The Ogun State government has closed down at least 26 private hospitals, whose management have failed to revalidate their facilities in line with regulations. The institutions affected reportedly failed to comply with the Private Hospitals and other Health Establishments Registration Edict of 1988.

Dr. Nafiu Aigoro, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, ordered the closure during a monitoring and inspection exercise. Represented by Dr. Solomon Shokunbi, the Permanent Secretary said the act is in the best interest of the people.

On July 28, Nigeria will join the rest of the word in commemorating the 2016 edition of the World Hepatitis Day. The event, which is observed annually, was inaugurated by the World Health Organisation to raise global awareness on hepatitis or a group of infectious diseases known as Hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E, and to encourage the prevention, diagnosis, as well as the treatment.

The first global World Hepatitis Day was marked on May 19, 2008 through the effort of the World Hepatitis Alliance in collaboration with various patient groups. The commemoration received an international endorsement following the adoption of a resolution during the 63rd World Health Assembly held in May 2010. The date of the event was later changed to July 28 each year by the assembly, in honour of the birthday of the Nobel laureate, Baruch Samuel Blumberg – the man who discovered the Hepatitis B virus.

New York City’s Health Department on Friday reported the first female-to-male transmission of the Zika virus, which is most typically spread by the bite of an infected mosquito.

The U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said the report was the first documented case of sexual transmission of Zika from a woman to her male sex partner.  “All previously reported cases of sexually transmitted Zika virus infection have been spread from men to their sex partners,’’ the Atlanta-based CDC said in a statement.

The infertile women in Africa have been neglected, mistreated and discriminated because they cannot bear a child. This isnot right and has to change. The Merck More Than A Mother campaign will empower those infertile women in Africa through improving access to information, awareness, health and change of mindset.

It is with passion that Rasha Kelej, the Chief Social Officer of Merck Healthcare is raising awareness about this discrimination, stigma and ostracism women undergo for their inability to have a child. The campaign will also encourage men to acknowledge and discuss openly their fertility problems and strife for an approach to family building with their partners in order to progress towards shared fertility responsibility.

The Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) Medical and Scientific Commission yesterday released guidelines on how to avoid the Zika virus to sports fans travelling to Brazil for the Olympic Games.

The Olympics will hold in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from August 5 to 21, while the Paralympic Games is scheduled for September 7 to 18. According to the guidelines to prevent the spread of the Zika virus pre and post Rio 2016 made available to The Guardian, pregnant women are advised not to travel to Brazil, while athletes, officials and other Nigerians in the country for the games should prevent mosquito bites by using insect repellent and protective clothing.

Doctors have called on the Federal Government to declare hepatitis B a health emergency as it did with HIV/AIDS. The appeal, they said, had become imperative to save Nigerians from health complications associated with the disease.

According to a Consultant Gastroenterologist with the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, Lagos, Dr. Olufunmilayo Lesi, Nigeria has one of the highest prevalence of hepatitis B infections in the world.

The Zamfara branch of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), says health services in the State are poor and therefore urged the Government to solve the problems urgently.

Dr Aminu Sakajiki, Chairman of NMA in the state, made the remark at its 4th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference in Guzau on Tuesday. “The health sector’s sorry condition is as a result of inadequate facilities, inadequate health workers, especially medical doctors and nurses, and poor remuneration of the workforce. “Poor implementation of the sector’s health budget is also a major problem’’, Sakajiki said.

The wife of the President, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, on Monday took the battle against malnutrition to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, by distributing food items and supplements to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)within the town.

LEADERSHIP recalled that Malnutrition, which was reported to have killed scores of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Borno State in the last two months, has attracted both national and international attention to Borno State, which at the peak of the Boko Haram crisis, had 22 of its 27 local government under the captivity of the insurgents.