Rabies in Nigeria has remained an endemic disease ever since its first case in 1912. Though several prevention and control programs have been done to see to its elimination, rabies continues to thrive in Nigeria with about 1640 human rabies cases recorded annually. As Nigeria continues to struggle with rabies elimination, certain countries like Jamaica, Japan, Australia, Mexico, Hawaii, and Belgium have completely eradicated rabies and are considered rabies-free. Hence, to successfully eliminate rabies, Nigeria needs to take lessons from these rabies-free countries and put into action all that they did to achieve this feat. Achieving herd immunity through the vaccination of 70% of the dog population is a potent way to ensure the elimination of rabies. To scale up dog vaccination in Nigeria, Nigerian lawmakers need to come up with a law similar to Japan’s Rabies Prevention Act, that binds all dog owners to the compulsory registration and vaccination of their dogs in a veterinary hospital such that disobeying comes with a punishment. Also, philanthropic organizations in Nigeria need to invest in the production of these PEPs by pharmaceutical companies. In ensuring a perfectly functional quarantine station, the government needs to employ more qualified and licensed veterinarians in accordance with Article 3.2.5 of the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code which states that “there should not be an over-reliance on veterinary paraprofessionals but qualified experienced field veterinarians should be employed to conduct disease monitoring”.

Background: Access to consistent health insurance is a commendable landmark in healthcare service as it reduces maternal mortality. In Nigeria, pregnancy-related complications result in 40,000 maternal deaths annually. Socio-demographic factors of women predict access to health insurance and utilisation of maternal health services. This study aimed to investigate the association between health insurance coverage and utilisation of maternal health services among women of reproductive age. Methodology: Data for this study was extracted from NDHS 2018 population-based study. Statistical significance was set at p<0.005. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze socio-demographic characteristics while inferential statistics of binary logistic regressioninvestigated the strength of association between independent and dependent variables. Result: The mean age of women in this study were 29.8±7.0. Majority of respondents (97.2%) were not covered by health insurance which predicts poor maternal healthcare as the majority (98.1%) did not attend the above four ANC visits. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that women covered by health insurance were 3.8 times more likely to be attended to by a skilled birth attendant at time of delivery than those without health insurance (OR=3.755; CI=2.901-4.860). Findings revealed that women covered by health insurance were 1.5times more likely to assess ANC compared to those who are not (OR=1.494, C.I=1.224-1.823) Conclusion: Health insurance coverage is associated with better utilisation of maternal healthcare services. Therefore, instituting sustainable strategies to ensure a holistic health insurance coverage that cuts across socio-economic strata will improve decision-making and enhance health-seeking practices among women of reproductive age.