Chioma Umeha

Chioma Umeha Contrary to emerging evidence which has proved that HIV-positive women who breastfeed maximise their babies’ health prospects, Nigerian mothers living with the infection are still evading the exercise. Until recently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) advised HIV-positive mothers to avoid breastfeeding if they were able to afford, prepare and store formula milk safely. But, research has since emerged that shows that a combination of exclusive breastfeeding and the use of antiretroviral treatment can significantly reduce the risk of transmitting HIV to babies through breastfeeding. A visit to the Heart to Heart Centre (H2H) of the Badagry General Hospital, Lagos State by The Journalists’ Alliance for the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV in Nigeria (JAPiN) shows why mothers living with HIV are denying their babies breastfeeding. At H2H, some mothers that were at the centre for post-natal care spoke to INDEPENDENT said that they we

In view of the current rate of malnutrition occasioned by crises in Africa, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi and an American-Nigerian philanthropist and entrepreneur, Princess Modupe Ozolua, have united to end the scourge. Princess Modupe Ozolua said the Ooni of Ife has partnered with Empower 54, to create awareness and promote solutions to end malnutrition in Africa. Ozolua, who disclosed the partnership her organisation entered into with the Ooni, quoted him as saying “the menace of malnutrition is creeping deeper into the fabric of our society and we must be tenacious in our fight against this colossal beast by creating a better mechanism; adopt policies and strategies that are capable of combating its rapid expansion.” She said: “After we evacuated the severely malnourished IDP children from Bama to Maiduguri on June 13 and 15, 2016, we realized more has to be done to save children suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) beyond evacuating

Some of the recipients of the free self-care tool kit from TonyMay’s Foundation and members of the management of the foundation Chioma Umeha Succour has come the way of 300 people living with Sickle Cell Disorder in Lagos as they received free self-care tool kit from TonyMay’s Foundation, a non-profit organisation to protect them against the crisis associated with the busy Christmas and New Year celebrations. In his remarks at the presentation ceremony of the self-care tool kit to beneficiaries recently, at St. Joseph Mission Clinic, Kirikiri Town, Lagos, Mr. Andrew Otokhina, Chairman Board of Trustees, TonyMay’s Foundation, said that the goal of the exercise was to make sure that people with SCD are healthy and crisis free during the festive period. Otokhina explained; “Our organisation provided self-care tool kit to 300 people living with Sickle Cell Disorder (SCD). The goal is to ensure that they are healthy and crisis-free during the Christmas holidays

L-R: Adeniyi Adefolake, National Treasurer, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN); Emeka Duru, National Secretary PSN; Ahmed Yakasai, President PSN; Osamede Uwubanmwen, General Manager, Bio-generics Nigeria Limited and Saromi John, Product Manager, after signing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Bio-generics Nigeria Limited on Award for Professional Integrity for Pharmacist in public health hospitals in Nigeria, recently. Chioma Umeha To tackle the rising spate of drug and substance abuse epidemics in the country occasioned by prescription medication misuse, the Senate at a roundtable recently recommended the strengthening of Pharmacovigilance to address the menace. Against this backdrop, Ahmed Yakasai, President Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), has called for strengthening of pharmacovigilance as well as its integration into medical practice and public policy. Pharmacovigilance or drug safety is the pharmacological science relating to the co

Chioma Umeha Elimination of new infections among children and ensuring safe motherhood by 2020 is among the goals of the national programme for Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. To this effect, the country is targeting to provide quality HIV testing with results and counselling for 75 per cent of all pregnant women in the country by 2020. It will also ensure that 60 per cent of all HIV positive pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers receive ARV drugs the same period. The comprehensive package of PMTCT interventions include, HIV testing services (HTS), ARV drugs and Cotrimoxazole prophylaxis for mother-infant pairs and use of lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) for women. However, investigations show that there are many pregnant women without access to quality HIV testing, results and counselling. It was also discovered that many HIV positive pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers still lack access to ARVs. This was confi

Family planning commodities. Inset: Dr. Salami Chioma Umeha Worried by the growing maternal mortality rate in Nigeria, a medical doctor, Habeeb Salami of Pathfinder International has advocated investment in family planning, saying it will reduce the rate of women’s death by 30 per cent. Dr. Salami said, 576 Nigerian women dies out of per 100,000 women’s death due to pregnancy and child birth issues yearly, even as he noted that “pregnancy and child birth are natural process that should not take any life. “That is why family planning is important. It gives the woman time to rest properly from child birth before the next pregnancy,” he stressed. Dr. Salami also noted that family planning will save the lives of 111 women who die daily following pregnancy and child-birth related issues. Salami who was addressing journalists in Lagos at a media stakeholders engagement meeting, said that the alarming figure of 111 women dying daily from

Some of the rescued women and children from Chalawa Sambisa forest during one of the operations, recently. Chioma Umeha   Following growing incidences of abuse of children affected by humanitarian crisis in the North Eastern part of Nigeria, key United Nations agencies have urged media practitioners to avoid reports which can cause stigmatisation of children and compromise their rights. This was made known by Doune Porter, Chief of Communication, United Nation Children Fund (UNICEF), who explained that humanitarian principles are basis for reporting in emergencies. Porter who spoke during a two-day dialogue tagged: “The Humanitarian Crisis in the North-East: Taking Stock and Looking Ahead,” specifically told selected journalists who were from different beats – Health, Judiciary, Human Rights and Life, to employ terms such as children used as ‘human bombs,’ not ‘suicide’ bombers. He advised media practitioners to adopt what she described as ‘do no harm pri

Chioma Umeha In a bid to address the poor funding of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the National Assembly has promised to improve the agency’s budgetary allocations. Dr. Abubakar Jimoh, Director Special Duties, NAFDAC, in a statement at the weekend, said that Dr. Bukola Saraki, Senate President, also pledged that the upper chamber would look into the overlapping functions to create a platform for effective performance of the agency. The House of Representatives has also acknowledged that NAFDAC could only perform optimally on its mandate to fight against counterfeit drugs and other substandard regulated products with improved funding for its regulatory activities. Saraki, who was spoke when Prof. Moji Adeyeye, the newly appointed Director General of NAFDAC, paid him a courtesy visit in his office on Thursday, particularly stressed that the Senate will tackle the challenge of poor funding of the agency’s activities b

Chioma Umeha Mrs. Ify Onyegbule Anderson, a renowned broadcaster and publisher, Woman of Substance, has sent a Save Our Soul (SOS) message to public-spirited individuals to help save her husband, George, from chronic kidney disease. Anderson, who is Team Lead, Truespeak Broadcast Academy, said her husband who fell ill in September was rushed to the hospital where he was diagnosed with kidney failure. Thereafter doctors recommended three sessions of dialyses every week to help filter his blood and stabilise organ functions. Every session costs over N40,000 without the tests and other organ function examinations. In her passionate message, Anderson graphically describes her pain and fears. “Every day, at the hospital is a very emotional and disturbing experience, I watch my husband, daily and slowly slipping into pains from these diseases.   My heart aches. My tears won’t dry. My husband is weaker at each sunrise and slower at sunset. A medical report sig

Professor Akin Osibogun, a Public Health Physician and Epidemiologist of the Department of Community Health & Primary Care, CMUL/LUTH, has warned that Nigeria lacks proper emergency response to disease outbreak, as no fewer than 1,000 Nigerians die yearly as a result of disease epidemics. Professor Osibogun said that Nigeria currently lacks capacity to contain any epidemic disease as it did to Ebola virus when it broke out in the country. The former Chief Medical Director, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos, bared his mind in a lecture entitled, “Emergency Response to Disease Outbreaks: The Way Forward in Nigeria” he delivered at the 8th Annual Symposium of the Health Writers’ Association of Nigeria (HEWAN) in Lagos on Saturday. Osibogun attributed the high death rate to the leadership’s lack of political will and preparedness to combat disease epidemics in the country. He said, “Nigeria is still not prepared if Ebola Virus Disease resurfac