ASSESSMENT OF THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS STRATEGIES IN THE PREVENTION OF TUBERCULOSIS AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN SUB URBAN COMMUNITIES IN LAGOS STATE

ABSTRACT This study investigated the assessment of the millennium development goals strategies in the prevention of Tuberculosis among adolescents in Sub-urban communities in Lagos State. Four research questions and four hypotheses were formulated for this study. The descriptive survey research design was adopted in the study. The population of the study comprised of all adolescents aged 10–19 years residing in selected sub-urban communities of Lagos State. Three hundred (300) participants were randomly selected in the suburban communities, Lagos State. A questionnaire containing 25 items was a major instrument used for data collection. The questionnaire was divided into two sections: A and B. Cronbach alpha test of reliability was used to determine the reliability coefficient of the instrument to be 0.74. The method adopted in analyzing the data collected for this research work was descriptive statistics of mean, standard deviation and percentage for testing the demographic data and inferential statistics of Chi-square (x2) was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Based on the findings of the study; hypothesis one found that Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS) strategy have a significant difference on the prevention of the spread of tuberculosis among adolescents in Lagos State at (x2 = .000; p < 0.05); hypothesis two found that health awareness and education programs have a significant difference in preventing the spread of tuberculosis among adolescents in Lagos State at (x2 = .002; p < 0.05); hypothesis three found that regular monitoring and evaluation activities have a significant difference in preventing the spread of tuberculosis among adolescents in Lagos State at (x2 = .001; p < 0.05); hypothesis four found that health collaborations and partnerships have a significant difference in preventing the spread of tuberculosis among adolescents in Lagos State at (x2 = .011; p < 0.05). Based on the conclusion of this study, the following recommendations were made that; government health authorities and health practitioners should increase efforts to expand DOTS coverage, particularly targeting adolescents in both urban and rural settings; health authorities and educational institutions should collaborate to develop and implement consistent, culturally sensitive health education programs tailored to adolescents. Word Count: 351 Keywords: Adolescents, Assessment, Communities, Millenium Development Goals Strategies, Tuberculosis, Sub-Urban.