Frontpage News (3259)
WHO warns malaria deaths could double during virus pandemic
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The new coronavirus pandemic could severely disrupt access to anti-malaria nets and drugs in sub-Saharan Africa, the World Health Organization said Thursday, warning that malaria deaths risked doubling if efforts are not urgently scaled up.
The UN health agency called on countries in sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly 95 percent of all the world’s malaria cases and deaths occur, to rapidly distribute malaria prevention and treatment tools now before they become too overwhelmed with novel coronavirus cases.
No fewer than 80 people have benefitted from the Lagos State Government Free Medicare plan for the expectant mothers and emergency/casualty cases in Alimosho General Hospital, Igando.
The hospital Medical Director, Dr Madewa Adebajo, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos that the measures were to cushion the effects of lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19. Adebajo told NAN that a sizeable number of people in the local government area had benefitted from the free healthcare initiative.
40 Health Workers Have Tested Positive For Coronavirus, Says Minister
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Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, disclosed on Thursday that 40 health workers have tested positive for coronavirus while on frontline duty to save others from the disease. Apart from the 40 health workers, the minister added that a reasonable number have also been quarantined in the last two weeks due to exposure.
He made the disclosure on Thursday at the daily briefing on the update by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, in Abuja. Against this development, Enahire advised the health workers to take all necessary precautions for their own safety,
The global coronavirus crisis will not end any time soon, with many countries still in the early stages of the fight, health experts have warned as researchers revealed the first US deaths from the disease came weeks before the alarm was raised there.
The COVID-19 pandemic has killed more than 180,000 people and infected 2.6 million, and nations are struggling to check its spread with social distancing measures and lockdowns, while trying to repair their virus-ravaged economies. Some have started to slowly ease restrictions as pressure mounts on governments to find ways to reopen their societies after tens of millions of jobs were wiped out.
COVD-19: Doctor calls on FG, NCDC for clinical trial of drugs
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A lecturer at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Dr. Chidi Ezeihu, is seeking approval from the federal government and the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for the clinical trial of his drugs to treat patients of the COVID -19 pandemic.
Ezeihu, who is also an expert in alternative medicine, said he strongly believes that his ‘Salvage A and B’ formula which he has been using to treat HIV patients may have the capacity to kill SARS COV -2 which he said was the organism responsible for COVID-19 virus. He disclosed that he came up with the drugs during the peak of the HIV/AIDS crisis.
The Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) has called for a reliable template for the structuring of hazard allowance for health workers in the post-COVID-19 era.
On April 21, the Federal Government facilitated a temporary Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with some Health Sector professional bodies based on a proposal by Nigeria Medical Association (NMA). JOHESU, which was not originally slated to be part of the meeting, was invited at the latter stages.
NMA pays tribute to frontline workers that died from COVID-19
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The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), has paid tribute to all the frontline health workers especially those that contracted the dreaded Coronavirus and those that died from the virus in Nigeria. In a statement jointly signed by the NMA president Dr. Francis Faduyile and its secretary Dr. Olumuyiwa Odusote, the medical body demanded a better protection for all health workers.
This is coming as Nigeria join the rest of the world to mark the ‘world day for safety and health at work’ with the theme: “Stop the pandemic: Safety and health at work can save lives”. The NMA while describing the theme as apt lamented that about 264 doctors have been exposed to COVID-19 situations out of which 20 actually contracted the infection, 2 recovery and three mortalities. “These are among the over 66 healthcare workers who have tested positive after their exposure and 4 who died.
NCDC targets two million people for COVID-19 test in three months
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The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is targeting two million Nigerians for Coronavirus (COVID-19) tests in the next three months, the agency’s Director-General, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, hinted on Tuesday. Speaking in Abuja during the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 Control, Dr. Ihekweazu said the target was in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive for aggressive reinforcement of testing and contact tracing measures.
He said: “The laboratory strategic group that is responding to this outbreak has set itself a target of testing two million people in the next three months.
The 15-member medical team from China have tested negative to Coronavirus, according to Minister of Health Dr. Osagie Ehanire. The Chinese who were tested after completing their compulsory 14-day quarantine have all tested negative for coronavirus (COVID-19).
The Chinese medics will be providing technical support to Nigeria in its fight against COVID-19, and sharing experiential strategies of how their country curtailed the spread of the virus. Dr. Ehanire said on Tuesday: “As for the Chinese persons who came in, the test has been done after they were quarantined for 14 days.
COVID-19: More isolation centres, bed spaces needed, says FG
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The Federal Government on Wednesday appealed to states to give premium attention to setting up more isolation centres and bed spaces, as there is a pressing need for these facilities in the fight against coronavirus (COVID-19).
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The pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said Tuesday that a new coronavirus vaccine could be tested as early as next week — with the potential for emergency use by fall, a report said Tuesday. “This is a crisis right now, and a solution is desperately needed by all,” Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla told the Wall Street Journal.
Pfizer is working with German-based BioNtech to deliver the possible vaccine. Clinical trials on human volunteers in Germany have already started. Health regulators in the US may approve testing the vaccine on humans by next week, Bourla told the paper.
Poor Financing, Resistance Threat To Malaria Elimination —WHO
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World Health Organisation (WHO) has listed poor financing and resistance of malaria disease causing germs to malaria medicines as some of the threats and challenges to eliminating malaria from at least 20 countries come year 2025.
WHO’s Medical Officer, Global Malaria Programme, Dr Peter Olumese, speaking at a World Malaria Day 2020 Webinar event hosted by Civil Societies for Malaria Elimination (CS4ME), said four factors were stagnating the World Malaria Programme. According to him, these factors include resistance to malaria medicines and insecticides, financing, building technical competencies in endemic countries,
UCH attends to 10 COVID-19 patients- Chief Medical Director
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The University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, says it has attended to 10 COVID-19 patients. Its Chief Medical Director (CMD), Prof. Jesse Otegbayo, made this known in a series of tweets via his official Twitter handle, @UchCmd, on Wednesday.
Otegbayo, however, said the hospital had recorded two deaths of the 10 cases, while still managing two active cases. He said COVID-19 pandemic had wide reaching spread on the world with consequences on every major sphere of human life. “The University College Hospital, Ibadan, being the flagship tertiary healthcare institution in the West African sub-region,
Primary health workers train online to take on coronavirus
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Some 200 key health care workers are going online to train in boosting primary health care preparedness and response to Covid-19 in efforts to ensure primary health delivery continues despite coronavirus fears.
The trainees, from across 36 states and the FCT, are only a first step in building primary health care response to Covid-19 and will be expected to train other health workers down the line. The focus on training healthworkers in primary health centres comes amidst concern the country is experiencing community transmission.
