Frontpage News (3249)
The new drug, dubbed Spritam, was developed by Aprecia Pharmaceuticals to control seizures brought on by epilepsy. In a world first, the US Food and Drug Administration has given the go-ahead for a 3D-printed pill to be produced. The FDA has previously approved medical devices - including prosthetics - that have been 3D printed. The new drug, dubbed Spritam, was developed by Aprecia Pharmaceuticals to control seizures brought on by epilepsy. The company said that it planned to develop other medications using its 3D platform. Printing the drugs allows layers of medication to be packaged more tightly in precise dosages. A separate technology developed by the firm, known as ZipDose, makes high-dose medications easier to swallow. Printing the drug meant it could package up to 1,000 milligrams into individual tablets. The 3D-printed pill dissolves in the same manner as other oral medicines.
Replica jaws: Being able to 3D print a tablet offers the potential to create bespoke drugs based on the specific needs of patients, rather than having a one product fits all approach, according to experts. "For the last 50 years we have manufactured tablets in factories and shipped them to hospitals and for the first time this process means we can produce tablets much closer to the patient," said Dr Mohamed Albed Alhnan, a lecturer in pharmaceutics at the University of Central Lancashire. It would mean that medical institutions could adjust the dose for individual patients with just a simple tweak to the software before printing. Previously, such personalised medicine would have been extremely expensive to produce, said Dr Alhnan.
Medical Council Warns Private Clinics Against Employing Quack Doctors
The Nigerian Dental and Medical Council of Nigeria has warned owners of private clinics to desist from employing the services of expatriates who were not duly certified by the council. Dr Okuokenye Henry, Head of the Inspectorate Department of the council, issued the warning in Gombe on Thursday when he inspected Madina Specialist Eye Centre and Diagnostic. He said the measure became necessary to prevent quack medical personnel from putting the lives of innocent Nigerian patients in danger. “Initially, when an expatriate comes to Nigeria to practice, he or she must meet some basic requirements. “If he is carrying another country’s certificate, he must attend four months course organised by our council and write an examination before he will be given a license to practice in Nigeria,’’ Henry explained.
He said this enabled the council to identify quacks in the profession, and such persons would be handed over to the law enforcement agencies.
“The council is empowered by law to regulate the practice of medicine by ensuring standard in the country,” he said. Henry said the council sent him from Abuja to Madina Hospital for an inspection because the council received petitions that an Ophthalmologist, Dr Najeeb Ur-Rahaman Abro, engaged by the hospital was not qualified. “The ophthalmologist, a Pakistani, did not have a license to practice in Nigeria but he went ahead and started practicing,’’ he said. The head of the inspectorate department, however, directed the proprietor of the hospital to dismiss the doctor or face the wrath of the law.
Chief Medical Director (CMD) Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido-Ekiti, Dr. Majekodunmi Ayodele, has appealed to striking resident doctors to consider the plights of the patients and return to work. Dr. Ayodele who made the appeal yesterday while speaking with journalists in Ado Ekiti said that the federal government was already looking into the demands of the members of Association of Resident Doctors (ARD). Recall that doctors in tertiary hospitals and their colleagues in all federal health institutions across the country had been on strike since May over non-implementation of ‘grade skipping’ by the institutions.
They had accused the chief medical directors of ignoring directive of the Federal Ministry of Health on the matter which Dr. Ayodele said was yet to be okayed by the federal government. The CMD disclosed further that the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission had explained that the modalities for the implementation have not been worked out, neither has the relevant scheme of service been amended, adding that attempt to implement the grade skipping for medical officers without modalities would create confusion and grading absurdities.
Dr Sunny Ekwunife, Senior Special Adviser to Gov. Willie Obiano of Anambra on General Hospitals, has said that three selected hospitals would be upgraded to a world class status in the state. Ekwunife disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Awka. According to him, the benefiting hospitals are General Hospital Onitsha, General Hospital Enugwu-Ukwu and General Hospital Ekwulobia. “The governor gave us the mandate to take a look at the state hospitals and we chose three of them to be of international standard.
“The upgrading will go a long way in promoting medical tourism with the beneficial effect of generating more funds into the state coffers,” he said. Ekwunife said that government had also embarked on the uplift of other 15 selected hospitals to cater effectively for the needs of the citizens. “In order to address the excesses of private hospitals in Anambra, government has approved the equipment of 15 hospitals with drugs and staff. “We will be providing all their needs, which range from drilling of boreholes, rehabilitating buildings, providing drugs and increasing staff strength,” he said. (NAN)
Source:Leadership Online
Gov. Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi State has approved the release of N87 million for the supply of essential drugs to all hospitals in the state.. Abubakar announced this on Thursday in Bauchi during a Mid-Year Review Meeting of Polio Routine Immunization, organized by the state government. According to him, the government has also released N80 million out of the N160 million counterpart fund contribution of the state for routine imminisation. He said the money was released after the government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bill & Melinda Foundation and Dangote Foundation “towards strengthening immunization coverage in the state.”
The governor said that the new administration had sponsored 15 medical students abroad and facilitated accreditation of some courses run by health institutions in the state. Abubakar said that the government would soon unveil a five-point agenda in the health sector, tagged “Lafiya Garkuwa”. He pledged to undertake assessment visit of all health facilities in the state before unveiling the programme. “Healthy people are asset to the development of the state,” he said, adding that the administration would transform the health sector, to enhance the wellbeing of the pople.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), on Thursday said it had uncovered an illegal factory within the Trade Fair Complex in Lagos loaded with various expired canned food. The agency’s Spokesman, Mr Anslem Okonkwor, said disclosed this in a statement that the discovery was sequel to a special raid and enforcement operation in some markets in the metropolis by officers of the Investigation and Enforcement Directorate of the agency. It said that the expired canned food were worth millions of naira, adding that a 24-year-old man, Victor Okeke had been arrested in connection with the expired products.
“The factory, which was originally a one-room shop was used to stock, re-validate and distribute expired products, particularly, food condiments. “Some of the expired products discovered in the unhygienic factory included expired Maggi sauce with manufacturing date of 15/08/2011 and expiry date of 15/08/2014. “Other products included Amoy Dark Soy Sauce, Costa Corned Beef and Exeter Corned Beef among others. “For the Costa Corned Beef, whether expired or not, the 24-year -old suspect, changed their labels to Exeter Corned Beef,’’ it said.
The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu, has petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari, over what it called embezzlement, misappropriation and abuse of office under the administration of the Medical Director, Dr. Jojo U. Onwukwe. Aside attaining the compulsory retirement age of 60 years on October 3, 2014, and still remaining in office as the medical director, Dr. Onwukwe embezzled about N254 million, according to the union. Addressing a press conference, officials of the JOHESU which comprises Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), Senior Staff Association (SSA) and National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNUM), said except the federal government investigates and removes the medical director, they would close down the hospital.
They insisted that the Medical Director was an obstacle to the progress of the establishment and workers’ welfare. Chairman of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNUM), Comrade Ejimadu Alozie, who alongside his colleagues in the union addressed journalists, alleged that the medical director embezzled N64,000,000 meant for arrears of staff conversion, N110,138,616.00 meant for completion and equipping of the multipurpose clinical services complex and owing more than N10,000,000 to drug suppliers in the Drug Revolving Fund (DRF).
A recent survey conducted by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC) has warned Nigerians against abusing anti-malarial drugs.Director -General of the agency, Paul Orhii stated this yesterday in Abuja during the public presentation of the results of the survey titled: ‘Survey on the quality of antimalarial medicines in Nigeria 2014.’ While stating that malaria remains a huge health threat to countries in sub-saharan Africa including Nigeria, abuse of antimalarial drugs makes one develop resistant strains of malaria that maybe difficult to treat even with the right medicines.
The survey was funded by USAID through Promoting the Quality of Medicines (PQM) programme of the United States Pharmacopoeia Convention.The survey shows that the substandard anti-malarial drugs in circulation have now decreased to 3.6 percent. He said studies conducted by NAFDAC from 2001 to 2014 showed that there has been a positive trend, and progressive decrease in the incidence of counterfeit medicines in Nigeria.
Kano Approves 1.5M for Post Basic Psychiatric Training for Five Nurses
The Kano state executive council of meeting held on 5th august 2015 has appraised the request for funds for the sponsorship of 5No. nurses to undergo post-basic psychiatric Nursing training (2015/2016) at the federal school of psychiatric Nurisng kware, sokoto state for the period of six months. the course would expose the officers to new trnds in psychiatriac nursing specialty.
Accordingly, council considered and approved the release of the sum of N1,543,000 to enable the 5No. officers attend the course at the federal school of psychiatric Nursing kware sokoto state.The council was requested to consider and approve also for the setting up of a committee to ensure the take off of the kano state model contributory healthcare scheme as amended which approval was granted.
Source:Medical World Nigeria
IF the Federal Government goes ahead with plans it has so far made, apex public health institutions like the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu, University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) Zaria, among others, will be put up for sale or rather privatisation, soon.nBut health workers have rejected such plans. Last week, they, excluding medical doctors, petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari over the plans to privatise the health sector and vowed to resist what they have called “a version of reforms in healthcare that are self-serving in terms of their narrow commercial interests and those of foreign pay-masters.”
The plan by the Federal Government to ‘sell’ public health institutions was confirmed in a document prepared by the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) in November 2014 titled “Recommendations for a National Policy on Incentivising Healthcare Investments. ”Because of the success recorded by reforms in the telecom, energy and banking sectors, advocates of the sale option believe it will bring in additional private capital that will encourage better quality care at the lowest cost and improved benefits to all stakeholders in the sector.
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Universal Health Coverage – President Buhari’s opportunity to become a national hero
This week’s guest blog comes from Robert Yates, an internationally recognized expert on progressive health financing. He works for Chatham House, the international affairs “Think-tank” based in London. He was one of the speakers at the Future of Health Conference held on June 18 in Abuja. Far from being a lame-duck, Barack Obama is having an extraordinarily successful second term as President of the United States, to the extent that he is being heralded as one of the most consequential Presidents in US history.
A number of domestic and foreign policy successes have been responsible for this transformation, but one triumph appears to have singled him out for greatness – his universal health reforms. “Obama Gains Vindication and Secures Legacy With Health Care Ruling” trumpeted the New York Times on June 25th after the US Supreme Court voted in favour of preserving the President’s pioneering health reforms. It is now widely recognized that President Obama will go down in history as a national hero for bringing healthcare to the uninsured in America.
The reality of the Residency Card, otherwise called Kaadi Igbe Ayo, has dawned on Ondo State residents as they now need it to access key health care facilities. Particularly, pregnant women who want to enjoy free medical services at the Mother and Child Hospital and the Abiye Safe Motherhood Programme, among others, will now require the card to do so. Before the recent inauguration of the card by Governor Olusegun Mimiko administration, the government’s free medical services were said to be enjoyed mostly by non-residents and those who were not paying their taxes. But the new development would put a check to this.
In his speech at the event, Mimiko said the new initiative was to facilitate the identification of all residents of the state in a bid to deliver to them, the social and welfare programmes as contained in the 12-point agenda of his administration. According to him, it will serve as the ticket for the residents to access and benefit from many of the infrastructural facilities of the state government. The Adegbimile Cultural Centre Hall, Akure, venue of the ceremony, received people from all walks of life, who witnessed the inauguration, while learning more about the importance of the card.
WINIFRED OGBEBO writes on the turn of events around the imposter who paraded himself as a medical doctor in the Federal Ministry of Health for several years as justice gradually catches up with him The long arm of the law is gradually catching up with Martins Okpeh Ugwu, who reigned like a supremo in the Federal Ministry of Health where he functioned as a ‘medical doctor’ for more than nine years. The holy book’s admonition that the wicked will never go unpunished is being fulfilled right before his very eyes.
He was arraigned almost a month ago at an Abuja high court on a five-count charge bordering on fraud and deceit. That the 44-year old secondary school certificate holder paraded himself as a medical doctor for nine whole years and even rose to become the chairman of a branch of the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA before he was detected remains a shock which many people are yet to recover from. An indigene of Ogbadibo Local Government Area of Benue State and father of five children, Ugwu had stolen the medical and academic credentials of his childhood friend, Dr. George Davidson, a medical doctor practising in Jos and used them to secure employment in the Federal Ministry of Health.
Sokoto State governor Aminu Tambwal has disclosed that his administration has conluded plans to introduce the state’s version of the National Health insurance Sheme (NHIS) to enable citizens of the state to enjoy healthcare services. But the governor said that until its formal introduction, wide consultations on the position of Islam on health insurance would be undertaken with religious scholars and legal experts. Tambuwal made this known at the weekend when he received in audience, the officials of the National Health Insurance Scheme(NHIS) in Sokoto.
He said the consultations became necessary so as to mobilise all stakeholders, and the people of the state, in order to ensure the success of the project. The governor disclosed that some aspects of the state’s laws would have to be amended to accommodate the scheme. He commended the NHIS for introducing the programme in the state pointing out that it would bring healthcare services closer to the people.To that end, Tambuwal pledged to allocate a plot of land in Sokoto town to the NHIS for the building of its model office as requested.
