A General Practitioner at the Federal College of Education – Technical, Akoka, Lagos, Dr. Rotimi Adesanya, says frequent intake of spicy foods, alcohol consumption and medications such as painkillers can predispose people to ulcer.

He noted that steroids, smoking and stress are also risk factors that could make people to develop the ailment. Dr. Rotimi, however, said confirmed causes of ulcers are recurrent infection with the bacterium Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and long-term use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs known as pain killers.

The Chairman, Lagos State Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Gbolagade Iyiola, has faulted the manner drugs are stored in Nigeria, noting that it compromises their standards. In an interview with PUNCH HealthWise, Iyiola noted that most of the medical drugs in the market are not being handled by experts, hence, it affects their efficacies.

The PSN chairman said this while reacting to a report by the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency that over 70 per cent of medical drugs being dispensed in Nigeria are substandard.

The World Health Organisation has called for an urgent investment of resources, support, care and information into the fight against tuberculosis. WHO said COVID-19 reversed gains of 66 million people saved since 2000 from TB, lamenting that daily, over 4,100 people lose their lives to TB, and close to 30,000 become ill with the preventable and curable disease.

It said for the first time in over a decade, TB deaths increased in 2020, noting that ongoing conflicts across Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East have further exacerbated the situation for vulnerable populations.

The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria has faulted the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency’s report that over 70 percent of medical drugs being dispensed in Nigeria are substandard.

Speaking in an interview with PUNCH HealthWise, the National Chairman of ACPN, Pharm. Adewale Oladigbolu said there is no justification for the report.

Fully vaccinated inbound travellers would no longer be required to take a pre-departure PCR COVID-19 test, the Federal Government said on Monday. The FG said they would, however, be subjected to a rapid antigen test at the airport by the NCDC within the arrival hall of the airport free of charge.

The decision was coming after the complaints by many travellers over the cost placed on the PCR test. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Chairman, Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha disclosed this at the National briefing of the Committee in Abuja.

Israel has opened a 66-bed field hospital in Mostyska, western Ukraine, to care for up to 150 patients at a time. The hospital, which is to be run by 65 doctors and nurses from across Israel, is located on the grounds of an elementary school and is expected to remain there for the next month.

According to the Times of Israel, the military hospital is called “Kochav Meir” (“Shining Star”), after former Israeli Prime Minister, Golda Meir, who was born in Ukraine and was the founder of the Foreign Ministry’s Agency for International Development Cooperation aid programme, which is leading the field hospital project.

A Consultant Family Physician at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Dr. Olujimi Sodipo, has recommended preconception care for all women to help prevent and manage Down syndrome cases.

According to him, preconception care will help to identify behavioural and social risks to the woman’s health or pregnancy outcome through prevention and management. Speaking with PUNCH HealthWise, Dr. Sodipo said the most important thing to be done is to prevent the situation by ensuring that there is early detection.

An anaesthesiologist at the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Edo State, Dr. Julian Ojebo, has attributed the dearth of anaesthesiologists in Nigeria to long training duration and poor remuneration. He noted that many secondary and tertiary medical facilities in the country either had few of the specialists or none at all.

Ojebo described anaesthesiologists as specialists who administer anaesthetic (a drug that causes temporary loss of bodily sensation) for all surgical interventions and procedures, noting that they were needed in virtually all areas of medicine.

The National Primary Healthcare Development Agency has said over 70 per cent of medical drugs being dispensed in Nigeria are substandard.  The agency added that the majority of Nigerians did not have access to health services.

The NPHCDA disclosed this on its website ahead of the Primary Healthcare Summit tagged: ‘Re-imaging Primary Health Care in Nigeria’. According to the agency, the country is faced with a number of healthcare challenges.

The National President, Down Syndrome Foundation Nigeria, Rose Mordi, has cautioned parents against hiding children with Down syndrome and advised them to instead, encourage social integration.

She urged them to ensure that they get the right care early in life, stressing that it can make a big difference in helping them to live a meaningful life. Speaking with PUNCH Healthwise in commemoration of the 2022 World Down Syndrome Day, Mordi explained that the condition is a genetic disorder and not an illness as perceived by many.