Chioma Umeha

Sugary drinks may cause premature births By: Chioma Umeha Women who drank sugary drinks and sodas during their pregnancies had higher rates of premature births, according to Reuters reports Soon-to-be mothers should take note of the newest research on sodas and sugary drinks. Reuters’ reports confirmed that soda consumption and premature births may be linked.  A study in Norway, which followed 60,000 pregnant women, found that women who drank soda while pregnant were 25 percent more likely to give birth early, compared to those who avoided soda altogether.  Women who drank artificially sweetened beverages (that is: diet sodas) were 11 percent more likely to give birth early as well.  No one’s quite sure what the link is; Dr. Michael Katz of the March of Dimes foundation (which works to help babies’ health) told Reuters that the study didn’t indicate the risk of soda consumption. However, the study did note the strong correlation between soda consumption, pre-term labour, a

Malaria control: Nigeria indicted in N65.2bn spurious spending By: Chioma Umeha National Audit Office (NAO), the UK watchdog, has indicted Nigeria as among the four countries showing spurious spending of £252m, an equivalent of N65. 2 billion, meant for counter-prevention measures of malaria in 18 countries from 2011 to 2012. The indictment is coming on the heels of World Health Organization’s (WHO) warning of a $2.8billon, an equivalent of N700 billion shortfalls in global funding to tackle the disease, regarded as one of the biggest health and economic challenge for countries with high rates of illness. This is even as evidence has shown that the anti-malarial bed nets paid for by the UK are not in adequate use around the world. The UK spent £252million from 2011 to 2012 on counter-prevention measures in 18 countries, 16 of them in Africa.  The budget is expected to rise to £494million from 2014 to 2015, making the UK the third largest global donor. However, the NAO’s repo

Nigeria joins league of 192 dracunculiasis-free countries By: Chioma Umeha Monday, Nigeria will play host to the International Commission for the Certification of Dracunculiasis Eradication (ICCDE) of the World Health Organisation (WHO). Their mission is to assess the surveillance and reporting efforts, as well as verify and confirm the claim of the absence of indigenous guinea worm transmission, also known as dracunculiasis, a debilitating parasitic infection that affects people living in remote, poverty-stricken communities.  If Nigeria meets their requirement, the country will join 192 countries and territories, including 180 WHO member states, that have been certified free of dracunculiasis transmission. “As of 1st May 2013, the Commission had certified 192 countries and territories, including 180 WHO member states, as free of dracunculiasis transmission,”  according to a recent report by the World health body. Referred in some local parlance as the “impoverisher,” the gui

Nigeria tops HIV infection chart in sub-Saharan Africa with 60,000 – UN By: Chioma Umeha Nigeria has been identified as number one country in sub-Saharan Africa, with the largest number of children with HIV, recording nearly 60,000 new infections in 2012. A report from the United Nations AIDS programme, on Tuesday, implicated the country as among the seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa where progress has been stalled since 2009.  The report stated that some countries, which were among 21 priority countries in Africa, have witnessed a reduction in the number of new HIV infections in children by 50 percent since 2009. Specifically, the report said there is reduction in the number of new HIV infections in children by 50 percent since 2009 in seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the world’s worst-hit region in the global AIDS epidemic. But, it added that Nigeria is one of the two countries where new infections in children have increased and remained unchanged since the review

New date for media merit award entries on guinea worm eradication By: Chioma Umeha The Nigeria Guinea worm Eradication Programme (NIGEP) has announced the extension of deadline by three months, for the submission of entries to the Media Merit Award on guinea worm eradication, to allow more journalists to participate. Entries will now close on September 30, instead of June 30. The award was put in place in April to recognise, honour and reward contributions by Nigerian journalists and their media establishments, in the eradication of guinea worm disease since the campaign began in 1988. The award, in three categories – radio, television and newspaper/online publication, was announced as part of media activities preparatory to the visit of the International Certification Team from the World Health Organisation (WHO).  The team is expected in Nigeria on Sunday, June 23. A statement in Abuja on Sunday by the NIGEP National Coordinator, Mrs Ifeoma Anagbogu, noted that although many

Study links high-fat diet to slow developing brain By: Chioma Umeha A small new animal study out of Spain, has shown that adolescents who consume a high-fat diet risk long-lasting effects on learning and memory. In research presented at The Endocrine Society’s 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco, recently, scientists out of CEU-San Pablo University in Madrid, found that adolescent mice fed a high-fat diet displayed significantly impaired spatial memory compared to a control group that consumed the same amount of calories but less fat, as well as a group of adult mice put on the same diet. Research authors speculate that the brain’s memory centres are more susceptible to the effects of a high-fat diet during adolescence, given the amount of hormonal changes at this time.  For the study, scientists put 15 male adolescent mice on a high-fat diet over an eight-week period, in which 45 per cent of calories came from saturated fat. The control group of 15 mice was put on a conve

How NAFDAC sealed six illegal food production facilities By: Chioma Umeha Last week’s crack down of six organized illegal food production facilities at the Cemetery or Eziukwu Market in Aba, Abia State, and arrest of 14 persons by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) sends a warning signal to job seekers, landlords or property owners. This latest breakthrough by NAFDAC led to the closure six organized illegal food production facilities and arrest of 14 persons, mainly young persons, who were working there, where different brands of food products-among which were popular brands of Custard Powder were being counterfeited. The incident shows that parents and guardians should be wary of where their wards work, just as landlords are to be cautious of persons and companies they let the properties to as well as the kind of business done in their premises.  The Director General of NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii, has already assured that his agency was goin