A new survey by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, the University of Maryland, and Meta showed that 73.9 per cent of Nigerians were very satisfied or satisfied with life, while 91.4 per cent of them reported having good, very good, or excellent health.
The survey tagged “Pandemic Recovery Survey” was carried out in 20 other countries based on geographic spread and Facebook active user base.
Other countries where the survey was carried out are Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam.
Data were collected through a stratified random sampling approach of Facebook users via a Qualtrics platform. Questionnaires were translated into 15 languages and sent to Facebook users in 21 countries.
To ensure that the survey was representative of the characteristics of the population, Meta and the University of Maryland calculated survey weights to help researchers correct for sampling bias.
The survey was taken by more than 621,000 people aged 18 years and older between March and May 2023.
However, 27,358 people responded in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, on food insecurity, 50.9 respondents in Nigeria sometimes or often don’t have enough to eat due to a lack of money, and 57. 6 per cent of respondents in Nigeria with health conditions could not receive care in the last six months.
The most common barrier to receiving care was the inability to pay.
The survey also showed that vaccine confidence in Nigeria was lower than the overall average across all countries surveyed, with only 22.4 per cent of adults feeling vaccines are safe, effective, important for children, important for adults, and compatible with their personal beliefs.
The most common barrier to vaccine uptake in Nigeria was a shortage of vaccines.
Among parents who did not want their child to be vaccinated, the most common reason was a worry about possible side effects, cited by 47.8 per cent of these parents.
Among individuals aged 5–25 years who attended school before the COVID-19 pandemic, 17.7 per cent were no longer in school at the time of the survey, according to the survey.
The most common reasons for discontinuing school were having already graduated (43.2 per cent) or inability to afford school (24.7 per cent).
Economic security was a significant issue, with 47.5 per cent of people in Nigeria reporting their current household income was lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Respondents in Nigeria trusted international health organisations the most, at 72.6 per cent.
Respondents stated that the police were considered the least trustworthy organisation, with 34.8 per cent, saying that they were not trustworthy.
“These findings provide a valuable snapshot of the challenges faced by Nigeria in terms of public health, economic security, and trust in institutions.
“Policymakers can use this information to address these issues, such as improving access to health care, increasing vaccine confidence through better information dissemination, supporting education, and tackling economic and food insecurity,” the institute stated.
