This paper examines the factors responsible for the prevalence of begging among the Hausa people and its consequences for beggars, the wider Hausa community, and society at large. The study is motivated by growing concerns about the increasing visibility of begging among Hausa communities and the negative perceptions it has generated regarding their social values, dignity, and culture of self-reliance. Drawing on relevant literature, Islamic teachings, Hausa cultural perspectives, and selected oral literary materials, the study adopts a qualitative approach to examine the causes, persistence, and implications of begging. It employs the Hausa proverbial expression, “Mai rena kaɗan zai dangana da babu” (He who despises what little he has may eventually be left with nothing), as its theoretical point of departure. The findings identify several factors contributing to begging, including orphanhood, poverty, religious misinterpretation, irresponsible marriage and childbearing practices, parental separation, the abuse of the almajiri system, self-indulgence, intergenerational transmission, human trafficking, disability, migration, superstition, and unwillingness to engage in productive activities. The study further identifies factors that sustain the practice, including inadequate religious understanding, weak institutional commitment, social indifference, deliberate exploitation of poverty, and the misrepresentation of religious obligations concerning charity. The consequences of begging are found to extend beyond the individuals involved to affect their families, communities, and society internationally. These include social degradation, exposure to diseases and physical dangers, educational deprivation, exploitation, criminal vulnerability, damage to communal reputation, reduced public willingness to support genuine needy persons, and potential involvement in human trafficking and other transnational crimes. The paper also establishes that, although Islam encourages charity and assistance to the needy, it discourages unnecessary begging and permits it only under specific circumstances. It concludes that addressing the problem requires coordinated intervention by government authorities, religious leaders, community institutions, and the wider public. Such efforts should prioritise poverty reduction, education, rehabilitation, responsible family practices, and sustainable livelihood opportunities. The study recommends further quantitative research to establish the prevalence of begging, determine the relative significance of its identified causes, and measure its effects on beggars and society.

Mentoring is one of the major ways of promoting development of human capacity in nursing profession because it supports academic success and clinical competence in nursing education, but evidence on its organisation, knowledge and utilisation among undergraduate student nurses is limited. This study assessed knowledge and utilisation of mentorship among student nurses in Rivers State University, Port Harcourt. Quantitative cross-sectional descriptive survey was used on a target population of 626 student nurses in Years 2 to 5. A sample of 268 was determined with Taro Yamane’s formula and 10% attrition. Of the 268 questionnaires distributed, 255 were retrieved and analysed (95.1% response rate). Multi-stage sampling was used. Data were collected with a self-structured questionnaire (reliability coefficient 0.82). Data was analysed with SPSS using frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations, chi-square and Pearson correlation at the 0.05 significance level. Respondents were predominantly female (85.5%) and aged 18–25 years (91.8%). Knowledge of mentorship was high (mean = 7.64 ± 0.92). Only 61 (23.9%) had an assigned mentor, while 194 (76.1%) did not, also 67.1% had never met a mentor. Utilization of mentorship was low, (mean = 2.41+¬ 0.83). Study concluded that student nurses have high mentorship knowledge but this was not translated to utilisation. Structured mentor–mentee programme with trained mentors, clear objectives, regular meetings and monitoring is recommended.

Background: Access to safe drinking water, sanitation and handwashing facilities is unequal within Nigeria, but few studies compare local government areas (LGAs) with different levels of WASH compliance. We compared these services between compliant and non-compliant LGAs in Rivers State. Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in four LGAs: Port Harcourt and Akuku-Toru (compliant) and Okrika and Emohua (non-compliant). In total, 422 adults were selected by multi-stage sampling, with a Cochran-based sample allocated in proportion to population, and interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Data were analysed with SPSS version 26 using frequencies, percentages and Pearson’s chi-square test (p < 0.05). Results: Access to safe drinking water was reported by 94.9% of respondents in Port Harcourt, 93.9% in Akuku-Toru, 60.7% in Okrika and 50.0% in Emohua. Access to improved sanitation was 91.0%, 90.9%, 53.6% and 46.2%, and handwashing facilities with soap and water in public places were reported by 89.6%, 90.9%, 42.9% and 34.6%, respectively. Compliant LGAs had significantly higher access to safe drinking water (94.8% vs 55.6%), improved sanitation (91.0% vs 50.0%) and handwashing facilities (89.7% vs 38.9%) than non-compliant LGAs (all p < 0.001). Conclusion: Access to all three services was substantially better in compliant LGAs, with the widest gap in handwashing facilities. Closing these gaps in Okrika, Emohua and similar LGAs will require strengthening local WASH institutions as well as infrastructure.

Background: Abattoir work exposes workers to physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic and psychosocial hazards, yet evidence from Port Harcourt that links hazard exposure to compliance with safety practices is limited. This study assessed the occupational health hazards experienced by abattoir workers and their compliance with workplace safety practices in selected abattoirs in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 120 workers in three abattoirs (Okuru Ama, Minapu Azuabie and Eze Gbakagbaka Trans-Woji), selected by simple random sampling with proportional allocation. The sample size was calculated with Cochran’s formula and adjusted for 15% attrition. Data were collected in May 2026 with an interviewer-administered structured questionnaire and analysed in SPSS using frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations. Results: The mean age of respondents was 45.0 ± 8.2 years; half worked in cutting and processing, and 58.3% had no specialized occupational health and safety (OHS) training. All respondents (100%) had contact with live animals before slaughter, and 91.7% reported exposure to contaminated water or surfaces. Cuts and lacerations (91.7%), body pain (91.7%) and chemical-related symptoms (98.3%) were widely reported, whereas psychosocial hazards were mostly described as rare (83.3%). Biological hazards had the highest overall exposure score (0.68), followed by ergonomic (0.55) and chemical (0.52) hazards. Compliance was high for avoiding chemical preservatives (100%), keeping a first-aid box (91.7%), inspecting animals before slaughter (83.3%) and using proper waste disposal methods (83.4%). However, only 41.7% always used personal protective equipment (PPE), and only 8.3% each reported receiving OHS training, having a hazard-reporting or emergency system, or being given PPE by their employer. Conclusion: Abattoir workers in Port Harcourt are exposed to several overlapping hazards, led by biological, physical and ergonomic risks, despite high self-reported compliance with basic safety practices. Gaps in training, PPE provision and hazard reporting need to be closed through structured OHS training, employer-supported PPE, non-punitive reporting systems and regular regulatory inspection.

Background: Antimicrobial resistance represents one of the most consequential public health emergencies of the twenty-first century, driven predominantly by the inappropriate and excessive consumption of systemic antibiotics in ambulatory healthcare settings. Acute respiratory tract infections constitute the single most frequent diagnostic indication for outpatient medical consultations worldwide and account for the vast majority of unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions despite their overwhelmingly viral and self-limiting etiology. Although numerous stewardship strategies have been trialed in general practice and family medicine, comparative synthesis of their clinical effectiveness, safety, and behavioural mechanisms remains essential for guiding health policy. Objective: This systematic review aimed to evaluate and qualitatively synthesize evidence from randomized controlled trials investigating the effectiveness and clinical safety of primary care interventions designed to reduce inappropriate overall or broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing for patients presenting with acute respiratory infections. Methods: A comprehensive systematic literature search was conducted across MEDLINE via PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Web of Science to identify randomized controlled trials and cluster randomized controlled trials published in peer-reviewed journals. Eligible studies evaluated clinician-targeted, patient-targeted, diagnostic point-of-care, behavioral, or health-system interventions implemented in primary care practices for acute upper or lower respiratory tract infections compared with usual care or alternative stewardship strategies. Methodological quality was appraised using the revised Cochrane Risk of Bias tool for randomized trials. Due to substantial heterogeneity across intervention modalities and outcome metrics, a structured thematic qualitative data synthesis was performed in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Results: From 2,480 initially identified records, 1,868 unique citations were screened after deduplication, 74 full-text articles were evaluated for eligibility, and nine landmark randomized controlled trials encompassing more than 440,000 patient consultations across Europe and North America were included in the final qualitative synthesis. Point-of-care C-reactive protein testing and enhanced clinician communication skills training demonstrated pronounced, synergistic reductions in antibiotic prescribing ranging from 31% to 62% relative risk reductions. Shared decision-making training programs and delayed antibiotic prescribing strategies reduced patient antibiotic consumption by 25% to 64% compared with immediate prescribing. Multifaceted educational outreach, peer academic detailing with personalized audit and feedback, and behavioral economics nudges such as accountable justification and peer comparison significantly reduced both overall inappropriate prescribing and broad-spectrum antimicrobial selection without increasing hospital admissions, suppurative bacterial complications, or unplanned reconsultations. Conclusion: Multifaceted primary care interventions that combine diagnostic uncertainty reduction, structured clinician-patient communication, delayed prescribing safety nets, and socially anchored audit and feedback safely and substantially reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory infections.

In the Southwestern border region of Vietnam, Theravada Buddhism has long been the spiritual backbone and cultural bedrock of the ethnic Khmer community, shaping religious practice, interpersonal relations, family life, and collective identity. The article discusses the dialectical mechanism of influence and maintenance of the moral views of the Khmer people in Tri Ton commune, An Giang province through Theravada Buddhism in the setting of a high concentration of Khmer people, 14 Theravada pagodas and the existence of multi-ethnic groups including Kinh and Hoa. The study uses theoretical perspectives of dialectical and historical materialism, ethical philosophy and sociology of religion and employs a fully mixed-method research design. It uses structured questionnaire survey with 200 randomly selected lay residents, semi-structured in-depth interviews with 12 key informants comprising Buddhist monks, temple leaders (Achar), community elders and parents, and direct participant observation during religious ceremonies and communal work activities. The results show that Theravada Buddhist teachings about Kamma and personal responsibility, compassion and non-harm, the Five Precepts, and the path of self-purification are not abstract or imposed from the outside. Instead, they are mediated, interpreted, and continuously reinforced through four interlocking institutional channels: the pagoda (wat), the monastic order (Sangha), the extended family, and traditional hamlet–village structures (phum–srok). Through a four-stage cycle of reception, institutional mediation, internalization, and lived embodiment, these ethical principles are transformed from shared teachings into deeply held personal convictions and consistent patterns of daily behavior.Despite mounting pressures from out-migration, economic restructuring, and generational change, the study reveals remarkably high normative consensus across all measured dimensions, suggesting that Theravada Buddhist ethics remain a vital and resilient spiritual anchor. The research concludes by affirming the decisive role of community-based institutions in moral transmission and offers practical implications for cultural preservation, social cohesion, and inclusive development in Vietnam’s multi-ethnic borderlands.

Background: Performance in long-distance running depends on scientifically planned training delivered within a supportive coaching and organisational system, yet evidence on how such systems operate in South Asian countries is scarce. Objective: To identify coaching-related problems affecting national-level long-distance track athletes in Bangladesh, as perceived by athletes, coaches and athletics officials, and to derive evidence-informed remedies. Methods: A cross-sectional convergent mixed-methods design was used. Thirty long-distance athletes (3000 m to 10,000 m) completed a structured questionnaire, ten long-distance coaches completed a parallel questionnaire, and ten officials of the Bangladesh Athletics Federation and affiliated clubs were interviewed. Four training sessions and the associated facilities were observed with a checklist. Proportions are reported with 95% Wilson confidence intervals (CI); open-ended data were summarised descriptively and integrated with the quantitative results. Results: All athletes were coached exclusively by men. Although 80.0% (95% CI 62.7–90.5) trusted their coach’s ability, only 10.0% (3.5–25.6) had taken part in planning their own training and only 10.0% (3.5–25.6) had undergone any entry test. Most athletes perceived poor coordination between coaches and administrators (86.7%, 70.3–94.7), and 73.3% (55.6–85.8) intended to move to another discipline. Economic reward was the most common motive for choosing a long-distance event (18 of 27 respondents, 66.7%). Among coaches, six of ten held only a diploma, nine planned training alone, and eight reported that club officers recruited athletes, mainly on the basis of competition results. None of the observed sessions was guided by a written training plan, and facilities, equipment and accommodation were predominantly rated poor. Conclusion: Coaching problems in Bangladeshi long-distance running are systemic rather than individual, spanning coach education, talent identification, athlete involvement, facilities and inter-organisational coordination. Coordinated reforms across these domains, rather than isolated interventions, are required.