Chioma Umeha

By: Chioma Umeha Ahead of the World Polio Day, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said weekend that Nigeria is on the right track to stop polio transmission as it has recorded 52 per cent drop in polio cases, 63 per cent reduction in vaccine rejection Priyanka Khanna, Communication Specialist, Media, the UNICEF Nigeria Country Office who said this in a statement made available to Daily Newswatch, noted that polio is on the decline many states in the country. Khanna said: “In Nigeria, the number of States with ongoing circulation of the virus is down from 11 during the same time last year to nine.”  The Communication Specialist added that Borno, Yobe and Kano account for 72 per cent of all polio cases in the country so far this year, while three per cent of LGAs were infected with polio virus, while circulating polio genetic clusters dropped from eight to two per cent. Khanna also said that no Wild Polio Virus Type 3 case has been detected in the country so far this year,

By: CHIOMA UMEHA  Vaccination key to polio-free Nigeria, 2014 – Rotary Rotary international in Nigeria has urged Nigerians to support efforts towards raising awareness on polio and embrace the polio vaccination as it is the surest way to help the nation achieve its 2014 total polio eradication goal and join the league of polio-free countries for children, including India and America.  Chairman, Nigeria National PolioPlus Committee (NNPPC), Dr Tunji Funso who made this call in Lagos said, “While the whole world has recorded tremendous success in the fight against polio from the 125 endemic countries as at 1988, Nigeria alongside Pakistan and Afghanistan currently remain the three polio endemic countries but with consistent vaccination, the world would soon be free of polio just like it did with small pox. Funso who is also the Past District Governor of Rotary further observed that the country currently requires one billion dosage of vaccine annually to eradicate the disease. He

By: CHIOMA UMEHA  Lagos State Government says no fewer than 36,000 limb deformity patients have been screened while 4,000 out of those screened have had corrective surgeries under its Free Limb Deformity Corrective Surgery Programme since the inception of the Programme in 2004. Coordinator for the Programme, Dr. Dolapo Fasawe who stated this at a screening exercise for another batch of beneficiaries at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) noted that about 150 people have also been registered for the latest round of the screening exercise with the hope that they (the people) will all benefit from free surgical procedures. She explained that the programme was conceived in 2004 because the state government realized that there were a lot of people on the streets with various forms of correctable limb deformities who had either resigned to a life of begging or disability. Said she “we decided to start this programme to help correct some of these deformities so that the

By: Chioma Umeha The cancer arm of the World Health Organisation (WHO), International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) which is based in Lyon, France, on Thursday, confirmed that air pollution causes cancer. An agency report stated that the decision came after a consultation by an expert panel organized by IARC, adding that air pollution is a carcinogen, alongside known dangers such as asbestos, tobacco and ultraviolet radiation.  The report said: “What many commuters choking on smog have long suspected has finally been scientifically validated: air pollution causes lung cancer.” Kurt Straif, head of the IARC department that evaluates cancer-causing substances, noted:”We consider this to be the most important environmental carcinogen, more so than passive smoking.” IARC had previously deemed some of the components in air pollution such as diesel fumes to be carcinogens, but this is the first time it has classified air pollution in its entirety as cancer causing, the report

By: Chioma Umeha Penultimate week, the world marked the Cerebral Palsy (CP) Day. The World CP day is commemorated yearly, on the first Wednesday in October. But, the celebration this year was special for many reasons in Nigeria, as Benola Cerebral Palsy Initiative, Lagos, seized the opportunity to honour their partners and others for their efforts in supporting the organisation in its work in the area of CP.  Among those recognised were Uchenna Ogochukwu Makueke and Oluwabusola Claudia Akisola. Akinsola, is a project officer with Children Development Centre (CDC), Surulere and Madueke, a teacher at Open Doors Special Education Centre, Jos, Plateau State thanked Benola for making them ambassadors. Uchenna was born in Jos, September 29, 1975, and had her primary education at University of Jos Primary School before proceeding to Tempest Comprehensive High School. She later attended the University Jos and graduated 2001, with a Diploma in Special Education with upper credit. Uche,

By: CHIOMA UMEHA A new study published in JAMA Pediatrics shows that children who are vaccinated against measles between 12 and 15 months are less likely to suffer fever or seizures than those vaccinated between 16 and 23 months. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a first dose injection with a measles-containing vaccine at 12 to 15 months, with a follow-up “booster” between the ages of four and six.  Approximately 85 per cent of children will have received their first dose by the age of 19 months, but the study found that receiving the first dose by 15 months provides a benefit to children. Researchers from the University of Washington carried out a retrospective cohort study at eight Vaccine Safety Datalink sites on a total of 840,348 children aged 12 to 23 months of age who had been vaccinated against measles from 2001 through 2011. Dr. Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, from the University of Washington’s Department of Epidemiology and lead author of the study

By: CHIOMA UMEHA  Ahead of  the Global Hand Washing Day on Tuesday, an international research body announced that studies have confirmed that a child infects 50 per cent of his school mates during playtime. The research mission under the sponsorship of soap brand, Safeguard did the study to determine the rate of germ transfer and contamination among school children.  The research mission was conducted by the Beijing Health Technical Research Center using 40 children in an elementary school in China. One child was designated Patient Zero and had his hands marked with ‘a safe fluorescent agent’ representing germs. Within a day period, the child interacted with his friends inside and outside the classroom, performing the usual activities of any school child – studying, playing and eating with his friends. At the end of certain periods, the researchers used a UV light detector to check the children for traces of ‘contamination,’ in order to determine how many children had residue

By: Chioma Umeha A nephrologist, Dr Ebun Bamgboye, has said  that ongoing studies in Nigeria have confirmed that one out of every five persons had one stage of kidney disease or the other. Bamgboye, who works at St. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos, said in an agency report, that the studies also showed that black people’s kidneys were prone to renal failure.  Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia, defines renal failure as a medical condition in which the kidneys fail to adequately filter waste products from the blood. “Studies are ongoing that in Nigeria, probably about one out of every five of us has one stage of chronic kidney disease or the other. Not all of them have got to the stage where they required dialysis of course, the nephrologist said. “But, if you are looking at individuals who have chronic kidney disease in requirement of renal replacement therapy, that is, either dialysis or transplant, you are looking at 100 new cases per million populations every year. He added: “So, i