Chioma Umeha

The need for women, especially the pregnant ones to take full charge of their lives through ensuring the use of healthcare centres to prevent high rate of maternal mortality has become one of growing concern. The issue was the major high point recently, when Mamaye/Evidence 4Action, a non-governmental organisation in collaboration with Lagos State Ministry Health organised an advocacy campaign in Amuwo Odofin and Ori Ade Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs). The goal was to sensitise women and educate them on how to avoid maternal and infant deaths. Stressing on how timely the sensitisation programme is to the people of the community, Dr. Orebiyi Olatunji Sunday, medical officer of health of Amuwo Odofin Local government, said that one of the things that is quite obvious in Amuwo Odofin is that maternal mortality is 525 per 100, 000 women. “So it’s very high and it’s the same thing with Lagos state, so we need to reduce the maternal mortality. We can only get that done when

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) today approved a memoranda from the Federal Ministry of Health seeking for approval of central coordination, placement, posting and funding of all Medical and Dental graduates to Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) accredited Housemanship and Internship training centres. A statement signed by Mrs. Boade Akinola, Director, Media and Public Relations, for the  Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, quoting the Minister said that  this is to address the enormous challenges fresh graduates face in securing placement for the one year mandatory programmes. Over the years due to constraints in the funding of the Housemanship and Internship training in Nigeria, a large number of fresh Medical and Dental graduates have not been able to undertake and complete the training within the allotted time limit thereby preventing them from becoming fully registered Medical and Dental Practitioners ready for services within and outside Nigeria. The Housema

IVF: Mothers Receive Cash Gifts For Giving Birth To Triplets, Quintuplets ·        FAAI, Nordica Fete Children That age is not a barrier to child bearing cannot be disputed.  This fact was confirmed recently, when Mrs. Folashade Akiode was honoured during the Nordica Bon Bon family fiesta held to mark this year’s International Children’s Day for breaking all medical rules of menopause and having her set of triplets seven years ago, at  57. Mrs. Akiode who retired from the Lagos State Civil Service as Director of Service, but now doing her own business was married for 18 years before she had In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) at Nordica fertility Clinic, delivering a set of triplet. Making the presentation of N50,000 to Mrs. Akiode, Dr Abayomi Ajayi, Managing Director, Nordica Fertility nationwide told journalists that the event which held in Lagos, was organised by Fertility Awareness Advocacy Initiative (FAAI) with collaboration from Nordica Fertility to celebrate children bo

Pharmacists under the aegis of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria(PSN) have commended the Federal Government on the recent Executive Order on support for local content in public procurement. Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo had on May 18, 2017, signed the Executive Order, which mandated all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government to give preference to local goods and services in their procurement activities. The order also directed that made-in-Nigeria products should be given preference in the procurement of relevant items as it stipulated that 40 per cent of spending by the MDAs must be expended on locally manufactured goods and services. A statement jointly signed by Pharm. Ahmed Yakasai, PSN President and Pharm Gbolagade Iyiola, PSN National Secretary, which was made available to Independent, noted that the federal government deserves commendation for deeming it fit to include locally manufactured medicines in the Executive Order as specified in

Chief Iyeme Efem, a Fellow of Institute of Social Works (FSOW) and professional in Social Works is at the vanguard of global efforts to eliminate Obstetric Fistula. Fellow of Institute of development Administration (FDA) and the Country Project Manager, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Fistula Care plus Project, in a recent interview with CHIOMA UMEHA to commemorate International Day to end Obstetric Fistula spoke on prevention, treatment and management of the condition. Excerpts: What is obstetric fistula? Obstetric Fistula is a hole, or abnormal opening in the birth canal that results in chronic leakage of urine or faeces . Theme for this year is “hope, healing, and dignity for all.” This captures the essence of repairing of obstetric fistula. Firstly, people need to understand that women with fistula are stigmatised and marginalised within the society. They have lost respect and they are either begging on the streets or hidden at home, depending o

Body weight and fat gains If you go from being a gym rat or a doing a strict marathon training program to a completely sedentary lifestyle, you’ll quickly notice increases in body fat. One study found that highly-trained athletes who quit working out suddenly had increases in body fat after five weeks. To avoid weight gain, you’ll need to alter your diet to take into consideration your lack of physical activity. That means saying goodbye to dessert, the bread basket, and those extra high-calorie toppings. By controlling or reducing your calorie intake, you can prevent weight gain with or without the gym. Your blood sugar jumps After just five days of trading the treadmill for your couch, your blood sugar will rise. Typically your blood glucose rises after you eat and then drops down as your muscles and other tissue absorb the sugar they need for energy. If you’ve been skipping the gym, your post-meal blood sugar levels will remain elevated. Continuously increasin

Following the growing cost of medical care with out-of-pocket payments, the Lagos State Government has today commenced free medical mission to provide free healthcare services to residents of Lagos across the 20 Local Governments and 37 Local Council Development Areas, LCDAs. The State Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, who said this on Monday at a news conference in Alausa, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria said that the free healthcare, under the Lagos State Medical Mission, would commence on March 1 and end on June 8, 2017. Idris said the programme over the years had helped to complement health service delivery in the state, aside helping government to take healthcare to the grassroots and undeserved areas of Lagos State, by addressing pressing health issues of the rural communities in the state. The State Health boss said: “These medical missions are significant because it will enable this administration to provide healthcare services to all who come irrespective of their

Embryo freezing is a procedure that allows embryos to be preserved for later use. The first successful pregnancy resulting from freezing a woman’s healthy embryos was in the 1980s. Since then, many embryos have been frozen for later use. The embryos may be stored to enable a future pregnancy, to donate to others, for medical research or for training purposes. The process begins by using hormones and other medications to stimulate the production of potentially fertile eggs. The eggs are then extracted from the woman’s ovaries to either be fertilized in a lab or frozen for later use. Successful fertilization may lead to at least one healthy embryo, which can then be transferred to the woman’s womb or uterus. Hopefully, the embryo will develop and the woman can carry the developing infant through pregnancy to a live birth. Since fertilization often results in more than one embryo, the remaining embryos can be preserved through freezing. According to the Oxford Livin

* Practitioners Trade Blames It was great excitement for Bisola Ogidi, 22, and her husband, Lanre, 28, when for the first time after four years of childlessness she became pregnant. For them, it was a dream come through. But little did they know that Bisola will not be alive to carry her baby as she died while giving birth in a traditional birth attendant (TBA) home. She was never asked to undergo any kind of test or scan throughout her visit to the TBA home. The woman in charge of the home, being an unskilled TBA, believed that all was well with Bisola and the unborn baby. Eventually Bisola struggled to deliver her baby. Exhausted, she died with the baby, which suffered fetal distress in her womb. Isioma Alaka, 24, was pregnant for her second baby. Once she discovered this, Isioma registered with a TBA home, where the male attendant placed her on herbal medication. She was not asked to go for any test or scan even when she complained of some bleeding. At the nin

National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Tuesday in Lagos , said, it carried out surveillance which led to a successful raid of Ezedams Enterprises Nig. Ltd on Badagry Expressway, Ojo which is into illegal production of counterfeit alcoholic beverages. The Acting Director General of NAFDAC, Mrs. Yetunde Oni, said that a thorough search of the facility led to the discovery of several drums of Ethyl Alcohol; Rayner’s Flavouring Agents ; unidentified chemicals in several jerry-cans and packaging materials. Addressing journalists on Tuesday in NAFDAC Oshodi office, in Lagos, was the Head of NAFDAC’s Investigation and Enforcement, Mr. Kingsley Ejiofor,   who spoke on behalf of the agency’s DG added that the facility has been sealed with investigation on-going. In addition,   he said that following intelligence received on a transport vehicle containing suspected counterfeit Peak Milk products bound for Lagos from the East, the Agency set up sur