By Chioma Umeha
The President, National Postgraduate Medical
College of Nigeria (NPMCN) Dr. Ademola Olaitan has said that Nigerians would
see improvement in the postgraduate medical and dental education sector, if the
current government of Muhammadu Buhari reforms and massively invests in the
medical education.
Meanwhile, the college has conferred honorary
fellow award o
Olaitan while delivering the 34th convocation
lecture of the NPMCN, pointed out that funding is a major challenge facing the
institute.
According to him, “The Postgraduate medical and
dental education in Nigeria is passing through a turbulent period. While
funding is low the frequent work stoppages in various Teaching Hospitals does
not allow for trainees fulfillment of the prescribed minimum period of clinical
placement and rotation that qualify them for examination.
“It is the opinion of the College that high
investment in medical education by government will yield high quality of
patients care but frowns at frequent strikes that disturb training and insists
on completion of scheduled postings and rotation to qualify for examination.
The College President added that top among the
investments in the sector will be the resuscitation and funding of the one year
abroad that exposed post part one residents to practice in the developed world
and also the procurement of modern equipment for diagnosis and treatment.
Also two former registrars – Dr Michael Akintayo
Bankole and Dr Kamil Olanipekun Alausa were honoured with its distinguished award
in recognition of their contributions.
Appreciating the College, Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji
Sa’ad Abubakar, said: “I have received so many awards but this award is the
most important.”
He, however, noted that it was unfortunate that
the country while basking in the euphoria of being at the verge of polio free
now saw the emergence of three new cases.
“As a religious leader, I have been working in
collaboration effort with the health institutions in ensuring optimal health of
the citizenry.
He further decried the situation whereby a woman
who is trying to bring into life another being dies.”
Also, 340 fellows took a bow from the institution
today, they comprised those who had completed the compulsory clinical placement
and rotation of not less than five years in accredited teaching and specialist
hospitals, and had surpassed the prescribed examinations. In all, the college
had graduated 5,387 fellows since inception in 1979, thereby saving the country
billions of dollars, which would have been spent on overseas training.”
Why Six Died Of Diarrhoea After Consuming ‘Abacha’
Salad In Lagos
Lagos state government has traced the recent
outbreak of cholera to consumption of African salad aka “Abacha.”
The Commissioner for Health in Lagos state, Jide
Idris, at a press conference, disclosed that investigations so far showed that
the main source of the outbreak is from the consumption of the African salad
popularly called Abacha.
According to him, not less than six people died of
the disease which affected a total of 45 persons in the state.
“The Ministry was notified of an upsurge of
diarhhoea diseases in some communities in Isolo LCDA. Following this, 45 cases
were line-listed by the Epidemiology Unit of the Ministry. Six deaths were
recorded among the 45 cases. Majority of the cases did not present with the
classical rice-water stool, rather they presented with a typical diarrhoea and
vomiting,” he said.
According to him, Ano-rectal swabs were collected
from 15 cases and taken to the Central Public Health Laboratory, Yaba. He said
that there were no growths initially, but that continuous culture yielded
Vibrocholerae from seven out of the 15 samples.
“The Vibrio cholera was later confirmed to be
Ogawa strain. The main suspected source of infection is the salad called
Abacha, a staple food of the residents of Isolo LCDA and adjourning
LGAs/LCDAs.Some domestic Wells within the communities are also suspected.
Samples of the Abacha salad and well water were collected and sent to the Lagos
State Drug Quality Control Laboratory for analysis.
“The report of the analysis revealed the presence
of Vibrio cholerae, Salmonella species and E.coli in abacha and one of the two
well water samples.
“Cholera is an acute diarrhoea disease with or
without vomiting caused by a bacterium, referred to as Vibrocholerae and it is
transmitted through ingestion of food or water contaminated with infective
faeces. Food or water contamination is usually due to poor sanitation and the source
of contamination is usually other cholera cases when their infective watery
stool gets into food or drinking water supplies. Prevention of cholera can be
achieved through basic water sanitation, such as boiling water of unclean
sources. Cholera can kill within hours if left untreated,” he said.
He explained that about 75 per cent of people
infected with V. cholera do not develop any symptoms, although the bacteria is
present in their faeces for seven to 14 days after infection and that they are
shed back into the environment, potentially infecting other people.
“Among people who develop symptoms, 80 per
cent have mild or moderate
symptoms, while around 20 per cent develop acute watery diarrhoea with severe
dehydration. This can lead to death if untreated. The case fatality of Cholera
ranges from less than one per cent in treated cases to as high as 50 per cent
in severe cases.
“Cholera usually present clinically as nausea,
profuse diarrhoea, vomiting (in early stages of illness), fever and leg cramp.
Later presentation is dehydration, shock or coma. The risk of contracting
cholera is increased mainly by poor water and environmental sanitation,
including open defecation.
“26 cases were managed at Isolo General Hospital
and Lagos Mainland Hospital. 22 have been discharged, one died, while three are
still on admission at Lagos Mainland Hospital. All the three cases that are
still on admission are in stable conditions.
“17 of the cases were managed at Private Health
Facilities (Healing Cross Hospital, Isolo- four cases, Bola Hospital Isolo-
five cases, West Care Hospital, Ejigbo – five cases and New Line Hospital,
Isolo- three cases. Three of the 17 cases died. All the 14 cases on admission
have been discharged,” he said.
Etisalat, Boost Fight Against Malaria, Distributes
Mosquito Nets
One of the country’s innovative telecommunications
operators, Etisalat, has boosted the fight against malaria with the
distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets to residents of Owutu
community, in Ikorodu, Lagos State and Enuwa Square, Ile Ife in Osun State.
The exercises in commemoration of the 2016 World
Mosquito Day, forms part of an ongoing Pan-Nigeria crusade by the
telecommunications giant against the scourge of malaria in the country.
Speaking during the presentation at Ile Ife, the
Manager, Corporate and Social Responsibility, Etisalat Nigeria, Oyetola
Oduyemi, said the exercise was in keeping with the company’s passionate
commitment to sustainable development. “One of the key focal areas of our CSR
intervention programme is health, and this initiative forms a part of it. We
have a target to distribute tens of thousands of insecticide-treated nets
across the nation in the fight against malaria. We have been to some
communities in states like Kogi, Kaduna, Enugu and Rivers. We are taking it
further to more communities in the South West,” she said.
While receiving the items on behalf of the Ile Ife
community, the palace secretary, Mr. Idowu Salami, expressed delight at the
exercise just as he lauded the telecom firm for taking up the fight against
malaria which claims millions of lives yearly especially in Sub-Saharan Africa
due largely to environmental reasons.
His words, “the scourge of malaria is on the
increase due to poor sanitation practices; this provides a breeding ground for
the activities of mosquitos which leads to malaria. We are glad that Etisalat
put this programme together. We are sure many of the people who have benefitted
from this initiative can protect themselves from mosquito bites and malaria
attacks.”
At Ikorodu West Local Council Development Area,
Lagos, the insecticide-treated mosquito nets were received by Hon. Samson Umar,
who noted that Nigeria has one of the highest number of malaria casualties
worldwide despite the many gains in the prevention and treatment of the
scourge.
According to the Nigerian National Malaria
Strategic Plan 2014-2020, malaria is responsible for 60 percent of outpatient
visits to health facilities, 30 percent of childhood deaths, 25 percent of
deaths in children under one year, and 11 per cent of maternal deaths.
