title: Management of paediatric illnesses by patent and proprietary medicine vendors in Nigeria.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In Nigeria and elsewhere, informal drug sellers, or patent and proprietary medicine vendors (PPMVs), are a common source of care for children with malaria, diarrhoea, and pneumonia. However, their knowledge and stocking of recommended treatments for these common childhood illnesses are not well understood.
  
  
  METHODS
  A census of PPMV shops was conducted in Kogi and Kwara states. A shop survey was conducted on a subset of 250 shops. Multivariate regression analysis was used to assess associations between shop worker characteristics and (1) knowledge of optimal treatments for malaria, diarrhoea, and pneumonia, and (2) stocking of essential medicines to treat these illnesses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From the census, 89.9% of shops stocked oral rehydration solution (ORS), while 61.1% of shops stocked artemisinin-based combination therapies and 72.2% of shops stocked amoxicillin. Stocking patterns varied by state, urban/rural location, and according to whether or not the shop was headed by someone with formal health training (e.g. having a professional health education degree). In multivariate analyses, selling drugs wholesale and participating in any training in the past year was associated with a higher likelihood of naming the correct treatment for malaria, and having formal health training was associated with stocking ORS. However, few other PPMV characteristics were predictive of correct knowledge of optimal treatments and stocking behaviour.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Many PPMVs lack the knowledge and tools to properly treat common childhood illnesses. PPMV knowledge and selling of essential medicines for these illnesses should be strengthened to improve child health in Nigeria.
authors.affiliation: Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, 550 16th Street, Mission Hall, Global Health & Clinical Sciences Building, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA. emily.treleaven@ucsf.edu.|Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California St., Suite 455, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA. emily.treleaven@ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Treleaven
authors.affiliation: Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, 550 16th Street, Mission Hall, Global Health & Clinical Sciences Building, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA. jenny.liu2@ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, 550 16th Street, Mission Hall, Global Health & Clinical Sciences Building, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA. lisa.prach@ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Prach
authors.affiliation: Society for Family Health, No. 8 Port Harcourt Crescent, Area 11, Garki, Abuja, Nigeria. cisiguzo@sfhnigeria.org.
authors.forename: Chinwoke
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Isiguzo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000930:Antidiarrheals / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003132:Commerce; D003150:Community Health Workers; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000188:drug therapy*; D019468:Disease Management; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008288:Malaria / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009549:Nigeria; D004366:Nonprescription Drugs; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000930:Antidiarrheals; D000962:Antimalarials; D004366:Nonprescription Drugs