The World Health Organisation on Monday said 10 countries in the world account for 70 per cent of all reported cases and deaths of COVID-19, and just three countries account for half. Speaking at the Executive Board special session on the COVID-19 response, WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there are now almost 35 million reported cases of COVID-19, and more than one million people are reported to have lost their lives.

He said although all countries have been affected by this virus, everyone must remember that this is an uneven pandemic. “10 countries account for 70 percent of all reported cases and deaths, and just 3 countries account for half. “Not all countries have responded the same way, and not all countries have been affected the same way.

The Federal Government has built a 100-bed Mother and Child Hospital in Ifon, Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State, to address the high prevalence of maternal and child mortalities in Nigeria. Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Sustainable Development Goals, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, made this known on Monday during the inauguration of the hospital in Ifon. Orelope-Adefulire said that the gesture was part of Buhari’s commitment to improve the healthcare and other sectors as well as life-skills development across the country.

According to her, the 17 SDGs, also known as the Global Goals, are a universal call to action to end extreme poverty, safeguard the planet and ensure all people enjoy peace and prosperity by the year 2030. She explained that the Nigerian government had remained committed to the attainment of the global agenda, “which also aligns perfectly with the cardinal objectives of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration”.

A new survey by the World Health Organisation say the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted or halted critical mental health services in 93 percent of countries worldwide, while the demand for mental health is increasing. The survey of 130 countries provides the first global data showing the devastating impact of COVID-19 on access to mental health services and underscores the urgent need for increased funding. The survey was released ahead of the World Mental Health Day 2020, coming up on Saturday, October 10.

A statement made available to PUNCH HealthWise shows that WHO has previously highlighted the chronic underfunding of mental health, stating that, prior to the pandemic, countries were spending less than two percent of their national health budgets on mental health, and struggling to meet their populations’ needs.

The COVID-19 pandemic will likely drive up child mortality rates in developing countries, according to World Bank President, David Malpass. Malpass said this on Monday during a virtual discussion ahead of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings next week.

“Our early estimates suggest a potential increase of up to 45 per cent in child mortality because of health service shortfalls and reduction in access to food,” he said. Malpass added that the World Bank estimates the increases in child mortality to persist in the coming years.

The National Chairman, Association of Community Pharmacists’ of Nigeria, Mr Samuel Adekola, has urged the Federal Government to curb quackery in the country’s health sector. Adekola, in a statement on Thursday, said the ACPN frowned at the idea of Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendors Licence holders handling family planning services.

He said, “In recent times, the ACPN has been fed with information from grapevine sources that the Federal Ministry of Health, in league with some international non-governmental organisations have concluded that Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendors Licence (PPMVL) holders should be allowed to handle fresh dimensions of family planning services which will include sales and dispensing of both oral and injectable contraceptives in Nigeria.

The Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), has announced 179 new COVID-19 infections in the country. The NCDC made this known on its official twitter handle on Wednesday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that a total of 13 states have recorded 179 new infections in the country in the last 24 hours. The agency said that the new infections have brought the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 60,834. According to the agency, 137 COVID-19 patients were discharged across the country in the last 24 hours with the total number of successfully treated cases rising to 52,143.

The Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN) has stated the test kits recently developed by the Nigeria Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) and the Nigeria Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) cannot be deployed for COVID-19 test as they were yet to be validated.

It further stated it was working closely with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to ensure that the two World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) pre-qualified antigen rapid test kits go through validation as soon as they arrive in the country. Of the 33 brands of rapid/PCR test kits evaluated by the MLSCN, all of them failed to meet the minimum acceptable criteria in terms of sensitivity and specificity.

Over 700 Primary Healthcare (PHC) workers comprising doctors, nurses, community health, and extension workers in Lagos, Ogun, and the Oyo States have been trained on early detection, presentation, and referral to enable prompt treatment and support for children with cancer in Nigeria.

The Dorcas Cancer Foundation in partnership with the Lagos Business School Pan-Atlantic University; LBS MBA18 Healthcare Group; the LBS Sustainability Center;

Some N75 billion is needed yearly to control the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and treat the 1.5 million patients in Nigeria. However, over $6.2 billion (N2.1 trillion) has been spent on response in the last 10 years, with about $5 billion of the sum coming from international donors.

Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Dr. Gambo Aliyu, told reporters yesterday in Abuja that the most populous black nation needed $2.4 billion investment in the next two to three years to identify and treat additional 540,000 People Living with HIV with a view to achieving the UNAIDS’ disease containment target.

A new report has shown that global targets for prevention and treatment of Tuberculosis (TB) will likely be missed due to the COVID-19 pandemic currently ravaging the world. The 2020 global report on TB released by the World Health Organisation (WHO), on Thursday, indicates that disruptions in services caused by the pandemic have led to further setbacks in progress already made against the disease.

According to the report, global TB deaths could increase by around 0.2–0.4 million in 2020 alone, if health services are disrupted to the extent that the number of identified TB cases falls by 25–50 per cent over three months.