The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Ibrahim Oloriegbe and the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN) have suggested how the country can retain talent in the healthcare sector.

They proposed a national conversation aimed at recognising government workers in the sector as priority employees to be put on a globally competitive special salary scale, as well as competitive incentives for their counterparts in the private sector.

A nutritionist, Dr. Mary Mgbekem, has urged Nigerians to seek more knowledge about food safety, noting that the knowledge would help protect them from the risk of food-borne illnesses. 

Citing data from the World Health Organisation, the nutritionist stated that unsafe food containing harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemical substances can cause more than 200 different diseases – ranging from diarrhoea to cancers.

A new study has indicated that eating at least an egg a day could help reduce the risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke. The new study conducted by researchers from Peking University, Beijing, and reported in Life Sciences, a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal, stated that eating an egg a day cuts the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.

The researchers say they found that participants who ate a whole egg every day had higher levels of healthy proteins and good cholesterol in their blood, adding that this also helped to lower levels of bad cholesterol.

A team of researchers in the United States has reported that a new experimental drug has shown shocking results of a 100 per cent success rate in the treatment of patients who have rectal cancer.

The researchers who are doctors disclosed this in a small trial study report that they recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine. According to a report published by New York Times, the researchers in their findings disclosed that cancer completely disappeared in all patients who were part of the study.

The Healthcare Federation of Nigeria has stressed the need for private sector participation to develop the country’s health sector. The HFN President, Dr Pamela Ajayi, at an event convened by the Federation in Lagos, said the private sector accounts for 70 per cent of the work been done in the country’s health sector.

She said, “The HFN has been able to provide a platform for the private sector to meet directly with the highest levels of government in terms of health and to directly present their issues. What is great is that we are getting resolutions, responses and it looks as if we are going to be able to resolve a number of issues from this meeting.

A dental care expert, Dr. Oluyemi Fakolujo has cautioned Nigerians against the use of toothpicks after eating, noting that it is bad for oral health.

Fakolujo who is a dental technology specialist at the Lucent Hospital, Imaletalafia, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, said toothpicks can damage the gum and expose individuals to the risk of bleeding gums, irritations, and infections. Fakolujo explained further that using toothpicks can also make the spaces in the teeth to get wider and allow passage of food.

A nutritionist, Adedotun Owolabi, has cautioned Nigerians against consuming adulterated foods, especially milk, milk products and cereals. The diet expert also urged Nigerians to purchase their foods from known vendors selling genuine products.

Nigerians, he said, should avoid buying foods like milk, milk products, edible oil, sugars, cereals, seasoning cubes, and beverages from bogus sellers, noting that adulterated versions of these food products are now seen more often in the Nigerian market.

A Clinical Nutritionist at the Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Yaba, Lagos, Susan Holdbrooke, has urged women to stop depriving themselves of healthy foods because they want to lose weight.

The diet expert noted that women depriving themselves of food to lose weight are at risk of short and long-term health risks, noting that they are starving their body tissues of important nutrients.

A Consultant Gynaecologist and Obstetrician at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Dr. Modupe Adedeji, has cautioned women experiencing vaginal dryness against using moisturisers and olive oil to treat the condition.

The maternal health expert noted that using olive oil and moisturisers could introduce infections to the vaginal environment and cause more serious health problems. According to her, menopausal women and breastfeeding mothers experiencing vaginal dryness should seek help from experts and not resort to self-treatment.

A former President, Nigerian Medical Association, Prof. Mike Ogirima, has urged mothers to ensure that their children are exposed to the sun once in a while, warning that lack of exposure to sunlight can cause nutritional rickets in children.

Nutritional rickets, according to experts, is a bone disease in early childhood resulting in bone pain, delayed motor development, and bending of the bones, caused by vitamin D deficiency and/or inadequate dietary calcium intake.