The objectives of this study were to determine the cost of a prescribed treatment plan; to compare the costs in an academic hospital cost with that of private pharmacy; and to determine the average treatment cost per visit. The descriptive, retrospective study that investigated the cost implications of the treatment of five oral lesions associated with HIV/AIDS: oral candidiasis, oral hairy leukoplakia, periodontal diseases, oral ulcers and Kaposi's sarcoma. One hundred and twenty four cases with oral HIV lesions were selected from the list of 181 HIV patients listed in the attendance registers of three hospitals in the selected study sites. A data capture sheet was used to obtain information related to diagnosis, investigations done, staging of the disease, treatment plan and treatment outcome. None of the patients were on antiretroviral therapy. The association between the number of hospital visits and the total cost of treatment was significant (p < 0.05). Also, there was a significant negative relationship between the outcome of treatment and the total hospital costs (p < 0.05). The lower the hospital treatment cost, the better the outcome. There was no significant association between staging of the disease and the hospital cost (p > 0.05), but the CD4 count significantly influenced the hospital cost (p<0.05). The average hospital treatment and private pharmacy cost was 207.06 and 357.85 rands respectively (16.21 euros and 28.02 euros respectively). There is a need to evaluate the current treatment protocols, as some treatments may be ineffective. Governments should endeavour to provide antiretroviral and other relevant drugs, at no cost, to HIV/AIDS patients.

The objective of this study was to determine the oral health status and needs of people living with HIV/AIDS(PLWHA) in Ife-Ijesa zone, Nigeria. Materials and methods: An anonymous, administered questionnaire survey
among 209 PLWHA who provided informed, written consent was conducted. Information on socio-demographics,
perceived oral health status and professional care obtained. Clinical oral examinations were conducted using a dental
explorer and mirror in natural daylight. The oral examinations were carried out to determine, presence of oral HIV
lesions, normative needs-oral hygiene and periodontal status, restorative and surgical needs. Results: There was a
statistically significant relationship between the presence of an oral HIV lesion and perceived oral health status.
Patients that reported the need for oral health care are more than those of medical needs (p<0.05). The oral health
needs increased as the clinical stage of the disease advanced (p<0.05). There was poor oral health status among the
PLWHA and their needs were routine. Conclusions: The oral health status of the examined PLWHAs was poor. The
normative and the perceived oral health evaluation were not in agreement in this study. The normative oral health
care needs of PLWHAs are not complex and hence district oral health care centres should be equipped to meet these
needs.

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of the oral manifestations of HIV/AIDS and to correlate the prevalence of these lesions with the stages of the disease in the Ife-Ijesa zone, Nigeria. No comprehensive data were available for correlating it with the staging of HIV/AIDS in this region.The pattern of oral HIV lesions as classified by the EC-Clearinghouse was studied in 225 confirmed consecutive HIV-infected patients in this zone.
Clinical dental examinations were conducted under natural daylight on all consenting HIV patients, sitting in an upright chair, using dental mirrors and probes.
The prevalence of oral HIV lesions was 84.0%, with lesions ranging in number from one to six. The commonest HIV lesion was pseudo-membranous candidiasis (43.1%) followed by erythematous candidiasis (28.9%), angular cheilitis (28.9%), linear gingival erythema (24.0%) and ulcerations (8.9%). Lesions less commonly found were oral hairy leukoplakia (1.3%) and salivary gland swellings (1.3%). Heterosexual intercourse was the most common mode of transmission (94.7%) and HIV-1 (96.9%) the most prevalent pathogen among the study population. The majority of the patients were in the WHO clinical stage III (59.1%) and presented late.
The prevalence of oral HIV lesions in the present study was high.

The study investigated the relationship between gender and knowledge, attitude and practice of infection control among oral health care workers in the management of patients with HIV/AIDS in Osun State of Nigeria. It was a cross-sectional survey using 85 oral Health care workers (OHCWs) enlisted in the public dental health clinics. A self-administered questionnaire was designed and used for data collection. A total of 85 questionnaires were distributed. The response rate was 93%; 42 (53%) were males and 37 (47%) females. The majority of the respondents were in the 25-40 year old age group and the mean age was 37.3 years. This study found significant differences in gender and ability to identify HIV/AIDS oral manifestations (p<0.001) and recognition of HIV/AIDS risk factors (p<0.001). There was statistically significant gender difference and infection control practices (p=0.02) among the OHCWs. Males were more compliant to the universal cross-infection control principle than the female respondents. A significant association (p< 0.001) was found between OHCW gender and their attitude to the management of HIV/AIDS patients with males showing a better attitude towards the care of HIV/AIDS patients. This study shows that there are significant gender difference in attitudes, behaviour and practices of OHCW with males faring better than the females. National AIDS Control Programme, Health Control bodies, Health educators and other organizations should make efforts to improve the attitude and practice of oral health care workers regarding the management of patients with HIV/AIDS.

This study set out to determine the self-reported unmet health needs of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in a Nigerian population.A prospective study conducted among consecutive 209 consenting PLWHA in the South-western Nigeria; who sought for care in the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals complex, Ile-Ife and General Hospital, Ilesa were recruited. Participants completed a comprehensive survey seeking information to determine their unmet needs in the following areas: Medication, Dental, Mental, Home care, Hospital admission, access to antiretroviral therapy and emergency services.
One or more unmet needs were reported by 79.4% of the sample. Needs for medication, home-based care and mental care were more likely to be unmet. There was a statistically significant relationship between unmet needs and living arrangements (p < 0.05).
Perceived oral health status was the factor that best predicted the unmet need. Perceived oral health status of these patients should be improved to reduce the level of the unmet needs.

This study set out to determine the self-reported unmet health needs of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in a Nigerian population.A prospective study conducted among consecutive 209 consenting PLWHA in the South-western Nigeria; who sought for care in the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals complex, Ile-Ife and General Hospital, Ilesa were recruited. Participants completed a comprehensive survey seeking information to determine their unmet needs in the following areas: Medication, Dental, Mental, Home care, Hospital admission, access to antiretroviral therapy and emergency services.
One or more unmet needs were reported by 79.4% of the sample. Needs for medication, home-based care and mental care were more likely to be unmet. There was a statistically significant relationship between unmet needs and living arrangements (p < 0.05).
Perceived oral health status was the factor that best predicted the unmet need. Perceived oral health status of these patients should be improved to reduce the level of the unmet needs.

Objective: To determine the coping ability of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) across demographic variations of gender, duration of living with HIV infection, marital status and living arrangements either with the family or alone.Method: The research design adopted in this study was descriptive survey. The population consisted of all PLWHA in Nigeria. The sample comprised of 117 PLWHA attending clinic regularly at General Hospital Ilesa, Osun State, Nigeria. The subjects had all been exposed to voluntary counselling and testing (VCT). Only those who consented participated in the study. A structured questionnaire developed for the purpose of this research was used to collect data.
Result: Marital status, living arrangements and gender do not significantly influence coping ability of the PLWHAs (p>0.05); however duration of living with the infection had significant influence on the coping ability of PLWHAs (p<0.05).
Conclusion: The length of period of living with HIV/AIDS had a significant effect on the coping abilities of PLWHA (p< 0.05). The results also showed no significant difference in the coping ability of PLWHA by gender, marital status and living arrangements (p=0.05). Developing adaptive coping skills to deal with stress of living with HIV/AIDS may be a particularly effective strategy for improving overall health among the study population and not just on the medical needs.

• Limited sunlight reduces plant productivity and foraging activities of pollinators, such as when alien trees shade out native flowering plants. The conservation management response is to remove the impoverishing effect of the alien tree canopy. However, alien trees can provide benefit for certain species when they provide significant scarce resources. We assess how flower-visiting insects respond to shading from young, small-sized, open canopy vs. mature, tall, closed-canopy alien pine trees retained specifically as refuges for certain rare mammals.• We sampled flower–visitor species diversity and interactions at various distances from pine stands of both sizes in a matrix of low sclerophyllous natural vegetation. We sampled flower–visitors using coloured pan traps and estimated flower–visitor interactions and flower diversity.
• Reduction in percentage light reaching the understorey significantly reduced flower abundance, with zero flowers in tall pine understorey. Flower–visitor species composition differed across sampling locations with increasing distance from tall pine understorey. Although pine tree size led to a decline in flower–visitor interaction frequency and network specialisation in all pine tree stands, some bee species that are mostly tree nesters, were observed in unique interactions in association with tall pines only.
• We show that alien pines, especially tall trees, have an impoverishing effect on flowering plants and flower–visitors. However, these trees also confer benefit to specialised groups such as tree-nesting bees. While active alien pine removal is encouraged where the trees are actively invading, maintaining well-contained small stands is of value for two different taxa of conservation concern.

Fire is a major disturbance factor in many terrestrial ecosystems, leading to landscape transformation in fire‐prone areas. Species in mutualistic interactions are often highly sensitive to disturbances like fire events, but the degree and complexity of their responses are unclear. We use bipartite insect–flower interaction networks across a recently burned landscape to explore how plant–pollinator interaction networks respond to a recent major fire event at the landscape level, and where fire refuges were present. We also investigate the effectiveness of these refuges at different elevations (valley to hilltop) for the conservation of displaced flower‐visiting insects during fire events. Then, we explore how the degree of specialization of flower‐visiting insects changes across habitats with different levels of fire impact. We did this in natural areas in the Greater Cape Floristic Region (GCFR) biodiversity hotspot, which is species rich in plants and pollinators. Bees and beetles were the most frequent pollinators in interactions, followed by wasps and flies. Highest interaction activity was in the fire refuges and least in burned areas. Interactions also tracked flower abundance, which was highest in fire refuges in the valley and lowest in burned areas. Interactions consisted mostly of specialized flower visitors, especially in refuge areas. The interaction network and species specialization were lowest in burned areas. However, species common to at least two fire classes showed no significant difference in species specialization. We conclude that flower‐rich fire refuges sustain plant–pollinator interactions, especially those involving specialized species, in fire‐disturbed landscape. This may be an important shelter for specialized pollinator species at the time that the burned landscape goes through regrowth and succession as part of ecosystem recovery process after a major fire event.