Chioma Umeha

With this year’s Nigeria Prize for Science Competition recording the highest number of entries from 27 scientists worldwide, experts believe that fight to end the malaria scourge in Africa has received a boost.  At the moment, the scientists are working on innovations in Malaria Control to win the coveted $100,000 with their new findings. The General Manager External Relations of Nigeria LNG, Dr. Kudo Eresia-Eke, said this recently, in Lagos at the formal hand-over of entries to the Advisory Board of the Nigeria Prize for Science.  Dr. Eresia-Eke expressed optimism that this year’s prize competition will throw up a notable innovation in combating the malaria scourge in Africa, particularly in Nigeria. In his remarks at the ceremony, Dr. Eresia-Eke said “The journey every year of The Nigeria Prize for Science is punctuated by milestones. One of those milestones is actually the announcement of the closure and number of entries for the year. The theme for this year’s Prize co

Tunji Ilelaboye, Sole Administrator, Agboyin-Ketu Local Council Development Area of Lagos, has called for mo re commitment of stakeholders to family planning to achieve its goals.  Ilelaboye made the call in Lagos at a Town Hall Meeting on Family Planning organised in Somolu LGA of Lagos by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) – Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative 2 (NURHI 2). “The purpose of this gathering is to enlighten the populace, both male and female of childbearing age, on the benefits of family planning.  “We have been paying lip service to issues on family planning, but now is the time to address them; this is what NURHI 2 is spearheading in Lagos State and the entire Nigeria. “What they have done so far is going around all the local government areas through the Primary Health Centres (PHCs) to improve their family planning units.  “It is expected that people should access informed family planning services with ease from providers who are knowledgeable,

Dr. Sunday Aboje, National Coordinator, National AIDS/STI Control Programme(NASCAP), Federal Ministry of Health, has urged the Federal Government to take ownership of elimina tion of Mother to Child transmission (eMTCT) of HIV  programmes to end disease infection in the country. Dr. Aboje said this at the opening of a three-day communication strategic review workshop by Journalists Alliance for Prevention of Mother to Child transmission of HIV (JAPiN) in Calabar, Cross Rivers State, recently. While stressing on the need for Federal Government to take charge of the programme, the National Coordinator, NASCAP, decried the country’s dependence on foreign donors to eliminate mother to child transmission of HIV. He further attributed over-reliance on foreign donors to be responsible for the lack of coordination in the HIV Health Sector Response, saying this result in duplication of efforts, parallel programme, among others. Dr, Aboje  said: “Over-dependence on external do

Lagos State Man Of The Year Award ·      Fertility Advocates Make Case For Dr Ajayi BY CHIOMA UMEHA In many African societies, children are the most important thing in life, so not to be able to have that can be devastating. To this effect, childless couples are susceptible to depression, suicidal thoughts, among other problems because of difficulties in conceiving. To make matters worse, fertility problems are something that the affected people don’t always want to talk about. And so the sense of isolation can be overwhelming. Dr Ajayi Thanks to Dr. Abayomi Ajayi, CEO Nordica Fertility Centre with clinics in Lagos, Asaba and Asokoro Abuja, who many Nigerians that have benefitted from his services said have demystified fertility problems in Nigeria. It is not surprising that he was nominated by the Centre for Policy Development & Political Studies for the ‘Lagos State Man of the Year 2017 Award,’ along with nine other very formidable great achievers. Dr Aja

G overnment has been urged to increase funding and support People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and partners working on HIV awareness in line with the global campaign for safer motherhood and HIV-free babies. Making the call recently, was Mrs. Kadiri Oluseyi, Executive Director, Centre for Positive Health Organisation, Lagos State under the platform of Abidjan – Lagos – Corridor who further canvassed for elimination of stigma for People Living With HIV/AIDS. According to her, support from government through increased funding and access to anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs will help to ameliorate the challlenges of PLWHA, especially pregnant mothers and help in the elimination of  Mother-To- Child- Transmission (eMTCT) of HIV. Oluseyi spoke when members of Journalists Alliance for Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission of HIV in Nigeria (JAPiN), Lagos state Chapter made special investigative visit to the office of Abijan-Lagos Corridor O

The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has disclosed that Nigeria has the largest number of girls not in school and has launched an initiative tagged “Girls for Girls” (G4G) to facilitate education of girls as well as empower them with information and knowledge. The UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Mr. Mohamed Fall, who announced this said the UN agency plans to facilitate the education of  one million girls in Bauchi, Niger, Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara states. Fall disclosed this via a press statement signed by its spokesman, Mr. Geoffrey Njoku, lamenting that Nigeria has the largest number of girls not in school. He explained that the initiative would help the girls build their capacity and create access to education so as to enable them to stand up for themselves. According to him, “a vast majority of girls in Nigeria do not complete primary school. The average girl stays in school only through age nine. Less than one-third of girls in Nigeria enrol in the lower secondar

To usher a new dawn in healthcare where the interest of patients will be paramount, doctors and pharmacists in the country under the aegis of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) respectively, have pledged to bury their differences. The goal according to them is to boost the country’s healthcare delivery system by offering quality and effective healthcare services to patients   through a harmonious relationship and teamwork. To this effect, the leadership of the two professional bodies, said it had set up some committees on inter- professional collaboration to ensure the implementation of the decision among healthcare professionals. The committees will ensure a smooth working relationship among all the various professional groups in the health sector, including nurses, laboratory scientists, among others. Disclosing this during an interactive session in Lagos recently, Dr. Mike Ogirima, President of NMA and Pharm. Ahmed Yakas