Chioma Umeha

By Chioma Umeha The Bauchi State government has unveiled its plan to establish isolation and diagnosis centres for the treatment of infectious diseases including lassa fever. This was disclosed yesterday by the state Commissioner for health, Dr Halima Mukaddas when he received the delegation of the Community Health Research Initiative led by the Zonal Coordinator, Dr Aminu Magashi on a courtesy call. She said the centres will be established with the support of the federal government in order to manage   the outbreak of the infectious disease. “With the support of the Federal Government, we have identified that   there is a need for a diagnostic center in the state and the federal government will support us to establish a diagnosis centre. The state government will also establish an isolation centre for all infections diseases so that we will will be able to take proper care of those that   are already infected with such communicable and infectious diseases   lik

By  Chioma Umeha Governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, on Thursday, February 18, 2016, commended members of the state branch of Association of Local Government Medical Officers of Health in Nigeria for demonstrating understanding of their duties by committing themselves to saving lives. Governor Aregbesola gave the commendation while receiving the association at Government House, Osogbo. He, however, chided doctors in the state’s employ who are currently on strike, describing the boycott of work as a betrayal of their Hippocratic Oath. The governor said, unknown to many Nigerians who have heard only the doctors’ side of the story, they collected six months’ salaries without doing any work. He challenged them to tell the world whether they did not collect their salaries up to September 2015 when they went on strike. ?On the other hand, Aregbesola lauded the association of local government council doctors for their active service and commitment to the

By Chioma Umeha A study has brought out the numerous benefits that one could get from the use of lime for a healthy living. According to the medical experts, who conducted the research on how to maximize lime in the cure of diseases, the health benefits of lime include weight loss, skin care, and improved digestion, relief from constipation, eye care, and treatment of scurvy, piles, peptic ulcer, respiratory disorders, gout, gums, and urinary disorders, among others. The first fruit that comes to mind in terms of medicinal uses is the reliable lime. This sour citrus fruit can do what many advanced medicines cannot. Lime, bearing the scientific name Citrus Aurantifolia, has been used for ages in the treatment of various ailments. Lime is consumed throughout the world in the form of sorbet, beverages, refreshing cocktails, pickles, jams, jellies, snacks, candies, sugar boiled confections and in cooking.   The oil extracted from its peel or skin is extensively

By Chioma Umeha Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has approved a 5% pay rise for health workers in the state, emphasizing that the wage increment is for all health workers including laboratory technicians, nurses and midwives. The government had earlier in the month also raised doctors’ pay by 5%. This is coming even as many states in the country find it difficult to pay their wages with many owing salary arrears for up to five months. Governor Oshiomhole announced the 5% pay rise for the state health workers when he received members of the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) who paid him a courtesy visit in the Government House, Benin City. He said, “I asked you to come over because I know that two years ago, we had a wage review based on certain criteria which you preferred to call 90% but for me, that was what we were willing to pay and were able to pay at that time. And I did say that when situation improves, we would look at it and make some furthe

By Chioma Umeha By Francis Onoiribholo Bureau Chief Benin Nigeria’s negligence of the menace of Lassa fever has been described as “annual recurrent budget of death for the poor people in Nigeria.” A Professor of Microbiology, Dennis Agbonlahor made the declaration in a Distinguished Lecture titled “Combating Lassa Fever: A National Health Challenge” which he delivered at the University of Benin (UNIBEN) at the weekend. Agbonlahor who quoted from a statement he credited to Prof. Oyewole Tomori, said it was sad that for the past fourty-seven years, Nigeria had hitherto made noise in the name of creating awareness during outbreaks but goes to sleep at the end of each episode and only wakes up when the next outbreak occurs. “We are not aware of any report on cases of Lassa fever and its endemicity in other continents of the world. This perhaps explains why governments in the developed countries show little or no interest/financial commitment to lassa fever er

By Chioma Umeha The Osun State Government on Tuesday described as mere blackmail the protests by the striking doctors saying that the government has made more than enough concessions for them to shift ground and reason with the government. The state government called on well-meaning Nigerians to objectively examine the issues involved in the demands of the doctors and see whether they are in tune with the realities of the current worsening global and national economic situation and how it affects Osun. The statement by the Bureau of Communication and Strategy in the Office of the Governor which was endorsed by its Director, Semiu Okanlawon, said the doctors are demanding the impossible just as it said that the state under Governor Rauf Aregbesola had offered the best condition of service to all its workers including the doctors before the current financial challenges facing the entire country.

By   Chioma Umeha Juliet Oyoyo, Kaduna There was pandemonium in Kaduna on Monday as news filtered out that four people had died from lassa fever in the state. Professor Jonathan Nok, the state Commissioner for Health who confirmed the deaths to newsmen said that the four persons died at the Saint Louis Specialist Hospital in Zonkwa, Zango Kataf Local Government Area of the State. According to the commissioner, a medical doctor, a nurse and a pregnant woman were among the deceased. He said that the doctor and the nurse had shown symptoms of Lassa fever shortly after they operated on the pregnant woman who was brought in from another hospital in Kafanchan, Jama’a local government. According to him the victims died few days after they tested positive to the disease. The Commissioner said the affected hospitals have been put under isolation with the intention of tracing the primary and secondary contacts with the deceased persons. He however urged res

By   Chioma Umeha After a rigorous and comprehensive selection process, Muntaqa Umar-Sadiq has been honoured and announced the 2016 Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum (WEF) – an international organization for public-private cooperation committed to improving the state of the world. By this selection, Muntaqa joins a community of past Young Global Leader (YGL) honourees that include David Cameron, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; Chelsea Clinton, Board member of the Clinton Foundation; Larry Page, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Google, USA; Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Facebook, among others. > Klaus Schwab and John Dutton, Executive Chairman and Head respectively of the forum of YGL in a statement explained that the honor bestowed each year by the WEF recognizes and acknowledges the most outstanding young leaders from around the world for their professional accomplishments, commitment to society and

Over half of Nigerian married women aged between 15 and 49 want to avoid pregnancy and plan their families, but, lack access to modern contraception according to the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS). This challenge of non-availability of family planning (FP) supplies in the country’s various health facilities is worsened by the myths and misconceptions about FP which women contend with in their various communities. But, a Reproductive Health/Family Planning, FP, Adviser to Fistula Care Plus, based in Sokoto State, Mrs. Amina Umma Bala in this interview with Chioma Umeha dismisses the myths, declares it number one step out of poverty for couples   saying, it gives couples opportunity to delay, space and choose number of children they want. Excerpts: There are various perceptions and misconception about family planning. For instance, in some communities, it is believed that if a woman uses a method of family planning, she will not be able to get pregnant again, when she

By Chioma Umeha The Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Babatunde Ipaye, has said the number of the primary contacts with the first index case of Lassa fever in the state, a 28- year- old lady, has increased from 60 to 110, and they have all been placed under watch. He said this on Saturday at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital Sagamu, when he went to check on the victim of the viral disease kept in an isolation centre in the hospital. He said the Ministry of Health had tracked 50 more of the former patients who were on admission “before and after the victim was brought into the two private hospitals” for treatment. Ipaye while addressing journalists on Thursday on the first reported index case of Lassa Fever in the state, said the 28-year-old lady travelled to Ebonyi for a burial programme and returned to Ogun State on January 15, when she started manifesting the symptoms of the disease. He said she had been taken to two private hospital

By Chioma Umeha What it Zika? Zika is a mosquito-borne illness named for the forest in Uganda where it originates. American and European scientists unintentionally discovered it in 1947 while studying a rhesus monkey for yellow fever. It did not appear in humans until 1952 when it was reported in Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania. Is this the first outbreak of this scale? Yes. The first major outbreak of Zika occurred in Micronesia in 2007. There were just 49 confirmed cases and no hospitalizations. The next was 2013-2014 in French Polynesia, which resulted in a total of 19,000 suspected cases. Experts estimate that the number of those affected in the current outbreak has already passed 1 million. What happens to those infected? In one out of five cases, nothing. Only 20 percent of those infected show symptoms—the most common of which include fever, joint pain, red eyes, and a bumpy rash. The illness is generally mild, rarely fatal, and typically