Chioma Umeha

By Chioma Umeha  To raise awareness of the importance of vaccination in reducing child mortality and renew efforts around universal vaccination coverage, the World Health Organisation Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO) launched the eighth African Vaccination Week (AVW) weekend. Vaccination can save children’s lives, and keep adults, communities and nations, healthy. One in five African children still lacks access to all the necessary and basic vaccinations. AVW 2018 builds on the January 2017 Heads of State endorsement of the Addis Declaration on Immunization (ADI), a historic pledge to ensure that ev eryone in Africa receives the full benefits of immunization. To support Member State implementation of the ADI, a roadmap has been developed in close collaboration with WHO AFRO and EMRO, the African Union Commission and immunization partners. The roadmap provides Member States with specific strategies that can be incorporated into existing efforts to imp

Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo By Chioma Umeha Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, the Paramount ruler and Alake of Egbaland, has called on Nigerians to collaborate with donor of Long Lasting Insecticide-Treated Nets (LLINs), ‘Global Fund’ and implementing agency Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to tackle the scourge of malaria across the country. Alake disclosed this while he was decorated as the net Ambassador by the Team of the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), at the ongoing distribution of card net, aimed at eliminating malaria across the country, held at Ake Palace, Abeokuta, Ogun State Capital. Alake said that it was imperative to use the mosquito net or sleep inside the mosquito net to avoid being contacted by malaria through the bite of female mosquito usually called (Anopheles), noting that by so doing this the state would be free from the scourge of malaria fever. He appreciated the donor of the initiative ‘Global fund’ and the implementing agency the Cathol

Ogun State Health Commissioner Dr. Babtunde Ipaye has said residents will benefit from a free eye surgery programme and a gift of recommended glasses to those with sight problems. Ipaye spoke in Sagamu while flagging-off a week-long programme organised by “The Collectives”, a community-based project providing free eye screening and surgery. The Commissioner said the next round of the programme would enable residents get surgical interventions for their eye problems, such as cataract and glaucoma. The Ogun state Ministry of Health boss said over 20,000 residents benefits from social health insurance scheme, called Araya, where the government takes care of the less privileged. According to him, about 24 health facilities both private and public were already enlisted, treating patients which the government paying the premium every month. He noted that basic eye care was also part of the “Araya” Scheme, where the state government put together all the essential primary health ca

Consumption of contaminated food, unclean water and intake of overdose drugs has been identified as the major causes of various categories of hepatitis in human body. Dr. Johnson Ogunmade said this during an annual health seminar and get-together organised for Ogun State Ministry of Health community health practitioners with the theme; ‘Reducing prevalence of hepatitis disease: Role of Community Health Practitioners’ held in Abeokuta. Ogunmade said hepatitis A which was the most commonest among the five categories in the country was as a result of drug abuse, unclean environment and intake of contaminated food and water, adding that hepatitis B if not quickly diagnosed can kill even faster than HIV/AIDs and can easily be transmitted through body fluid. He said hepatitis C and D can be transmitted through unprotected sex and blood transfusion respectively, while that of hepatitis E could be transmitted through water-borne diseases, saying that symptoms to watch out for all categ

A 16-year-old Daniel Akishi  Terpase suffering from Ameloblastoma of Mandible currently needs the help of Nigerians. Akishi was neither dumb from birth nor was he born sad, but his present predicament has make life really difficult for him. While his peers are going to school or play around he stays in-door shedding tears. His travails began at the age of four with a small spot in the mouth.  According to Ande Terumbul, his brother, the small spot was initially not perceived as serious as it didn’t prevent him from completing his primary school education. “By the time he was 10, it had grown very big and affected his teeth. We tried several traditional and medical treatments it didn’t work and the more he grows the more the jaw expands and scatters the teeth. Terumbul explained that when there was no improvement, he decided to bring him down to Lagos from Benue State. Despite his academic brilliance, Akishi is unable to complete his education and feeding is a difficult task.

For about 10 per cent of infertile couples we cannot determine what the reason for their infertility is. The diagnostic label we use for them is unexplained infertility, which just means that we cannot provide an explanation as to why they are infertile. For many of these couples , we have now found that the reason for their infertility is poor quality eggs. This can often be a difficult diagnosis to make; and it is one which is often overlooked by many gynecologists , especially when the woman is young and has regular cycles. What is oopause Some women with poor quality eggs have poor eggs because they have impaired ovarian reserve. Every woman is born with all the eggs she is ever going to have in her life; and as she gets older, she keeps on depleting her ovarian reserve until she becomes menopausal. However , for at least 10 years before reaching the menopause , her egg quality declines, so that she has enough eggs to produce enough hormones to get regular menstrual cycles,

The Ogun State Government has inaugurated a 38-man committee on State Strategic Health Development Plan (SSHDP), in conjunction with Pathfinder International in order to reduce maternal, child mortality rate in the State. Inaugurating the committee at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, Dr. Babatunde Ipaye, the State Commissioner for Health charged them to think out of the box in discharging their responsibilities. Ipaye said the committee had a five-year period to develop a plan for the State towards meeting the expectation of the Federal Ministry of Health in having bottom-top approach to the National Strategic Plan on Health. The Commissioner charged the committee to deliver the best, saying; “whatever development adopted in the State will be sent to the Federal Government as part of National Health Plan.” “We are modifying the expectation of Federal government plan in such a way that it will have positive impact on our people, not only to fulfil fe

Experts have called on mothers to breastfeed their babies immediately after birth, saying that breast milk works like a baby’s first vaccine, protect them from potentially deadly diseases and ensure their optimum development and survival. This charged was contained in the Global Breastfeeding Scorecard which was released at the start of World Breastfeeding Week alongside a new analysis and was made available to INDEPENDENT by Geoffrey Njoku Communication Officer, UNICEF Nigeria. Corroborating this Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said, “Breastfeeding gives babies the best possible start in life.” “Breast milk works like a baby’s first vaccine, protecting infants from potentially deadly diseases and giving them all the nourishment they need to survive and thrive.” The scorecard report also showed that an annual investment of only US$4.70 per newborn is required to increase the global rate of exclusive breastfeeding amon

What if you could find out your odds of having a child with a genetic disorder before you even got pregnant? Modern testing makes it possible. With at-home tests, it’s easier than ever to get screened. Doctors usually recommend this step for parents-to-be who have a higher risk of passing on certain diseases, like cystic fibrosis. And because of these screening tests, the number of people who have some disorders, like Tay-Sachs disease, has gone way down. But what if you’re not considered high risk? Should you check your genes before you get pregnant? Your doctor or a genetic counselor can help you decide. How genetic tests work Many genetic disorders happen when a person has two bad copies of a gene, one from each parent. If you have only one faulty copy, you won’t have any symptoms of the condition, but you are a ‘carrier’ for it. Your baby will be born with the disorder only if both you and your partner pass the bad gene to him. To do a genetic carrier screening, also cal