Chioma Umeha

The National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Wednesday organised a sensitisation programme on its guidelines for registration of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) regulated products at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Hall, Ikeja, Lagos. Prof. Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, Director-General, NAFDAC, said the aim of the programme was to sensitise the public and specifically the operators of the NAFDAC Regulated Products Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise (MSME) Industry. Prof. Adeyeye said that NAFDAC has a statutory responsibility to safeguard public health through the execution of its mandate which is to regulate and control the manufacture, importation, exportation, distribution, advertisement, sale and use of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, bottled and packaged water, chemicals – generally referred to as regulated products. She said that on assumption of office on November 30, 2017, she resolved to consolidate the ga

A Non-Governmental advocacy working group, Family Health Initiative, Ogun (FAHIO) has sought the support and cooperation of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), of government in the process of making consumables available in the public health facilities. This was revealed in a statement made available by the Media Officer of the group, Mrs. Waliyat Odemakin, after an advocacy visit by the group to the Ogun State Head of Service and some top government officials in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta. The Chairperson of FAHIO, Mrs. Kemi Balogun at the visit emphasized the need for increased contraceptive uptake and access to quality family planning services, adding that success on these would help the state achieve its targeted 52 percent Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) by year 2020 as well as reduction in Maternal Mortality and Morbidity rate to the barest minimal. According to Balogun, Improved Family Wellbeing and proactiveness of government agencies in the implementation of policies and

Advocacy Core Group, a Child Birth Spacing Advocacy Working Group, has commended Kebbi state M inistry of Health and Ministry of Budget and Planning for creating a budget line for Child Birth Spacing (CBS) programme in the state. The body with approval for advocacy on sustainable funding for CBS in the state which started in 2015, supported by Pathfinder International, has finally hit a milestone on actualization of its key demand – the creation of a dedicated budget line for CBS activities. According to its statement issued on Tuesday 24th September 2019 at a work plan development workshop, also supported by Pathfinder International, the move made by the state government will be a game changer towards improving the state’s Contraceptive Prevalence Rate which currently stands at 3.2% as shown by the Nigeria Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) 2018 report. “We would like to commend and appreciate the action of the government for taking a step towards increasing access to CBS services in th

S ome Civil Society Organisations(CSOs) and other stakeholders have warned that delay in the release of family planning funds is responsible for high-risk sexual behaviour and social malaise among young people. The groups which include the Pathfinder International, Media Advocacy Working Group, MAWG, and the Public Health Sustainable Advocacy Working Group, PHSAI, made the call recently, during a dialogue to mark the Word Contraception Day. In a presentation, the Chairman, PHSAI, Barrister Ayo Adebusoye, explained that prompt release of family planning funds by the state government would help in preventing high-risk sexual behaviour among young people. Similarly, Adebusoye said that efforts by the State to develop its annual budget in line with family planning Costed Implementation Plan (CIP) would tackle ugly social consequences of high-risk sexual behaviours among them. Adebusoye listi ng the consequences said, “Delay in acting fast is responsible for the increasing rate of teenage p

Some of the dignitaries at the Save The Children event W ith pneumonia being the second biggest killer of under-5 children worldwide, Save The Children International unveiled the report of its Integrated and Sustained Childhood Pneumonia and Infectious Disease Reduction in Nigeria (INSPIRING) project targeted to curb the menace. The launch of INSPIRING project, a situational analysis of the disease in Lagos and Jigawa states was to formally flag-off the scheme in the two states. Pneumonia reportedly killed 880,000 U-5 children globally in 2016 alone. Half of these were recorded in only five countries, one of which is Nigeria which also recorded about 19/1000 deaths of U-5 children in 2016. The INSPRING report estimates that    Jigawa state records about 14,988 cases of pneumonia, while Lagos state records about 17, 955 cases every year. Launching the report in Lagos, the State Child Survival Strategic Coordinator, Dr. Saida Ogaga, representing the Commissioner of Health, Prof. Akinola

T he Society for Family Health(SFH) has called on the Federal Government to boost adolescent girls’ access to health and critical social services as part of the efforts towards achieving major targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A statement which was made available to DAILY INDEPENDENT weekend, SFH Deputy Project Director of Adolescents 360 (A360), Pharm. Fifi Ogbondeminu said adolescent access to health would promote social inclusiveness and help drive down maternal mortality such as unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortion among adolescent girls and women. According to the statement, Ogbondeminu    who spoke at the National Conference on Inclusivity, Equality & Diversity in University Education hosted by the University of Lagos explained    that SFH started A360 in June 2017 to break down barriers to some critical social and health services for adolescent girls aged 15 – 19 years by creating safe spaces in public health facilities where they can achieve their dr

Pharmacists under the auspices of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, (PSN) have bemoaned that there is very little of government support towards pharmacists’ post graduate studies. They flayed a situation whereby pharmacists are left to take responsibility of the complete cost of their residency/Consultancy programme. Explaining this to journalists in Lagos recently at an event to commemorate World Pharmacists’ Day, marked yearly, on September 25, the President of PSN, Pharm Sam Ohuabunwa stressed that there is need for the government to support continuous retraining of pharmacists to enable them update themselves with latest trend in the sector. He stressed that government should grant scholarships to pharmacy students for postgraduate and postdoctoral training abroad, especially for the new and emerging areas of Intensive Care (IC). Specifically, Ohuabunwa said, “Health is dynamic and pharmacists need training and retraining to retool for emerging and reemerging health problems. Ther

From Right: Pharm (Mazi) Sam Ohuabunwa, President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), unveiling the conference logo on Monday, while Chief Emeka Duru, Secretary, PSN; Dr. Egbuna Udeorah, Conference Planning Committee(CPC) Head of Exhibition & Un-officio member PSN; from Left: Pharmacist (Dr.) Ejiro Foyobo, Deputy President, South, PSN and Pharm Bankole Ezebuilo, Conference Planning Committee Chairman watch.   A ll roads lead to Kaduna State for Pharmacists and all stakeholders on Monday, November 4, 2019 for the Annual Conference of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) which would run through Saturday November 9, 2019. Pharm. (Mazi) Sam Ohuabunwa, PSN President, at a pre-conference briefing with newsmen announced that the conference with the theme, “Navigating the winds of change in professional practice in a volatile economy,” was structured to address key areas of need towards retooling for best world practices in the coming year; peer review to close up gaps in prac

J oint Health Sector Union and Assembly of Healthcare Professional Association (JOHESU/AHPA) has condemned and rejected the approval of the concessioning of facilities in public health institutions in the country by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC). JOHESU/AHPA which constitutes 95 per cent of health workforce in the country said concession of facilities in public health institutions would compromise the lives of the vast majority of Nigerians and compound their existing problems. JOHESU/AHPA in a release by its Chairman, Biobelemoye Joy Josiah, described the concession approval as a hurricane that would speed up a “descent to a bottomless pit of fruitlessness and un-productivity in healthcare.” It therefore urged the Federal Government to immediately stop the concessioning of Teaching Hospital facilities to private profiteers. It as well advised other health professionals who have been promised that concessioning of health facilities would not affect them to