The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced four deaths and 216 fresh cases of COVID-19, taking the total infections in the country to 54, 463. The NCDC made this known on its official twitter handle on Wednesday.

The health agency said that a multi-sectoral national Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), activated at Level 3 had continued to coordinate the national response activities across the country.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a guidance for clinicians and healthcare decision-makers on the use of Corticosteroids for patients with severe COVID-19. In a statement on Wednesday, Corticosteroids are listed in the WHO model list of essential medicines, readily available globally at a low cost. It said: “We recommend systemic Corticosteroids for the treatment of patients with severe and critical COVID-19. 

We suggest not to use corticosteroids in the treatment of patients with non-severe COVID-19 as the treatment.” The guidance, according to the statement, was developed in collaboration with the non-profit body, Magic Evidence Ecosystem Foundation (MAGIC), which provided methodologic support to develop and disseminate living guidance for COVID-19 drug treatments.

Contrary to reports that Africa has for the first time identified resistance strain of the malaria parasite to the drug of choice, Artemisinin Combination Therapy (ACT), the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Emmanuel Ehanire, on Monday said a study conducted in three states of the country showed there is no such phenomenon in Nigeria.

Ehanire during a media briefing by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 said: “Concerned about the growing resistance of the malaria parasite to ACTs especially in Asia and lately in Africa, we conducted some studies in three different states in different geopolitical zones.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the World Health Organisation (WHO), Pax Herbals, and the African Centre for Disease Control (ACDC) have said that African Traditional Medicine (ATM) including herbal medicine has the potential to provide a cure for the deadly Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and other so-called incurable diseases such as cancer, Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV), diabetes and hypertension.

As part of activities to mark the African Traditional Medicine Day (ATMD) August 31, 2020, stakeholders have examined the progress in

Several reports have shown that the country’s Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) response has slowed down due to fatigue suffered by frontline health workers, states, and the Federal Government-led taskforces on COVID-19 as well as continuous disbelief by some Nigerians.

According to a study published, last week, in Science News, “the unflappable health care heroes of the current crisis are beginning to crack under the strain.

Waste from coronavirus Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has become a new form of pollution as single-use plastic PPE floods drainages and oceans. In Nigeria, millions of used elastic gloves and masks are discarded daily.

Hand sanitiser bottles and other waste are already found on seabeds and washed up on beaches, joining the day-to-day litter in ocean ecosystems. Conservationists warn and urge governments to facilitate green recovery and its sustainability.

The leadership of the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) says it will commence a nationwide warning strike over Federal Government’s failure to meet the union’s outstanding demands with effect from September 13. Mr Biobelemoye Josiah, the JOHESU Chairman, said this during a news conference in Abuja on Monday. 

Josiah listed the alleged shortchanging of the union in the payment of COVID-19 Special Inducement and Hazard Allowance (SIHA) to frontline health workers, as part of the union’s demands.

The International Council of Nurses (ICN) fully backs the Order of Nurses in Lebanon’s appeal to assist the nurses who suffered trauma, loss and injury because of the devasting explosion in Beirut last month. More than 250 people were killed and 5000 injured in the blast on August 4 which destroyed a huge part of the city, including four major hospitals. Six young nurses were among the dead and more than 200 were injured, some also lost their homes. 

In the aftermath of the disaster, ICN contacted Dr Myrna Doumit, President of Order of Nurses in Lebanon and organized an international press conference in which she spoke movingly of the bravery and sacrifice of nurses and other healthcare workers who instead of running away from danger ran towards it to save the lives of those caught up in the blast.

The Medical and Dental Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal has sanctioned two doctors; Joseph Iyoha and Mukaila Oladipo for their negligence which caused the death of a three-month-old baby, Peace Oluwole. The Tribunal said the doctors, who were arraigned on seven counts, were  incompetent in the management of the three-month-old baby and failed to do all that was appropriate and reasonable for the treatment of the patient. 

The chairman of the Tribunal, Abba Waziri, in the verdict obtained by THE PUNCH said Iyoha, who was found guilty of three counts, did not exhibit reasonable diligence.

Two new member associations have joined the International Council of Nurses (ICN), a federation of over 130 national nursing associations across the world. With the addition of the Somaliland Nursing and Midwifery Association and the South Sudan Nurses and Midwives Association, ICN strengthens the global voice of nursing.

Welcoming the new members to ICN’s family, ICN President Annette Kennedy said, “We are delighted to have two new members from Africa join ICN, especially while the world is battling the COVID-19 pandemic. With nurses working at the frontlines of disease, disaster, conflict, and everyday care, it is increasingly important for us to stand together in solidarity with nurses around the world to be heard and have impact.”