Frontpage News (3259)
Head of Human Resources at the Federal Ministry of Health, Shakuri Kadiri, has said that the country has one doctor to 2,753 patients. Kadiri disclosed this in Abuja at the launch of the Nigeria Health Work Force Country Profile 2018 and handover of the Nigeria Health Workforce Registry by the ministry in collaboration with the World Health Organisation and other partners.
He read the profile, which put the number of medical doctors registered with the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria at 74,543; implying there are 36.3 medical doctors per 100,000 population.
The Chairman, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan chapter of the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), Dr. Dare Olulana, has raised an alarm that the National Universities Commission (NUC) will collapse the nation’s health sector with its circular on doctorate degree for clinical lecturers in universities.
Olulana who gave the warning while addressing journalists in Ibadan recently, said any attempt to insist on compulsory acquisition of PhD by clinical lecturers in medical schools will sound the death knell of the health care system in Nigeria. Members of the association all over the country last week Wednesday embarked on an indefinite strike action after its ultimatum to the NUC to withdraw the circular on PhD
An anti-inflammation drug, Actemra (tocilizumab), manufactured by the Swiss pharmaceutical company, Roche, has been approved by the Chinese government for the treatment of patients who are developing severe complications from coronavirus.
Actemra is indicated for the treatment of adult patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis who have had an inadequate response to one or more Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs. Roche was quoted as saying that a third party has initiated the trial independently to explore the efficacy and safety of the drug in coronavirus patients with cytokine release syndrome (CRS). According to the online portal, Pharmaceutical Technology,
Coronavirus crisis: Nigerian pharmacists lament India’s ban on drug exportation
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Following the ban that Indian government placed on exportation of drugs and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients to Nigeria and other countries last Tuesday, pharmacists have blamed the problem on “the lack of affirmative action on the part of the Federal Government,” even as the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has not directly addressed India’s action.
India, the world’s main supplier of generic drugs according to Reuters, had restricted the export of 26 pharmaceutical ingredients, as well as drugs made from them. The BBC reports that India gets almost 70 per cent of its active pharmaceutical ingredients from China
Coronavirus: Scientist wants FG to conduct research on virus’ adaptability in Nigeria
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A Medical Imaging Scientist, Mr Livinus Abonyi, has urged Federal Government to take proactive step of investigating and conducting research on if Coronavirus was a tropical and endemic disease that could thrive in Nigeria.
Abonyi, also a Lecturer in Medical Radiography Department, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos. He said that the government could achieve this through collaboration with the scientists, researchers, stakeholders and all other relevant authorities. Abonyi said that the research was expected to reveal whether Coronavirus was a tropical infectious disease that could thrive
COVID-19 threat to global fight against HIV,TB,malaria,others,says Global Fund
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AN international financing and partnership organization, Global Fund ,has expressed fear that the outbreak of Coronavirus across the world could impede global fight against HIV/AIDS,tuberculosis,malaria among other disease the world was focusing on eradication.
The organisation which even in the face of its fear,announced new guidance to enable countries strengthen individual response activities to the new coronavirus (COVID-19) by using existing grants in a swift, nimble and pragmatic way,insisted that COVID-19 could derail
World health professionals urge govts to prioritise support for healthcare workers
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The world’s health professionals have called on governments to support healthcare workers who are on the frontline to combat the novel coronavirus ravaging countries across the world.
The World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA), which represents 31 million healthcare professionals stands in solidarity with all healthcare workers across the globe who are on the front line in the fight to contain the current coronavirus epi. They note that all around the world, nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists, dentists,
Osinbajo charges laboratory scientists to deliver quality disease diagnosis
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Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has charged the West African Postgraduate College of Medical Laboratory Science, and the Nigerian Medical Laboratory scientists to ensure qualitative laboratory environment for effective disease diagnosis.
Osinbajo, who declared open the 2020 Congress of the West African Postgraduate College of Medical Laboratory Science (WAPCMLS), and induction/investiture of its fellows, in Lagos, noted the importance of accurate and reliable laboratory diagnosis in the prevention and control of diseases.
The Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria has suspended its strike to compel the National Universities Commission to reverse its decision to make the acquisition of PhD mandatory for clinical lecturers for career progression in public universities.
The MDCAN on February 25 withdrew its services from Colleges of Medicine in public universities after the expiration of the 21-day ultimatum the doctors issued to the NUC to withdraw its circular. The President of the association, Prof. Kenneth Ozoilo, who announced the suspension of the strike at a press conference in Jos on Tuesday,
The World Health Organisation (WHO) yesterday finally declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and urged countries to take urgent and aggressive action to contain the spread. There are now more than 118,000 cases in 114 countries while 4,291 people have lost their lives to the disease.
The Director General of the organisation, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who made the declaration said the number of cases outside China had increased 13-fold over the past two weeks and expressed concern about “alarming levels of inaction” in the fight against the spread of the disease.
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The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has said that the apex bank is committed to fully intervene in the health sector following the outbreak of Coronavirus in Nigeria.
The apex bank made this known yesterday at a consultative round table with stakeholders in Abuja. Emefiele explained that the CBN had decided to support the government by helping to develop specialist hospitals across the country. He said the bank’s intervention would be in the areas of diagnosis and surgery, pointing out that this would reduce medical tourism.
The Registrar, Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, Dr Tajudeen Sanusi, has pleaded with the newly qualified medical doctors from the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, to give back to the system that gives them the opportunity of training at a relatively minimal cost.
Speaking before administering the Hippocratic Oath on the 52 doctors, whose training commenced in the university in 2010, Sanusi, at the College of Health Sciences, LAUTECH, Osogbo campus, said the parents and guardians of the inductees had expended a huge amount on their training.
President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to workers in the health sector to show understanding with the administration in their demands, especially given the effects of the Coronavirus outbreak on the economy. He said his administration was bracing up for the challenges expected to follow the outbreak of the disease.
The President, who made the appeal on Tuesday when workers in the health sector the under the auspices of Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and Assembly Healthcare Professionals Associations (AHPA) paid him a courtesy call at the State House, Abuja, assured that government was looking into their issues with a view to resolving them.
Institute Of Medical Research To Develop Vaccine For Coronavirus
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Nigeria’s Minister of State for Health, Sen Adeleke Olorunnimbe Mamora, on Monday, announced that the Nigeria Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) has determined the genetic sequencing of coronavirus causing COVID-19. According to him, NIMR is the first research institute in Africa to record such feat which he said would help scientists in the country to develop the vaccine to combat the virus.
Mamora made the announcement at the 34th anniversary of Healthcare magazine, award presentations and innovation conference themed “improving health with innovations, technology and sustainable financing” held at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Ikeja, Lagos on Monday.
