Frontpage News (3249)
The National Chairman of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria, Dr. Albert Alkali, has said that the Federal Government is not blameless in the crisis between the managers of the National Health Insurance Scheme and Health Management Organisations in the country.
Alkali noted that NHIS managers had implemented policies that allowed corruption to thrive under the scheme. He spoke at a briefing in Lagos as part of activities leading to the ACPN 36th Annual Conference.
Ebola outbreak in Africa ends, gaps in public health leave region vulnerable
Epidemiologists Anne Rimoin boarded a flight to Kinshasa on 19 May with a precious cargo in her luggage: the components of a diagnostic test for Ebola. Rimoin hoped that the test, the GeneXpert Ebola Assay, would help officials to track cases in the latest Ebola outbreak, which was declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on May 11. The test was developed during the disastrous 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa.
The existence of the Ebola assay is a sign that the world’s ability to respond to outbreaks of the virus has improved. But the test was not available where it was needed when Ebola erupted in the DRC, says Rimoin, of the University of California, Los Angeles, who has worked with the Congolese Ministry of Health for 15 years. “The fact that I had to go out there with diagnostics in my briefcase is an example of the fact that we’re not fully prepared on that score,” she says.
Former Ondo State governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, has urged the Federal Government and its state counterparts to muster enough political will to discontinue the practice of Nigerians travelling abroad for medical treatment.
The Medical Doctor-turned-politician said In Ibadan, the Oyo State capital on Thursday that the constant ‘’relocation of Nigerians overseas for medical tourism is a sort of clear message to the various governments at all levels, because Nigeria has abundant medical practitioners, who are celebrated all over the world, but that the required infrastructures necessary for them to practice their trade in the country are lacking.
The Ogun State government on Monday said it has shut down 186 illegal health facilities in the State in the last one year over allegations of quackery and sharp practices.The State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Babatunde Ipaye, who spoke in to journalists in Abeokuta, stated that the move was made to curtail the intemperance activities of quackery, which according to him was increasing.
He said those being nabbed by the monitoring team of the Ministry for either operating with fake certificates, invalidation of licenses or engaging in health facilities without government authorization had been charged to court by the state Ministry of Justice.
Bauchi maternity, built 65 years ago, uses lanterns in labour room for deliveries
A health facility, Town Maternity Clinic, Bayan Fada, in Bauchi metropolis, Bauchi State, which was built 65 years ago, still uses lanterns in the labour room when there is no power supply, The PUNCH has learnt. A source at the hospital, who did not want to be named, disclosed this on Tuesday at the maternity located behind the Bauchi emir’s palace.
The Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Usman Yusuf, has been suspended.The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, approved the suspension on Thursday with immediate effect, multiple sources familiar with the development informed PREMIUM TIMES Thursday night.
Mr. Yusuf, 54, took over the state-run health insurance provider on July 29, 2016.But his reign has been fraught with allegations of fraud.
Two experimental treatments for skin cancer, tailor-made to target a particular patient's tumours, proved safe in small-scale trials, their developers reported Wednesday. The vaccines also triggered an immune response to tumour cells, they said, although this does not necessarily equate to a cure.
These are the first drug trials in humans with personalised vaccines directed at neoantigens -- molecules, caused by DNA mutations, found in cancer cells. The results of both were published in the journal Nature.
The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udoma, said the federal government would invest N9 billion in upgrade of hospitals to halt foreign medical trips by Nigerians.
Mr. Udoma said this while interacting with civil society organizations under the auspices The Situation Room on Tuesday in Abuja.
Reps summon health minister, order NHIS executive secretary’s reinstatement
The House of Representatives on Wednesday summoned the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, over his decision to suspend the Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Prof. Yusuf Usman.
The House, in its resolution in Abuja, directed the minister to reinstate the ES within seven days and to also halt the re-accreditation of Health Maintenance Organisations pending the outcome of the intervention by the House.
Devastating consequences of Zika virus infection are suffered in the womb, where the virus can cause brain damage and sometimes death.Studying pregnant mice, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, United States (U.S.), have learned that the Zika virus infects the fetus by manipulating the body’s normal barrier to infection. Moreover, they showed that a malaria drug that interferes with this process protects the fetus from viral infection. That drug already is approved for use in pregnant women for other medical purposes.
“We found that the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine effectively blocks viral transmission to the fetus,” said senior author Indira Mysorekar, PhD, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, and of pathology and immunology. “This drug already is used in pregnant women to treat malaria, and we suggest that it warrants evaluation in primates and women to diminish the risks of Zika infection and disease in developing fetuses.”
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Why blacks suffer higher rates of fatal first-time heart attacks than whites
Black men may have similar risk of coronary heart disease as white men, but their first cardiac event is twice as likely to be fatal. That means preventing a first heart attack is even more crucial for blacks, according to research findings reported in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation.
In an analysis that examined cardiac events in three major heart studies, researchers found that in two of these studies, black adults aged 45-64 have about twice the risk of fatal events compared with whites. The same is true for older individuals, with less pronounced differences. The study found that this high risk may be due to cardiovascular risk factors and the conditions in which people are born, grow, work and live — known as social determinants of health.
Senate Orders Hospitals To Treat Gunshot Victims Without Police Report, Monetary Deposit
The senate has passed a bill that compels hospitals across the country to treat gunshot victims without demanding police report or financial deposit. The bill titled, “Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshots” was passed during the senate’s Tuesday’s plenary session.
Bauchi State Ministry of Health on Wednesday said it sealed 18 private healthcare facilities and 161 patent stores across the state due to failure to meet operational guidelines.
The Director of Public Health in the ministry, Dr Bako Mohammed, disclosed this at a news conference during annual assessment of private hospitals and patent stores in the state.
Ondo govt is transferring basic health centers to Rehoboth Foundation but Dr Owoyemi, argues this isn’t right
Health is a human right.
The Sustainable Development Goal 3 is aimed at ensuring healthcare for all and it is based on the concept of universal health coverage which is ensuring everyone can access the healthcare they need, when they need without financial risk.
