ALTHOUGH a high proportion of pregnant women in Nigeria have the knowledge of COVID-19 infection, at least 70 per cent of them do not adhere to its preventive measures such as regular hand washing with soap and water to avoid the infection, a study has said.

In a research, which spanned a 2-month period, held among 284 pregnant women at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, adhering to preventive measures against person-to-person transmission of coronavirus infection was poor. This was contained in the April edition of the International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics.

European governments should not cut healthcare spending during the current economic crisis sparked by the coronavirus pandemic and associated lockdowns, the World Health Organization warned on Thursday.

“We are concerned that countries will respond to this crisis in the same way they did to the recession 10 years ago… by cutting public spending on health,” WHO regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, told a press conference. “Those cuts prevented many people from accessing the healthcare that they needed.”

Three out of the numerous claims of COVID-19 herbal cure have been validated and forwarded to relevant authorities for validation, the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has said. To this end, the PTF called on researchers and scientists to take up the challenge and come boldly forward with their innovation.

Speaking at the resumed daily briefing on of the PTF in Abuja on Wednesday, the Secretary to the government of the Federation and PTF chairman, Boss Mustapha, said that the validation was made by the Federal Ministry of Health after holding a virtual meeting with

Minister of state for Health, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, says the World Health Organisation (WHO) cannot dictate to Nigeria on the steps to take in the fight against Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Recall that the WHO on Monday announced the suspension of the solidarity trial which featured the use of hydroxychloroquine on COVID-19 patients. WHO director-general, Tedros Ghebreyesus, had said the global health body decided to halt the trial due to safety concerns. However, on Tuesday, the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Moji Adeyeye,

Medical Doctors in Ondo State have threatened to embark on strike action if the state government fails to implement payment of 50 per cent basic salary as special COVID-19 hazard allowance for all health workers.

The doctors on Wednesday issued a 14-day ultimatum to the state government to address their grievances or face statewide strike action. The doctors under the aegis of the National Association of Government General Medical and Dental Practitioners (NAGGMDP) Ondo State Branch, an affiliate of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), stated this after its emergency meeting in Akure,  Ondo State capital.

Nigeria has recorded the second-highest cases of coronavirus in Africa. The World Health Organisation made this known on Tuesday. WHO reported that COVID-19 cases in Africa had risen to over 150, 000, as of June 2. The WHO Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo, gave the update on its official Twitter handle @WHOAFRO. 

“There are over 150,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases on the African continent – with more than 63,000 recoveries and 4,200 deaths,’’ it said. The figures show that South Africa, Nigeria, and Algeria have the highest reported cases on the continent.

The Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, says the state will build more general hospitals in order to boost health care delivery. Hamzat made this known on Tuesday while discussing Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu/Dr Obafemi Hamzat’s administration in the last one year on an online show, tagged: ”Covinspiration”.

Recall that the show was moderated by Dayo Israel, a UN Special Representative and British Council Global Change-maker. “We have gotten experts and they have done the design and Mercy Hospital has been mapped out, as we are building another Mercy Hospital. “Also, we are building a general hospital in Ojo because we discovered there is none around that axis and we are also expanding the general hospital in Gbagada.

The House of Representatives on Tuesday urged Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency and national interest, come up with a work plan, in collaboration with State Governments, to employ all the unemployed medical doctors in the country as part of efforts geared toward improving the healthcare sector.

The resolution was passed following the adoption of a motion sponsored by Hon. Saidu Musa Abdullahi, who underscored the critical roles played by health professionals toward improving access to quality healthcare for the ever-growing population by providing essential services that promote health, prevent diseases and deliver health care services to individuals, families and communities based on the primary, secondary and tertiary health care approaches.

 Increased antibiotics use in combating the COVID-19 pandemic will strengthen bacterial resistance and ultimately lead to more deaths during the crisis and beyond, the World Health Organization said Monday. 

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a “worrying number” of bacterial infections were becoming increasingly resistant to the medicines traditionally used to treat them. The UN health agency said it was concerned that the inappropriate use of antibiotics during the coronavirus crisis would further fuel the trend.