New Imo State Governor Emeka Ihedioha has announced the beginning of free health care for children and elderly people in the state. Ihedioha was sworn in for a four-year term at a  jam-packed Dan Anyiam Stadium in Owerri on Wednesday by the Chief Judge of the state, Justice  Paschal Nnadi.

The Nigeria army will henceforth conduct polio vaccination in locations in Borno State made inaccessible to health workers by the Boko Haram insurgency, the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, has said.

This decision was taken as the world looks up to Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa to do the needful for the eradication of poliomyelitis in the world.

There is nothing wrong with using bleaching cream. I love to be light skinned, and I changed my complexion. “I started using skin white cream at the early stage, but it was not effective on my skin, so I later added pills to it,” Sophia Udom, a 27-year-old lady, told this reporter.

The rising trend in the use of creams and other chemicals to lighten one’s skin is no longer news. Some Africans are in this race of skin lightening based on their belief that light-skinned people are more attractive and beautiful.

A new study investigated by researchers from the Research Institute in London, Ontario, Canada has found that patients who drink the occasional cup of coffee could be reducing the effect of medication for lowering blood pressure.

Studies have shown that caffeinated coffee can acutely increase blood pressure, but decaffeinated coffee does not. However, caffeine seems to be a major factor in affecting blood pressure, and experts have suggested that it is also a trigger for cardiovascular events.

The crisis between the management of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) has gained momentum as both parties trade words over issues surrounding the June 7 indefinite strike action.

The management of LUTH had debunked the allegations made by the association, comprising Resident Doctors and all House Officers in the hospital, stating that all demands put forward by the association were baseless and untrue.

Following the incessant use of Sniper as a tool for suicide in Nigeria, the Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Christiana Adeyeye has said the agency, along with other relevant bodies are considering modifying the container of the agro-chemical as part of plans to discourage its usage for such illegal purposes.

She said sniper containers could now be made very difficult to open, or may be turned into a spray rather than the liquid contents it is known for. Stating this during NAFDAC’s commemoration of World Food Safety Day in Lagos recently, tagged “Food Safety, Everyone’s Business” the DG said the use of Sniper and other agro-chemicals for the preservation of food should be discouraged as they contain substances harmful to the human body.

The new Chief Medical Director of the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti, Prof Kayode Olabanji, has said that his priority is to rebrand the medical facility and to reposition it through quality service delivery.

Olabanji, a professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery, said, “One of the ways to rebrand the hospital is to improve the attitude and disposition of all health care givers towards their work and clients by developing a stronger sense of belonging and attachment to the institution.

The Nigeria Union of Allied Health Professionals, Federal Medical Centre, Owerri chapter, has called on Governor Emeka Ihedioha of Imo State to commence the revival of moribund government-owned hospitals in the state.

The group also advised the governor on the need to start a mutually beneficial relationship with professional bodies, such as the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, the Nigeria Society of Physiotherapy and the Nigeria Medical Association, among others, so as to ensure safe medication, excellent clinical services and abolition of quackery and open drug markets in the state.

Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun yesterday lamented the deplorable state of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH) Sagamu, insisting that the institution is unfit to produce competent doctors for now.

Abiodun, who visited the facility, expressed shock at the level of rot in the hospital, declaring that the institution, which used to be one of the best medical facilities in the country, has become a shadow of itself.