Frontpage News (3249)
The Guild of Medical Directors (GMD) has expressed worry about the low coverage of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) across the country.
It regretted that less than two per cent of Nigeria’s population has enrolled in the scheme, saying this is against what obtains in other African countries, particularly Ghana and Kenya, which it said have enrolled up to 69 per cent of their populations.
The high cost of duty paid on imported pharmaceutical products has been identified as a major factor making access to basic medicines difficult for Nigerians.
Speaking during a visit by members of the Association of Hospital and Administrative Pharmacists of Nigeria to the office of World Wide Commercial Ventures Limited in Matori, Lagos, the Managing Director of the company, Mr. Ananth Narayan, said that the duty charged on pharmaceutical products had jerked prices up thereby making them unaffordable.
The Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Babatunde Ipaye, has said residents with eye problems will soon get free surgery and glasses. Ipaye spoke at the kick off of a free eye surgery programme organised by The Collectives at Sagamu, Ogun State.
He said residents with cataract and glaucoma would be treated free. Ipaye said over 20,000 residents had benefited from a social health insurance scheme called Araya, where the government takes care of the less-privileged. He noted that about 24 health centres in the private and public sectors had already enlisted in the scheme, adding that the government pays the premium monthly.
The Guild of Medical Directors has expressed dissatisfaction with the current situation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and called for a speedy resolution of the face off between it and the Federal Ministry of Health.
There is only one doctor attending to every 4,000 people in Kaduna state, a huge shortfall from recommendations by the World Health Organisation, doctors there have claimed.
A civil society group under the auspices of Civil Society Group for Good Governance (CSGGG) has urged the federal government to introduce universal health care scheme for all Nigerians.universal health care scheme is a health care system that provides health care and financial protection to all citizens of a particular country.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja yesterday, on an independent assessment of University Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) as a pilot site for takeoff of universal health advocacy in the country, the president, CSGGG, Comrade Dominic Ogakwu stressed that the importance of universal health care cannot be overemphasized as there are empirical evidence that the health of a nation significantly enhances its economic development, and vice versa.
As part of efforts to boost healthcare industries beyond the shores of Nigeria and Africa, the Informa Life Sciences Exhibitions has concluded plans for the grand return of the Medic West Africa Show 2017.
The Medic West Africa Show, described as the largest and most prestigious healthcare industry event in the region, and scheduled to hold from October 11 to October 13, 2017 at Landmark Centre, lagos, Nigeria, will host over 300 leading healthcare companies and thousands of industry experts and professionals. The event, sponsored by many trade associations and government agencies such as the Ministry of Health, Healthcare Federation of Nigeria and the Society for Quality in Healthcare in Nigeria (SQHN), will showcase thousands of the latest healthcare labouratory and IVD Technology, products and services, as well as provide some exceptional networking opportunities for dealers and distributors, buyers, labouratory experts and clinicians.
Kano State Government distributes N351m worth of drugs, test kits to 748 healthcare facilities
Kano state government has distributed drugs, malaria test kits and treated mosquito nets worth over N350m to 748 healthcare facilities across the 44 local government areas of the state. It also engaged the services of 1000 sanitation workers and procured 11 motorized fumigation machines for regular fumigation of the environment against mosquitoes.
Speaking yesterday during the distribution of the materials at the government house, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje charged the public on cleanliness saying it is the only way to guard against infection by malaria parasite.
Obstetric fistula is the abnormal hole that forms in the vagina caused by prolonged, obstructed labour during childbirth. Teaching hospitals and federal medical centres will be required to waive surgery charges and laboratory test fees for women who present for fistula treatment, health minister Isaac Adewole said in Ogoja, Cross River at the start of the latest pooled repair women living with the condition.
Speaking on behalf of the minister, Ogunmayi Peters, national coordinator of fistula care at the federal health ministry, said: "The letter has been signed and is being dispatched right now to all the teaching hospitals and Federal Medical Centres.
Lassa fever: Minister of State for Health calls for urgent review action
The Minister of State for Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire has said there is urgent need to review actions taken before and during the outbreak of Lassa fever so as to improve the country’s level of preparedness and response to epidemic outbreaks.
He disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at the 2016/2017 Lassa Fever Outbreak After Action Review and Preparedness meeting held to review and strengthen the preparedness and response measures of Nigeria to combat Lassa fever.
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Nigeria Spends N4 Billion on Health Interventions in North-East, Minister Says
The Nigerian Government through the Ministry of Health has spent over N 4 billion on the humanitarian crisis in the North-east region of the country. The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, disclosed this at the commemoration of the 2017 World Humanitarian Day in Abuja.
Experts have urged the Federal Government to provide full coverage of the management of sickle cell disorder under its National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, against the fact that over 100,000 infants die from the disease annually.
Following more than 8 years of conflict in Borno state in north-eastern Nigeria, some 3.7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance and all are at risk for malaria. WHO estimates that every week, around 8500 people are infected with the disease in Borno State? With the high transmission season for malaria lasting through October, WHO expects these numbers will increase.
The Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to replicate in Nigeria the facilities he benefited from in the hospital that attended to him in London. The president of the association, Mike Ogirinma, urged the federal government to invest more in the health sector to remove the need for Nigerians having to travel abroad for health care.
According to a Channels Television news report, Mr. Ogirima made the call at the end of the National Executive Council meeting of the association in Kaduna on Monday.
