Meningitis Death Toll Rises To 1,069
More than 1,000 people have died in an outbreak of meningitis in Nigeria, the Centre for Disease Control said Thursday, but added that the spread of the disease is slowing.
The outbreak has mostly affected children in Africa’s most populous country. As of May 9, a total of 13,420 suspected cases had been reported in 23 states with 1,069 deaths, giving a fatality ratio of eight percent, the CDC said in a statement.
Epilepsy is not a spiritual problem — Expert
The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has said identified stigma and discrimination as factors that prevent epilepsy patients from seeking medical treatment.
Adewole said that instead of consulting doctors, relatives often sought unorthodox treatment that is not beneficial to the patient’s recovery. The minister, who was represented by Dr. Olufemi Fasanmade, said this at the inauguration of the Samuel Olafemiwa Oladehin Foundation, an initiative established to campaign against epilepsy.
Manufacturers Worry as Fake Drugs Circulate in Villages
The Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has raised concerns over the report that 60 per cent of drugs being sold in the villages are fake. The group raised the alarm at a press briefing to unveil the 2017 PMG-MAN forum themed “improving access to medicines: the imperatives of local manufacturing and effective supply chain management.”Govt. to raise N50bn endowment fund to revamp hospitals
Oyo State Commissioner for Health, Dr Azeez Adeduntan, says the state government is set to raise a N50 billion endowment fund to overhaul health care delivery in the state. Adeduntan disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)on Wednesday in Ibadan at the take-off of the state’s Free Medical Mission project.
Expert says 7 out of 10 Nigerians are hypertensive
Prof. Modupe Onadeko, a former Reproductive Medicine Consultant at the University College Hospital, (UCH), Ibadan, has said that no fewer than seven out of 10 Nigerians are hypertensive. Onadeko made this disclosure while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Ibadan on the occasion to commemorate the 2017 World Hypertension Day.
According to the consultant, 50 per cent of the affected people are unaware of their condition while the remaining ones do not even bother to seek any medical help.
Rivers Govt Seals-off Health Centre Over Missing Baby
The Rivers State government has shut down the Churchill Primary Health Centre in the town area of Port Harcourt. It was gathered that a three weeks old baby got missing last week after being administered immunization in the health centre.
News on the streets of Churchill area has it that the three weeks old baby who was reportedly missing was later found dead three days after, on the corpse of an unknown woman.
N1bn HIV Drugs Expired in Storage, Says FG
The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has revealed that $3.2m (N1.08bn) worth of HIV drugs expired in storage. Adewole said this while delivering a speech at the ‘Dissemination Meeting of 2016 National Health Facility Survey’ in Abuja on Tuesday.Minister Calls For Investment In Health Sector
The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole has called on stakeholders in the health sector not to perceive the sector as expenditure oriented but as a business venture where there will be return on investments.FG Inaugurates Board Of Health Institutions
The Federal Government of Nigeria has inaugurated the Governing Council/ Boards of some of the health Professional Regulatory Bodies under the Federal Ministry of Health.No one should be denied right to healthcare – minister
The minister said this in Abuja today at the National Stakeholders ‘Validation Meeting of the second National Strategic Health Development Plan framework. According to him, putting money in the health sector should not be regarded as an expenditure; instead, he said it an investment that would yield dividends.
He recommended that stakeholders should not envision the sector as expenditure-oriented, instead, he asked that they see it as an investment that will yield returns. “Health is an investment because there is going to be return on investment.”
