CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1.3           Background to the study

Communication and health are interwoven; that is to say that separating health and

communication is a work in futility. The realization of this all important mix results in a healthy

inter-dependence between communication and health. Despite the inseparability, it seems that

many people are still deprived of basic information on certain health issues, especially on

reproductive health. It, therefore, means that knowledge and information is important to healthy

living. A popular adage holds that if you think knowledge is expensive, try ignorance.’’ A state

of not knowing is one which is not desirable for anyone and is more devastating when a woman

does not know. This is because as one of the first teachers of children from home, she is most

likely to transfer this ignorance to her offspring and then this can results more ignorant women

and men in the society. The African continent is blessed with abundant natural, human and

cultural resources yet, Africans remain poor and most of the poor Africans are women. About

half of the world’s population is women who are ideally supposed to contribute half of the

world’s economic, social and political input (Nwiro, 2012). Similarly, other studies confirm that

many women live in ignorance, poverty and with little hope of getting to know what is

happening to their health (Galandanci, Ejembi, Iliyasu, Alagh, and Umar, Mpembeni, 2007).

By the same token, the benefits of good health spread beyond a single healthy

generation. This is particularly important for the poor as they tend to have more children and

fewer resources to invest in the education and health of each child. However, when it is possible

to spread better healthcare and education, most likely, family size declines. Consequently,

children are more likely to escape the cognitive and physical impact of childhood diseases and

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they are likely to do better in school. These children in such an ideal situation are less likely to

suffer disability and impairment in later life and so, are less likely to face costly medical

expenses and are more likely to achieve their earning potential. Then, as healthy adults, they

have more resources to invest in the care, health and education of their own children according to

a proposal by UNICEF (2007).

According to United Nations (2007), the current high-level focus on health by the

international community recognizes this strong relationship between poverty and health. Three of

the eight Millennium Development Goals call for specific health improvements by 2015:

reducing child deaths, reducing maternal mortality and slowing the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria

and tuberculosis. Moreover, health is increasingly viewed as fundamental to the first Millennium

Development Goal and eradication of poverty and extreme hunger. This is partly due to the work

of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (CMH) which demonstrated the link between

health and economic development. Governments and the private sector came together to

establish a Global Fund on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) Tuberculosis(TB)

and Malaria in 2002. In 2003, the G8 countries (France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Japan,

United States, Canada, Russia) reaffirmed their commitment to improve the health of poor

people and to make available the necessary resources.

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have sought to find ways and means of

empowering women in order to assist them to stand up for themselves and achieve better health

condition. The strategic roles of NGOs to provide access to information (ATI) to Nigerian

women, is the process of empowering them to do the right thing towards improving their health

status (Germmill and Abimbola, 2002).

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Adequate health care services are essential for the health of communities. To meet basic

needs, health care providers must be able to respond to all parts of th