voluntary organisations:

international aspects of the control of communicable disease; port health services – land, water

and air.

MPH 812: Biostatistics

This course deals with numeracy in medicine and health care, including vital, descriptive

and analytic statistics.

Descriptive statistics covers types of data – quantitative/qualitative, ungrouped/grouped

and discrete/continuous; scales of measurement and their implications for statistical methodologies; methods of data presentation – numerical and diagrammatic; measures of central

tendency (location) – arithmetic and geometric means, median, mode; measures of dispersion –

range, variance, standard deviation, coefficient of variation; measures of partition – quartiles,

deciles and percentiles; types of distribution – uniform, binomial, normal, skewed, log-normal,

Poisson; application of normal distribution to the screening of individuals; sources of health data

including their strengths and weaknesses.

Analytic statistics covers probability theory and rules and their applications; the standard

normal curve – its description, equation and; sampling methods – probability and non-probability

methods; statistical inferences; the null and alternative hypotheses; sampling errors; hypothesis

testing; statistical errors in tests of significance; parametric and non-parametric tests; level of

significance and level of confidence; point estimates – (e.g: p values, odds ratios, relative risks)

and interval estimates (e.g. confidence intervals); the standard normal curve; standard error of

the mean and standard error of proportion; Z distribution and Z tests for the difference between

means and the difference between proportions; t-tests; chi-squared tests for the difference

between proportions, the goodness-of-fit test and McNemar test; analysis of variance (ANOVA);

Wilcoxon signed rank sum test for paired data; Mann-Whitney U test for unpaired data;

Kolmogorov-Smirnov two-sample test; power and sample size estimations; standardisation of

rates; risk estimation; correlation; linear and logistic regression analyses; survival analysis,

including the construction of a Kaplan-Meier estimate of survival function that describes the

“survival experience’ of a cohort of subjects; interpretation of the results of a log-rank test in the

context of comparing the ‘survival experience’ of multiple cohorts; use and abuse of statistical

methods in biomedical literature. Students will also be taught the use of statistical packages e.g.

SPSS, Stata, Epi-Info in statistical analyses.

MPH 813: General Epidemiology

General epidemiology in this course is aimed at guiding the student into the knowledge of

epidemiological principles as a framework for understanding their uses and applications to health-related states, especially the control and prevention of diseases and injuries. It covers in

details the study of the frequency, distribution, determinants and deterrents of diseases and

health-related states in human populations and the application of these in disease control and to

promote, protect and restore wellbeing. Examples of specific topics covered in this respect

include the definition, scope, uses and achievements of epidemiology; measurements in

epidemiology (epidemiologic methods) – counts, proportions, percentages, rates, ratios; disease

distribution; morbidity and mortality statistics; biologic determinants of disease (epidemiological

triad)- agent, transmission and host; other determinants (behavioural, social, economic, political, legal, environmental, occupational, etc); methods of disease control and the establishment of control programmes; investigation and control of epidemics; disease prevention

levels and strategies; disease screening – definition, types and criteria; validity (sensitivity,

specificity, positive and negative predictive values) and accuracy of screening tests; surveillance

and response (notification); descriptive, analytical and experimental epidemiology; epidemiological study designs – observational and experimental, and their subtypes; potential

errors in epidemiological studies – random and systematic errors; confounding; concept of causation in epidemiology – sufficient and necessary causes, single and multiple causes, causal

factors, interaction, hierarchy of causes; criteria for establishing causation – causal inference as

elaborations of Bradford Hill’s criteria; inductive and deductive reasoning; epidemiological

transition.

MPH 814: Applied Epidemiology

This course covers the application of the principles of epidemiology in disease control,

especially with respect to communicable diseases, and non-communicable diseases and

pharmaco-epidemiology. The course covers diseases transmitted through specific routes and

modes like oral (ingestion), respiratory (inhalation), skin and mucous membranes (contact and

inoculation) and those that are vector-borne. It also covers communicable diseases in different

settings such as nosocomial infections, emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases and

epidemics; control of hospital infections; standard precautions; investigation and control of

epidemics.

Non-communicable diseases such as sickle cell disease, epilepsy, obesity, hypertension

coronary heart disease, conditions, diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome, cancers of the breast,

cervix, prostate and liver are included in the course. The interconnections between the epidemiology and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases will be emphasized.

Pharmaco-epidemiology in this course covers drug regulations including the national drug policy; revolving drug fund (Bamako initiative); drug safety; essential drugs – concept and

programmes; drug utilisation; rational use of drugs; pharmacovigilance; pharmacologistics,

national drug policies. Pharmaco-economics includes economic evaluation of pharmaceuticals

and drug donation.

National control programmes for communicable and non-communicable diseases are also

included in this course.

MPH 815: Primary Health Care

This course examines the history and development of primary health care (PHC), including the Alma Ata Declaration. It covers the history, philosophy, development and scope of PHC; components of PHC – international and national (Nigeria); principles of PHC – equity, appropriate technology, community mobilisation, community participation, intersectoral collaboration, self-reliance, etc. It also addresses the stages and processes involved in

establishing and re-establishing a PHC system; PHC health services and health facilities:

integrated health services; ward minimum health package; human resources in PHC – training,

roles and responsibilities; management of PHC at all levels; the Medical Officer of Health (PHC

Coordinator); Bamako initiative; PHC and the National Health Policy of Nigeria: PUC

implementation in Nigeria – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats; referral service

MPH 816: Health Promotion, Health Education and Social Mobilisation

This course deals with the nature, scope and methods of health promotion including

health education. Health promotion addresses the empowerment of the total population to take

control of their health and improve it. The course covers health promotion actions/strategies

building healthy public policy, creating supportive environments, strengthening community

actions, development of personal skills and reorientation of health services; Ottawa Charter for

Health Promotion; National Health Promotion Policy.

Health education in this course covers the definition of health education and the evolution

of contemporary terminologies in health education – behaviour change communication, behaviour change intervention, and information, education and communication, etc; individual, group and mass health education methods, including social networks; audiovisual media and technology in health care; counselling – strategies, techniques, micro-skills and stages, and qualities and attributes of a good counsellor; theories and models of communication and behaviour change; the health communication process; knowledge, attitude and practice: management of health education programmes; HIV counselling and testing.

The course also covers group development and group dynamics; community theories:

community development; social mobilisation; community mobilisation and community participation; communication strategies for social mobilisation; social marketing strategies;

advocacy.

MPH 817: Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods; Research Ethics

This course is designed to improve the students’ ability to carry out research. Topics to be

covered include development of proposals; types of research investigations; general and specific

purposes of research; the research process; research problem/research question; objectives;

review of relevant literature; study design; sample size and power; sampling methods; data

management – collection, collation, presentation, analysis; reporting results; discussion/interpretation of results; conclusion and recommendation; report writing.

This course also covers qualitative research methods; such as focus group discussions;

key informant interviews; in-depth interviews; free listing interviews; participant observation

(ethnographic) methods; mystery client trials; the Delphi technique; reporting and analysing

results in qualitative research; mixed methods.

Research ethics themes covered include definition and classification of ethics; introduction to foundation theories; protection of research participants including case studies e.g.

Nazi experiments/Nuremberg Code, Tuskegee studies, Trovan® trial in Nigeria; standard of care

and HIV/AIDS research; ethical issues in Ebola Virus Disease epidemic and treatment –

‘Zmapp’, nano silver, etc; principlism – respect for autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence,

justice; requirements for ethical research; research protocols; research integrity; National Code

of Health Research Ethics; international research; international codes of research ethics; ethical

review of research proposals.

Proposal writing skills will also be taught.

MPH 818: Demography

Demography in this course introduces students to the structure, size and dynamics in

populations as a basic science for understanding public health. Areas covered include censuses;

vital statistics; structure, size and changes in populations (population dynamics – births, deaths, migration) including their measurements and determinants: sources and uses of demographic

data: life expectancies; population theory; population pyramids; demographic transition:

dependency ratios; population projection; policy implications of demographic profiles;

replacement ratios; life tables; population and health; population policies.

MPH 831: Health Informatics and Computers in Public Health Practice

The aim of the course is to guide students to the knowledge of sources and importance of

health information; basic data processing; components of data/ information management cycle

(collection, collation, analysis, presentation, interpretation, etc); disease surveillance and

notification locally, nationally and internationally, including integrated disease surveillance and

response in Nigeria; modern technology in health informatics – eHealth, including mHealth;

internet sources of health information for service and research.

The course also includes introduction to computers; computer applications in medicine,

including public health – diagnostic and therapeutic clinical practice, biostatistics and research;

problems and prospects of computers in public health practice; management system for health

information in Nigeria and the relevant policies; electronic, including internet, databases for

health services management and research; ethical issues in managing databases; the role of

computerised decision support systems.

MPH 832: Health and Development; Health Project Management

Health and development in this course aims at guiding students into the knowledge and

understanding of health as a component of development at personal, family/household,

community, national and global levels; sustainable development; the interdependence between

health and development. It addresses the social, infrastructural, political, cultural, and economic

determinants of health and how they link through biological determinants; the vicious cycle of

poverty, ignorance and disease; development indices and health indices, including the concordance and discordance between them; vulnerabilities experienced by poor communities in developing countries and how they interconnect to impair health; primary health care and development; components in, and derivable health benefits of, national and state development plans and budgets; community development and the roles of community development committees in primary health care; millennium development goals; inter-sectoral collaboration, etc.

Health project management in this course guides the student to the planning, implementation and evaluation stages of a health project. It covers health project planning: formulation, health and environmental impact assessment, situation analysis, problem analysis,

setting objectives and targets, ranking priorities, constraint analysis, developing and selecting

strategies, specifying resources, programming, writing the project proposal. Health project

implementation includes project initiation, specifying and scheduling tasks, clarification of

authority, responsibility and relationships, obtaining resources and establishing the directing and

control system: resource management, record keeping, monitoring, supervision, process

evaluation. Project termination includes future steps to be taken (e.g. maintenance) balancing

accounts and final report writing and submission.

MPH 833: Health Law and Conventions; Public Health Ethics

This course covers the regulatory and ethical environment of health practice and services

For health law, focus is directed at introduction to law and conventions at local and international

levels; the duty of care; tort applied to health; patient’s rights; medical jurisprudence; judicial

powers of tribunals of health professions.

This course further examines ethical issues in health. It addresses foundation theories:

ethics (including, virtue ethics, value ethics, deontology utilitarianism and principlism); distributive justice and equity in access to health services; “Health for All”; the moral obligation

of self and government to provide health care; ethical dilemmas and the resolution of ethical

conflicts between individual rights and public health interest, e.g. quarantine, isolation compulsory screening and compulsory vaccination; ethics of industrial actions by health professions and provisions of codes of ethics of health professions; public health issues in criteria for ethical research; protection of research participants including case studies e.g. Nazi experiments/Nuremberg Code, Tuskegee studies, Trovan® trial in Nigeria; standard of care and

HIV/AIDS research; ethical issues in Ebola Virus Disease epidemic and treatment – ‘Zmapp’

nano silver, etc; ethical issues in genetics and cloning.

MPH 821: Environmental Health and Human Ecology; Disaster and Crisis Management

This course deals with health implications of the interaction between humans and the

environment. It covers topics such as composition of the human environment and its contribution

to health and disease; components of environmental sanitation; water supply and health:

distribution, sources and uses of water; properties of potable water; water standards; test of

potability; water treatment at home and for public supply; water-related diseases. Waste management is also covered: categories of refuse; refuse collection and disposal and associated

problems; seasonal variation in refuse generation; sewage and wastewater collection and

disposal; nature of non-solid wastes; sewage and sullage; collection, disposal and treatment of

wastewater; healthcare waste management. Topics in housing include housing and health;

housing standards; town/ regional/ country planning, including principles of zoning. Food hygiene covers definition and scope of public health objective of food hygiene; food poisoning and other food-borne diseases; problems of food hygiene and safety in Nigeria; food premises; abattoirs and their services; meat inspection and hygiene; canned food hygiene and inspection; common affections of local raw food items in Nigeria. Vectors of public health importance and vector control in Nigeria and vector control will also be taught. Air pollution topics include the importance of clean air; source and control of health pollution; health problems from air pollution. Other topics include road traffic crashes; home accidents. Environmental monitoring, public health laws and organisation and management as Medical Officer of Health will also be covered.

Issues addressed in human ecology in this course include the concepts of biotic and abiotic components of the environment; biodiversity; ecosystem – food chain, food web, producers, consumers and decomposers; human exploitation of the environment (e.g. deforestation, mineral exploration, irrigation, dam construction) and the health implications; climate change; flooding and desertification; urbanisation; greenhouse gases and greenhouse effect; ozone layer depletion.

This course also addresses the study of the different types disasters and crises and their management, highlighting the Nigerian scenario; international response to disaster. Topics in disaster management include definition, nature, objectives and public health aspects of disaster

anagement; disaster preparedness, relief, surveillance and evaluation; the roles of agencies.

MPH 822: Social and Rehabilitative Medicine, Medical Sociology and Community Mental

Health

Social and rehabilitative medicine addresses social welfare needs and services intended to

improve wellbeing and productivity. The topics covered include the development of social welfare services in Nigeria; the underprivileged in the society; deprivation, especially in childhood; adoption, foster care and applicable laws; disability, handicap, impairment; classification and causes of handicaps; destitution: refugees and displaced persons; juvenile delinquency; street children; care of the handicapped; rehabilitation; problems of the elderly physical, psychosocial, psychiatric, economic, etc; care of the elderly; domiciliary care of the elderly; old peoples’ homes; social welfare services in developing (e.g. Nigeria) and developed countries; orphanages; remand homes; prisons; voluntary agencies; social security and social services.

Medical sociology in this course covers the nature of behavioural sciences; concept of

culture and society; definition of health, disease, sickness, illness; family structure and functions;

family systems, marriage types and stability; type of societies; social stratification including the

concept of class and ethnic subcultures; socialisation; personality formation; symbolic interactionism; structure of social action; structure and function of society; role differentiation;

beliefs, values, norms, superstitions, taboos etc; human organisations and systems; community

structure; culture and health – beneficial, harmful and neutral practices; religion and health;

socio-economic status and health; educational status and health; traditional and modern health

systems; recreation, sleep; health behaviour and illness behaviour; doctor-patient relationship as

an illustration of healthcare provider-patient relationship; working population, unemployment,

retirement; dependency; social security; social deviance; alcoholism; smoking; drug/substance

abuse and dependence.

Community mental health in this course covers classification, causes, common presentations, prevention and control of mental disorders in different community settings and at

primary health care level; traditional and religious mental health services; mental health of a

community; mental stress in disease; crime, violence, drug abuse and mental health; community

mental health services; epidemiology, prevention and control of mental illness in Nigeria.

MPH 823: Occupational Health

The course covers the history, scope, approach and methods of occupational health; the

work environment; positive and negative interactions between work and health; types, functions

and organisation of occupational health services; identification, classification and control of

occupational hazards; occupational risk and safety management; hazards of various occupations

especially in the following industries – agricultural (crop and animal), brewery, petrochemical,

construction, automobile, security/military/paramilitary, health, and education and in executives:

specific effects of specific occupational disease agents; occupational lung diseases; industrial

toxicology (occupational poisons); occupational cancers; hazards of radiations; industrial

medical examination; industrial health notification and prescribed diseases; industrial legislations – labour law, Employee’s Compensation Act, Occupational Safety and Health Conventions and

Recommendation, etc; national and international regulations and conventions related to

occupational health; factors determining compliance with industrial conventions, regulations and

legislations; industrial rehabilitation; biological and environmental monitoring, etc.

MPH 824: Reproductive and Family Health

This course addresses themes on reproductive and family health problems and interventions. It deals with family structure and functions; the concept and general principles of

family health; an overview of health needs of family members; public health geriatrics infertility; family planning and contraception; family planning programmes – policy, planning implementation and evaluation; biological, social, cultural, economic, behavioural, health- system-related and other determinants of maternal and child morbidity and mortality in vertical and integrated terms; human sexuality; male involvement in reproductive health; organisation of

reproductive and family health services at primary, secondary and tertiary levels; history and

development of school health globally and in Nigeria; adolescent sexual and reproductive health:

school health programme; policies and programmes in maternal health services; traditional practices and health of mothers and children; maternal and child health and millennium development goals; men’s health- ca prostate, male infertility.

MPH 825: Public Health Nutrition

This course is designed to expose students to the study of food and nutrition at public

health level. Themes covered include definition and classification of nutrients; foods security and

nutrition security; global food security and climate change; classification of nutrients:

recommended dietary allowances; food sources and common dietary patterns; infant feeding

practices; breastfeeding; National Breastfeeding Policy and Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative:

factors affecting food and nutrition – cultural, educational, economic, medical, political,

geographical, etc; assessment of nutritional status of individuals, households and populations;

nutrition and infection; organisation of food and nutrition programmes; local and international

organisations involved in food and nutrition programmes; roles of different levels of government in nutrition promotion; global food crises – causes and consequences; food and nutrition in disaster situations; macronutrient and micronutrient deficiencies – types, causes, global and local patterns, complications and management; nutritional syndromes of public health importance; food fortification; nutrition and chronic diseases; diets in the aetiology and management of diseases.

MPH 826: Microbiology; Public Health Laboratory Practice and Services

This course provides the student with skills to initiate and participate in public health

laboratory practice and services and to translate the findings to usable public health decision.

Aspects of core interest include medical microbiology, parasitology, arthropods of public health

importance and water analysis.

The course also covers museum studies in public health in which students are expected to

recognise and discuss the importance of objects and events of public health interest across different subspecialties and teaching areas.

MPH 827: Health Economics

Basic concepts in economics; unique features of health and the health industry in the

context of economics, e.g. inelasticity of demand; interrelationships between health, healthcare

and the economy; economic and social determinants of health; poverty and health; willingness to

nay and willingness to enrol for health services: choice of health services; healthcare financing

including health insurance with highlights on local regional and global trends; National Health

Insurance Scheme; financial resource management and cost recovery systems; economic evaluation of health services and programmes including cost-benefit analyses; allocation of resources to health in national, state and local government budgets; economics of health systems

development; millennium development goals: health needs assessment; cost analysis in health

care; essentials of budgeting; book keeping and accounting; research methods in health economics.

MPH 828: Health Policy, Planning and Management

This course examines policy the policy process, planning, implementation and evaluation

as applicable to health services and the health sector. It covers the historical evolution of health

policy in Nigeria; theories and models of public policy; modern concepts and elements of management; levels of management; stages of management – planning, implementation and

evaluation; fundamental management functions; the management environment; planning cycle,

and the health planning process; health human resource planning and development;

implementation – organising, staffing, leading and controlling; human resource management;

monitoring and evaluation during and after planning and implementation; indicators in health

evaluation; quality management in healthcare (total quality management); SWOT analysis and

SWOT matrix; organisation of health services – assessment of needs and resources, inputs, processes, outputs; levels of health care and their roles; referral system; National Health Policy

of Nigeria.

MPH 829: Field Practicum

The practicum is a 12-week supervised practice-based learning in an institution approved

by the department as having sufficient health programmes and activities sufficient in standard

and magnitude for a master’s degree practicum. Alternatively, an institution may be thus approved if its setting permits an innovative and beneficial introduction of health programmes and activities by a candidate adjudged to possess sufficient skills, experience, competence and resources to do so. The practicum comes up during the second semester of the first year of the programme for all students. Part-time students may defer their practicum to the second year of the programme. The practicum will be scored by an assigned supervisor, guided by valid log- book records and a satisfactorily written report.

MPH 899: Dissertation

Every student is expected to conduct a dissertation in any area of interest in public health.

B MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH IN REPRODUCTIVE AND FAMILY HEALTH

A. ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

The following two requirements must be met:

a. A first degree in a health-related science, not below 2nd Class.

b. Evidence of public health experience

c. A certificate of completion of or exemption from the National Youth Service Corps.

(Foreign students are exempted from this requirement).

Applicants may be required to sit for a qualifying entrance examination conducted by the

Department.

B. PROGRAMME DURATION

The programme will run in two forms – a 24-month full-time programme and an option of a 48-month part-time programme. The components of the programme are coursework (including a practicum) and dissertation/thesis. The coursework and synopses are described in additional sections below. The proposal for the dissertation/thesis is expected to be completed by the end of the first semester of the programme. The programme components and durations are outlined in Table 1.

C. CONDITIONS FOR GRADUATION

To graduate, candidates must pass all of the following.

A written examination for each course at the end of the respective semesters. A written examination is not required for the practicum which will be scored as described in the appropriate section below.
An oral defence for the completed dissertation thesis, in line with Postgraduate School guidelines.
NOTE that both full-time and part-time students are required to have passes all courses before they can defend their dissertation/thesis.

D. CONDITIONS FOR REPEAT AND WITHDRAWAL

A student who fails a course in any year must re-register for the course in the following year, if eligible.

A full-time student who fails to meet any of the following conditions shall be required to withdraw from the programme:

A minimum of 10 credits at the end of the first semester of the programme.
A minimum of 20 credits at the end of the second semester of the first year of the programme.
Completion of the programme in a maximum of 24 months (4 semesters).

A part-time student who fails to meet any of the following conditions shall be required to withdraw from the programme:

a. A minimum of 10 credits at the end of the first year of the programme.

b. A minimum of 20 credits at the end of the second year of the programme.

c. Completion of the programme in a maximum 48 months (8 semesters).

E. EVALUATION AND GRADING PROCEDURE

The evaluation and grading shall be done using the following scale (Table 2). A student must score a minimum of 50% (C grade) to pass a course. The course assessment will be based on 30% continuous assessment and 70% examination.

Table 2: Evaluation and Grading

Alphabetical Percentage Value interpretation

Grade

A 70 – 100 Excellent

B 60 – 69 Very Good

C 50 – 59 Pass

D 0- 49 Fail

F. COURSEWORK

The coursework lasts for two semesters. The details are shown in Tables 3 and 4.

Table 3: First Semester

Course Code Course Title L T P CU

MRH 811 Family Structure and Functions; Geriatrics 2 0 0 2

MRH 812 Maternal Morbidity and Mortality; Selected 2 0 0 2

Morbidities of Women

MRH 813 Child Morbidity and Mortality; Selected Morbidities 2 0 0 2

of Children

MRH 814 Health Services and Control Programmes in 2 0 0 2

Reproductive and Family Health

МPH 812 Biostatistics 2 0 0 2

МPH 813 General Epidemiology 2 0 0 2

MPH 816 Health Promotion, Health Education and Social 2 0 0 2

Mobilisation

MPH 817 Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods; 2 0 0 2

Research Ethics

MPH 818 Demography 2 0 0 2

Elective courses (one required)

MPH 815 Primary Health Care 2 0 0 2

MPH 831 Health Informatics and Computers in Public Health 2 0 0 2

Practice

MPH 832 Health and Development; Health Project 2 0 0 2

Management

TOTAL 20

Table 4: Second Semester

Course Code Course Title L T P CU

MRH 821 Human Sexuality 2 0 0 2

MRH 822 Adolescent Reproductive Health; School Health 2 0 0 2

MRH 823 Gender Equity and Equality; Men’s Health 2 0 0 2

MRH 824 Legislations, Conventions, Policies and Ethics Related

to Reproductive and Family Health 2 0 0 2

МRH 825 Field practicum 2 0 0 2

МPH 825 Public Health Nutrition 2 0 0 2

MPH 827 Health Economics 2 0 0 2

MPH 828 Health Policy, Planning and Management 2 0 0 2

MRH 899 Dissertation/Thesis 2 0 0 2

TOTAL 20

GRAND TOTAL = 40 CREDIT UNITS

COURSE SYNOPSES

MRH 811: Family Structure and Functions; Geriatrics

This course exposes students to the structures and functions of families, including the

differences across cultures; types of marriages; divorce and remarriage; types of families;

evolving trends in types of marriages and family settings; roles of women, men, and children;

adoption and fostering; family income and expenditure; power structure and dynamics, including

decision-making, in the home; cultural factors and practices related to sex, reproduction and the

family; bereavement. The course will also include theoretical and practical components of

responsible parenthood.

Geriatrics in this course covers definitions of the elderly the aged etc; ageing and life

course; planning for ageing; family and community roles of the elderly; the elderly and African

cultures; problems of the elderly – physical, psychological, social, psychiatric, economic, etc.

Care of the elderly will cover the public health aspects of domiciliary care of the elderly; hospital

care of the elderly; management of geriatric health services; old peoples’ homes; social welfare

services for the elderly; health workers working with family members to provide domiciliary and

hospital-based care; control programmes targeted at the elderly; care of the dying elderly.

MRH 812: Maternal Morbidity and Mortality; Selected Morbidities of Women

This course addresses the application of epidemiological, clinical and social principles to

maternal health, morbidity and mortality, including their rates/ratios. It covers physical, biological, social, cultural, economic, behavioural, health-system-related and other determinants

of maternal health and maternal death, in vertical and integrated terms; household, community,

multidisciplinary, multisectoral, intergovernmental and international approaches to the reduction

of maternal deaths; underage pregnancy; phases of delay model as an example of a model for studying the determinants of maternal death; safe motherhood initiative. Male involvement reproductive health: fewness of male methods of family planning; male involvement in reduction of maternal morbidity and deaths in different settings – contraception, pregnancy, delivery, breastfeeding, child care, etc; inter-partner communication on sexual, reproductive and family health; barriers and solutions to male involvement. Women in conflict situations will be addressed in local and global contexts. Other topics include maternal health and millennium development goals in developing countries, including Nigeria.

Epidemiology and control of the following will also be covered – sexually transmitted

infections, spontaneous and induced abortions; pelvic inflammatory disease, cancers affecting

women e.g. ca cervix and ca breast; obstetric fistulae; female genital cutting.

MRH 813: Child Morbidity and Mortality; Selected-Morbidities of Children

This course addresses the health of children and the application of epidemiological

principles to newborn, infant and child morbidity and mortality including their rates/ratios. It

focuses on the physical, biological, social, cultural, economic, behavioural, health-system-related

and other determinants of newborn, infant and child death, in vertical and integrated terms. This

understanding will be used as a framework for studying household, community, multidisciplinary, multisectoral, intergovernmental and international approaches to the reduction

of child deaths. Examples of specific topics to be covered include the healthy child (social,

mental, physical, etc); common childhood morbidities; causes of childhood mortality; prevention

and control of child morbidity and mortality; children in conflict situations in local and global

contexts; child health and millennium development goals in developing countries, including

Nigeria.

Epidemiology and control of the following will be covered – neonatal sepsis, malaria

tuberculosis, lower respiratory tract infections, sickle cell disease, malnutrition (covered in

separate course) diarrhoeal diseases, vaccine-preventable diseases, congenital heart diseases,

Down’s syndrome, skin infections, etc.

MRH 814: Health Services and Control Programmes in Reproductive and Family Health

This course provides an overview of health services in reproductive and family health. It

further provides learning in the following categories of care – preconception, antenatal, delivery

postnatal, neonatal, child, post-abortion, etc; infertility and intervention options, including

assisted reproduction; individual strategies in “child survival strategies”; the public health

aspects of these services will be highlighted; key services (e.g. emergency obstetric care) to

reduce maternal deaths.

The course also covers reviews and critiques of historical and contemporary control

programmes in reproductive and family heath and provides an opportunity for students to learn

skills to develop control programmes in reproductive and family health. Under supervision.

students are required to go through the archives of local (state), national and international

institutions and other sources to identify current and past control programmes. Maternal

Newborn and Child Health Week, Midwives Service Scheme and sterile disposable delivery

pack (‘mama’s kit’) will be reviewed.

Community-level and urban-rural disparity in reproductive and family health services

will be highlighted.

MPH 812: Biostatistics

This course deals with numeracy in medicine and health care, including vital, descriptive

and analytic statistics.

Descriptive statistics covers types of data – quantitative/qualitative, ungrouped/grouped

and discrete/continuous; scales of measurement and their implications for statistical

methodologies; methods of data presentation – numerical and diagrammatic; measures of central

tendency (location) – arithmetic and geometric means, median, mode; measures of dispersion –

range, variance, standard deviation, coefficient of variation; measures of partition – quartiles,

deciles and percentiles; types of distribution

Poisson; application of normal distribution to the screening of individuals; sources of health data

including their strengths and weaknesses.

Analytic statistics covers probability theory and rules and their applications; the standard

normal curve – its description, equation and; sampling methods – probability and non-probability

methods; statistical inferences; the null and alternative hypotheses; sampling errors; hypothesis

testing; statistical errors in tests of significance; parametric and non-parametric tests; level of

significance and level of confidence; point estimates – (e.g. p values, odds ratios, relative risks)

and interval estimates (e.g. confidence intervals); the standard normal curve; standard error of

the mean and standard error of proportion; Z distribution and Z tests for the difference between

means and the difference between proportions; t-tests; chi-squared tests for the difference

between proportions, the goodness-of-fit test and McNemar test; analysis of variance (ANOVA);

Wilcoxon signed rank sum test for paired data; Mann-Whitney U test for unpaired data;

Kolmogorov-Smirnov two-sample test; power and sample size estimations; standardisation of

uniform, binomial, normal, skewed, log-normal, risk estimation; correlation; linear and logistic regression analyses; survival analysis, including the construction of a Kaplan-Meier estimate of survival function that describes the survival experience’ of a cohort of subjects; interpretation of the results of a log-rank test in the context of comparing the “survival experience’ of multiple cohorts; use and abuse of statistical methods in biomedical literature.

MPH 813: General Epidemiology

General epidemiology in this course is aimed at guiding the student into the knowledge of

epidemiological principles as a framework for understanding their uses and applications to

health-related states, especially the control and prevention of diseases and injuries. It covers in

details the study of the frequency, distribution, determinants and deterrents of diseases and

health-related states in human populations and the application of these in disease control and to

promote, protect and restore wellbeing. Examples of specific topics covered in this respect

include the definition, scope, uses and achievements of epidemiology; measurements in

epidemiology (epidemiologic methods) – counts, proportions, percentages, rates, ratios; disease

distribution; morbidity and mortality statistics; biologic determinants of disease (epidemiological

triad) – agent, transmission and host; other determinants (behavioural, social, economic,

political, legal, environmental, occupational, etc); methods of disease control and the

establishment of control programmes; investigation and control of epidemics; disease prevention

– levels and strategies; disease screening definition, types and criteria; validity (sensitivity,

specificity, positive and negative predictive values) and accuracy of screening tests; surveillance

and response (notification); descriptive, analytical and experimental epidemiology;

epidemiological study designs – observational and experimental, and their subtypes; potential

errors in epidemiological studies – random and systematic errors; confounding; concept of

causation in epidemiology – sufficient and necessary causes, single and multiple causes, causal

factors, interaction, hierarchy of causes; criteria for establishing causation – causal inference as

elaborations of Bradford Hill’s criteria; inductive and deductive reasoning; epidemiological

transition.

MPH 815: Primary Health Care

This course examines the history and development of primary health care (PHC),

including the Alma Ata Declaration. It covers the history, philosophy, development and scope of

PHC; components of PHC – international and national (Nigeria); principles of PHC – equity,

appropriate technology, community mobilisation, community participation, intersectoral

collaboration, self-reliance, etc. It also addresses the stages and processes involved in

establishing and re-establishing a PHC system; PHC health services and health facilities;

integrated health services; ward minimum health package; human resources in PHC – training,

roles and responsibilities; management of PHC at all levels; the Medical Officer of Health (PHC

Coordinator); Bamako initiative; PHC and the National Health Policy of Nigeria; referral

services; PHC implementation in Nigeria – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

MPH 816: Health Promotion, Health Education and Social Mobilisation

This course deals with the nature, scope and methods of health promotion including health education. Health promotion addresses the empowerment of the total population to take

control of their health and improve it. The course covers health promotion actions/strategies –

building healthy. public policy, creating supportive environments, strengthening community

actions, development of personal skills and reorientation of health services; Ottawa Charter for

Health Promotion; National Health Promotion Policy.

Health education in this course covers the definition of health education and the evolution

of contemporary terminologies in health education – behaviour change communication,

behaviour change intervention, and information, education and communication, etc; individual,

group and mass health education methods, including social networks; audiovisual media and

technology in health care; counselling – strategies, techniques, micro-skills and stages and

qualities and attributes of a good counsellor; theories and models of communication and

behaviour change; the health communication process; knowledge, attitude and practice;

management of health education programmes; HIV counselling and testing.

The course also covers group development and group dynamics; community theories:

community development; social mobilisation; community mobilisation and community

participation; communication strategies for social mobilisation; social marketing strategies

advocacy.

MPH 817: Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods; Research Ethics

This course is designed to improve the students’ ability to carry out research. Topics to be

covered include development of proposals; types of research investigations; general and specific

purposes of research; the research process; research problem/research question; objectives:

review of relevant literature; study design; sample size and power; sampling methods; data

management – collection, collation, presentation, analysis; reporting results; discussion/

interpretation of results; conclusion and recommendation; report writing.

This course also covers qualitative research methods; such as focus group discussions:

key informant interviews; in-depth interviews; free listing interviews; participant observation

(ethnographic) methods; mystery client trials; the Delphi technique; reporting and analysing

results in qualitative research; mixed methods.

Research ethics themes covered include definition and classification of ethics: introduction to foundation theories – value ethics, virtue ethics, deontologism, utilitarianism,

principlism; protection of research participants including case studies e.g. Nazi

experiments/Nuremberg Code, Tuskegee studies, Trovan® trial in Nigeria; standard of care and

HIV/AIDS research; ethical issues in Ebola Virus Disease epidemic and treatment – ‘Zmapp’,

nano silver, etc; principlism – respect for autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice;

requirements for ethical research; research protocols; research integrity; National Code of Health

Research Ethics; international research; international codes of research ethics; ethical review of

research proposals.

Proposal writing skills will also be taught.

MPH 819: Demography

Demography in this course introduces students to the structure, size and dynamics in

populations as a basic science for understanding public health. Areas covered include censuses;

vital statistics; structure, size and changes in populations (population dynamics – births, deaths,

migration) including their measurements and determinants; sources and uses of demographic

data; life expectancies; population theory; population pyramids; demographic transition;

dependency ratios; population projection: policy implications of demographic profiles;