AMID growing concerns about the ‘killer disease’ ravaging some settlements in Delta and Enugu states, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has ruled out coronavirus, Lassa and yellow fever as behind the deaths. Its Director General, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, told The Guardian yesterday that: “The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control is aware of recent deaths in communities of Enugu and Delta states.

“We have deployed epidemiologists to support ongoing efforts. Initial samples from sick people returned negative for COVID-19, Lassa and yellow fever. We have collected more samples for further testing.” 

Healthcare workers at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, on Monday, joined the nationwide strike called by the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU). The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that many essential places in the hospital, including the pharmacy, the medical records section and two of the main gates into the hospital were locked. 

The JOHESU Chairman, UCH Chapter, Mr Adeolu Alli, said the strike became imperative after “a long period” — three years of waiting on the Federal Government. He said that the government has seemingly taken the patience of the striking workers for granted.

A medical doctor, Dr Godwin Udo, of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Cross River, who was kidnapped on Sunday, November 1, has regained his freedom. He was allegedly kidnapped at his home in the Bateba area of Calabar by five unidentified persons.

His kidnap prompted a strike action last Wednesday by medical doctors under the platform of the Nigeria Medical Association. The state branch Chairman of the NMA, Dr Innocent Abang, told NAN on Sunday that Udo had been freed.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has stressed the need for MSMEs to harness the potential of trade and investment for the nation’s economic growth and sustainability.

The Director General of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, stated this in Lagos, recently, at the National Trade and Investment Summit, 2020, where she reiterated the importance of MSMEs in the development and growth of the nation’s economy.

The Federal Government has said Nigerians will be part of the early beneficiaries of COVID-19 vaccine when developed in commercial quantity.Minister for Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, said in Abuja on Tuesday that anytime a potent vaccine is found or developed as a solution to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Nigerians will not be left out.

Ehanire, said this at two-day multi-sectoral conference on the COVID-19, noting that there are arrangements by the Federal Ministry of Health to ensure that Nigerians get the vaccine immediately it comes out.

Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has urged the federal government to expedite action towards giving an enabling environment to the nation’s local drug manufacturing companies in order to reduce the high cost of drugs in the country.

Speaking at the 2020 Press Week organised by the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Kwara state council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Ilorin last Tuesday, the NMA State Deputy Chairman, Dr. Aderibigbe Ayodele, said there is the need for stakeholders to demand government’s speedy action in this direction.

The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have alerted countries, including Nigeria, to the possibility of major measles and polio epidemics, as COVID-19 continues to disrupt immunization services worldwide.

According to the global bodies, millions of vulnerable children worldwide are now at heightened risk of the preventable childhood diseases.WHO and UNICEF estimate that $655 million is required to tackle polio, while $255 million is needed to address measles in non-Gavi eligible countries and target age groups. 

This year’s World Pneumonia Day (WPD) is being celebrated today, November 12, 2020, with some gloomy figures from the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), which indicate that the disease kills between 142,000 and 160,000 under-five children in Nigeria every year.

The FMoH, yesterday, blamed high mortality and morbidity rate of pneumonia in Nigeria on low immunisation especially in hard-to-reach areas, urbanisation, malnutrition and pollution from greenhouse gases emanating from burning of woods.

Nigeria recorded 180 new cases of COVID-19, on Wednesday, new data by the country’s infectious disease agency, NCDC, showed Wednesday night. Two deaths were also recorded from the virus on Wednesday.

With the latest update, Nigeria’s COVID-19 total case count increased to 64,516, keeping her fifth on the list of African countries hit hardest, behind Ethiopia, Egypt, Morocco, and South Africa. 

The first kidney transplant centre for the Southeast, Premium Dialysis Hospital,was launched yesterday in Nnewi, Anambra State. Former Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Dr Okey Chidolue said opening of the facility was informed by rising cases of kidney failures and related diseases.

He explained that kidney problem should not be seen as a death sentence, but said its management was an uphill task that could not be successful without government and community support.