Frontpage News (3254)
The HFN Advocates for a review of recent CBN directive on Foreign Exchange – Takes toll on Investors as Healthcare costs is up 20%
Written by Super UserThe recent exclusion of “Finished Goods” from the foreign exchange RDAS window has created concern across the entire healthcare sector as this development will increase the cost of healthcare commodities by at least 20 %.
The HFN has therefore appealed to the Central Bank and Ministries of Health and Finance to look into ways to ensure that Healthcare commodities and equipment are excluded from the list of “Finished goods” suggesting the model applied with Value Added Tax where healthcare tops the list of the items excluded from this tax structure.
Please click HERE see the front page Business Day article on CBN Directive.
HFN Advocacy drive to the deputy senate president
Written by Super UserDuring a courtesy visit made by the Ministerial Committee to establish World Class hospitals in 6 geo political zones of the country to the Deputy Senate President Mr. Ike Ekwerenmadu on the 20th October, 2014, the HFN President speaking on behalf of the Private Health Sector strongly advocated that the senate in addition to ensuring the National Health Insurance and National Health Bills are passed , also should look into the area of incentives to encourage investors especially approving zero % duty tax on Medical Equipment and Pharmaceutical products.
National Health Bill passed into law by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan
Written by Super User
In a development that sure will pass for the greatest thing to happen in the health sector in the year 2014 and one of the best presidential assents under the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan given to any legislation, the National Health Bill has finally been passed into law. This happened last night and was eventually confirmed by Dr. Reuben Abati on his Twitter account. Titled, A Framework for the Regulation, Development and Management of a National Health System and set Standards for Rendering Health Services in the Federation, and Other Matters Connected there with, 2014, itcomes as a big source of celebration for the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN), having invested a lot of efforts into the passage of the bill.
Healthcare Financing Under The CBN Real Sector Support Facility
Written by Super UserINTRODUCTION
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has established a Real Sector Support Facility (RSSF) as part of efforts to enhance output growth, value added productivity, and job creation. This will be used to support large enterprises for start-ups and expansion financing needs of between N500 million and N10 billion. Businesses within the scope of the Facility are manufacturing, agricultural value chain, and select service sub-sectors – hospitals, schools and hotels.
Are You Ready For The Breakfast Event?
Kindly come along with up to three female members of staff in technical, leadership and management positions within your organisation to expand the reach to women in healthcare. This workshop covers various aspects of Female Enterpreneurship and Access to Finance.
- Networking amongst female healthcare leaders and practitioners these goals.
- Focus on accessing finance for business growth.
- To be graced by high-level female healthcare entrepreneurs and business experts.
- To strengthen the female participation in health care business.
- Discussing the extant challenges in healthcare financing for female entrepreneurs and proffering viable solutions
- Provide information on available financial incentives in the industry.
Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital Enugu turned to warzone as JOHESU, management clash
The mood at the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital Enugu was very tense today as the management of the hospital led by the Medical Director, Dr. Jojo Onwuekwe unleashed actions best described as tyrannical on the members of the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) who commenced an indefinite strike action to agitate for many anomalies in the hospital.
A staff of the hospital spoke exclusively and anonynously to HealthNewsNG.com. The staff who is also a first witness to the whole incident said JOHESU embarked on the strike for many reasons including:
Federal Ministery of Health, NACA to destroy medical products worth N417million
The Federal Ministry of Health has concluded arrangements with the National Agency for the Control of Aids (NACA) to destroy malaria and HIV drugs worth N417m.
According to a PUNCHNG report, the drugs will be destroyed because they were left to expire without distribution at the stores of the Federal Ministry of Health located in Oshodi, Lagos state. The drugs had different expiry dates and were purchased between 2011 and 2012. They comprised of different medications for HIV, tuberculosis and Malaria as well as antibiotics, children’s drugs and HIV test kits.
WorldStage Newsonline—The aggrieved health workers under the aegis of the Nigerian union of Allied Healthcare Professionals (NUAHP) has suspended its three week long strike with members ordered to resume work on Wednesday.
However, the local strike in FMC Owerri is to continue until all the local issues and demands are addressed.
Comrade Dr. Obinna Ogbonna, National President of the Union at a press conference on Tuesday called on members across the country to return to work, saying the National Administrative council of the union on 4th of June, 2015, having assessed the impact of the strike through responses from the unit branches across the nation agreed that it was very effective nationwide and had drawn the attention of President Buhari to the pending issues in the sector that the immediate past government left unresolved
More than 95% of the global population has at least one health problem, study finds
The largest and most in-depth study of global health trends to date finds that more than 95% of the world's population has health problems, with more than a third of us experiencing five or more conditions. An older man in a hospital bed Researchers identified an increase in the number of years lived with a disability among the global population, which they attribute to population growth and aging.
The results of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 (GBD 2013) were recently published in The Lancet. Lead study author Prof. Theo Vos, of the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle, and colleagues set out to calculate up-to-date estimates of disease and injury incidence and prevalence among 188 countries between 1990 and 2013, usingdata from more than 35,000 sources.
Medical expert says at least 20% of Nigerians will experience mental illness
Written by Super UserOlugbile attributed this partly due to high rate of poverty, lack of social welfare and high rate of endemic infectious diseases.
At least 20% of Nigerians are prone to mental illness, this is according to Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr Femi Olugbile. In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, the former Chief Medical Director, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital said "at least 20% of the population will at some time in their lives experience at least one episode of mental disorder”
Olugbile attributed this partly due to high rate of poverty, lack of social welfare and high rate of endemic infectious diseases. Adding that at any point in time, 2 to 5% of the 20% population would manifest the symptoms of mental disorder at early stage.
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Access to basic health-care services in Nigeria remains an uphill task owing to staggering inadequacies in the nation’s health care system. Issues of lack of access to quality healthcare, prevalence of quack hospitals and doctors, fake or substandard drugs, poor funding and inadequate health resources, inefficient utilisation of scarce health resources, poorly performing health systems, among others persist. As a result, Nigerians continue to die of treatable illnesses.Nigeria to benefit from Rotary International new financial support to eradicate Polio
The continued fight to stamp out polio will receive an additional $40.3 million boost from Rotary to support immunization activities and research carried out by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
Rotary grants these funds to the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF for polio immunization, surveillance and research activities in 10 countries.
The funding commitment comes at a critical time as Nigeria – the last polio-endemic country in Africa – approaches one-year since its last case of polio, which occurred in Kano State on 24 July, 2014.
If the current progress continues, WHO may remove Nigeria from the list of polio-endemic countries as early as September. In addition to the notable progress in Nigeria, no new cases of polio have been reported anywhere in Africa since August 2014.
50 million Nigerians were at risk of being infected with River Blindness - Expert
Written by Super User
The Acting Director of Neglected Tropical Diseases Division (NTDs), Federal Ministry of Health, Dr Ifeoma Anagbogu has told News Agency of Nigeria that over 50 million Nigerians were at risk of being infected with Onchocerciasis commonly called blinding disease. Out of this number, only about 30 million are accessing treatment she said.
The director also revealed that about 20 million people who are supposed to be on treatment are not currently accessing it and in an effort to control the disease, Nigeria has been applying the mass administration of a medicine from a donor agency for the management of the disease Leadership.ng website reported.
Health benefits of corn include controlling diabetes, prevention of heart ailments, lowering hypertension and prevention of neural-tube defects at birth. Corn or maize is one of the most popular cereals in the world and forms the staple food in many countries, including the United States and many African countries.
The kernels of corn are what hold the majority of corns nutrients, and are the most commonly consumed parts of the vegetable.
The kernels can come in multiple colors, depending on where the corn is grown and what species or variety they happen to be. Another genetic variant, called sweetcorn, has more sugar and less starch in the nutritive material.
