The Federal Government on Tuesday announced special intervention funds for tertiary and specialist hospitals in the country. The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, made this known at the opening ceremony of the National Executive Council Meeting of National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) in Abuja.

Mr. Adewole said each teaching hospital would get N300 million, Federal Medical Centres N120 million each, while each Fistula Centre and Specialist Hospital would receive N120 million to improve healthcare delivery.

The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, on Saturday blamed the increasing number of health workers infected with Lassa fever on their refusal to take necessary precaution while treating patients.

The Minister, who stated this in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, when he paid a courtesy call on Governor David Umahi, described the recent outbreak in the state, which killed four health workers, as unfortunate.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has inaugurated the distribution of 12 motorcycles to Borno state government to strengthen “disease control and surveillance” that has claimed 62 lives last August.

Presenting the motorcycles on Monday at the Emergency Operational Centre, Maiduguri, the WHO Country Representative, Dr. Wondimagegnehu
Alemu, said that the motorcycles will improve the mobility of disease notification surveillance officers in six local councils.

A recent study has shown that Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of death in the world, representing 70 percent of all annual mortalities.

NCDs are diseases of long duration and generally slow progression. The main types of NCDs are cardiovascular diseases (heart attacks and stroke), cancer, chronic respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructed pulmonary disease and asthma) sickle cell disease, diabetes, oral health and mental disorder.

Research on Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) over the past decade has led to many promising ideas for vaccines to prevent infection by the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) virus, but very few candidate vaccines have been tested in clinical trials.

One reason for this is the technical difficulty of manufacturing vaccines based on the envelope proteins of the virus, according to Phil Berman, who led development of a major component of the only vaccine to have shown any efficacy against HIV in a clinical trial.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have alerted that the economic impact of cancer is significant and is increasing as the total yearly economic cost of disease was estimated at approximately $1.16 trillion (N417.6 trillion).

A new study published Thursday in the journal, Cancer Epidemiology, evaluated, for the first time, the cost of productivity lost due to premature cancer deaths in several major emerging economies.Led by the IARC in partnership with leading cancer research institutions in these countries, the study shows that the productivity loss in Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China, and South Africa, collectively known as the BRICS countries, reached $46.3 billion (N16.6 trillion) in 2012.

People who live near noisy roads, train tracks and airports are at greater risk of developing heart disease, research suggests. Experts believe a constant background drone raises the level of stress hormones to dangerous levels.

This increases the burden on the body’s blood vessels and damages cells, which over time can lead to heart attacks and strokes. The researchers, writing in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, reviewed all available studies on the link between noise pollution and heart risk.