Chioma Umeha

Nigerian pharmacists and other stakeholders in the health sector joined in the global celebration of World Pharmacists Day, last week Friday. Olumide Akintayo, President of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) who during the occasion addressed myriads of issues that impinge on Good Pharmacy Practice called on government to reconstitute the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) which was recently dissolved alongside the boards of other parastatals. CHIOMA UMEHA (HEALTH EDITOR) provides the excerpts: Why is access to medicine critical in health care practice? Health is a fundamental human right; indispensable for the exercise of many other rights in particular, the rights to development and necessary for living a life of dignity. From a human right perspective, access to medicines is intrinsically linked with the principles of equity, non-discrimination, transparency, participation, and accountability. For this reason key issues related to access to medicines must be taken into accoun

Infants who were breastfed as infants scored higher on intelligence tests than formula-fed kids, and the longer and more exclusively they were breastfed, the greater the difference, said Harvard University researchers in a study published Wednesday in JAMA Pediatrics. This study added “to the body of literature of the association between duration of breastfeeding and cognition,” said NBC news diet and health editor Madelyn Fernstrom. But does breastfeeding make your child smarter? Fernstrom said this study showed an association, not cause and effect. The researchers analyzed 1,312 expectant mothers enrolled between 1999 and 2002 in Project Viva, a study in eastern Massachusetts examining pregnancy and child health, and the children they delivered. The researchers found that seven-year-olds whose mothers had done any breastfeeding during the child’s first year – exclusively or in combination with formula – gained a little more than a third of a point in verbal IQ for each month of br

Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has charged the federal government to “urgently carry out necessary reforms in the health sector to achieve universal health coverage for all Nigerians under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS)”. In a communique containing eight-bullet points for the President Muhammadu Buhari on the health sector NMA, Lagos Chapter, the association summarised the challenges of the country’s health sector with hopes that his government will ensure the necessary change. In the 5-page document, which was made available to journalists during a press briefing on weekend at the Federal Neuropsychiatrics Hospital Yaba, the chairman of the Lagos State branch, Dr. Tope Ojo, berated the government for failure to meet the needs of the primary health sector. In what he termed as “criminal negligence”, Ojo, described Nigeria’s inability to provide primary health care services to its citizens. He pointed out that less-advantaged countries have reached 70-100 per cent cove

To further confirm the recent micro-nutrient fortification of Nestle’s Maggi seasoning brand, journalists on tour of the factory recently, were provided the opportunity to take on the roles of cooks to experience product-in-use and feel the brand first-hand by cooking simple but healthy delicacy: Fish in green sauce, seasoned with Maggi cubes. During the occasion, Nestlé, one of the foremost Nutrition, Health and Wellness Company reiterated its commitment to help reduce malnutrition in Nigeria through micro-nutrient fortification. Addressing journalists at the Agbara factory of seasoning brand, the Managing Director and Chief Executive of Nestlé Nigeria, Chief Dharnesh Gordhon said in 2012, Nestlé introduced a new range of fortified bouillon cubes by adding iron to the already iodine- fortified Maggi brand seasonings. He said in 2014, Nestlé reached 18.3 million households in Nigeria with iron-fortified Maggi cubes. Chief Gordhon said that Nestlé has a huge stake in rural communities

There are strong indications that Nigeria would one day succeed in eliminating Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and syphilis infection from mother-to-child. Confirming this are experts who agree that if Nigeria adopts and implements policies like Cuba, which recently became the number one country in the world to end mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV, she will achieve the same result.  Recently, and Joint United Nations programme on AIDS (UNAIDS) and World Health Organization (WHO) declared Cuba the first country in the world to eliminate the transmission of HIV and syphilis from mother to child. In a statement which WHO sent through an international delegation who were in Cuba in March, it (the world health body) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) certified the country as having   met the criteria. In 2013, only two children in Cuba were born with HIV and five with syphilis, the statement said. The P

Unless there is urgent intervention, Rotimi Michael Sowemimo might go blind following a complicated eye problem which the medical doctors handling his case at the Eye Foundation Hospital described as Rhegmategenous Retinal Detachment. Rotimi needs a total N280, 000 to have his eyes checked and operated on. Unfortunately, Rotimi who has no one to support him cannot afford to pay the hospital bill. According to a medical report signed by a Consultant Ophthalmologist, Dr. A. Samuel, it was obvious the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) could not handle Rotimi’s problems, before Rotimi was referred from LUTH to the Eye Foundation, Ikeja. Samuel also said that when Rotimi was presented at LUTH, the posterior segment in the right eye revealed Chorio Retinal Scar, Large Retinal detachment, while the left eye has complicated cataract with posteriors.   Rotimi A breakdown of the cost of treatment by a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon/Vitreo Retinal Specialist, Mrs. Chastmier Ejorh

Wigerians have been urged to maintain adequate nutritional diets, as well as abstain from lifestyle that predisposes one to health issues like diabetes, cancer, respiratory disorders, among others, as a method of curbing high incidence of   Non Communicable Diseases (NCD) in the country. Making the call are experts who spoke at a one-day workshop organised by Coca Cola Nigeria in Lagos, recently, tagged: ‘Adequate Nutrition and Lifestyle : Essential for Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases,’ who stressed that Nigerians must make deliberate attempts to prevent the numerous health issues in the country. A Consultant Nutritionist and Dietician, Dr Chika Ndiokwelu, who spoke at the workshop, said that eating unhealthy diets have been discovered to cause a number of preventable diseases, even as she said that, processed foods contain more harmful elements than the well known African foods and vegetables which the country was used to. While stating that poor food intake, smoking, harmful

Crisis looms in the health sector of Edo State as primary healthcare assistants yesterday protested over alleged exclusion from the new Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) and Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) for their contemporaries at the local government, accusing the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) and the Local Government Service Commission for the development.   However, efforts to reach state chairman of ALGON, Mrs. Itohan Osahon-Ogbeide, were futile as calls placed to her phone were unanswered as at press time yesterday. But addressing journalists yesterday under the aegis of Health Assistants and Attendants Association of Nigeria, the workers said they had been denied hazard allowance under a “mischievous guise” that they are not professionals and therefore should not be paid the perk. A member told The Guardian that “few days ago, I assisted a doctor in conducting a caesarean operation and my hand gloves got torn unknown to

Five Nigerian couples with the challenge of infertility stand to benefit from fully-funded fertility treatment cycles as the Fertility Treatment Support Foundation ( FTSF ) kick starts the 2015 series of funded fertility treatment campaigns for indigent Nigerians. In this year’s programme, 15 couples will stand a chance to receive the free screening while five couples will receive the full treatment. This will be done via an electronic raffle draw. A registered non-profit organisation based in Lagos, FTSF provides financial support and services for infertile couples, in partnership with Nordica Fertility Centre, Lagos/Asaba/Abuja, with the goal of enabling Nigerian couples with the challenge of infertility, to access full assisted reproduction technology, ART, services, in form of Free IVF treatment cycles. In addition to providing opportunity for infertile couples to have their own biological children completely free of charge, the FTSF campaign also serves to heighten awareness about

Consuming food rich in nutrients such as soybeans have been identified as a way to build rich culture of good nutrition in diet. The Managing Director and Chief Executive of Nestle Nigeria Plc, Chief Dharnesh Gordhon, reiterated this at a recent media tour at the company’s Agbara factory. Gordhon noted that products from the stable of Nestle such as the Maggi food seasoning are enriched with soybean to help improve the quality of the good consumed. Soybeans is described as the richest plant source of protein and the highest amongst all legumes as it contains 43 percent protein unlike other leguminous plants that contain 20 to 25 percent protein. Under guidelines adopted by The World Health Organisation for evaluating protein quality for children and adults, soy beans is rated as first and second to none. This is to say soy bean is equal to the protein found in meat and milk. “At Nestle we have a history of delivering regardless of the external environment, this is because of t

Constipation refers to any irregularity in, or absence of, bowel movements. The slow movement of food through the large intestine and the amount of time the waste remains in the colon are factors that contribute to constipation. More and more water is absorbed while the waste is in our body and the stool becomes drier and bulky, thus more difficult to pass. Regular bowel movement is necessary to remove waste and toxins from the body. Some people have movements daily, others three times a week, this is normal, although some doctors consider a person moving bowels less than once a day to be constipated. Constipation can be cause by lack of exercise, too much junk food, poor diet, painkillers, antidepressants and/or pregnancy. However serious diseases can cause constipation as well, including thyroid problems, circulatory disorder, colon malfunction (fistulas, tumours, and obstruction). Here are natural ways of returning the balance to the body: Eat fruits, vegetables and other high fibr