Chioma Umeha

By: Chioma Umeha As six states in the country struggle with cholera which has already affected 373 persons with 74 succumbing to the disease, action has commenced to initiate sanitary precautions to control it. This is even as 30 other states, including the Federal capital territory (FCT) is now on alert to prevent cross infection. The action is coming on the heels of warnings by government authorities and experts for the public to do everything to stop open defecation and ensure access to clean water. For instance, the Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, on Monday, assured that the ministry had proffered ways of checking the infection, just as experts on Tuesday, urged governments at all levels to reintroduce sanitary inspection to control further outbreak of cholera and other communicable diseases. Prof Chukwu, gave the assurance at the 2013 Physicians’ Week, organised by Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Abuja, while addressing journalists, confirming that the six st

By: Chioma Umeha When her story broke recently, a number of sympathetic Nigerians expressed concern, giving her family hope that succour will soon come their way.  However, several months have gone without help from anybody for young Fatima Usman as she continues to battle two life threatening ailments at the same time. Like her peers, Fatima had the dream of running around with her siblings and friends, studying to excel in school and become a successful legal luminary. Today, all these seem a tall dream as she silently awaits death with unusual calmness for a child of her age. At five, Fatima Usman’s life is gradually ebbing, and like a candle in the wind may be snuffed out soon, if urgent help does not come her way.  According to the medical diagnosis, little Fatima has a heart disease and a life threatening malignant ulcer rapidly spreading to other parts of her body, and is about to render her armless. Before the diagnosis, Fatima was a bubbling child with big dreams,

By: Chioma Umeha Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Monday pledged to support any initiative aimed at  increasing middle management surgical capacity across West Africa saying such increase in trained middle management surgeons would help check capital flight as a result of people seeking treatment  abroad from the sub-region. Governor Fashola, who spoke when he hosted Council Members of the West African College of Surgeons during their courtesy visit at the Lagos House, Alausa, said  the objective of such initiative would be to keep the people within the sub-region whenever there was a need for any surgical intervention.  Addressing the Council Members led by the College President, Professor Herve Yangni- Angate, he restated his support to every initiative by the College to improve health services in the country. The governor said: “I believe that the objective which you have so clearly articulated is to keep our people, at the very worst, within the sub-regio

By: Chioma Umeha Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared multi drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) a ‘public health crisis’ – and released an evidence-packed report to prove it. A lot has been written about what can be done to curb the spread of ‘virtually untreatable tuberculosis’ announced by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  However, the release of the world health body’s annual global TB report two days ago should be the data-filled nudge that demands everyone’s effort. The persistent creep of drug-resistant tuberculosis continues unabated. Here is a quick breakdown:  • About one in five of the 94,000 people diagnosed with MDR-TB (resistant to two of most commonly used drugs in the current four-drug regimen) are not being treated.  • Only about half of those being treated for drug-resistant TB are successfully completing treatment. Trends suggest this gap is only increasing.  • 10 percent of these cases are morphing into extensively d

By: Chioma Umeha Ahead of the World Polio Day, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said weekend that Nigeria is on the right track to stop polio transmission as it has recorded 52 per cent drop in polio cases, 63 per cent reduction in vaccine rejection Priyanka Khanna, Communication Specialist, Media, the UNICEF Nigeria Country Office who said this in a statement made available to Daily Newswatch, noted that polio is on the decline many states in the country. Khanna said: “In Nigeria, the number of States with ongoing circulation of the virus is down from 11 during the same time last year to nine.”  The Communication Specialist added that Borno, Yobe and Kano account for 72 per cent of all polio cases in the country so far this year, while three per cent of LGAs were infected with polio virus, while circulating polio genetic clusters dropped from eight to two per cent. Khanna also said that no Wild Polio Virus Type 3 case has been detected in the country so far this year,

By: CHIOMA UMEHA  Vaccination key to polio-free Nigeria, 2014 – Rotary Rotary international in Nigeria has urged Nigerians to support efforts towards raising awareness on polio and embrace the polio vaccination as it is the surest way to help the nation achieve its 2014 total polio eradication goal and join the league of polio-free countries for children, including India and America.  Chairman, Nigeria National PolioPlus Committee (NNPPC), Dr Tunji Funso who made this call in Lagos said, “While the whole world has recorded tremendous success in the fight against polio from the 125 endemic countries as at 1988, Nigeria alongside Pakistan and Afghanistan currently remain the three polio endemic countries but with consistent vaccination, the world would soon be free of polio just like it did with small pox. Funso who is also the Past District Governor of Rotary further observed that the country currently requires one billion dosage of vaccine annually to eradicate the disease. He

By: CHIOMA UMEHA  Lagos State Government says no fewer than 36,000 limb deformity patients have been screened while 4,000 out of those screened have had corrective surgeries under its Free Limb Deformity Corrective Surgery Programme since the inception of the Programme in 2004. Coordinator for the Programme, Dr. Dolapo Fasawe who stated this at a screening exercise for another batch of beneficiaries at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) noted that about 150 people have also been registered for the latest round of the screening exercise with the hope that they (the people) will all benefit from free surgical procedures. She explained that the programme was conceived in 2004 because the state government realized that there were a lot of people on the streets with various forms of correctable limb deformities who had either resigned to a life of begging or disability. Said she “we decided to start this programme to help correct some of these deformities so that the

By: Chioma Umeha The cancer arm of the World Health Organisation (WHO), International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) which is based in Lyon, France, on Thursday, confirmed that air pollution causes cancer. An agency report stated that the decision came after a consultation by an expert panel organized by IARC, adding that air pollution is a carcinogen, alongside known dangers such as asbestos, tobacco and ultraviolet radiation.  The report said: “What many commuters choking on smog have long suspected has finally been scientifically validated: air pollution causes lung cancer.” Kurt Straif, head of the IARC department that evaluates cancer-causing substances, noted:”We consider this to be the most important environmental carcinogen, more so than passive smoking.” IARC had previously deemed some of the components in air pollution such as diesel fumes to be carcinogens, but this is the first time it has classified air pollution in its entirety as cancer causing, the report

By: Chioma Umeha Penultimate week, the world marked the Cerebral Palsy (CP) Day. The World CP day is commemorated yearly, on the first Wednesday in October. But, the celebration this year was special for many reasons in Nigeria, as Benola Cerebral Palsy Initiative, Lagos, seized the opportunity to honour their partners and others for their efforts in supporting the organisation in its work in the area of CP.  Among those recognised were Uchenna Ogochukwu Makueke and Oluwabusola Claudia Akisola. Akinsola, is a project officer with Children Development Centre (CDC), Surulere and Madueke, a teacher at Open Doors Special Education Centre, Jos, Plateau State thanked Benola for making them ambassadors. Uchenna was born in Jos, September 29, 1975, and had her primary education at University of Jos Primary School before proceeding to Tempest Comprehensive High School. She later attended the University Jos and graduated 2001, with a Diploma in Special Education with upper credit. Uche,

By: CHIOMA UMEHA A new study published in JAMA Pediatrics shows that children who are vaccinated against measles between 12 and 15 months are less likely to suffer fever or seizures than those vaccinated between 16 and 23 months. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a first dose injection with a measles-containing vaccine at 12 to 15 months, with a follow-up “booster” between the ages of four and six.  Approximately 85 per cent of children will have received their first dose by the age of 19 months, but the study found that receiving the first dose by 15 months provides a benefit to children. Researchers from the University of Washington carried out a retrospective cohort study at eight Vaccine Safety Datalink sites on a total of 840,348 children aged 12 to 23 months of age who had been vaccinated against measles from 2001 through 2011. Dr. Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, from the University of Washington’s Department of Epidemiology and lead author of the study