Frontpage News (3256)
It is not going to be business as usual for health professionals engaged in the practice of referring patients for treatment abroad if latest signals from the Federal government are anything to go by.
Good Health Weekly gathered that the habit of recommending overseas medical treatment for all kinds of ailments, particularly those that can be adequately treated in the country, will no longer be tolerated .
No fewer than 10 million school children across the country will be provided with facilities through the Pepsodent School Oral Health Initiative. This is contained in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the Federal Ministry of Health and the Unilever PLC.
Briefing newsmen in Abuja yesterday, the minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, said, “These school health programmes are aimed at increasing the child’s responsibility for oral health and promote positive self-esteem as well as to promote proper habits for oral hygiene and to encourage schools and families to play a role in their children’s oral health.”
Former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has urged the federal government to sustain the policy which grants access to free healthcare to people living with albinism who suffer from skin cancer. The policy was started in 2013 during the Goodluck Jonathan administration.
Chief Obasanjo who said he was alarmed by the rate at which albinos become affected with cancer, explained that it was the lack of knowledge and information about albinism that make albinos particularly vulnerable to the disease.
As doctors employed by the Lagos State Government embarked on a 5 -Day Medical mission in Epe area of Lagos, the State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has said that early medical checks are essential to the detection and prevention of aliments in order to prevent them from becoming chronic. 
Health ministers from 16 countries in West Africa have pledged to improve their countries level of preparedness during disease outbreaks.
The Federal Government on Wednesday said the battle to eliminate HIV/Aids by 2030 is possible particularly with help of donors from both local and international partners.
Responding to questions by Journalists at the event of the National HIV prevention conference, the Director General, National Agency for the Control of Aids (NACA), Dr. Sani Aliyu said his agency intends to work in collaboration with the Ministry of health and other necessary stakeholders like National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) including state governments to step up funds for HIV/Aids intervention.
In a bid to ensure that Benue State achieves the target for Sustainable Health Financing, towards achieving Universal Health Coverage which is one of the Sustainable Development Goals and also increase its Health budget from the current 3.5 to 15 per cent in 2017, the White Ribbon Alliance Nigeria, has commenced the training of CSOs and NGOs in the state , on effective advocacy.
The training, tagged, Advocacy For Community Health Insurance and Enabling Environment For Health Financing and Evidence (ACHIEVE project) was in collaboration with the West African Advocacy for public Health (WAAPH) to ensure that all Nigerians have access to qualityHealth products and services at a minimal cost.
Niger legislators call for state of emergency on state health sector
Following the high maternal and child mortality rate in Niger State, the legislators have called for declaration of State of Emergency on the State Health sector.Improving Health of Nigerians Requires Concerted Efforts of Stakeholders - Minister
The Minister of State for Health, Dr.Osagie Ehanire has said that improving the health of Nigerians required concerted efforts of all stakeholders in the health sector noting that no sacrifice or effort would be too much to undertake to promote health. The minister stated this in Benin, Edo state when he formally declared open the operationalisation workshop of the Saving One Million Lives Program for Result (SOML PforR) organised for South-South and South-East zones.
He said that the present administration would implement a cardinal philosophy of ‘Every life Counts’ adding that the implication of this is that ‘Every death would also count’. ‘‘We shall operate under the guiding principles of Accountability, Transparency and Rule of Law,’’ he said.
A microbiologist and consultant in primary healthcare and immunisation systems, Dr. Benjamin Anyene, has revealed that 70 per cent of diseases in Nigeria can be dealt with at the primary healthcare level if necessary measures were put in place.More...
Drugs against one type of hepatitis may activate another, sometimes with fatal consequences, Europe’s medicines watchdog warned on Friday. The medicines, which are highly effective against hepatitis C, may trigger latent hepatitis B in patients infected with both types, the European Medicines Agency said in a statement.
It named the antivirals Daklinza, Exviera, Harvoni, Olysio, Sovaldi and Viekirax used to treat chronic hepatitis C, an infectious liver disease. “Cases of the return of previously inactive hepatitis B infection, which can be fatal, have been reported in patients treated,” with this class of drug, the agency said in a statement announcing the findings of a probe.
About 72,000 adolescents are living with HIV in Lagos State, Chief Executive Officer of Lagos State AIDS Control Agency, Oluseyi Temowo, has said. Mr. Temowo made the disclosure on Thursday while speaking in Lagos at a forum on adolescents living with HIV.
An NGO, Positive Action for Treatment, organised the forum in partnership with the AIDS agency to mark 2016 World AIDS Day.
2017 Budget: Senate Committee Urges FG To Allocate N96bn For Malnutrition
Senate Committee on Health, on Monday, mandated the Federal Ministry of Health to propose N96 billion in 2017 budget for tackling acute malnutrition in the country. It further stated that government might be compelled to declared a state of emergency on malnutrition in the country if adequate funding is not made available for the condition.
Sen. Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment has called for speedy pass of the Occupational and Health Bill before the National Assembly. Ngige said this in Abuja on Wednesday at a two-day National Awareness and Sensitisation Workshop on Occupational, Safety and Health (OSH) for major industries and government agencies in Nigeria.
The workshop was organised by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment in partnership with Global Network Monitoring and Development Initiative, its theme is: “Emergency Preparedness and Response for Workplace System Resilience’’.
