LJMU-7500-PUBUNI – Public Health: Policy and Practice Health

 Introduction
Poverty reduction is considered a major issue whenever a country battling with many outcomes of poor resource management, high level of corruption and corrupt practices, gross misconduct and much wastage; and that have in turn made many of her citizens live under poverty line, with quite many individuals and families living on less than the value of one US dollar every day; to decide that the financial capacity of the citizens should be improved upon, that their living standards be influenced positively. Since independence in 1960 to date, the quality of life of the vast majority of Nigerians had deteriorated considerably. For instance, GNP per capita in the country was about US 1,000 dollars in 1980. This went down to only US 260 dollars in 1995. This placed Nigeria among the poorest 20 economies in the world. Ogbuozobe J.E. (2011)Admitting that one key social determinants of health is socio economic status, and the economy of any nation is based on how many people are living in poverty and or have been brought out of poverty. In as much as poverty cannot be totally eradicated in a society because of the complex, multilayered influencing factors that impact the health of an individual according to Dahlgren and Whitehead (1991) will thus reflect in his ability to create, generate or manage wealth and resources, change social status through increased knowledge in education, access to funding for financial inclusion and creating more quality life that play significant role in quality of health services available and can be accessed. Globally, it is agreed that health is not only the absence of diseases or defect, but a state of complete physical and social wellbeing.  Nigeria is considered a third world country, or in lighterparlance, a developing country with more social disadvantaged and impoverished population
Many considered to be living in poverty in Nigeria, are citizens classed as the low and middle income also with tendencies susceptible to risk factors of non-communicable diseases (NCD), poor working condition, and found in unsafe living neighborhood with little or no access to health care. It is clearly known that people of lower social and economic status are vulnerable and socially disadvantaged. This situation in Nigeria has not been in tandem with the several intervention through research and policy development attempts over the years in effort to improve the socio economic state of the Nigerian and influence his social determinant key factors including access to integrated health services and poverty reduction.According to I.O. Orubuloye and J.T. Oni (1996) they wrote, “Nigerian Health Transition research program: Consequent upon the establishment of an exploratory program by the Rockefeller Foundation in 1987 to examine the state of knowledge on the cultural, social and behavioural determinants of health, and the subsequent International Workshop held in Canberrain May 1989, the Nigerian Health Transition research program was initiated in 1990. The objectives of the program include the understanding of the cultural, social and behavioural determinants of health, and the part played by these factors in the achievement of lower levels ofmortality and improved conditions of health. The outcome of the research program is to assist inpolicy formulation and the development of intervention programs that will lead the health seekers and the community toward appropriate health-seeking behaviour that will promote good health for all by the end of the 1990s and in turn reflect on the financial capabilities of her citizens.The initial program was conceived by senior officers of the Health Services Division of the Rockefeller Foundation, while the Nigerian program was developed and co–ordinated by I.O. Orubuloye. John Caldwell acted as adviser and technical support was received from the Healt