Frontpage News (3249)
FG sets up committee to curb strike, brain drain in health sector
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The Federal Government has set up a committee on health sector reform to look at issues in the sector such as strikes and brain drain, the Chief Medical Director of Federal Medical Centre in Abuja, Prof. Saad Ahmed, has said.
Ahmed described brain drain in the sector as a threat to the provision of healthcare services to the public. According to him, the committee is already calling for memoranda from the public to help in its assignment. Ahmed spoke in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Friday.
80% of PHCs can’t store, administer COVID-19 vaccines, says NGO
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The National Primary Healthcare Development Agency on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a human rights organization under the aegis of Connected Development to strengthen and foster health sector accountability in Nigeria.
The human rights organization said its investigation having tracked 90 PHCs in 15 states, revealed that 80 per cent of the PHCs were “substandard and unfit to store, and effectively administer COVID-19 vaccines.”
Nigeria rejects donated COVID-19 vaccine with six months expiry date –NPHCDA
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The National Primary Health Care Development Agency has rejected COVID-19 vaccine doses donated by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance to Nigeria because the vaccines will expire in less than six months.
The Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja, while presenting a paper on “Status of COVID-19 Vaccine Roll-Out, Delivery, Uptake, Challenges, and Potential Areas Where Advocacy is Needed”.
Lack of oxygen at birth can cause epilepsy in newborns, neurologist warns
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A Professor of Neurology, Dr. Ikenna Onwuekwe, has urged physicians and new mothers to pay good attention to babies during childbirth, noting that poor oxygen supply to the brain of a newborn can cause epilepsy.
Onwuekwe also noted that unborn babies whose mothers are infected with rubella – a contagious viral infection can also be exposed to the neurological disorder, adding that babies can be exposed to risk factors while in the womb.
Court jails Anambra trader for repackaging paracetamol as antimalarial drugs
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A Federal High Court in Awka, Anambra State has sentenced a middle-aged man, Ogbodo Friday, to seven years imprisonment without an option of a fine for endangering the lives of innocent consumers through the circulation of fake and counterfeited drugs.
Ogbodo was arrested by the Investigation and Enforcement officers of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control at his residence located at 18, Abagana street, Fegge, Onitsha, Anambra State.
Medical tourism: Reps propose seven-year imprisonment, N500m fine for officials
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A bill seeking to prescribe a jail term of seven years and/or a fine of N500m for officials who spend public funds on foreign medical trips narrowly passed second reading at the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
Sponsored by Sergius Ogun (PDP, Edo), the proposed legislation is titled, ‘A Bill for an Act to amend the National Health Act, 2014; and for related matters’. Leading the debate on the bill, Ogun noted that the objective of the proposed law was to amend the Act “so as to make provision for sanctions against any public officer, who violates the provisions of the Act, especially Section 46 of the Act”.
A sex therapist, Dr. Charles Umeh, has cautioned men against relying on drugs to initiate an erection, noting that no drug can really help a man to get an erection. According to the expert, drugs that claim to help a man initiate erection are misleading, explaining that based on science drugs cannot help a man initiate an erection but could rather help to sustain and intensify it.
The expert noted that if a man is unable to initiate an erection, using a drug cannot help him in any way to initiate it, stressing that such a person should rather seek medical intervention to ascertain the real cause of his problem.
Epilepsy not caused by witchcraft, patients can live normal life with treatment –Neurologists
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Neurologists have urged Nigerians living with epilepsy to stop attributing the health condition to witchcraft, noting that the disorder that causes repeated seizures can be treated with medications.
According to the experts, persons living with epilepsy can also live normal healthy lives when properly treated and need not depend on all sorts of spurious supernatural remedies or prayer houses to prevent seizures. The experts noted that contrary to popular beliefs, epilepsy is a neurological condition often caused by neurological infections in children and adults.
Hope for Nigerian patients as 69 scientists invent AI-powered spinal cord implant
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Globally, technological innovations have eased communication, movement and impacted the work-life environment so much so that things hitherto perceived as impossible are now easy-to-do.
Amazingly, technology brought diverse discoveries in terms of cures or replacements for human defections or deficiencies. It also aids medical professionals in treatments, diagnoses and research among others.
‘Alcohol, sugar, unhealthy food responsible for low sperm count’
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A fertility expert and chief executive officer of EEK Fertility clinic, Dr. Ekinyi Ochete, has said the high intake of alcohol, sugar and unhealthy foods are responsible for low sperm count in men. This is as she advised Nigerians to use alternative medicine and treatment to take care of fertility issues.
Ochete gave the charge during an interview with selected journalists in Abuja. She said, “Most men suffer from sperm count issues. This is high in this part of the world because of the high intake of alcohol, sugar, unhealthy foods and lack of adequate rest.
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Age, family history predispose men to prostate enlargement, says urologist
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A Consultant Urologist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Dr. Oluwaseun Akinola, has said age and urinary symptoms are some of the risk factors for prostate enlargement. In an interview with our correspondent, Akinola said the exact reason for prostate enlargement remained unclear.
He said, “There has not been any particular thing that has been identified to cause it. We do know that it runs sometimes in families, so there is some genetic component. “We also know that it happens to a lot of men as they grow older.
Nigerian women ranked top users of bleaching creams in Africa
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Nigerian women have been ranked as the highest users of skin bleaching creams in Africa. According to data from a study undertaken by Cable News Network, women from Nigeria are the highest consumers of skin-whitening creams ahead of four other African countries.
CNN was investigating skin whitening practices worldwide as part of a series titled ‘White Lies’. The series is aimed at exposing the underlying drivers of colorism, the industry that profits from it and the cost to individuals and communities, it added.
The National Council on Establishment has approved salary grade level 10 as the entry-level for graduate nurses. This was decided at the 43rd meeting of the council held in Abuja between January 24 and 28.
“(The council) approved the review of the entry grade level of graduate Nurses from SGL 09 (CONHESS 08) to SGL10 (CONHESS 09),” a copy of the communique issued after the meeting stated. The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and Chairman of Council, Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan and the Permanent Secretary of the Office of Head of Service of the Federation, Dr. Emmanuel Meribole co-signed the communique.
Chronic hypertension could be signs of kidney disease, physician warns
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A public health expert, Prof Tanimola Akande, has warned against taking chronic hypertension lightly, noting that it could be a signal of kidney failure. According to the expert, uncontrolled hypertension can damage the kidney just as chronic kidney disease can also cause hypertension.
Tanimola, who is a former National Chairman of the Association of Public Health Physicians of Nigeria said that chronic kidney disease at the early stage usually does not show any symptoms hence it is necessary to pay attention to the changes in one’s health.
