Chioma Umeha

From Second Right: Dr. Ajoke Ashiru, Focal Person, Public Health Sustainable Advice Initiative (PHSAI); Chairman, Badagry Local Government, Lagos state, Mr. Teliat Onilude and others during the recent Advocacy Visit of some members of PHSAI in collaboration with Media Advocacy Working Group(MAWG), Lagos to his office at the Local Government secretariat, Ajara, Badagry Lagos State. T he Chairman, Badagry Local Government, Lagos state, Mr. Teliat Onilude has approved Ten thousand Naira monthly for the purchase of Family Planning consumables for clients in the area. The ten thousand naira allocation for the months of July and August has already been disbursed. Mr. Onilude made this known when PHSAI in collaboration with Media Advocacy Working Group, (MAWG) paid an advocacy visit to the Local Government secretariat, Ajara, Badagry Lagos State. Mr. Onilude who pledged to increase funds for Family Planning urged the people to avoid self-medication, patronise health centres around them for be

Drugs.-Inset-Samuel   T he Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) has dissociated itself from the purported meeting in Lagos on August 29, 2019 between Konga and Community Pharmacy Owners being circulated in the social media. A release by Pharm. Adekola O. Samuel, National Chairman of ACPN, said that having consulted the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria (PCN), the regulator of the industry, the ACPN has confirmed that there is not any association by the name Community Pharmacy Owners. The release read; “After due consultations with the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria (PCN), our regulator, we wish to clearly state that we are not aware of any association by the name Community Pharmacy Owners.” Adekola dissociated the ACPN from the project for what he described as being shrouded in secrecy possibly for pecuniary gains. He advised community pharmacists to call their executives for clarifications to avoid scammers who might not be representing the interests of ACPN. He a

Health-Writers-Association-of-Nigeria Health Writers Association of Nigeria, (HEWAN) has applauded the appointment of health professionals, Dr. Osagie Ehanire as the new Minister of Health and Senator Adeleke Mamora, his Minister of State by President Mohammadu Buhari. HEWAN, which is a group of health journalists, however listed seven key areas that must be urgently addressed by the new Ministers to revive the nation’s battered health care delivery system. In a    statement signed by the President and Secretary    of the association, Chioma Obinna and Lucy Osuizigbo respectively, the journalists hailed the appointment, describing it as “putting the right peg in the right hole,” saying this would bring the needed change to the nation’s health sector. The gro up urged the new ministers to urgently focus their attention on key areas of the nation’s healthcare delivery system which have been neglected over the years and urgently. These include; Implementation of Primary Health Care (PHC)

Jega   Dr. Farouk Jega is the Country Director, Pathfinder International Nigeria. In this interview with  CHIOMA UMEHA , he spoke on the right of every woman to quality information and good service on family planning, among other controversial matters regarding the issue. Excerpts: In a country like Nigeria where men dominate decision making, how can male involvement help in expanding family planning? Men should be involved in family planning because a woman cannot be pregnant all by herself. It takes a man and a woman to adequately plan for the family and not only their next birth but their resources like education of the children, foods and general upkeep of the family. A lot of times, men often shy away from these key responsibilities and they go away but, unfortunately, the reproductive biology of the female is much more amenable to interruption and manipulation than the male reproductive biology. A woman at least has one fertile cycle every 28 days and at most every 30 days. It ta

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said it has recorded breakthrough in the effort to eliminate the practice of open defecation through Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) in 11 Local Government Areas in the country. Announcing this was Bioye Ogunjobi, UNICEF WASH specialist, at a Media Dialogue in Kano on Sanitation and Hygiene, UNICEF Communication Specialist, with the theme; “Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet Campaign.” Ogunjobi said that UNICEF has supported the ministry of water resources to ensure access to hygiene and sanitation in 11 out of 774 LGAs in various states across Nigeria. The 11 LGAs which are now Open Defecation Free (ODF) Ogunjobi said are Daas, Warji in Bauchi state; Birnin Kudu and Buji in Jigawa state; Ikom, Yala, Obanliku, Yakur, Boki and Berkwara in Cross River state and Logo in Benue State. “We were able to achieve this by supporting the federal ministry to implement what we call Community led total sanitation,” the WASH specialist stressed. He explain

With Nigeria almost at the last stage of being declared a polio-free country, the Lagos State government has confirmed the discovery of an environmental strand of the polio virus in Makoko, Itire, and Maracana Canals in the state. Disclosing this at a media/stakeholders’ sensitisation workshop in Lagos on Thursday was Titilayo Goncalves, Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health. Goncalves said the state government, with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other agencies, was gearing up for another polio vaccination campaign in this regard from Saturday, June 15 to Tuesday, June 18, 2019. The permanent secretary also said the vaccination campaign was to halt the spread of polio virus and increase coverage of immunised children against vaccine-preventable diseases. She further said that the vaccination campaign would improve the herd immunity of the environment against the wild polio virus. Dr. Gonclaves, however, said the campaign was aimed at elimina

Emeritus Professor Oladipo Olujimi Akinkugbe, Dr. Stella Chinyelu Okoli and Prof. Eyitayo Lambo were the three eminent persons who cart home the Lifetime Achievement prize of the sixth edition of Nigeria Health Care Excellence Award (NHEA). The award which held at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos weekend, also bestowed the special recognition award on Dr. Mohammed Pate for providing leadership in the reduction of polio in Nigeria, while Dr. Aranmolate Ayobami received his for the revolution of cosmetic surgery in Nigeria. The event which had several doctors, hospital administrators, pharmacists, owners of health management organisations (HMOs), captains of industry and stakeholders in the health sector in attendance also awarded ‘Outstanding CSR Health Project of the Year’ to Healing Stripes Hospital for providing free dialysis for the less-privileged. Also, Nasarawa State won the Outstanding State Government Healthcare Programme of the Year award for Establishment of model

Sanwo-Olu   A s part of efforts to ensure full recovery from trauma and ill-health, the Lagos Government through the Ministry of Health has commenced general clinical follow-up and rehabilitation sessions for victims and survivors of the Ita-Faji collapsed building in Lagos. Speaking at the first general clinical follow-up and rehabilitation sessions held recently at the General Hospital, Lagos, Dr. Titilayo Goncalves, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, the exercise was organised under the auspices of the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu In a statement on Sunday signed by Tunbosun Ogunbanwo, Director, Public Affairs, Lagos state Ministry of Health, Goncalves stated that the rehabilitation session is to ensure full recovery of victims and survivors of the unfortunate incidence. She lamented; “What happened is quite unfortunate and we do not pray for a recurrence but moving on, the State government being responsible and responsive is concerned about the health and w

Experts have decried high rate of drug resistance, causalities, including deaths emanating from the prevalence of many substandard malaria drugs in the market. Recently, Dr. Babatunde Puddicombe, President, Nigeria Society of Malaria, urged the Federal Government to channel more efforts to check the influx of fake drugs in the country, not just on malaria. Puddicombe who spoke to DAILY INDEPENDENT at the backdrop of World Malaria Day in Lagos, regretted that more people who believe that they are taking adequate treatment are dying from malaria because of fake drugs. He said, “There was a survey at Idumota which showed about 20 different brands of malaria drugs that were not registered are being sold in the open market. The control is not as what it used to be. Fake drugs are getting into the country left, right and centre.” He advised that Federal Government to put place adequate measures to curb fake drugs, even as he advised patients to buy drugs with Scratch Pads and from credible P