A medical service for children under five years of age in West Africa

Abstract
Summary 1) A description is given of an out-patient medical service for children under 5 years of age in Nigeria. In describing the background against which this work was done, special emphasis is laid on a knowledge of the child-rearing customs of the people and their possible effects on the health of the children. 2) The results of a longitudinal study of village children were used in assessing the mortality and morbidity, and served as a basis for designing an Under-Fives' out-patient Clinic. This clinic is concerned with the prevention of malnutrition, malaria, measles, whooping cough, smallpox, and tuberculosis, and with providing early treatment for respiratory, intestinal and skin infections. The methods for combating each of these conditions are briefly described. 3) The clinic is designed so that it is inexpensive to run and provides care for large numbers of children. Most of the work is performed by locally trained nurses, with a doctor or health visitor available to whom the nurse can bring very sick children or children with conditions unfamiliar to her. 4) Finally an attempt is made to estimate the cost of the Under-Fives' Clinic and assess the results achieved.

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