Chioma Umeha

By Chioma Umeha Following an initiative which seeks the rebirth of harmony among the different professionals in the health sector, experts drawn from each of the major health disciplines will brainstorm at a symposium holding at the University of Lagos on May 11. The symposium is being jointly organised by the Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy in partnership with the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) and will feature practitioners drawn from medicine, pharmacy, nursing and midwifery, medical laboratory sciences, physiotherapy and other medical professions. Former Minister of Health, Professor Eyitayo Lambo will deliver the keynote presentation. According to Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, President of the Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy and also a former Minister of Health, “the dire state of healthcare in Nigeria today despite continuing efforts, requires that all professionals in the sector work in harmony to tackle the issues for the good of the country.” U

By Chioma Umeha   The Deputy Head of Mission, U.S. Embassy, David Young, on Monday said that his country was committed to ending the scourge of malaria in Nigeria. Young, who stated this in Abuja at the commemoration of 2017 World Malaria Day organised by the U.S. Embassy, said prevention and control remained a major U.S. foreign assistance objective. “The U.S. Government, through Presidential Malaria Initiative (PMI) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is committed to raising awareness about the proper prevention, diagnosis and treatment of this disease,” he said. According to him, the U.S. Government supports local partners to design and implement programmes to improve public and private sector adherence to diagnosis and treatment guidelines. He disclosed that the U.S. invested over 420 million dollars in the fight against malaria in Nigeria since 2010, and 75 million dollars in 2016 alone. He said that the U.S PMI strategy go

By Chioma Umeha It is estimated that almost half of all homicides in which women were the victims in 2012 were committed by intimate partners or family members. Worldwide, more than 700 million women today were married as children (below 18 years) and of this number, more than one in three were married before age. Similarly, Nigerian women and girls are subjected to violence in their homes, the place expected to provide protection from harm and violence. The statistics are scary as one in three women has experienced either physical and/ or sexual violence worldwide. Perhaps more daunting is that over 133 million girls and women have experience one form of female genital mutilation (FGM) in 29 African countries. Sadly, civil society organisations have discovered that the heinous and dastardly acts are under-reported in the media which ineptly and inadvertently causing their efforts to have little or no change in the society, especially among the perpetua

By Chioma Umeha The Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, has directed heads of federal government tertiary hospitals in the country to prepare, equip and be proactive in responding to outbreak of diseases in Nigeria. Speaking during a meeting with them in Abuja, Adewole urged the federal hospitals to come up with strategies to support the primary and secondary health care centres in the states, while also charging them to adopt secondary and primary health facilities, supervise them and make sure they work well. He recalled that the country has been dealing with series of outbreaks over the last one year, including Lassa Fever, cholera, measles and now meningitis, advising the public to notify the Federal Ministry of Health on any epidemic outbreak to enable it deploy response team immediately to checkmate the spread of the diseases. “The outbreak of meningitis in Zamfara actually started late November 2016, but we did not know till February, which was

By Alfred Akuki Multinational pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has announced the recall of over 590,000 Salbutamol (Ventolin) inhalers from the US market, saying there could be issues with the delivery technique. The recall is for three lots of Ventolin HFA 200D inhalers with lot numbers 6ZP0003, 6ZP9944 and 6ZP9848. The inhalers, according to reports, have been distributed to hospitals, pharmacies, retailers and wholesalers in the United States. “There is attainable risk that the affected inhalers could potentially not deliver the stated number of actuations,” according to GSK spokesman Juan Carlos Molina. “We continue to investigate the situation in order to identify the root lead to and implement appropriate corrective and preventative actions.” The recall is not directed at individuals, but those with inhalers from the recalled lots have been advised to contact the company.

By Alfred Akuki On World Malaria Day, Malaria No More celebrated its 11th Annual International Honours event by recognising two leaders who have helped make that progress possible, and who remain committed to defeating malaria for good. “Aliko Dangote and Rear Admiral Tim Ziemer represent the combination of U.S. government support and endemic country leadership that have made malaria one of the great public health success stories of our time,” said Martin Edlund, CEO of Malaria No More. “One is a military leader who has served the world’s most vulnerable populations across three Administrations; the other is Africa’s most successful businessman and most prominent philanthropist – and they have found common cause in working to end malaria.” The work is not done. Despite historic progress, malaria remains a daily threat, with half the world’s population still at risk. In 2015, there were 429,000 malaria deaths and 212 million malaria cases. A child still dies

By Alfred Akuki Lagos State Government on Monday, recommended the resumption of students for academic activities having certified the result from analysis of water samples from all water delivery points at the Queens College,Yaba, Lagos. The State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris said this while giving an update on the outbreak of gastroenteritis in the School. He noted that the school authority in collaboration with the Parents Teachers Association (PTA), Old Girls Association and the Federal Ministry of Education has successfully addressed identified areas of lapses by instituting various control measures. According to him, the control measures include; decommissioning of the multiple contaminated water sources, deployment of a single water source with water treatment, renovation of the dining hall, decontamination of the hostels and overhauling of the sewage system and clearance of the septic tanks. He added that the periodic testing and retesting

In 2015, nearly half of the world’s population was at risk of malaria with 91 countries and areas undergoing transmission of the disease which remains life threatening till today. In a chat with select journalists in Abuja recently, Dr Mairo Mandara, Country representative, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Nigeria disclosed that the Foundation is already working with researchers towards the elimination of malaria. CHIOMA UMEHA provides the excerpts: What would you say has been the organisation’s biggest success since the 10 years of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation interventions in Nigeria? Basically, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was established on the premise that all lives have equal value, because we believe all lives have equal value. We believe that every human being is entitled to live a healthy and dignified life. Everybody who is unable to do that, we believe we should try hard, not just Gates Foundation, we all, as human beings, have the r

Provides Free Care To 80,576 Patients By Chioma Umeha Lagos State government said it has sealed 160 hospitals and illegal pharmacies within the year under review, even as it sacked no fewer than 42 health workers for various offences relating to medical negligence. Dr Jide Idris, Commissioner for Health, said this at the 2017 Ministerial Press Briefing of the Ministry of Health to commemorate the two years in office of Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State at Alausa, Lagos. Idris said that the issue of negligence by health workers was being taken seriously by the ministry to protect lives of citizens in the state. ”We have established standards to address the issue of negligence, we have also employed civil society organisations who have been going round our health facilities to monitor and detect any form of negligence by our staff. ”In the last one year, the Health Service Commission has sanctioned and sacked about 42 health workers for various offence

Monique Bonavita Bueno, an embryologist from Spain, attended the physicians’ roundtable recently organised in Lagos, by Endometriosis Support Group (ESG) with the support of Nordica Fertility Centre, Nigeria. In this interview with CHIOMA UMEHA, she speaks on sperm washing and freezing as well as fertility preservation, their implications in fertility treatment. What is the link between sperm washing and sperm freezing? Sperm washing is the process in which individual sperms are separated from the semen. Washed sperm is used in artificial insemination using the intrauterine insemination (IUI) technique and in in vitro fertilization (IVF). Sperm washing involves removing any mucus and non-motile sperm in the semen to improve the chances of fertilization and to extract certain disease-carrying material in the semen. Sperm washing is a standard procedure in infertility treatment. Sperm washing takes place in a laboratory following sperm donation. Sperm washing i

By Chioma Umeha With a substandard and a sedentary lifestyle, popping medicines has become a part our everyday humdrum. We don’t even think twice before gulping down a Saridon or a Crocin but what we don’t realize is how toxic such dependence can become. ‘Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food’, said Hippocrates. So, here we list down foods that act as natural pain killers and the good news is – they do not have side effects. So drop the pills and try these natural painkillers – Tart Cherry: We may not know this but tart cherries are very good at relieving pain. They contain antioxidant compounds called anthocyanins which help in suppressing inflammatory compounds and pain. Dosage: Some handfuls Turmeric: The ingredient that gives turmeric its yellow colour is spice curcumin. It has anti-inflammatory properties that are comparable to over-the-counter antibiotics medicines available. It is effective in alleviating joint and muscular pain and swe

By Chioma Umeha The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says arrangements are on to sensitise farmers in Kogi and Ondo on how to handle food chain from the farms to consumers’ table. The NAFDAC Director, Special Duties, Dr Abubakar Jimoh, told journalists in Abuja weekend, that operators of fast food outlets in both states would also be trained. This is coming on the heels of the death of nine people after consuming “amala’’ meal made from poisonous cassava flour. The incident occurred in Ogaminana, Adavi Local Government Area of Kogi state in November, 2016. Jimoh explained that NAFDAC had carried out investigation into the incident with a view to addressing the problem. He added that some people also consumed poisonous beans in some places. Jimoh said the agency had taken statistics of farmers and operators of all food outlets in both states that would participate in a workshop to be organised by the agency. Acco

By Chioma Umeha Recently, Independent spotted a teenager, at 6:00 pm, with bruises all over her body even as blood dripped from her ears at Cardioso Street, close to popular Olodi-Apapa, Lagos. Dolapo, as she simply identified herself struggled to respond to interrogation about her injury. “I live with my Aunty at No. 10, Cardioso Street and she said; ‘I must find the money,’ she became mute in between talks, while trying to fight back tears. A passerby who claimed to be a neigbour, told Independent that Dolapo assists her ‘Aunty,’ a petty trader to hawk ‘pure water.’’ “Maybe Dolapo misplaced some of the proceeds from the day’s sales. She has become an object of constant beating; this is not the first time. We always hear the woman shouting and beating the girl everyday. We heard her shouting around 4:00pm, ‘you must bring the whole money from the ‘pure water’ you sold,” the passerby added. House helps are not the only victims of physical violence. Pare