Chioma Umeha

•Nation With Many Malnourished Children Suffers Underdevelopment Ms. Chioma Blessing Kanu, is the Programme Manager, Civic Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), a non-profit organisation that is championing efforts towards better legislations to improve lives of people in many areas, especially, maternal and child health. Kanu who is a passionate advocate of improved maternal and child nutrition interventions, in an interview with CHIOMA UMEHA, calls for increased and timely release of funds by government at all levels to promote maternal and child health. What is the current situation of malnutrition in Nigeria? Recent surveys have shown that 57 per cent of children are malnourished and 41.7 per cent of them are severely stunted in Kaduna state. Micronutrients deficiency such as Vitamin A and iodine is also common among these children (27.8 per cent) due to poor intake. Poor nutrition in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life can lead to stunted g

By Chioma Umeha A faction of the Lagos Chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), on Monday condoled with the families of the deceased of a partially collapsed building at the Highway Police Barracks, Ikeja. Dr. Omojowolo Olubunmi, the Factional Chairman, said in a statement, that the association also extended condolence to Mr. Fatai Owoseni, the state Commissioner of Police, and the entire Police family. According to online reports, the incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday, December 25, in Lagos. Mr. AdeshinaTiamiyu, General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), had confirmed the death of a Police sergeant and a civilian. The reports said that one of the deceased, simply identified as Danjuma, and the other, lost their lives after the toilet and the staircase of the building collapsed. “We also want to wish those injured speedy recovery; NMA Lagos will be ready to help in any possible way to relieve the sufferings,”

By Chioma Umeha The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said that it had taken a number of measures to prevent a recurrence of the outbreak of t he dreaded Lassa fever in the country. Recall that between 2015 and 2016, Nigeria recorded one of the largest outbreaks of Lassa fever in its history- reporting 273 cases, including 149 deaths. Of these, 165 cases and 89 deaths had been confirmed through laboratory testing (CFR: 53.9 per cent). The cases were reported from 23 states in Nigeria. In response to this, the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole inaugurated a Lassa Fever Eradication Committee under the leadership of Prof. Oyewale Tomori to look into the situation and proffer strategies for the NCDC to prevent future outbreaks and thereby reduce the deaths from Lassa fever in Nigeria. While confirming the case of Lassa fever, the NCDC said it involved a healthcare worker who had died at the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, on December 20, 201

By Chioma Umeha There are fears that the Nigeria’s N19 billion tomato paste manufacturing industry may collapse in the second quarter of 2017, if President Muhammadu Buhari continues to back the harsh forex policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Giving the warning over the imminent collapse of    the industry were the value-chain operators in the tomato paste business. The operators under the auspices of Union of Tomato Paste Manufacturers in Nigeria stressed that the once vibrant tomato industry might go extinct in 2017 if the CBN does not amend its policy on forex to exclude triple concentrate tomato paste from the scope of the 41 items under the restricted list. The operators claimed that the CBN reluctance to amend its forex policy has boosted the importation of tomato paste into the country at the peril of local manufacturers. It will be recalled that Erisco Foods Limited, a former local tomato paste manufacturer in Nigeria, had shut down operati

•We’ll Not Be Defenceless If Next Occurrence Hits – WHO By Chioma Umeha In the wake of Ebola epidemic in West Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) convened an urgent meeting on September 29 and 30, 2014, to assess the efforts under way to evaluate and produce safe and effective Ebola vaccines as soon as possible. The 70 scientists, public health officials, and representatives from industry and regulatory bodies who gathered in Geneva discussed two vaccine candidates at length – cAd3-EBOV (cAd3), from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and rVSV?G-EBOV-GP (rVSV), from NewLink Genetics and the Public Health Agency of Canada. Several other vaccine candidates were at earlier, preclinical stages in the development pipeline at that time. This is over two years ago.However, light seems to have appeared at the end of the tunnel as the world health body on Monday confirmed the first Ebola vacci

By Chioma Umeha The Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) has restated the Federal Government’s commitment to eradicate open drug hawking by August 1, 2017. Mr. Elijah Mohammed, Registrar of the counc il, said in Abuja on weekend that it was part of efforts to regulate drug distribution system in the country. The Registrar said the move would help in curbing the menace of open drug sale. Mohammed attributed major challenges in the health system to open drug hawking. He added that a lot of the hawkers sold fake and adulterated drugs. The registrar stated that coordinated wholesale centres were currently being built in four states of the federation where open sale of drugs is predominant. He said that the drug dealers would be relocated to the centres to enable them to carry out their activities in a coordinated manner. According to him, the centres would go a long way to curtailing drug hawking, among others, as there would be strict regulation of dr

By Chioma Umeha The Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) living with disabilities in Yobe State have received some relief materials as well as health support to improve their comfort. A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), the Chris taphen Blinding Mission (CBM) made some donations to physically challenged persons at the Kukareta IDPs camp located on the outskirts of Damaturu, the state capital in Nigeria’s northeast. Those who benefited from the gesture were the cripples, blinds, lepers and the aged among other destitute totalling about 550 persons. The essence was to carry the IDPs along in the sharing of succour at this critical time of need, said the Programme Officer of CBM in Yobe State, Mr Elisha Agagak. Agagak observed that in the distribution of relief materials, it has always been survival of the fittest as those living with disabilities get to be under-served. The CBM, which is said to have greatly improved the lives of destitute and people w

By Chioma Umeha In many cases, sexually transmitted diseases or sexually transmitted infections (STDs/STIs) are linked to infertility primarily when they are left untreated. For instance, chlamydia and gonorrhea are sexually transmitted bacterial infections that can be cured easily with antibiotics. Left untreated, 10 per cent to 20 per cent of chlamydial and gonorrheal infections in women can result in pelvic inflammatory diseas e (PID) – a condition that can cause long-term complications, such as chronic pelvic pain, ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy outside of the uterus), and infertility. Additionally, infections with gonorrhea and chlamydia may not cause symptoms and may go unnoticed. These undiagnosed and untreated infections can lead to severe health consequences, especially in women, causing permanent damage to reproductive organs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that these infections cause infertility in at least 24,000 women e

By Chioma Umeha A new study has linked low intake of omega-3 with rise in childhood asthma. The researchers said that taking fish oil during the third trimester of pregnancy could reduce a baby’s risk of developing asthma by almost a third. The study, published Thursday, in the New England Journal of Medicine, was conducted by the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood (COPSAC) at the Copenhagen University Hospital, with testing done at the University of Waterloo (UW). “We have long suspected there was a link between the anti-inflammatory properties of long-chain omega-3 fats, the low intakes of omega-3 in Western diets and the rising rates of childhood asthma,” Hans Bisgaard of COPSAC said in a release. “This study proves that they are definitively and significantly related.” Fish oil and olive oil For the five-year study, 736 pregnant women were asked to take 2.4 grams of either fish oil or the placebo olive oil daily starting at 24 weeks

By   Chioma Umeha In line with the holistic analysis of the Girl-child based on the 1995 UN fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing conference which seeks among others strategic objective to eliminate all forms of discrimination against her, a non-governmental organisation, Mercy Corps Nigeria has tasked media practitioners on girl child abuses reportage in the country Speaking at a one day seminar on reporting Violence Against Women and the Girl Child in Lagos, the Acting Programme Coordinator of Mercy Corps Nigeria, Magaritta Omojola said in her opening remark that the media is the watchdog of the society and should propagate the protection of the girl child through its reportage. The United Nations gave a holistic analysis on who a girl child is and defined certain strategic objectives to protect her. The objective also includes: Eliminate negative cultural attitudes and practices against girls, promote and protect the rights of the girl child and incr

By Chioma Umeha Chinese researchers have developed a potential new and safe approach for treating male hypogonadism, popularly known as male andropause, by directly converting adult skin cells into testosterone-producing cells. Male hypogonadism, a condition affecting almost a third of older men, occurs when the body does not produce enough of the testosterone hormone, primarily due to the dysfunction of testosterone-producing Leydig cells in the testes. Testosterone replacement therapy can alleviate some symptoms resulting from Leydig cell failure such as mood disturbances, sexual dysfunction and muscle weakening, but it may also increase the risk of prostate and cardiovascular complications, including the formation of blood clots, a new study published this week in the US journal Stem Cell Reports said. Scientists then turned to an alternative type of treatment, which involved production of Leydig cells by differentiating stem cells of different sources, su

By Chioma Umeha The HOPe Africa Secretariat in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, has bestowed on Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), 2016 award of “Traceability Advocacy & Legislative Services”. This was made known by the Executive Director of HOPe Africa, USA, Francis John in a congratulatory message to CISLAC. Speaking on the development, John said the award was necessitated by “cumulative exemplary lead and displaying measurable empathy of CISLAC in discharging on-time humanitarian services at all levels of Nigerian communities.” He said: “Please accept this award in recognition and appreciation for your immersed contributions to Nigerian legislative advancement. “Your accomplishment is respected worldwide, most especially in the advent of HOPe Africa, creating friendly societies for all ages, regardless of disabilities. “This you have done while pioneering human development (reengineering immigrants), promoting Veterans Exchange Programme