Frontpage News (3254)
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), said it has trained 24 health workers in Borno, on measures to prevent malnutrition among Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the state.
UNICEF Nutrition Specialist, Mr Walton Beckley, said this on Thursday at the closing of a workshop on malnutrition for health workers in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Maiduguri.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday changed a plan by which he was due to return to London this weekend for another round of medical treatment, barely two weeks after his return from a hospital there. Instead, his doctors will be arriving on Friday to carry out further medical examination on him. Sources at the Presidency informed SaharaReporters that the president’s advance party had already left Abuja earlier in the day by Ethiopian Airlines before they were recalled to Abuja.
In a bid to tackle the menace and spread of the Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM), the Federal government said it has secured not less than 500, 000 meningococcal vaccines which will be used in Zamfara and Katsina States respectively.
Since the outbreak of the disease, in late 2016, Zamfara has experienced the highest number of deaths losing 44 persons while Katsina has lost 32.
The National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) yesterday advised Nigerians to develop the habit of donating blood as such exercise comes with great health benefits.
Speaking at a Blood Donation event, which was held in collaboration with the WE FM in Abuja, the Deputy Team Leader, Blood Recruitment Department, Mr Peter Ehige said while too much blood causes accumulation of excess iron in the body, donating the blood makes way for the bone marrow to produce fresh red blood cells. Ehige also pointed out that routine donation of blood is one best way to shed weight, as the donor is able to burn good amount of calories.
The Chief of Health, UNICEF, Nigeria, Mr John Agbor, made the assertion in an online interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos in commemoration of the 2017 World Malaria Day.
Agbor said the organisation was working together with the Federal Ministry of Health and other partners to ensure that such services respond to their basic needs, including prevention, diagnosis and treatment of malaria.
The Katsina state government is to spend N400 million on the implementation of the World Bank sponsored health programme of the Save One Million Lives project. Hajiya Mariyatu Usman, the state commissioner for Health, announced this during a sensitization visit to the Emir of Daura, Alhaji Umar Farouk, on Thursday.
She said that the state would use the money for the promotion of the health of one million pregnant women and children under five years.
World Malaria Day: Nigeria loses 150,000 lives, N1.1 trillion yearly, says WHO
Today is World Malaria Day (WMD). The World Health Organisation (WHO) yesterday declared that despite the substantial gains in malaria responses, the disease has remained a major public health threat.
The WHO at an event in Nairobi, Kenya, said the global tally of malaria reached 429,000 deaths and 212 million new cases in 2015, with one child dying from malaria every two minutes. The WHO in a report released yesterday titled “Malaria prevention works: Let’s close the gap” showed critical gaps in prevention coverage, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
This week, more than 138,000 vaccinators will fan out across five African countries in the Lake Chad area in a push to eliminate polio in Africa and rid the world of this terrible disease forever.
They will take boats across fast-flowing rivers, ride jeeps along sandy ravines, walk crowded street in towns and cities and navigate cramped quarters of refugee camps to ensure that every child is immunized. Traveling for hours a day, these dedicated women and men will visit children in homes, schools, train stations, and transit points across Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic.
The Federal Government on Tuesday challenged the Nigerian medical doctors in the Diaspora to use their knowledge and expertise to develop the nation’s health sector. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, gave the task when the Association of Nigerian Physicians in America (ANPA) visited her in Abuja. The association was led by its President, Dr Johnson Adeyanju. The presidential aide also challenged the Diaspora working in the health sector to build a world class hospital in the country as it was done by their counterparts in Ethiopia. “Nigeria is blessed with human and natural resources and we commend you for what you have been doing.
The Lagos State Government on Tuesday said that plans were in progress to start its compulsory Health Insurance Scheme for all residents to ensure adequate healthcare services.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, who made the assertion during the “Mamaye Day’’ celebration at Ikeja, said that the scheme would enrol a family of six with the premium paid in monthly instalments.
More...
As of April 17 2017, there had been over 8000 reported cases of Meningitis in Nigeria, and nearly 800 deaths, and it’s not slowing down yet. The first case of the disease was first reported in Zamfara state in November 2016. By February 2017, it had become more widespread in the Northwest and Northcentral zones in Nigeria and was declared an epidemic in six states Katsina, Kebbi, Zamfara, Niger, Sokoto and Yobe.
Meningitis is an inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, usually caused by bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic infection of the surrounding fluid. Viral and Bacterial meningitis are contagious and can usually be transmitted by overcrowding, coughing, sneezing and close contact. Epidemic meningitis is most often caused by the bacteria known as Neisseria Meningitidies. It has different strains but Serotype C accounts for about 80% of the Nigerian outbreak.
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has donated 850,000 doses of vaccines to Sokoto State government to tackle Cerebrospinal Meningitis in the state.
Mohammad Mohiuddin, UNICEF chief, Sokoto Zonal Office, made the disclosure on Wednesday in Sokoto at a sensitisation meeting for media practitioners, religious and traditional leaders, as well as other stakeholders.
As stated by the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, one of the cardinal programmes of President Mohammadu Buhari’s administration is to engage in massive revitalization of Primary Healthcare Centers (PHCs) in Nigeria in order to ensure that quality basic health services is delivered to Nigerian masses irrespective of their location in the country.
He also revealed that the government’s intention is to focus on providing health services to the over 70 percent of Nigerians living in the rural areas including the vulnerable such as women, children under five years of age and the elderly.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday unveiled a new malaria vaccine called RTS,S that will be piloted in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi next year to gauge its efficacy and safety.
The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, said the launch of the malaria vaccine, developed after years of painstaking research, marked a critical milestone in the fight against the tropical disease.
