FG to provide new TB testing machines in selected health centres - Minister
The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, on Tuesday in Abuja, said the Federal Government would provide 1111 gene expert machines, a new diagnosis tool in some selected primary healthcare centres to enhance treatment of tuberculosis (TB).
The minister made this known at the National Conference on Tuberculosis organised by Stop TB Partnership Nigeria in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health with the theme ``Hidden Face of Tuberculosis: Challenges in Identification and Management Among Vulnerable Groups in Nigeria.''
First lady calls for massive awareness campaign to end tuberculosis in Nigeria
The Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, has called onStop Tuberculosis (TB) Partnership Nigeria, an NGO, and other developmental partners to carry out a massive awareness campaign to end tuberculosis in the country.
Mrs Buhari stated this on Tuesday, May 17, 2016, in Abuja, when a delegation of Stop TB Nigeria and other development partners visited her at the Presidential Villa.
Health workers sack Perm. Sec. from office
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr Amina Shamaki has been sacked from her office by workers in the ministry, National Mirror can report. Sources at the ministry disclosed that Mrs Shamaki now operates from home, where files are brought to her from the ministry as workers have banned her from her office, located at the new Federal Secretariat Complex, Abuja.
The Permanent Secretary is under fire over allegation of high-handedness; collusion with directors who are due for retirement in the ministry to remain in office, and championing litigation for such objective in court; overbearing among others.
Lack of foreign exchange threatens drug production
Pharmacists under the aegis of Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) have warned of a looming scarcity of essential drugs, that will endanger the health of the citizens, if the current lack of foreign exchange persists.
The group’s National Chairman, Dr. Albert, Alkali Kelong, who warned about the situation, urged the Federal Government to prevent the imminent doom, by providing adequate foreign exchange to bonafide pharmacists to procure critical raw materials necessary for drug production while also providing an intervention fund for the sector.
WHO develops new rapid diagnostic tests for TB
The World Health Organization, WHO, has developed new rapid diagnostic test kits to strengthen the global fight against tuberculosis. The first kit aims to speed up detection and improve treatment outcomes for multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) through use of a “novel rapid diagnostic test” having shorter and cheaper treatment regimen.
The other – rapid diagnostic test for identifying second-line drug resistance, which is “the most reliable way to rule out resistance to second-line drugs is a newly recommended diagnostic test for use in national TB reference laboratories.
Global Leaders Call for Increased Investment in Health
Global leaders have called for investments in solutions that would advance the health, rights and well-being of girls and women. These investments, they said, would drive economic growth and development as well as ignite change across communities.Pfizer bans sale of lethal drug used for executions
More than 20 US states that use a combination of drugs to carry out lethal injections will find it harder to conduct executions due to Pfizer's ban on sales of its chemicals, but the move will have little impact on the handful that rely on a single drug.
The pharmaceutical giant's move last week cuts off the last major U.S. source for drugs in the deadly mixes, and it adds to the difficulties of states that were already struggling to procure chemicals for lethal injections.
Canada Donates $19.9m For Polio Eradication In Nigeria
For the total eradication of polio in Nigeria, the government of Canada, through Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, has announced a contribution of $19.9m.
The grant, which will be implemented during the period 2016/17 – 2020 by the World Health Organisation (WHO), is expected to sustain the polio eradication gains through strengthened Routine Immunization (RI).
‘Nigeria Should Worry About Spread of Zika, Yellow Fever’
Renowned Virologist and President of the Nigeria Academy of Science, Professor Oyewale Tomori, has said the discovery of a strain of Zika virus circulating in Brazil and other parts of the Americas in the Cape Verde area of Africa, should worry Robots May Replace Surgeons Soon!
Can you imagine the operating theatre being run by robots instead of surgeons? Experts believe this could be the trend in the near future. This follows the first successful soft tissue surgery performed recently by an autonomous robot, giving rise to speculations that robots would soon be able to perform complicated operations without human assistance.
