Chioma Umeha

Chioma Umeha African Renaissance and Diaspora Network, Inc. (ARDN) announced Tuesday, that Dr. Djibril Diallo, a United Nations Senior Official, has been appointed to the position of President and Chief Executive Officer. The appointment will become effective March 25, 2018. A statement jointly signed by Arlene Katzive, Secretary of the Board and James Hsui, Legal Counsel, both of ARDN said that Dr. Diallo currently serves as Regional Director for West and Central Africa and Senior Adviser to the Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). He has held several management positions with the United Nations (UN) for more than three decades. “We look forward to continued close collaboration between UNAIDS and ARDN with Djibril in the lead,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé, in a message to all UNAIDS staff. In his capacity as the chief executive officer of ARDN, Dr. Diallo will lead the organisation’s ‘Pathway to

Chioma Umeha Lagos State Government has dissociated itself from fake advertorials making the rounds on the internet about admission into the State School of Nursing. In a statement signed by Mrs. Adeola Salako, Director, Public Affairs, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Modele Osunkiyesi who made this known today through a signed disclaimer notice to the public stated that the attention of the Ministry of Health has been drawn to the activities of some unscrupulous group of people who place the fake advertisements on the internet. She further revealed that these dubious people invite unsuspecting individuals to pay into their personal accounts. “Some go by spurious names and false identities such as Dr. Bello of Alimosho General Hospital or Professor Adeleke of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) or Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Igando and they invite unsuspecting individuals to pay into their personal accounts”, Osunkiyesi

Chioma Umeha To reduce the growing proportion of new HIV infections among children, Nigerian journalists have been called to increase reports which promote issues bordering on the Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission (eMTCT) of HIV. Journalists Alliance for the Prevention of Mother to Child Transimission of HIV/AIDS (JAPIN) in Calabar, Cross River State, made the call recently during a three-day workshop it organised to assess individual and collective efforts towards eMTCT of HIV with emphasis on communications through the mass media. Lamenting that Nigeria has the second highest global burden of HIV/AIDS and also contributes the largest proportion of new vertically acquired HIV infections among children, JAPIN said stressed media’s role in halting   the trend. The meeting brought together journalists from various media organisations across the country among other stakeholders in HIV industry who expressed worry over the country’s poor indices inf

Chioma Umeha UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) weekend, condemned the killing of three Nigerian aid workers in a Boko Haram attack on a military installation in Borno. Speaking for the UN OCHA, Edward Kallon, the Nigerian   Coordinator, said that apart from those who died and the injured, a female nurse was missing, feared abducted. Kallon in a statement by Samantha Newport, OCHA Head of communications, said that two of the deceased were contractors with the international organisation on migration, while the third victim was a medical doctor employed as a third party consultant with UNICEF. The deceased were working as coordinators in the camp for 55,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPS) who fled their homes as a result of on-going crisis in the north-east. “Aid workers put their lives on the line every single day to provide emergency assistance to vulnerable women, children and men. “Our deepest condolences go to the famil

Chioma Umeha L-R: Senate Chief Whip, Senator Prof. Olusola Adeyeye; Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye; President, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, Vice President, Sir Ifeanyi Atueyi and Secretary, Prof. Fola Tayo all of the Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy at the Special Reception in honour of the two distinguished fellows by the Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy which held at the Lagos Sheraton Hotel. Pharmacists have urged the federal government   to retain medicines on the Exclusive List as contained in the Nigerian constitution, noting that its movement to the Concurrent List would worsen the problems of drug distribution and regulatory control across the country. The Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy made the call, weekend at a special reception it held in honour of two distinguished fellows of the Academy. They are Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Dru

•Will Reduce Medical Tourism, Misdiagnosis - DG Centre for Human Virology and Genomics (CHVG) management, staff and World Health Organisation (WHO) after one of their meetings, recently. Chioma Umeha Loss of capital flight from misdiagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1), hepatitis B and hepatitis C in the country will now be a thing of the past with the listing of Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) as a WHO Prequalification Evaluating Laboratory. With the World Health Organisation’s (WHO),   accreditation, NIMR would now conduct Independent performance evaluations of In Vitro Diagnostics (IVDs)   which will assist in the diagnosis and/or monitoring of infections with HIV-1, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, the institute announced weekend. Speaking for NIMR, Prof Babatunde Lawal Salako, Director General/CEO of the institute told journalists that the Independent performance evaluations of IVDs which will be done   by the NIMR’s Centre for H

Some management and staff of Benola Cerebral Palsy Initiative with those from Modupe Cole Home for the disabled and physically and mentally challenged children and adults with the inates of the home, during the donation, recently. …Donates Wheelchairs, Crutches To Modupe Cole Chioma Umeha   Help came the way of some inmates of Modupe Cole Home for the disabled and physically and mentally challenged children and adults as Benola Cerebral Palsy Initiative presented them with wheelchairs, crutches, and walking aid at the tune of the N1.8 million. Making the presentation which was to mark the   fifth anniversary of the Benola, AVM Femi Gbadebo, the   Founder, said his organisation had taken up the challenge of visiting homes for the abandoned and disabled children on a regular basis. Mr. Gbadebo called on the government to support its advocacy campaign stressed on the need to tackle stigma against persons living with disabilities. He said; “Without elimin

Chioma Umeha Endometriosis Support Group Nigeria (ESGN) has said it would be partnering with the private and public sectors to reduce the ignorance around the invisible condition called Endometriosis as it severely affects the quality of life of sufferers, including all forms of meaningful relationships. Endometriosis is a condition in which tissue that normally lines the uterus –   the endometrium –   grows outside the uterus, typically on the ovaries, fallopian tubes, intestines or other areas in the pelvis. It is a common cause of infertility. Dr. Abayomi Ajayi, the Founder,   ESGN disclosed this at a press conference the group organised in Lagos recently, to announce its programme of activities for 2018. Ajayi said, “It gives me pleasure to announce our programme of events for the year 2018.   This year we are going to make significant inroads to expand the awareness level of this condition among people across the country. “In the past 12 years, we have

•Last Year’s Beneficiaries Express Joy, Laud Initiative Chioma Umeha It was indeed a joyous moment for Mrs. Alice Soyemi, 47 and Mrs. Vivian Eshiet, 33 both beneficiaries of free Fertility Treatment Support Foundation (FTSF) as they narrated the success story of their conception to an enthusiastic audience. Giving her narrative at a press briefing recently, to herald this year’s edition FTSF free fertility treatment programme for couples, Mrs. Soyemi has lost hope of ever becoming pregnant. For a decade, she has moved from one hospital    to the other within the country, even abroad, seeking help to no avail. Some of the hospitals told her she had endometriosis, a debilitating disorder in which the tissue lining a woman’s uterus (the endometrium) grows outside it (endometrial) implants. It involves the ovaries, bowel or the tissues lining the pelvis. Endometriosis has no cure, for now, and it can lead to infertility in women. She said; “I was told endometri

L-R: Olumide Akintayo, Immediate Past President Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Ahmed Yakasai, President PSN, and Emeka Duru, National Secretary PSN during the Council meeting of PSN at Pharamcy House, Anthony Village, Lagos, recently. …Says Plan Will Defeat War On Fakes Chioma Umeha   Members of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) rose from its first National Council meeting and alerted on dangers of moving drug matters to the Concurrent List, saying it may constitute a setback to the fight against fake drugs. Specifically, PSN has warned that any attempt to move drug matters to the Concurrent List would worsen the fake drug syndrome, drug misuse and abuse as well as other bottlenecks in drug distribution networks in the country. The warning which was contained in a communiqué signed by Pharm. Ahmed Yakasai and Emeka C. Duru, President and National Secretary, respectively, issued at the end of the meeting held at Pharmacy House, Lagos,

. Says 117 Million Lack Access To Safe Water Chioma Umeha UNICEF on Monday appealed for $3.6 billion to provide lifesaving humanitarian assistance to 48 million children living through conflict, natural disasters and other emergencies in 51 countries in 2018. A statement signed by Eva Hinds, Communication Specialist, made available to INDEPENDENT on Monday said, “Around the world, violent conflict is driving humanitarian needs to critical levels, with children especially vulnerable.” Hinds said that conflicts that have endured for years – such as those in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Nigeria, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen, among other countries – continued to deepen in complexity, bringing new waves of violence, displacement and disruption to children’s lives. “Children cannot wait for wars to be brought to an end, with crises threatening the immediate survival and long term future of children and young people on a catastrophic scale,” said Manuel

Chioma Umeha The International AIDS Society (IAS) has announced that Mexico City, Mexico, will host the 10th IAS Conference on HIV Science, 2019. IAS 2019 will take place at the Centro Citibanamex on 21-24 July 2019. Held every two years, the IAS Conference on HIV Science is a unique forum for scientists, clinicians, public health experts and community leaders to examine the latest research developments in HIV science and explore how to realistically apply and implement that knowledge to address the epidemic. IAS 2019 is expected to gather more than 6,000 participants. This is the second time that the IAS has convened a conference in Mexico City; it also hosted the 17th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2008) there. “We are excited to bring IAS 2019 to Mexico City,” Anton Pozniak, IAS President-Elect and IAS 2019 International Chair, said. “It was at AIDS 2008 in Mexico that the potential impact of ART on reducing HIV transmission was first being talked abo