No fewer than 500,000 residents of Iponri Low-Cost Housing Estate, Surulere Local Government Area, Lagos State, on Sunday appealed to the Lagos State Government to save their lives from epidemic that was looming there. They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the sewage plant that usually drains dirty water from the soak-away of more than 400 housing units with 500,000 residents had been disconnected by Eko Disco (EKEDC) due to unpaid bills. They said that the non-functioning of the sewage plant had resulted into flooding of the estate by dirty water from the soak away, thus spreading stench odour in the area.

Mr Abdul-Rasak Osho, President, Iponri Housing Estate Residents’ Association, told NAN that the sewage plant constructed by the Lagos State Government was being maintained by the Ministry of the Environment.

The Federal Government in collaboration with other partners has launched a new project to boost and strengthen services against HIV/AIDS prevalence in the country. The two year project tagged “Strengthening HIV/AIDS Service Delivery through Human Resources for Health (HRH) Systems in Nigeria” will be implemented by CapacityPlus, a USAID funded project implemented by IntraHealth in 29 countries. Launching the project on Sunday in Abuja, Permanent Secretary, of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Amina Shamaki said it will respond adequately to ‘human resource for health implications’ of the national health sector reforms.

Represented by the Director, Planning,  Research and Statistics of the ministry, Dr Ngozi Azodoh , he said this includes addressing those priority interventions required to be strengthened towards achieving the health Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the realization of the Universal Health Coverage through improved health indices. 

No fewer than 5,000 babies are born yearly with ear defects in Nigeria, Prof. Adewale Oke, the Chief Medical Director, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, has said. Oke made the disclosure on Saturday in Lagos, while briefing newsmen on the hospital's first successful middle ear implant surgery conducted in its premises. "I know that 5, 000 new babies are being born annually in Nigeria with ear defects"."This means they are deaf and sometimes the cause of their deafness is congenital, we call it from birth".

"In Some of these babies lacked some hearing mechanism in their ears, so the best way to restore the hearing is through surgery, which has not been part of the practice before now".  

The chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Oyo State chapter, Dr. Muyideen Olatunji, has said that only regular medical check-ups by citizens can prevent the prevalence of some of the diseases leading to sudden death in the society. Speaking at Idi-Ishin, an outskirts of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, while declaring open a one-day free medical outreach organised by Precious Gem Medical Consult located within the community yesterday, he lamented that “Nigerians go to the hospital only when they are sick which should not be and which is why people break down suddenly and in most cases, sudden death occurs”.

The NMA boss, who stressed that vehicle owners do not allow their vehicles to break down before they take them to the mechanics, said “it is unfortunate that the way people care for ordinary vehicles, they don’t care for their lives”.  

The management of the National Orthopaedic Hospital Igbobi (NOHI), Lagos, has called for efforts to boost the number of enrollees in the nation’s health insurance scheme, noting that such improvement would help to defray the cost treatment of most patients in need of othopaedic care. Speaking recently in Lagos during press briefing to herald the 70th year anniversary celebration of the hospital, NOHI Medical Director, Dr Olurotimi Odunubi, added that such improvement would also help to reduce the level of non-recoverable debts among various patients in the hospital. Odunubi put the non-coverable debt in the hospital between N25 million to N30 million owed by various patients, adding that the phenomenon “has affected our services in a way".

Odunubi stated that in spite of the several challenges that have confronted the hospital in the past seven decades, the hospital has done tremendously well to improve orthopaedic care in the country, even as he stated that the hospital now performs total hip and kneel replacement. “The hospital is now reputed to be the largest orthopaedic hospital in the West African sub-region with a world class intensive care unit; Odunubi said.

The LEAH charity foundation,a pet project of the wife of Kwara State governor, Mrs Omolewa Ahmed has between 2013 and now screen 11,500 women for breast and cervical cancer in the state. 

The screening exercise was carried out at the LEAH cancer centre in Ilorin, the state capital. Mrs. Ahmed disclosed this yesterday during a press conference to mark this year’s World Cancer Day. 

Represented by the Executive Director of LEAH Foundation, Alhaji Lanre Bello, Mrs Omolewa disclosed that out of the 11,500 women that were screened, 96 were discovered to have full blown cervical cancer while 200 have breast cancer. 

The federal government is making effort to include Human Papilloma V‎irus (HPV) immunisation as part of the routine immunisation programme. 

The vaccine which is available in health service outlets in Nigeria in both private and public hospitals is expected to be given to girls for cervical cancer prevention. 

This was revealed by the minister of health, Prof Isaac Adewole during the commemoration of the World Cancer Day in Abuja and with the theme “We Can, I Can.

The federal government has initiated a planning process that will culminate in the transformation of the National Cancer Control Programme into a national agency. 

The minister of health, Prof Isaac Adewole who said this in Abuja in the quest to fight cancer, said the planned agency which is expected to be named National Agency for Cancer Control will provide leadership and technical direction for cancer control in Nigeria.

 ‘It will be a multidisciplinary centre involving all healthcare personnel, basic and social scientists including public health experts.