Chioma Umeha

Chioma Umeha The state Commissioner for the Environment, Mr Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti, gave the warning in a statement on Saturday, after he paid an unscheduled visit to Soulus Dumpsite. Durosinmi-Etti said that such vehicles would be made to go through re-certification process before they could use any dumpsite in the state. He decried a situation in which compactors broke down incessantly at dumpsites, causing unnecessary delay and loss of man-hour. The commissioner said that such inefficiency was capable of bringing hardship to Lagos residents and jeopardise government efforts to achieve a cleaner and sustainable environment. He urged all waste collection operators to put their compactors in order. “Owners of dysfunctional compactors will no longer be allowed to dump refuse at dumpsites across Lagos State until they put their vehicles in order. “They will have to obtain government recertification, to avoid delay at dumpsites,” Durosinmi-Etti said.

•Blames Doctors For Low WHO Ranking •Hails Ambode For Health Workers’ Consultancy Cadre Approval Chioma Umeha With Nigeria ranking 189 in healthcare service provision among the 191 World Health Organisation (WHO) member countries, pharmacists have attributed the country’s poor performance to failure of doctors to adjust to global changes in health administration. The pharmacists who spoke under the platform of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) counselled doctors under the umbrella body of Nigerian Medical Association to embrace global practices in healthcare service management and delivery. PSN blamed NMA for the poor WHO ranking of the country and the prolonged intractable disagreement among professionals in the sector, following the latter’s claims that health administration and leadership is the preserve of doctors. But, the association praised Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, the governor of Lagos state for the recent creation of pharmacists’ consultan

Chioma Umeha The Ogun State government through the Ministry of Health has vowed to eliminate the scourge of malaria that nearly kill 300, 000 Nigerians annually, especially the children and expectant women in the country. Dr. Babatunde Ipaye, the state Commissioner for Health, made this pledge at the 2018 World Malaria Day Quiz Competition organised by the Ministry, held at NUT Hall, Kuto, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. Ipaye, who spoke through his Media Aide, Miss. Lola Awolana, said that the competition was part of the continuous advocacy and behavioural change communication tends to improve knowledge and widen the scope of children on malaria transmission and how to prevent it. “As you can see the competition now, it is just part of the continuous advocacy and behavioural change communication that will allow the secondary school students to have improved knowledge on malaria transmission and how to prevent malaria and become life advocacy of malaria i

Chioma Umeha The World Health Organisation (WHO) has deployed 39 staff with plans underway to engage additional 15 ad-hoc personnel, to rapidly contain a confirmed outbreak of cholera in Mubi North and South local government areas (LGAs) of Adamawa state. “We have swiftly deployed technical staff to coordinate partners’ response to the current outbreak, support case management, surveillance and contact tracing of suspected cases to guide interventions and ensure that the outbreak does not spread to other locations,” says Dr Wondimagegnehu Alemu, WHO Representative (WR) to Nigeria. As at 26 May 2018, 434 suspected cases, among which 13 deaths have been reported in the affected areas, Alemu said in a statement signed by Charity Warigon, the Communication Manager, WHO, on Monday in Abuja. This has necessitated the health authority to activate an Emergency Operations Centre for concerted response and rapid decision-making. “The transmission rate of the ongoin

Chioma Umeha Lagos – The United Nations, through the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund, has allocated US$2 million (720,000,000) to support the response to a deadly cholera outbreak in Yobe State, north-east Nigeria, that could affect thousands of people. A total of 404 cases and 15 deaths have been reported, representing a 3.7 per cent case fatality rate since the beginning of the outbreak, which was officially declared in four local government areas on 28 March. The United Nations and its partners activated an immediate emergency response in the affected communities in support of the State Ministry of Health. However, additional resources are needed to ensure that the outbreak is contained, especially ahead of the rainy season when the risk of outbreaks and spreading of water-borne diseases is higher. According to the press statement by the United Nation, the funds will enable humanitarian partners to provide safe water to over 1.6 million people, improve sanitatio

Chioma Umeha  Participants during the walk against High BP. Inset: Free BP screening going on Lagos – A diagnosis of High Blood Pressure, HBP, or as known by its medical terms, Hypertension is never a good news to the patient.   However, being aware of the condition is good because it helps the patient to modify his lifestyle. According to recent survey by the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are at least 1.13 billion people globally suffering from Hypertension. But, that is not the end of the bad news. The survey also found that incidences of hypertension had doubled in the last 40 years. Another WHO’s recent gender comparison data on hypertension prevalence further rated Nigerian adult high with 51 percent for males and 49 percent for females, followed by Ghana with 41 percent male and 38 percent female. It is against this background that pharmacists marked this year’s World Hypertension Day via a walk against high Blood Pressure (BP). T

Chioma Umeha Following its Advisory meeting in April 2018, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued its first listing of Essential Diagnostics. The list is split into general laboratory tests (n= 58) and specific tests for key infections (HIV. TB, hepatitis, syphilis and human papilloma virus) (n=55). It is also split into sections relating to testing in primary care settings versus hospital laboratory settings. With respect to fungal diseases and mycology, several key tests are included: microscopy, blood culture, other cultures and cryptococcal antigen test. These provide a good start for a mycology service. Four levels of clinical setting and laboratory services are mentioned from primary care point of care testing, through district hospitals with laboratories, to regional and specialized hospitals and laboratories and finally national reference laboratories. All tests are not appropriate for all settings, either because of complexity or because of the

Chioma Umeha WHO Nigeria, Charity Warigon, Toyin Saraki and Wellbeing Foundation To implement a selective measles vaccination campaign, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says it is providing technical and financial support to the Borno state health authorities A statement signed by Charity Warigon, the Communication Manager, WHO, on Monday in Abuja, said that the support was aimed to interrupt measles transmission in parts of Borno state as well as boost vulnerable population’s immunity in newly accessible areas. The four-day exercise targeted more than 200, 000 children of between six months to15 years. The LGAs were Magumeri, Nganzai and Damboa where suspected outbreaks of measles were reported in April 2018. According to the statement, other LGAs include Bama, Dikwa, Gwoza, Kukawa, Kala Balge and Ngala where large numbers of children who have not been vaccinated since 2014 were resettling. WHO already trained and deployed 219 vaccination teams to d

Begins Re-evaluation Of 2014 VACS Results Chioma Umeha In a renewed resolve to end violence against children, VAC in Nigeria, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) disclosed that it has started reviewing the 2014 VACS findings to identify the drivers of the heinous crime. Revealing this in a report to mark the 2018 Children’s Day, the UN agency for children also reaffirmed its pledged to mobilise political will and resources to tackle and end all forms of violence against children in Nigeria. Mr Isiye Ndombi, UNICEF Deputy Representative in Nigeria, who signed the report said, “UNICEF remains firmly committed to end violence against children in Nigeria.” Ndombi further said that the agency is providing support for government partners to launch the “National Plan of Action to End VAC by 2030, alongside with a national Social Norms Change Strategy.” The UNICEF deputy representative, however, described violence against children as pervasive, adding t

Chioma Umeha More accolades has continued to trail the recent provisions of one per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) as Basic Health Care Fund in the allocation to the health sector in the 2018 Appropriation Act, especially among many health watchers. According to them, the provision of the health fund will pave way for Universal Health Coverage, improved healthcare, among other things. Commended the Senate for giving assent to the fund, the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) said it would improve health, reduce poverty, create jobs, drive economic growth by healthy citizens and prevent epidemics. PSN specifically commended the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki for keeping to his promise on the fund which is a provision of the National Health Act 2014. Speaking for PSN, Ahmed Yakasai, the society’s President commended the lawmakers for providing N57 billion in this year’s budget as provided by the National Health Act 2014 which was passe