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Boosting Investment In Family Planning For Effective National Planning

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Chioma Umeha Research has shown that population size is vital to the growth of any nation and has a direct impact on other areas of development, particularly on human resources. Increasingly, there have been global calls for countries to focus on the development of human capital, including provision of adequate infrastructure, housing, health and educational facilities. Other areas are potable water, food, job creation and the management of key natural resources. Specifically, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) recently expressed worry over increase in the number of world population and called for attention in view of the available data on population explosion, saying it is anti-development. Responding to the global call, experts at the fifth biennial Nigeria Family Planning Conference (NFPC2018) recently called for increased investment in family planning, saying that it is a positive force to improve national planning and development. They made the demand in

Access Bank Partners Hygeia To Make Fertility Treatments More Accessible

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Chioma Umeha Access Bank PLC says it is partnering Hygeia HMO to provide financing options to enable women receive quality healthcare services. The partnership aims to ensure increased access to IVF treatments with 30 per cent cash back on unsuccessful procedures, according to a statement from Abdul Imoyo, Head, Media Relations of Access Bank, made available to DAILY INDEPENDENT on Tuesday in Lagos. This collaboration is supported by the Access Bank’s “W” Initiative flagship product – Maternal Health Service Support (MHSS) designed to help families overcome financial challenges and support them in their quest for parenthood and healthcare. MHSS is a financing scheme which supports local and international treatments, including fertility treatments, natal support and other specialised procedures such as hysterectomy (uterus removal), myomectomy (fibroid removal), dental, bariatric, orthopaedic treatments. Mr. Victor Etuokwu, the Executive Director, Personal Banking Divi

Nigerian Children Vulnerable To Malnutrition

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•Say No To Violence And Save Them - UNICEF  Chioma Umeha  Currently, Nigeria is tenth in the list of worldwide hungriest nations, despite the global target to end hunger by 2030. Analysts say they are seriously worried that hundreds of Nigerians, especially in the north-eastern part of Nigeria are experiencing chronic hunger and the threat of famine. Conflict, recurring severe drought, and high food prices are to blame. Unfortunately, 35 million Nigerian children aged five and below in the north-eastern part are today affected by Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM). The insurgency and activities of Boko Haram within the region have severely worsened the levels of malnutrition. Recent statistics from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) revealed that Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) in the region has crossed the threshold for ‘serious.’ The World Health Organisation (WHO) classification for ‘serious’ depicts levels of combined moderate and acute malnutrition excee

Fidson Wins HR Future Workplace Award

Chioma Umeha In recognition of its drive for excellence in the Nigerian Pharmaceutical industry, Fidson Healthcare Plc was recently rewarded for its outstanding performance in Human Resource Management with the award for “Best Employee Engagement Programme.” The award was given at this year’s edition of the HR Future Workplace Awards during the HR Summit and Expo for West Africa, 2018 which took place at the Landmark Event Centre, Victoria Island Lagos. This award came only less than a week after the company bagged the PEARL award for ‘Sectoral Leadership in Healthcare-Pharmaceutical’ based on its performance in the Nigerian capital market. The Future Workplace Awards (2018), themed “Celebrating the Human Side of Business,” sought to recognise outstanding achievements of individuals, departments, teams and organisations that have contributed to the growth and development of the West African HR Industry. The events showcased the best HR talents in West Africa and also re

Drug Abuse: Pharmacists Should Lead In Drug Management To End Menace – ACPN

Chioma Umeha Lagos – In view of superior knowledge of drug composition and manifestation in the human body, pharmacists are demanding to be leaders in the handling of drugs and related decisions to end drug menace in the country. Speaking under the auspices of Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), the pharmacists called for clearly defined boundaries of operations for Patent medicine vendors (PMVs) and other members of the healthcare delivery system such that pharmacists would act as their heads. Their demands came following a recent summit during which ACPN deliberated on a number of issues about the body, resolving that the role and rightful place of each health team player should be conceded to them and respected for the benefit of the general public. In the resolutions of the summit signed by Samuel Adekola, National Chairman, and Bose Idowu, National Secretary of the body respectively therefore counselled that access to drugs should be restricted an

Phamatex Pharma Bags Awards

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Chioma Umeha  Phamatex Industries Limited, one of the leading manufacturers of pharmaceutical products in Nigeria has been named ‘Best Pharmaceutical Company of the Year’ by the Health Writers Association of Nigeria (HEWAN). According to the leadership of the association who organised the awards in collaboration with Maximpact Communications, the award was conferred on Phamatex because of its good manufacturing practices, quality products, availability and affordability of her products and investment in state-of-the-art manufacturing   plant and technology. The company’s ant-malarial, Lumapil, was also named, “Best Anti-malarial of the Year.” Receiving the awards on behalf of staff and management of Phamatex, Prince Christopher Nebe, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer said,“ On behalf of Phamatex Group which comprises of Phamatex Industries    Ltd and Phamatex Nigeria Ltd, I express great delight and humbled by these awards and recognition from HEWAN. Phamatex is

NAFDAC, Others Honour Yakasai For Fighting Fake Drugs, Abuse

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Chioma Umeha The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has commended Pharmacist Ahmed Yakasai, immediate past President   of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) for his contributions especially in the fight against drug abuse and substandard regulated products. Prof. Moji C. Adeyeye, the Director General, NAFDAC represented by Pharm. Mohammed Shaba, the Head of NAFDAC, Kano office, penultimate weekend, gave him special NAFDAC recognition. The NAFDAC award came on the heels of   his recognition by His Royal Highness, Igwe Oranu Chris Chidume Eze Ana-Ukwu, Eze Igulube of Omor Kingdom for his selfless services to humanity via his numerous contributions to healthcare, public health development and capacity building in pharmacy. He conferred on him the chieftaincy title of Nwanne Di N’mba of Omor Kingdom” in Anambra State on Thursday, December 13, 2018 in the presence of His Majesty, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha. Other

CONFAB Demands Review Of Outdated Policies, Laws On Family Planning

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....Insists, They Are Barriers To Women In Accessing Services Chioma Umeha After three days of brainstorming over barriers of women in accessing family planning (FP) services in the country, experts at the fifth biennial Nigeria Family Planning Conference (NFPC2018) demanded a review of policies and laws guiding FP services to reverse the trend. Making the demand at the Sheraton Hotel, Abuja, weekend, which began with a pre-conference event on December 3, with a focus on youth, women and faith-based entities, they said it is important to subject outdated policies and laws that limit access to family planning to judicial trials and pronouncements. The call was also contained in a communique issued after the main conference with the theme, “Investments, Innovation, Inclusiveness,’’ and held from December 4 – 6, with a total of 729 participants drawn from the 36 states of the federation including partners, donors and members of the International community. The partici

ASLM 2018: Participants To Get On-Site Registration Opportunity

Chioma Umeha As the 2018 edition of the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) Conference   draws near, the body has provided an opportunity for intending participants to register at the conference venue. This means that even though registration closed on the company’s website last week, participants who were not able to meet the online registration deadline, now have the chance to register physically at the venue of the conference. The ASLM Conference, scheduled to hold from December 10 to 13, 2018,   at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, Nigeria, will play host to hundreds of delegates from across Africa.   The conference theme this year is; ‘Preventing and Controlling the Next Pandemic: The Role of the Laboratory’. This is the first time the conference will be held outside Cape Town, South Africa, where the first three editions were staged. The conference will be chaired by co-founder and the Executive Director of the International Research Centre of Excellence a

Coca-Cola Safe Birth Initiative Recognised At 12th SERAS Awards

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Chioma Umeha Coca-Cola Nigeria Ltd has emerged best company in the ‘Good Health and Well-being category’ at the 12th SERAS Awards. The company was recognised for its Safe Birth Initiative (SBI) –   a partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health, the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals and an NGO, Medshare International Inc., that aims to tackle the high rate of maternal and newborn deaths in Nigeria. SBI is focused on supporting doctors and nurses to achieve successful birth outcomes by strengthening the capacity of target public hospitals in three critical areas. These include; procurement of vital maternal and neonatal medical equipment and supplies to enable safe deliveries and post-delivery emergency care. Others are; training biomedical engineering technicians to improve equipment maintenance and uptime; and reactivating a large stock of abandoned medical equipment wasting away in public hospitals. The first