Chioma Umeha

The black spots on old banana peels may unlock a faster, easier diagnosis of human skin cancer, boosting survival chances, scientists said Monday. When bananas ripen, their skin is covered in small, round black spots caused by an enzyme known as tyrosinase. The same enzyme is present in human skin, and in greater quantities in people suffering from melanoma — a potentially deadly form of skin cancer. A team of scientists used this observed commonality to build a cancer scanner, which they then refined and tested at length on banana peels before moving on to human tissue, an online report said Wednesday. Bananas First, researchers at the Laboratory of Physical and Analytical Electrochemistry in Switzerland concluded that the enzyme is a reliable marker of melanoma growth. In the earliest stage 1 of cancer, the enzyme is not very apparent, becoming widespread and evenly distributed in stage 2, and unevenly distributed in stage 3 — by when the cancer has started spreading to

As the country joined to mark the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting(FGM/C) on Saturday, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) lamented that an estimated 19.9 million Nigerian women have undergone the practice. The number approximately represents 16 per cent of 125 million FGM/C survivors globally. UNICEF’s Child Protection Specialist, Maryam Enyiazu who stated this at a two-day UNICEF media dialogue, titled: ”Media partnership towards female genital mutilation/cutting abandonment in Nigeria” noted that 82 per cent of women in Nigeria undergo FGM before age five. L-r: Gender Analyst, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Damilola Obinna; Professor Modupe Onadeko, President, Inter-African Committee on female genital mutilation (FGM) and Doune Porter, Chief of Communication, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), during a facility visit to Ife Local Government, Osun state, part of a two-day UNICEF media dialogue, “Media partnershi

Fidson Healthcare Plc, one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in the country, has recently made a giant leap toward addressing Nigeria’s pharmaceutical needs by entering into an agreement with the American company, GB Pharma Holdings. Their business agreement is expected to provide Fidson with the guidance it needs to establish its foothold within the US and to develop strategic relationships with other business entities. Of all these entities, US Pharmacopeia (USP) is the most critical. It will insure Fidson’s growth by helping it sustain U.S. and international standards. Founded in 1820, this scientific nonprofit organization will share with Fidson its expertise by overseeing the identity, strength, quality and purity of medicines, food ingredients and dietary supplements that Fidson will manufacture and distribute. With the support of GB Pharma Holdings, Immune Therapeutics Incorporation and American Hospitals & Resorts (AHAR), Fidson will gain from this partnershi

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has approved the production of four United Nations life saving commodities for women and children. The commodities include: chlorhexidine gel used in neonatal umbilical cord care, amoxicillin dispersible tablet used in Pneumonia, Zinc Sulphate for diarrhoea and misoprostol. Announcing this at a two-day Common Technical Document, CTD, workshop in Lagos, the Director General of NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii said Nigerians now have improved access to locally produced safe, efficacious and affordable medicines. Orhii explained that some of the drugs before now were not manufactured in the whole of Africa. Giving further insight into the life saving commodities, he explained that the agency decided to give its technical assistance towards the production of these drugs to make Nigeria self-sufficient in the manufacture and supply of quality, safe and efficacious medicines at affordable prices. Continuing he a

Omron Healthcare EMEA weekend, launched, a Pilot project for Omron Medical Connect, a service that enables patients to receive remote consultation and prescriptions for hypertension from cardiologists at Lagos University Teaching Hospital directly at their community pharmacy. Omron Medical Connect aims to provide patients with hypertension care in pharmacies close to their homes, reducing cost, travel time and time waiting for appointments. Omron Healthcare EMEA will recruit 500 patients to the Omron Medical Connect Pilot to demonstrate feasibility and effectiveness of this innovative healthcare delivery model. The Pilot will take place from February to October 2016 in Lagos and surrounding areas. Omron Healthcare EMEA has a global reputation for producing highly accurate blood pressure devices. However Omron’s mission is to go beyond tracking numbers to provide services that enable patients to take control of their health and live longer, healthier lives. Omron is working

The newly appointed Bauchi state Commissioner of Health, Dr. Halima Mukaddas has reiterated the state government commitment to the five-point agenda on health declared by Governor Muhammad Abdullahi Abubakar. The commissioner made the pledged when she received a roll-up banner containing the five point agenda from a non-governmental organisation, Community Health and Research Initiative (CHR) in her office. Dr. Halima said the ministry will support to agenda by including its contents to the ministry’s health operational plan. She expressed sincere gratitude for the banner presented to her and assured the advocacy team that she will always make sure certain activities to be carried out are in line with the five point’s agenda, developed by the state governor last year. She said the administration has so far shown utmost zeal and passion to address health gaps in the state, as the governor’s drive to improve the health of the people in the state will be reflected positiv

The Nigerian media has been urged to rise up to their responsibility of pressuring the government to make adequate health budgetary allocations, especially in the area of child, women, otherwise family health. This call was made by Mrs. Chioma Kanu, an official of the Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health (PACFaH) during a courtesy visit of the team to Newswatch Times, recently, who insisted that it is very important for the media to support civil society groups in ensuring that government fulfill it promises of adequate health care to the people particularly, for mothers and children. Kanu explained that the essence of the team’s courtesy visit is to mobilize the media in the country to support the group and represent the society well. According to her, there are a lot of malnourished children across the country and there is a need for civil society groups to mobilize resources for nutrition with the support of the media. She observed that timely reports