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Adelusi-Adeluyi To Address Executive Dialogue On Ecomony, Pharmacy Growth

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Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, former Nigerian Minister of Health and president of the Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy, is billed to address an Executive Dialogue on Public and Private Sector Collaboration for Economic Growth in the Pharmaceutical Sector. This dialogue will hold in Sandton, South Africa, on February 14. Prince Adelusi-Adeluyi who is also the founder and Chairman of Juli PLC will speak on “Solutions and measures to combat counterfeit medicines”. The problem of fake and counterfeit medicines has plagued Nigeria and many developing countries for decades. According to Adelusi-Adeluyi, “the problem of fake and counterfeit medicines has grown increasingly complex over the years and only a multi-pronged approach that has both the private and public sectors acting in concert is best placed to address it effectively.” He added that “an executive dialogue of this nature that seeks to inspire multi-sector collaboration, therefore, is clearly in the right d

Index Case Finding, A New Way To Identify Adolescents With HIV

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Chioma Umeha Research has shown that knowing one’s HIV status can help in making healthy decisions to prevent acquiring or transmitting the Human Immune Virus (HIV). Nigeria is home to 10 per cent of Adolescents Living With HIV(ALHIV) globally, that is about 240,000, according to a project initiated in response to the 2016 National Adolescents and Young Peoples (AYP) HIV strategy. However, this number is not reflected in HIV Testing Services (HTS) and Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) services, hence the need to identify Adolescents Living With HIV and put them on treatment. To this effect, a new study seeks to find adolescents living with HIV, link them to treatment, and ensure they remain in treatment. It also seeks to observe and document factors that facilitate successful scale - up in identification and treatment of AYP living with HIV in service programmes in three States in Nigeria including, Lagos State. However, the study uses family-based and index case finding a

Improving Maternal Care Through Health Insurance

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Nursing and pregnant women waiting to receive care at   Agbongbon Primary Health Centre, Ibadan Oyo State, recently. Efforts to reduce out-of-pocket payments for healthcare, a huge burden on households and individuals remain a mirage in view of the poverty level of Nigerians which is put at 70 per cent. However, health insurance provides financial protection for pregnant women, spreading risks and pooling funds which would make maternal healthcare affordable and accessible, writes CHIOMA UMEHA. Every day, Nigeria loses about 145 women of childbearing age, making her the second largest contributor to the maternal mortality rate in the world, according to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). When this statistic was released in 2017, it generated different responses from different people even as many disputed the figure. Though pregnancy and child birth supposed to be safe and normal, so many women and their new born die due to pregnancy and child birth rela

Nutrition: Lagos Moves To Scale Up Action, Develops Five-Year Policy

Chioma Umeha The Lagos State Committee on Food and Nutrition in conjunction with Civil Society Scaling-Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) have domesticated the National Policy on Food and Nutrition to Lagos specific. Speaking during the opening remark of the validation meeting of the Lagos State Specific Plan on Food and Nutrition (SSPFN) and State Multi-Sectorial Plan of Action for Nutrition (SMSPAN), Mr Shola Fadorun, representing the State’s Permanent Secretary,   Ministry of Economy Planning and Budget, Abayomi Adebisi Kadiri said malnutrition is a key health challenge in the State. He said the validated policy will serve as a direction for the execution of programmes and projects that will address nutrition matters in the State. Kadiri said the main objective of the validation exercise is to cross the‘t’s, dot the ‘I’s and confirm the data referred to in the document, adding that the exercise will address the cross cutting issues among the lines Ministry,

Foundation Moves Reduce Scourge Of Fibroids

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...Says It’ll Provide Free Surgeries For 1000 Women To tackle   the growing prevalence of fibroids among women, Benjamin Olowojebutu Foundation (BOF), weekend unveiled its Love story to offer free fibroids surgeries to 1000 women free of charge. The Executive Director of the Foundation,   Dr. Benjamin Olowojebutu   who   announced this in Lagos described fibroids as a benign mass that grows in the womb even as he regretted that fibroids ranks among one of the conditions affecting women across Africa. According to him, a lot of these superstitions, myths and fallacies surrounding the condition are the main reasons women are dying from fibroids. He said, however, the risk of developing fibroid could be reduced if a woman married early and there was a break in their menstrual flow. He said the major challenge contributing to the reason many people seek for other alternatives was due to the cost of surgery which he said ranges from half a million, adding that

‘Creating Awareness For Social Health Insurance Programme’

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Chioma Umeha Dr Olusola Akande, Executive Secretary of Oyo State Health Insurance Agency (OYSHIA), has called for increased awareness among Oyo citizens on social health insurance programme in the State to enable them to embrace the scheme. Akande said adequate sensitisation on the importance and benefits of health insurance are required for the programme to really gain ground sufficiently. The health insurance agency boss spoke at a media dialogue on improving access and uptake healthcare for marginalised women and children in Oyo State which was organised by Oyo State Ministry of Information in collaboration with OYSHIA and the United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF). According to him, the agency has recorded 100,000 enrollees in the last 18 months of its operations and that it targets was to hit 450,000 to cover five percent of the population of the state before June. He listed the efforts of the agency aimed at providing quality healthcare services for the people of