Frontpage News (3259)
To ensure availability, quality and affordability of malaria drugs, pharmacists under the aegis of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) have urged the Federal Government to encourage the local manufacture of anti-malaria medications. President PSN, Sam Ohuabunwa, in a statement ahead of the World Malaria Day (WMD), today, April 25, 2019, said there are presently some plants and herbs around, which have shown both anti-malaria activity and insect repellent ability.
The pharmacist said the government should sponsor research through her agencies like the Nigerian Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) and the Pharmacy schools towards developing these herbal remedies. Ohuabunwa said: “The malaria-vaccine RTSs developed by GSK and approved by WHO in 2015 presently undergoing evaluation in about seven African countries for public health impact may become one of the vaccines for routine immunization. The country should begin to prepare to leverage on this to save our children.
As the World Meningitis Day (WMD) held yesterday with the theme, Life After Meningitis”, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) released fresh frightening statistics about the contagious disease wherein 58 persons were killed and 760 others infected in 15 states. Noting that the epidemic affects some 2.8 million people every year globally, NCDC’s Director General, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, noted that the menace remained a major public health issue affecting countries in the African meningitis belt.
He said the incidence is high during the dry season and the disease could kill within 24 hours, thus its early detection was crucial. Symptoms include sudden high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness, sensitivity to light (photophobia) as well as drowsiness and convulsions. It is transmitted through tiny droplets of respiratory secretions from an infected person through coughing, sneezing and touching of contaminated surfaces.
FG to Spend Over N1bn as Compensation for Codeine Seizures — NAFDAC Boss
Prof. Moji Adeyeye, the Director-General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), on Monday said the Federal Government would pay more than N1 billion as compensation to the companies that had their codeine impounded more than a year ago.
Adeyeye disclosed this on Monday in Lagos at a news conference to debunk a newspaper report that 70 percent of medicines in Nigeria are fake.
The Director-General of National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has revealed that only 17 percent of drugs in circulation in Nigeria are substandard.
Stating this at a press briefing in Lagos yesterday, she said the most recent study was done in 2012 by the United States Pharmacopeia and that no other study has been done since then.
Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN) has condemned what “the tacit embargo” on the employment of laboratory scientists in most federal health facilities across the country.
This assertion was made during a press conference held Saturday evening by the association at the end of its 13th public health lecture series and 198th national executive council meeting at Ibom Hall, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
The President of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Pharm. (Mazi) Sam Ohuabunwa was in Plateau State recently on a working visit.
During the visit of the PSN helmsman, the PSN, Plateau State Chapter, held a grand reception to receive him in Jos. The grand reception was graced by members of the Plateau State PSN led by the Chairman, Pharm. (Dr) Dauda Dangiwa.
A new report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicates an alarming increase in the number of reported cases of measles in all regions of the world.
WHO released the data on the state of measles outbreak globally, from 2016 to 2018, on its website on Saturday in commemoration of the 2019 “World Immunisation Week” held on the last week of April annually.
The Federal Ministry of Health with support from MEASURE Palladium, USADID-Funded Project has developed a Master Health Facility Registry List (MHFRL), meant to manage the master facility list in Nigeria. Speaking during the launching yesterday in Abuja, the minister of health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, said a Master Health Facility List (MFL) is a comprehensive list of all the health facilities in the country, with information on the signature and service domain elements.
The minister said, “The major policy of this present government of Nigeria, under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, is to avoid duplication of databases by government agencies in the country. “That is why this government, and my ministry, in particular, is happy with the development of this MFL that will ensure the pooling of resources to reduce duplication of efforts and increase efficiency in the healthcare system in the country.
Dr Betta Edu, the Director-General, Cross River Primary Healthcare Development Agency, says doctors in Nigeria are the least paid anywhere in the world. Edu said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Calabar.
The director-general who was reacting to a recent statement made by the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr Chris Ngige, that government should concentrate on implementing policies that would keep our doctors at home instead of encouraging the brain-drain.
Evans Industries Ltd on Saturday introduced Nigeria’s first anti-mosquito Meditol Medicated Soap, to reduce increased malaria cases in the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Evans Industries Ltd in partnership with Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd organized a walk to commemorate the World Malaria Day 2019 held every April 25.
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Medical workers fighting Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo are demanding that authorities provide better protection for them after an attack on a treatment center left one doctor dead.
Distrust of the disease and of the medical personnel working to contain it has led to violence, even as the outbreak, the second-largest ever, enters its eighth month. The outbreak has killed 970 people and sickened 1,480 as of April 30, according to the Ministry of Health.
Anambra assembly passes law banning marriage among sickle cell carriers
The Anambra State House of Assembly has passed a bill banning marriages involving people living with sickle cell anemia or incompatible genotypes.
Dr. John Ahukanna, the Commissioner for Health in Abia, said on Monday that the state would get over N2 billion from the Federal Government’s Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHPF).
Ahukanna said this in Umuahia during the inauguration of the World Bank Primary Healthcare Center (WBPHC), which was revamped through the 72-hour Clinic Makeover programme under the state’s Challenge Initiative in Umuahia.
A new study investigated by a team of investigators from the University of Tokyo in Japan has recently found how ketamine fights depression in the brain. Previous studies have shown that ketamine, an anesthetic can rapidly reduce severe symptoms of major depressive disorder, particularly the occurrence of suicidal thoughts.
Dr Conor Liston, one of the researchers behind the study explains how ketamine is a potentially transformative treatment for depression, but one of the major challenges associated with this drug is sustaining recovery after the initial treatment.
