Frontpage News (3249)
Scientists have made a major step forward to creating life in the laboratory without using sperm or eggs. Two different kinds of stem cells were combined in a dish – and they grew into an early form of embryo.
Creating embryos from stem cells would create an unlimited supply of identical embryos, which would be useful for medical research. The development is hoped to shed light on one of the biggest causes of infertility – embryos failing to implant in the womb.
The Congo and World Health Organisation (WHO) have hit the outbreak of Ebola with quick response to contain the deadly disease. “I think with this rapid response we will be able to contain it,” WHO emergencies director for Africa, Ibrahima Soce Fall, told the Media on Wednesday. “Very clearly” the U.N. agency learned its lesson from the crisis, he added.
Ebola is endemic to Congo, a vast country whose eastern Ebola river gave the deadly virus its name when it was discovered there in the 1970s.
In an attempt to keep Nigerians safe from Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday directed the Federal Ministry of Health to step up surveillance activities in the country.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, stated this when he briefed State House correspondents at the end of the council’s meeting chaired by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The minister said the council’s directive followed the reported reemergence of the disease in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Following the directive from the national body of the Joint Health Staff Union of Nigeria (JOHESU) that their counterparts in the states of the federation should embark on an indefinite strike, health activities have been paralyzed in Oyo State.
Health workers in the state had on Wednesday withdrew their services, leaving skeletal and emergency work to the medical doctors. As early as 7.00 on Thursday morning, leaders of the union had chased out their colleagues out of the Oyo State General Hospital, Yemetu, Ibadan, as well as other branches, thereby forcing many patients who had come for medical attention to disperse, while many were stranded, lamenting the ugly development.
The United States government has donated about $90 million to support the forthcoming HIV survey in Nigeria. The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the survey.
The agreement was signed by the minister, the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington, and the National Agency for the Control of Aids (NACA).
Yobe governor approves 100% payment of new salary structure for health workers
The Governor of Yobe State, Ibrahim Gaidam, on Tuesday, approved the full implementation of the salary structure for all nurses, pharmacist and related medical personnel under the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS).
The new salary structure now places the salaries of medical workers in Yobe at par with that of the federal government.
The Senate on Tuesday adopted various resolutions to prevent an outbreak of Ebola virus in Nigeria. Part of the resolutions was to urge two ministers to be pro-active in preventing an outbreak of the disease already ravaging the East African country of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday said it has been authorized to use an experimental vaccine to combat an outbreak of Ebola in the DRC, where at least 19 people have been killed by the virus.
Health Workers Strike: JOHESU accuses doctors, health ministry of sabotage, insincerity
The National Chairman of JOHESU, Biobebelemoye Josiah, has alerted the public on purported efforts by Nigerian doctors to frustrate ongoing talks to end the four-week-old strike embarked upon by the union.
Mr Josiah, who raised the alarm when he fielded questions from journalists in Abuja, also accused the Ministry of Health of collaborating with the doctors in suppressing JOHESU’s legitimate demands from the government.
They may not yet know its name but the next pathogen to cause a deadly global pandemic will most likely be a respiratory disease, spread by a virus that is contagious during incubation or when symptoms are only mild, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins’ Center for Health Security, United States (U.S.).
They developed the outline as part of a framework to help scientists and policymakers prepare for the next emerging, catastrophic threat.
NMA Urges FG to Declare JOHESU Illegal, Warns Unions Against Assaulting Doctors
The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has asked the Federal Government to declare the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) illegal, saying its action is a gang-up against Nigerians. The association described JOHESU as an unholy alliance set up for the purpose of sabotaging the genuine effort to ensure lasting peace and development of the country’s health sector.More...
Hypertension killing more people than any other condition – Prof. Omotoso
Ahead of World Hypertension Day 2018, distinguished Consultant Cardiologist, Professor Ayodele Omotoso has alerted on the increasing prevalence of hypertension (high blood pressure) in the country, warning that hypertension is now the number-one risk factor for death globally.
Speaking at the 4th Novartis International Cardiovascular Summit held recently in Lagos at the Lagos Continental Hotel, Victoria Island, Prof. Omotoso alerted that hypertension is now ahead of tobacco, high cholesterol, unhealthy weight, unsafe sex and other conditions as a risk factor for global mortality, adding that recent research has shown the disease is now a leading risk factor for poor health.
The Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) has attributed the Federal Government’s ‘slow pace’ towards implementing its demands to the recent threat by doctors.
The union also accused the Health Minister, Isaac Adeowle, of posing a ‘body language’ that militates against resolving the impasse. JOHESU, an association of health workers except doctors, has been on strike for a month.
The Ministry of Health on Thursday warned that Congo’s Ebola outbreak has entered “a new phase” after a case of the deadly virus was detected for the first time in the northwest city of Mbandaka, with a population of about one million people.
So far, the 23 deaths believed to have been caused by Democratic Republic of Congo’s latest Ebola outbreak had been detected in more isolated areas, giving authorities a better chance of ring-fencing the virus.
For Nigerians to enjoy better healthcare delivery, government at all levels have been urged to ensure improved access to facilities at the primary healthcare level by the citizens. A global leader in the health technology, Royal Philips, made the appeal recently in Lagos during the unveiling of a survey, which indicated that 36 percent of Nigerians believe that their healthcare needs were being met by the current country’s health system.
