Frontpage News (3259)
The Lagos State Government on Tuesday said that plans were in progress to start its compulsory Health Insurance Scheme for all residents to ensure adequate healthcare services.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, who made the assertion during the “Mamaye Day’’ celebration at Ikeja, said that the scheme would enrol a family of six with the premium paid in monthly instalments.
As of April 17 2017, there had been over 8000 reported cases of Meningitis in Nigeria, and nearly 800 deaths, and it’s not slowing down yet. The first case of the disease was first reported in Zamfara state in November 2016. By February 2017, it had become more widespread in the Northwest and Northcentral zones in Nigeria and was declared an epidemic in six states Katsina, Kebbi, Zamfara, Niger, Sokoto and Yobe.
Meningitis is an inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, usually caused by bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic infection of the surrounding fluid. Viral and Bacterial meningitis are contagious and can usually be transmitted by overcrowding, coughing, sneezing and close contact. Epidemic meningitis is most often caused by the bacteria known as Neisseria Meningitidies. It has different strains but Serotype C accounts for about 80% of the Nigerian outbreak.
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has donated 850,000 doses of vaccines to Sokoto State government to tackle Cerebrospinal Meningitis in the state.
Mohammad Mohiuddin, UNICEF chief, Sokoto Zonal Office, made the disclosure on Wednesday in Sokoto at a sensitisation meeting for media practitioners, religious and traditional leaders, as well as other stakeholders.
As stated by the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, one of the cardinal programmes of President Mohammadu Buhari’s administration is to engage in massive revitalization of Primary Healthcare Centers (PHCs) in Nigeria in order to ensure that quality basic health services is delivered to Nigerian masses irrespective of their location in the country.
He also revealed that the government’s intention is to focus on providing health services to the over 70 percent of Nigerians living in the rural areas including the vulnerable such as women, children under five years of age and the elderly.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday unveiled a new malaria vaccine called RTS,S that will be piloted in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi next year to gauge its efficacy and safety.
The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, said the launch of the malaria vaccine, developed after years of painstaking research, marked a critical milestone in the fight against the tropical disease.
In a novel initiative that seeks the rebirth of a new regime of harmony among the different professionals in the health sector, experts drawn from each of the major health disciplines will brainstorm at a symposium holding at the University of Lagos on May 11. 
The Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter, has called on government to put in place a policy that would regulate the testing, prescription and use of antibiotics.
The World Health Organisation and the United Nations Children Emergency Fund have identified religious beliefs, culture and ignorance as factors responsible for the low immunisation coverage rate in Nigeria.Meningitis, Court remands man who allegedly administered fake medication on 5 men
A Gudu Upper Area Court, Abuja, on Wednesday ordered the remand of one Salisu Mohammed for allegedly administering fake meningitis medication on five men and adjourned hearing until July 5.
The defendant of UTC, Area 10, Garki, Abuja, was charged with causing hurt, endangering life and possessing of items, suspected to be stolen.
Twenty surgeons and medical experts of the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas (ANPA) in partnership with First Consultant Hospital, Lagos, have operated on 37 patients free of charge with adequate specialised care.More...
Kenya’s ministry of health on Thursday launched a new drug and self-testing kit to aid HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment interventions.
Director of Medical Services in the Ministry of Health Jackson Kioko said Kenya was the second African country after South Africa to roll out the new HIV pill and self-testing kit as efforts to eliminate the disease gathers steam. “Kenya has made significant breakthrough in the fight against HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases." “The launch of HIV pill and self-testing kit are an addition to the existing arsenal to combat this killer disease,” Kioko said.
The Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, has disclosed that one of the agencies under the ministry may have developed a drug for the treatment of epilepsy. Mr. Onu, made this disclosure at an investment forum organised in New York by his ministry for Nigerians in the United States.
He said one of the agencies under the ministry is working on what could turn out to be a cure for epilepsy. He said the product already passed through various stages of tests and trials and is only awaiting the final trials by the National Agency for Food Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC.
The country’s health insurance sector is set for reforms, as plans are being made by the National Assembly to repeal the existing National Health Insurance Scheme Act, Cap. N42, LFN 2004, and replace it with the National Health Insurance Commission Act.
Information obtained by our correspondent revealed that the bill, which was sponsored by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Senator Olarewaju Tejuoso, passed second reading last week.
A heart specialist practicing in Westlake,Ohio, USA, Dr. Demola Abiose, has said that most Nigerian cardiologists and doctors in the Diaspora have yet to come due to lack of facilities.
