Chioma Umeha

Chioma Umeha With little resources to cater for the needs of a fast growing population put at 200 million in a country that boasts of four million unregistered births annually, stakeholders foresee more hard times for Nigeria in the nearest future. Out of over seven million babies born yearly in Nigeria, the equivalence of the population of Sierra Leone, more than four million of these babies lack legal existence as their births are not registered. In view of this, experts say, “they are worried.” There is no gainsaying that knowing the number of children born in a country would allow the government to make right policies for the betterment of all citizens. Similarly, the United Nation’s Children Fund (UNICEF) notes, “Children with no birth certificate don’t exist before the law, and are in danger of remaining on the margins of society, or being shut out altogether. “They are more likely to face major challenges in accessing healthcare, education and soci

Pharm. Ahmed Yakasai, the President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) ; Dominique Jordan, President, International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), Mr. Emeka Duru, Secretary PSN President, and two others after the World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Glasgow, UK, which ended at the weekend. Chioma Umeha  Pharm. Ahmed Yakasai, the President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) and Dominique Jordan, President, International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) have held a strategic meeting to fashion out a roadmap for the development of pharmacy profession in African continent, especially Nigeria. The duo met when Yakasai visited Jordan to congratulate him on his emergence as the President of FIP after the World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Glasgow, UK, which ended at the weekend. According to the PSN boss, the newly elected FIP President invited him for a consolidation meeting to parley on how the

Chioma Umeha LAGOS – The Federal Government has appointed Dr. Obi Peter Adigwe as the new Director General/CEO for the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), Abuja. The appointment which takes immediate effect comes eight months after the expiration of the tenure of the former Director General of NIPRD, Prof. Gamaliel Karniyus. DAILY INDEPENDENT findings revealed that Adigwe’s approval by the Presidency followed his emergence as top scorer in a merit driven rigorous and comprehensive interview processes organised by the federal government few months ago. It was also learnt that the interview had in attendance some of the best brains in Nigerian Pharmaceutical Research and Development sector including, two renowned professors currently working at the NIPRD. Further investigations by DAILY INDEPENDENT showed that Dr. Adigwe scored 80 points and was closely followed by two Professors currently working at the NIPRD who scored 70 and

•Lagos State Ranks First Among States With Highest Burden Chioma Umeha No fewer than 18 Nigerians die of tuberculosis, TB, every hour totalling 432 deaths daily, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) which ranks Nigeria as having the second highest incidence rate in Africa and seventh among the 30 high TB burden countries in the world. In effect, no less than three Nigerians die every second from Tuberculosis, a disease that is preventable and curable, stated the global health body. Every hour, 47 Nigerians develop active TB, seven of who are children, even as Nigeria is ranked among the 14 high burden countries for TB, TB/HIV and Multidrug Resistant TB (MDR-TB), the WHO further said. Revealing these and other statistics on Monday in Lagos, Dr Linda Ozor, the Acting Coordinator, Non Communicable Diseases Cluster, WHO, said Nigeria is also among the 10 countries that accounted for 64 per cent of the global gap in ‘missing TB cases.’ Citing the

Chioma Umeha Nigeria population is estimated to be over 200 million, while the Lagos State figure put at over 21 million as at 2016 by the National Population Commission of Nigeria (NPopC). It is no surprise therefore that there is increasing family planning campaigns in Lagos states to tackle envisaged overpopulation and its consequence. Research shows that the socio-economic infrastructure of any state is often over-stretched if families are not planned, more so in a country struggling with inflation and economic depression. Overpopulation has a definite effect on a country’s economy. Overpopulation also means that more goods and supplies are required to support the population when over population occurs. One of the main economic problems for any country with an overpopulation problem is the shortage of food, minerals, fuel and other resources. As a means of ensuring effective population control, the global community has set a target that by

Chioma Umeha A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) based in Ogun State, Family Health Initiative Ogun (FHIO), has rolled out new plan aimed at creating enabling environment that will strengthen family planning programmes in the state. The NGO’s Chairperson, Mrs. Kemi Balogun, while speaking at its quarterly meeting, held in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, restated that the group is committed to facilitating required resources and logistics for the State, in the provision of qualitative and accessible health care services to families. Balogun explained that the advocacy drive of the organisation targeted at relevant stakeholders for the formulation and actualisation of policies and programmes that would help to improving health of children, reproductive health of adolescents, youths and mothers through effective family planning/childbirth spacing services delivery. According to her, the group is passionate and concerned about adequate provision of qualitative and acces

Chioma Umeha The negative attitude of some medical and healthcare personnel at Gwamna Awan General Hospital, Kakuri, Kaduna, have has been flayed by some enrollees of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in the state. In separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Kaduna, the enrolees complained of absenteeism and lateness by doctors and healthcare staff, forcing them to wait long frustrating hours before being attended to. A correspondent of NAN monitoring the quality of service delivery at the NHIS unit of the facility reported that he visited the section at three different occasions and found no doctor on seat to attend to patients. According to the report, there was no doctor on seat on Aug. 23, and after long hours of waiting, patients were refereed to another doctor in the main hospital. In another visit on Aug. 31 patients were told no doctor was available to see them until Sept. 4; and the doctor did not show u

Chioma Umeha The Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy will on September 12 honour two distinguished Nigerians with ‘Lifetime Achievement award and Honorary Fellowship,’ respectively in a special ceremony which will also feature a lecture by a distinguished scientist. According to Sir Ifeanyi Atueyi, Vice President of the Academy, who also serves as the Chairman of the Planning Committee, the lecture with the theme, “From Plant to Patient: Driving Research & Innovation for Industry,” will be delivered by a former Vice Chancellor, Benson Idahosa University, Benin-City, Professor Ernest Izevbigie. For his pioneering and entrepreneurial trailblazing efforts in the nation’s pharmaceutical manufacturing sector, Chief Oludolapo Ibukun Akinkugbe, currently the oldest surviving former President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), will receive the academy’s ‘Lifetime Achievement Award.’ Chief Akinkugbe who was the pioneer General Secretary of the defunct Niger

Chioma Umeha Pharm. Ahmed Yakasai, the President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Thursday, August 30, 2018, led a delegation of Pharmacists to the 78th International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Glasgow, UK, which began from September 2. The theme of the congress is ‘Pharmacy: Transforming Outcomes.” The subtopics which are major issues of discussion at the meeting ending tomorrow include; “From bench to bedside: Advancing pharmaceutical care,” “Partners in health (New collaborative practices, research and educational models)” and Empowered for health. The meeting is also geared to emphasise on training and leadership development for innovations in disseminating new knowledge through the identification of key competencies or skills sets and targeting special interests in the different fields of pharmacy.

Chioma Umeha The Medical Director,   Fatimah Clinic Kaduna, Dr Maryam Abubakar has advised Nigerians to imbibe the habit of frequent hand washing   to avoid viral and bacterial infection of the eye. Abubakar gave the advice in an interview with journalists on Tuesday in Kaduna. She noted that the number of patients with acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis, also known as Apollo, is on the increase hence the need for people to imbibe safety habits to avoid contact. According to her, children with eye infection need to take days off from school and for members of the public to seek medical help whenever their eyes become swollen, pink and itchy. Abubakar also cautioned against sharing towels or personal hygiene kits with others, and for those infected to avoid rubbing the affected eyes. She advised those affected to rest for two weeks, so as to minimize crowd exposure and spreading the infection. Also, Hajiya Ramatu Tijjani of the Foundation for Protection