Frontpage News (3254)
There is increasing concern that more women are infected by HIV than men as 60 per cent of people living with HIV infections in Africa are women.This can be simply traced to sexual violence including rape and defilement, intergeneration sex which involves young girls having sex with older men (sugar daddies), sex with multiple partners, anal/vaginal sex. TUNDE OGUNTOLA in this piece x-rays why women are more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS Women often experience the impact of HIV infection biologically more severely than men in unprotected heterosexual intercourse as they are twice as likely as men to acquire HIV from an infected partner.
The HIV virus that causes AIDS is transmitted through two major routes. The first, which accounts for 80 per cent of the cases, is through unprotected sex between men and women. This is followed by HIV transmission from mother to child during pregnancy, labour and breastfeeding, which is responsible for about 20 per cent of the cases. As part of activities commemorating the 2015 World AIDS Day which was the 35th the US Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle said there is urgent need to take greater action to tackle the menace which he said, “The time to act is now.” That is the theme of this 35th World AIDS Day. This theme conveys the urgency of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS. The strategy behind the UN program is simple, and involves information, treatment, and suppression of the disease.
Nigeria’s Maternal Mortality Is 560 Deaths Per 100,000 Live Births – WHO
The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) 2014 report has stated that the maternal mortality rate in Nigeria is 560 deaths per 100,000 live births and one-third of all global maternal deaths are concentrated in two populous countries which includes Nigeria, after India. This was revealed, weekend, by the executive director of Women Advocates’ Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), Dr Abiola Akiyode Afolabi at the “National Roundtable: Sustainable Development Goals Gender Equality and Maternal Health” in Abuja.
She said women in Nigeria still face financial barriers, infrastructural and institutional barriers in accessing adequate maternal healthcare and are still been detained for inability to pay high user fees and lose their lives in the process. “The 2014 millennium Development Goals report almost one-third of all global maternal deaths are concentrated in two populous countries: India, with an estimated 50,000 maternal deaths (17%) and Nigeria, with an estimated 40,000 maternal deaths (14%) while the WHO 2014 report on maternal mortality states that Nigeria’s MMR is 560 deaths per 100,000 live births.”
NHIS Has Covered Less Than 7 Per Cent Nigerians Since Flag-off – NMA
Written by Super User
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has stated that the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) which was flagged off since June 2005 has covered less than 7 per cent of the Nigeria population. Dr Kayode Obembe, NMA President said this yesterday in a statement to mark this year’s International Day of Universal Health Coverage commemorated every December 12, in Abuja. He said governments at all level should redirect attention to community health insurance as a panacea to the 70 per cent out-of-pocket expenditure incurred by Nigerians.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday in Baghdad cautioned that Iraq’s public health, water and sanitation systems were collapsing. WHO said Iraq’s prime minister responded to protests this summer over failing public services by launching a campaign against corruption and mismanagement. It said less than four months later, there was little sign of improvement in one key sector such as healthcare. “With Iraqis fleeing Islamic State in ever greater numbers, the country’s growing population of internal refugees is straining public facilities already ground down by decades of war, sanctions and red tape.
'We need to develop our primary health care centres' says health minister
Written by Super User
Prof Isaac Adewole, the health minister of Nigeria has pointed out that there is an urgent need to focus on Primary Health Care (PHC) in the country. Adewole, who spoke recently in Abuja during an interactive meeting with the House of Representatives Standing Committee on HIV, AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Control made this statement. He also said that the priority of his ministry will be primary healthcare and a quest for the health sector to be funded appropriately and promoting public health education “We want the Primary Health Care (PHC) to be the first point of call so that it will be able to offer the basic care that ordinary Nigerians will require.
The National Health Act which is yet to be popular among Nigerians, and which is expected to encompass all health-related issues is to release about N50 billion annually. This can save the lives of 3,131,510 mothers, newborns and under 5s by 2022 and thus support Nigeria’s response to poor indices.
However, this depends on political will and Nigeria’s cumulative income. This was revealed yesterday by a member of the Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria (HERFON), Dr Seun Adeleke, at an interactive media session organised by Development Communications Network in collaboration with HERFON with the theme “Funding Maternal and Child Health: A Call to Action.”
Adeleke disclosed that the Health Act which also takes care of incessant strikes in the health sector, if implemented, is expected to be divided into five categories for the benefit of all. These include insurance, vaccines and essential drugs, laboratory facilities, boosting of healthcare facilities, etc.
Reps To Investigate NHIS Over Contributors’ Funds
Written by Super User
The House of Representatives on Thursday mandated its Committee on Healthcare Services to investigate the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) over contributors’ funds and recommend ways of protecting it misuse. This mandate followed a unanimous adoption of a motion titled: “Need to protect contributors to the national health insurance scheme and insulate the scheme from misuse.’’ The motion was jointly sponsored by Reps. Onwubuariri Kingsley (PDP-Imo), Joseph Edionwele (PDP-Edo) and Chike Okafor (APC-Imo). Moving the motion, Kingsley said there was need to address the growing discontent among contributors to the scheme.
He cited unsatisfactory services and harrowing encounters with the Health Care Providers (HCPs) in terms of drug availability and administration. According to the lawmaker, thousands of eligible Nigerians who have applied for registration as beneficiaries have been unduly denied benefits from the scheme owing to administrative lapses. He added that the situation had brought untold hardship to many Nigerians.Kingsley said the scheme had attained only 2.5 per cent coverage out of an estimated 30 per cent projection for 2015.
AGPMPN, Medismarts Sign Agreement to Connect 2,000 Hospitals.
Written by Super User
The Association of General Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (AGPMPN) and Medismarts have signed a strategic agreement that will see Medismarts deploy its Electronic Medical Records (EMR) cloud platform to its over 2,000 member hospitals in Lagos State. As part of the agreement, Medismarts has the mandate to go to the AGPMPN’s 18 zones in Lagos State with the objective of ensuring that all hospitals records are digitized and interconnected, a joint statement by the duo said.FG Shuts Down FMC Owerri Over Workers’ Indiscipline
Written by Super User
The federal government has shut down the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, Imo state, over workers indiscipline and rounds of protests from union members who have insisted that the medical director, Dr Angela Uwakwem must be removed for false allegations levelled against her. It is also set to do a staff audit of 2,500 employees of the centre so as to ensure proper restoration of services that have been disrupted. This was announced yesterday, by the minister of health, Prof Isaac Adewale at a press briefing in Abuja.
He said the federal government is fully in support of Public Private Partnership especially in the health sector, bearing in mind that the government can no longer fund health alone, which was the bone of contention, hence the crisis as “the proposal was vehemently opposed by people who may have been benefitting from the system and went on to incite the unions.
Country facing HIV drugs shortage, govt seeks cash for imports
Written by Super User
Uganda is suffering a shortage of imported drugs to treat HIVvictims due to a weak currency and insufficient foreign exchange but the government is raising funds to cover the shortfall, a senior finance ministry official said. Health activists say about 240,000 patients on publicly funded treatment programmes are at risk because of the shortage, forcing them to take lower dosages or none at all. Some activists said they were concerned the government was spending too much on measures designed to help them win presidential and parliamentary elections in February rather than on medicines. Officials denied the charge.
In Uganda about 1.5 million people, or about 4 percent of the population, is living with the HIV virus, of which about 820,000 receive antiretroviral therapy (ART) drugs that help prevent the infection turning into full-blown AIDS.
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500,000 Lagos Residents Threatened By Looming Epidemic From Sewage Plant
Written by Super User
No fewer than 500,000 residents of Iponri Low-Cost Housing Estate, Surulere Local Government Area, Lagos State, on Sunday appealed to the Lagos State Government to save their lives from epidemic that was looming there. They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the sewage plant that usually drains dirty water from the soak-away of more than 400 housing units with 500,000 residents had been disconnected by Eko Disco (EKEDC) due to unpaid bills. They said that the non-functioning of the sewage plant had resulted into flooding of the estate by dirty water from the soak away, thus spreading stench odour in the area.
Mr Abdul-Rasak Osho, President, Iponri Housing Estate Residents’ Association, told NAN that the sewage plant constructed by the Lagos State Government was being maintained by the Ministry of the Environment.
FG Launches Project To Boost HIV/AIDS Service Delivery
Written by Super User
The Federal Government in collaboration with other partners has launched a new project to boost and strengthen services against HIV/AIDS prevalence in the country. The two year project tagged “Strengthening HIV/AIDS Service Delivery through Human Resources for Health (HRH) Systems in Nigeria” will be implemented by CapacityPlus, a USAID funded project implemented by IntraHealth in 29 countries. Launching the project on Sunday in Abuja, Permanent Secretary, of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Amina Shamaki said it will respond adequately to ‘human resource for health implications’ of the national health sector reforms.
Represented by the Director, Planning, Research and Statistics of the ministry, Dr Ngozi Azodoh , he said this includes addressing those priority interventions required to be strengthened towards achieving the health Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the realization of the Universal Health Coverage through improved health indices.
Chief Medical Director says 5,000 babies are born yearly with ear defects
Written by Super User
No fewer than 5,000 babies are born yearly with ear defects in Nigeria, Prof. Adewale Oke, the Chief Medical Director, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, has said. Oke made the disclosure on Saturday in Lagos, while briefing newsmen on the hospital's first successful middle ear implant surgery conducted in its premises. "I know that 5, 000 new babies are being born annually in Nigeria with ear defects"."This means they are deaf and sometimes the cause of their deafness is congenital, we call it from birth".
"In Some of these babies lacked some hearing mechanism in their ears, so the best way to restore the hearing is through surgery, which has not been part of the practice before now".
Mr Nurudeen Mohammed, Registrar, Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN), on Tuesday said the Federal Government would stop open sale and hawking of drugs by 2017. Mohammed disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja. He said the council was collaborating with law enforcement agencies and other regulatory bodies to tackle the menace. He said that open drug marketers were expected to move to designated centres like the National Drug Distribution Centres and Coordinated Wholesale Centres to carry out their activities.
According to him, the centres are component of the National Drug Distribution Guideline structures which are private sector driven facilities. He urged those saddled with the task to expedite actions toward construction of those facilities to avoid being sanctioned at the expiration of the set date. Mohammed said that the federal government in its bid to curtail the menace of open drug sale, among others, established NDDG, which incorporated Coordinated Wholesale Centres, among others.
