Frontpage News (3259)
Nasarawa orders medical doctors on payroll to close their private hospitals or face sack
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Nasarawa State government has resolved to sack any medical doctor who is on government payroll and still run a private hospital.
The state Commissioner for Justice, Abdulkarin Kana, who spoke to journalists yesterday after the state executive council meeting, added that they must close down their private hospitals. He said the action would allow them concentrate on their responsibilities and avoid diverting patients to their private hospitals.
FCT minister approves payment as resident doctors begin strike
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The strike by Association of Resident Doctors, Federal Capital Territory Administration chapter, over non-payment of their COVID – 19 hazard and inducement allowances commenced on Tuesday with compliance in different hospitals.
The strike action was meant to be in the 14 general and district hospitals in the FCT, including the Department of Public and Primary Healthcare. The NAN reported that there was compliance at the general hospitals in Kubwa, Wuse, Maitama, Nyanya and Asokoro. A source, however, said patients with severe cases were given medical attention by doctors who are not on residency.
Presidency Says Buhari’s Aide Did Not Test Positive For COVID-19
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Nigerian presidency on Wednesday refuted a media report that an aide to President Muhammadu Buhari, Sarki Abba, tested positive for COVID-19.
“We react to the utter falsehood and disgraceful lies, a report by the so-called digital newspaper which, Wednesday, claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari’s aide, Sarki Abba is COVID-19 positive,” presidential spokesman Garba Shehu said in a statement.
The National Agency for Food Drugs Administration and Control says it destroyed fake drugs and counterfeit products worth N3.2 billion in Kano State in the last two years.
Mr. Shaba Mohammed, the state’s Coordinator of the Agency, said this in an interview with journalists on Wednesday in Kano. Mohammed said that the illicit drugs, fake and counterfeit products were seized during various joint operations performed by the operatives from the agency and other stakeholders in the state.
COVID-19: chloroquine used only in clinical trials in Nigeria, says NCDC boss
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In the last few weeks, COVID-19 infection rates have been on the decline in Nigeria and many Nigerians are wondering if the country has reached the peak of the outbreak. The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu speaks to Chioma Obinna on this development and challenges in the response.
He speaks on Nigeria’s case-fatality while maintaining that chloroquine is only used at the clinical trial level in the country. Excerpts: Current COVID-19 situation in Nigeria.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced four deaths and 216 fresh cases of COVID-19, taking the total infections in the country to 54, 463. The NCDC made this known on its official twitter handle on Wednesday.
The health agency said that a multi-sectoral national Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), activated at Level 3 had continued to coordinate the national response activities across the country.
Corticosteroids, WHO approves for treatment of server case of COVID-19
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The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a guidance for clinicians and healthcare decision-makers on the use of Corticosteroids for patients with severe COVID-19. In a statement on Wednesday, Corticosteroids are listed in the WHO model list of essential medicines, readily available globally at a low cost. It said: “We recommend systemic Corticosteroids for the treatment of patients with severe and critical COVID-19.
We suggest not to use corticosteroids in the treatment of patients with non-severe COVID-19 as the treatment.” The guidance, according to the statement, was developed in collaboration with the non-profit body, Magic Evidence Ecosystem Foundation (MAGIC), which provided methodologic support to develop and disseminate living guidance for COVID-19 drug treatments.
Nigeria Yet To Detect Resistance Of Malaria Parasite To Acts, Says Minister
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Contrary to reports that Africa has for the first time identified resistance strain of the malaria parasite to the drug of choice, Artemisinin Combination Therapy (ACT), the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Emmanuel Ehanire, on Monday said a study conducted in three states of the country showed there is no such phenomenon in Nigeria.
Ehanire during a media briefing by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 said: “Concerned about the growing resistance of the malaria parasite to ACTs especially in Asia and lately in Africa, we conducted some studies in three different states in different geopolitical zones.
How African Traditional Medicine Can Provide Cure For COVID-19, By Experts
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The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the World Health Organisation (WHO), Pax Herbals, and the African Centre for Disease Control (ACDC) have said that African Traditional Medicine (ATM) including herbal medicine has the potential to provide a cure for the deadly Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and other so-called incurable diseases such as cancer, Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV), diabetes and hypertension.
As part of activities to mark the African Traditional Medicine Day (ATMD) August 31, 2020, stakeholders have examined the progress in
COVID-19 Induced Fatigue Lingers As Frontline Healthcare Workers Crack Under The Strain
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Several reports have shown that the country’s Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) response has slowed down due to fatigue suffered by frontline health workers, states, and the Federal Government-led taskforces on COVID-19 as well as continuous disbelief by some Nigerians.
According to a study published, last week, in Science News, “the unflappable health care heroes of the current crisis are beginning to crack under the strain.
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Waste from coronavirus Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has become a new form of pollution as single-use plastic PPE floods drainages and oceans. In Nigeria, millions of used elastic gloves and masks are discarded daily.
Hand sanitiser bottles and other waste are already found on seabeds and washed up on beaches, joining the day-to-day litter in ocean ecosystems. Conservationists warn and urge governments to facilitate green recovery and its sustainability.
The leadership of the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) says it will commence a nationwide warning strike over Federal Government’s failure to meet the union’s outstanding demands with effect from September 13. Mr Biobelemoye Josiah, the JOHESU Chairman, said this during a news conference in Abuja on Monday.
Josiah listed the alleged shortchanging of the union in the payment of COVID-19 Special Inducement and Hazard Allowance (SIHA) to frontline health workers, as part of the union’s demands.
ICN Supports Order Of Nurses’ Appeal For Nurse Victims Of Catastrophic Explosion In Lebanon
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The International Council of Nurses (ICN) fully backs the Order of Nurses in Lebanon’s appeal to assist the nurses who suffered trauma, loss and injury because of the devasting explosion in Beirut last month. More than 250 people were killed and 5000 injured in the blast on August 4 which destroyed a huge part of the city, including four major hospitals. Six young nurses were among the dead and more than 200 were injured, some also lost their homes.
In the aftermath of the disaster, ICN contacted Dr Myrna Doumit, President of Order of Nurses in Lebanon and organized an international press conference in which she spoke movingly of the bravery and sacrifice of nurses and other healthcare workers who instead of running away from danger ran towards it to save the lives of those caught up in the blast.
Tribunal Sanctions Doctors Over Three-Month-Old Baby’s Death
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The Medical and Dental Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal has sanctioned two doctors; Joseph Iyoha and Mukaila Oladipo for their negligence which caused the death of a three-month-old baby, Peace Oluwole. The Tribunal said the doctors, who were arraigned on seven counts, were incompetent in the management of the three-month-old baby and failed to do all that was appropriate and reasonable for the treatment of the patient.
The chairman of the Tribunal, Abba Waziri, in the verdict obtained by THE PUNCH said Iyoha, who was found guilty of three counts, did not exhibit reasonable diligence.
