Chioma Umeha

Many Nigerian families today, discussing sexual and reproductive health issues with children is taboo. Similarly, many mothers find it absurd to talk about sex with their daughters. Experts have blamed the increasing rate of unprotected sexual activity, teenage pregnancy, unsafe abortions, STDs, HIV and AIDS on the absence of sexual and reproductive health education.                                                    According to the Guttmacher Institute fact sheet of December 2017, formal sexual health education is an instruction that takes place in a structured setting, such as a school, youth centre, church or other community-based location. The report further said that this type of instruction is a central source of information for adolescents among teenagers. Between 2011 and 2013, more than 80 per cent of adolescents in the US aged from 15 to 19 had received formal instruction about STDs, HIV and AIDS or how to say no to sex, the Guttmacher Institute report said.

Following the signing of the partnership agreement between Nigeria and the D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation (OEC) to host the Health and Social Protection (D-8 HSP) program office in Abuja, the Secretary-General of the D-8, Ambassador Dato’Ku Jaafar Ku Shaari, says the gesture by the Nigerian government will attract investors and help unlock the huge market potential in Nigeria’s health sector. He reaffirmed the commitment of the D-8 to promoting health and social protection for citizens of D-8 member countries. The Secretary-General stated that the programme is designed to accelerate progress especially in the context of SDGs 1, 2, and 3 which are critical indicators of improving health and living standards? “I am happy to inform that the health and social protection programme has been structured in such a manner that resources will be leveraged from within the group, the strong supporting the weak, thereby reducing reliance on donor aid.” He also said tha

Health experts have been vigorously campaigning for mothers to practise exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of the birth of babies because of its numerous benefits.  The dominant among the benefits are that it reduces the infant mortality rate caused by childhood illnesses, such as diarrhoea, pneumonia, asthma and the likes. They posit that breast milk builds antibodies that help babies to ward off viruses and bacteria in babies which often lead illness and consequently death. The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recommend that children initiate breastfeeding within the first hour of birth and be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life. This means that no other foods or liquids are provided, including water within the period. The duo of the United Nation (UN) body on health and children also advocate that infants should be breastfed on demand – that is as often as the child wants, day and ni

Anxiety has continued to heighten over tracing all the contacts of the Italian man who repo rtedly imported the Convid-19 deadly disease to Nigeria as the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has set up a monitoring team to track all the passengers of Turkish Airlines. The Italian who is now in isolation arrived the country on board of Turkish Airlines Tuesday, through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, where other airlines often arrived the airport simultaneously. Stakeholders are worried that identifying the contacts appear to be a herculean task. Specifically, there’s a serious concern that passengers of KLM and Air France who are now at large may equally be tracked and monitored as the two airlines arrived at the airport almost the same time with the Turkish Air. There are fears that the passengers of the three aircraft may have mixed or interacted with one and other at the immigration counters and the baggage reclaimed area of the a

Many Nigerians rushed to buy hand sanitizer and face masks at the wake of the announcement of the country’s confirmed case of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the weekend, as part of personal hygiene and sanitary measures to protect themselves from a deadly infection. It is fashionable to see people wearing facemask as a form of protection against the dreaded virus across the country. However, Prof. Dimie Ogoina, a Professor of Medicine and Consultant, Infectious Diseases at the Niger Delta University and Teaching Hospital (NDUTH), Bayelsa State has advised that people should only use a face mask if they have respiratory symptoms. Prof. Ogoina, who spoke in a recent chat room organised by the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) said, people don’t need face masks except if they have respiratory symptoms to protect disposal of droplets during coughing or sneezing. He advised; “If you have someone who has been coughing or sneezing and you need to assist that

Stakeholders and experts are worried that some key indicators to improved child health and survival, being part of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set to be achieved by 2030 have shown marginal increase in nearly three decades following the release of 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) writes CHIOMA UMEHA.   Research indicates that reducing childhood mortality and improved nutrition, survival and health of the Nigerian child is crucial to any country’s socioeconomic development and quality of life. Yet, important indicators in the 2018 NDHS like, breastfeeding, immunisation and provision of Insecticide-treated Nets (ITNs), maternal healthcare, health insurance coverage, among others, shows slow progress against the actualisation of the SDGs. Breastfeeding According to the 2018 NDHS, the percentage of Nigerian children who started breastfeeding within one hour of their birth only increased by nine percentage points since 2013, from 33 percent to 4

Many Nigerians were gripped with fear when Lagos confirmed a case of new coronavirus at the wee hours of penultimate Friday. The news stimulated memories of anxiety generated six years ago when West Africa’s Ebola epidemic hit the busy megacity. Prior to the importation of the dreaded disease, many had asked; Is Nigeria prepared for an eventual outbreak of Coronavirus (Convid19) in the country? The Federal Government had assured citizens that it is prepared to combat the deadly Coronavirus in the advent of an outbreak in the country and urged non-stigmatisation of infected persons should the case arises. Mr Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), at a one-day sensitisation programme on the spread of Coronavirus and Lassa fever noted; “We have been informed by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) that they have set up their response centres and mounting surveillance. Medical personnel have also been put on standby to attend to any em