Frontpage News (3249)
Nigerian troops have rescued a health worker that was abducted by the Islamic State-affiliated terrorists in early 2020. Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) said the nurse was rescued after an air raid on one of the camps of the Islamic States West Africa Province (ISWAP), a splinter group of Boko Haram.
MNJTF is a combined multinational formation of mostly military from Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria. The freed nurse was said to have been in ISWAP captivity since January.
The Presidential Task Force on Coronavirus (COVID-19) says the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) is on the decline in the last five months but there is need for caution.
Mr Boss Mustapha, the PTF Chairman and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), said this during the daily briefing of the task force on Monday in Abuja. “We wish him and all other frontline workers that risked their lives but contracted the virus in the process, safe and speedy recovery.
Mrs Elsie Ilori, Head, Surveillance and Epidemiology Department, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), on Monday advised health workers to maintain a high index of suspicion on any patient as international flights are set to resume.
Ilori gave the advice at the briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 on Abuja. She said that a high index of suspicion for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases would facilitate response.
Insurgency stopped immunisation of 500,000 children in 2016 – WHO
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The World Health Organisation says it estimated that 500,000 children lacked access to immunisation from the wild polio virus in 2016. The Polio Eradication Programme Coordinator, WHO Regional Office for Africa, Dr Pascal Mkanda, stated this on Monday at a virtual press conference ahead of the official certification of Africa as a polio-free continent.
The actual announcement of the certification of the eradication of polio in Africa is expected to hold on Tuesday, August 25, 2020, and would be attended by Nigeria’s President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.); philanthropist, Bill Gates, and industrialist, Aliko Dangote.
Infrastructural Development of PHCs is Key to Attaining SDGs- FOLGONM
The means to attain the health components of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) received a boost at the 10th annual conference/scientific workshop of the Forum for Local Government Nurses and Midwives (FOLGONM), held at the Adeyemi Bero Hall, Alausa, Ikeja, from 15 to 18 October 2019, as speakers stressed on the need to create an enablement environment at the Primary Healthcare Centres, which will enhance patients access to basic facilities, thereby decreasing morbidity and mortality rates.
In her welcome remarks, the Director of Nursing Services, Lagos State Primary Healthcare Board, Mrs Olusola C. Ayeni, noted that while the key to ensuring the quality of maternal and childcare is a system’s perspective on the provision of care, the major factor in achieving this is the PHC system. Thus, she said there would be continuous misplaced priorities, inefficiencies and a moribund health sector in Nigeria if only secondary and tertiary institutions are equipped to the neglect of the PHC system.
New guidance from WHO, launched ahead of World Cancer Day (4 February), aims to improve the chances of survival for people living with cancer by ensuring that health services can focus on diagnosing and treating the disease earlier.
New WHO figures released this week indicates that each year 8.8 million people die from cancer, mostly in low- and middle-income countries. One problem is that many cancer cases are diagnosed too late. Even in countries with optimal health systems and services, many cancer cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage, when they are harder to treat successfully.
The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria Young Pharmacists Group (PSN-YPG), Lagos State Chapter is leading the campaign for youth to become champions of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDGs).
The group revved up its advocacy during the Lagos PSN-YPG Week opening ceremony themed: Young Pharmacists as Champions of the SDGs 2030, held at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, last Friday.
66% of Lagosians Can’t Afford Quality Healthcare, Says Health Commissioner
The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has said that about 66 percent of Lagos residents cannot pay for quality healthcare as they live below the poverty threshold. He said this percentage of people in the state could not pay for healthcare and could not be captured in the insurance scheme.
Abayomi, who spoke yesterday at a press briefing organized by the state Ministry of Health, said with the health insurance scheme aimed to ensure accessibility and affordability, only 33 percent of people who were well to do could access it.
Doctors Seek Interventions, Mobilisation of Resources to Tackle Suicidal Behaviour
Meanwhile, stakeholders in mental health advocates have called for the urgent need to establish a national suicide prevention strategy to curb the rising menace, especially among youths in Nigeria.
The stakeholders, including medical professionals, social workers, and non-governmental organizations among others, lamented the rise of suicide rate in the country, which they said could be prevented by putting measures in place to address it. They gave the assertion ahead of the 2019 national conference scheduled to hold on Saturday, 26, at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), with the theme: “Suicide, a Challenge to Developing Country”.
It is good news from the health sector as experts have announced that another strain of wild poliovirus has been eradicated globally. This news was shared by the World Health Organisation in a press statement on Thursday to mark World Polio Day.
The UN health agency said with no case of wild poliovirus type 3 detected anywhere in the world since 2012, the Global Commission for Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication (GCC) has officially declared the strain as globally eradicated.
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Africa ‘highly unlikely’ to meet 2030 deadline on malaria eradication – Survey
Funding gaps across the African continent may hinder the achievement of the global target for malaria elimination by 2030, a new survey has said. The survey, Malaria Futures for Africa (MalaFa), is the first systematic attempt in many years to collate expert African views on malaria policy.
It found that countries in Africa are highly unlikely to meet the 2030 deadline in the fight against malaria if considerable changes did not occur in funding and delivery.
Global Fund: Nigerian govt. pledges $12 million to end HIV, TB, Malaria
The Nigerian government has pledged to release $12 million to end epidemics of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other preventable and treatable disease across the globe. The government announced the commitment at the sixth Replenishment Conference of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) in Lyon, France.
Leaders of countries around the world made commitments through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end these epidemics by 2030.
HIV/AIDS: PEPFAR to partner Nigerian governors for free testing, treatment
Three outfits seeking to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, including USAID, Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in Nigeria and the Department of Defense have sought the buy-in of the 36 Nigerian state governors for the abolition of user fees by all HIV positive persons in the country.
The proposal was tabled during a visit to the secretariat of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) on Tuesday.
Sanwo-Olu, Ehanire, Health Professionals Turn Up at 9th Medic West Africa Expo
The 9th edition of Medic West Africa's annual expo witnessed a massive turnout of hundreds of healthcare professionals and well over 250 renowned exhibitors. Held at the expo center of Eko Hotels and Towers, Victoria Island, Lagos, the two-day event was officially declared open by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State.
There were about 600 delegates and 20 countries represented at the annual health exhibition. From state-of-the-art imaging equipment to the most cost-effective disposables; developments in surgery to advances in prosthetics and pharmaceuticals, the carnival-like occasion was well knitted to the admiration of participants from West African healthcare community.
