ACCESSIBILITY OF HEALTH INFORMATION ON ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE AMONG THE YOUTH ( A CASE STUDY OF MALE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN FEDERAL UNIVERSITY LOKOJA)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
The need for health information can be traced back from ancient information societies. History shows how ancient nomadic people needed health information for prevention, care and cure of diseases. Information is used everywhere on daily basis (Savolainen, 2000). Information use may be considered as the effects which information has on individuals and what it does to the person and his/ her problem or situation (Kari, 2007). Information which a user has to access has to address physical and psychological ailments. Denial of access to information marginalizes people's participation in the modern information era (Lor & Britz, 2007). Miescher & Henrichsen (2004:163) traces African history of health provision by relating how among the activities of the Christian missionary societies since 19th century a high value was also placed on 'health and 'hygiene'. The European missionary societies were pioneers in introducing modern medicines to Africa, and played an essential role in the establishment of health systems. After independence, many African countries gave high political priority to the setting up of fair national health systems (Miescher & Henrichsen, 2004:163). Various UN institutions as well as private relief organisations and charities played an important role of this process and continue to do so. In the midst of that attempts were made to suppress use of traditional medicines; how- ever, there are still a lot of people who are continuing to consult traditional healers (Chavunduka, 1999).
Health systems in various countries comprise hospitals, clinics where health information is accessed through channels such as radio, television and social media. It is essential that African health centres make accessible quality health information irrespective of their social status. The South African government (2000) passed the Promotion of Access to Information Act ("PAIA"), No 2 of 2000 gives effect to the constitutional right of access to any information held by the State and any information that is held by another person and that is required for the exercise or protection of any rights. Information is an essential resource for personal development but spread of the information revolution has moved slowly in some African countries. Stakeholders such as government, Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs), research bodies, institutions of higher learning recognise health information as an important resource or asset and for it to be useful, it must be available, accessible, usable, and absorbed by the recipients of the information (Wagacha, 2007).
Statement of the problem
Health information, attitudes and practices on alcohol and drugs use and its effects on health may be known, but there are limited published materials in the Nigeria context. Also, there are limited surveillance activities to record alcohol consumption, harm and its impact on health. It is for this reason that public health policies on alcohol consumption needs to be introduced (Rwafa, 2015). There are many reasons why young people start drinking and use drugs, such as to increase self-confidence, escape from personal problems and relieve stress, or overcome a poor self-image, or simply to just get drunk (Berkowitz & Perkins, 1986). The International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD) concurs with consequences of different attitudes towards alcohol use vary, but still do not make it reasonable. Considering that studies indicate that the youth as young as 13 years consume alcohol, and it is not known whether the adverse effects thereof are known; this may put the future generation in a vulnerable state unless steps are taken to control the contributing factors to alcohol consumption and use of drugs. Alcohol consumption and drug abuse, especially in high amounts, can cause a lot of health problems such as anxiety, depression, gastrointestinal disorders, a risk factor for some types of cancers and can lead to death. van Heerden, 2017 mentions that alcohol consumption in Nigeria is a high concern and that there are a few people that are aware of the negative effects of excessive alcohol consumption. In Nigeria, high motor vehicle accident-related deaths at a rate of 66.1% have been linked to alcohol consumption, 68% of deaths are due to liver cirrhosis and prevalence of alcohol use disorder at 5.1%, which is above the regional average of 3.3%. These high rates of alcohol consumption contribute to violence, assault and road traffic accidents (The Nigeria police Force, 2013). While there has been a great deal of research on health systems in Africa, the literature still suffers gaps of addressing marginalised groups who fail to access health information. If health information is not accessible it equates to a failure of an individual to efficiently and effectively improve his quality of life.
Objective of the study
This study seeks to assess and describe the Health information status, attitudes and practices of Youths towards alcohol and drug abuse. It is hoped that the conclusions drawn from this study will reveal new and important information that will assist in designing various community education campaigns to educate the public on the effects of high-risk alcohol consumption on their health.
Specific objectives
The following are the specific objectives for the study:
- To assess and determine the health information accessibility status of young adults regarding alcohol and drug abuse.
- To assess and describe attitudes towards alcohol and drug use among young adults.
- To assess and describe behavioural practices toward alcohol and drug use among young adults.
Research Questions
The following research questions guided this study:
- What is the health information accessibility status of undergraduate regarding alcohol and drug abuse in Lokoja?
- What are the attitudes towards alcohol and drug use among undergraduates in Lokoja?
- What are behavioural practices toward alcohol and drug use among undergraduates in Lokoja?
Significance of the study
This study is serving as an alarm blower in creating awareness of risks associated with alcohol and drug abuse, and adverse effects among young adults living in Lokoja, Kogi state. The study will additionally provide baseline information that will serve as a health priority and guide in the health care delivery system. The study findings will be available to stakeholders to assist policymakers and help improve programme implementation.
Definition of key concepts
Alcohol, according to the Centre of Disease Control and Prevention is defined as an organic compound (scientificicaly named ethanol) which is found naturally in some plants such as corn, potatoes, and wheat.
Alcohol consumption, referes to an act of ingesting-typicall orally- a beverage containing ethanol (Collins and Kirouac (2013).
Young adults, these are young people from age 19-30 years (Coomer & Hubbard, 2009).
Chapter layout
The primary goal of this study was to assess the accessibility of health information on alcohol and drug abuse among youths in Lokoja, Kogi state. This thesis is partitioned into five (5) chapters. Chapter 1, presented an overview of the research process. An introduction to alcohol consumption among the youth from a global perspective as well as in the Nigeria context. Furthermore, the chapter discussed the problem statement, purpose, objectives and significance of this research. Chapter 2 literature review, examining what other scholars have done on the same or similar topic. Chapter 3, covers the research design and methodology of this study. The chapter also gives an overview of the instruments used to collect the data, a description of the sampling method and technique and the analysis used.
Chapter 4, presentation of the study findings. It presents a discussion of the results, similarities, differences and gaps, which are then compared with the literature review. Chapter 5 gives the conclusions and recommendations of the study. Limitations of the study are described as well.