Frontpage News (3256)
The trial of a new vaccine to stop the spread of Coronavirus has begun in the United Kingdom with volunteers being immunised. So far, tests in animals suggest the vaccine was safe and triggers an effective immune response.
The trials are among many across the world and there are around 120 vaccine programmes underway. About 300 people will have the vaccine over the coming weeks as part of a trial led by Prof Robin Shattock and his colleagues, at Imperial College London, the BBC reports.
The Ondo State Government has sacked resident doctors, who recently protested the non-payment of their salaries and are attached to the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital.
The sack of the doctors was contained in an internal memo obtained by SaharaReporters on Wednesday. The doctors had embarked on a protest to press home the demand for payment of their accumulated salaries and medical allowances. According to the memo, the doctors were given a notice till August 1, 2020 to leave the workforce. Governor Rotimi Akeredolu
The Private Sector led Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) has donated a 150-bed isolation centre and medical equipment worth millions of naira to the Lagos State Government. Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, speaking at the inauguration of the centre in Yaba, on Sunday, said it would assist the state government to enhance its COVID-19 pandemic response.
Sanwo-Olu commended CACOVID for the donation, pledging that it would be judiciously used to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the state, and indeed Nigeria.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has provided the timeline of COVID-19 response activities for general information from December 2019 when China reported the virus till date.
WHO, in a statement issued from its headquarters in Geneva on Monday, stated that the agency would update the timeline on a regular basis and in light of evolving events and new information.
Lagos to build international infectious disease research centre
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Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has unveiled plans to construct an International Infectious Disease Research Centre at the Mainland Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, as part of his administration’s response and infectious diseases preparedness in post-pandemic era.
Sanwo-Olu stated this at the official inauguration of 150-bed Mainland Infectious Disease Isolation Centre donated by Private Sector Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) to the state.
Health workers meet FG today, threaten strike over hazard allowance
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The Joint Health Sector Unions have expressed displeasure over the insistence of the Ministry of Health that some categories of health workers be paid 10 per cent of their basic salaries. The unions said what was agreed on was that 50 per cent of health workers basic salaries would be paid as special hazard allowance across board.
JOHESU will today (Wednesday) have a meeting with the government. But its President, Josiah Biobelemoye, decried the discrimination and segregation of health workers in the payment of COVID-19 hazard allowances by the Federal Government.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo, says there are over 400,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Africa.
The UN health agency gave the update on its regional official Twitter account @WHOAFRO on Wednesday. It noted that “there are over 400,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases on the African continent with more than 190,000 recoveries and 10,000 deaths.”
COVID-19: Nigeria Records 790 New Cases, Total Rises To 26,484
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The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), on Wednesday, announced that the country has recorded 790 new cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19), bringing the total number of infections in Nigeria to 26,484.
The NCDC disclosed this on its verified Twitter handle on Wednesday night. “On the 1st of July 2020, 790 new confirmed cases and 13 deaths were recorded in Nigeria. No new state has reported a case in the last 24 hours. “Till date, 26484 cases have been confirmed, 10152 cases have been discharged and 603 deaths have been recorded in 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
MeCure Launches Online Consultations, Plans to Bring 10,000 Doctors Online
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As the world continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, MeCure Smart has launched an online consultation platform with the aim of bring 10,000 doctors to virtual interaction with patients to minimise physical and social contacts.
The Product Manager, Mecure Smarts, Mr. Ajinkya Shelar ina statement made available to THISDAY recently, said the firm has launched the its smartphone app (msb.ng) that allows remote online consultations which is tied up to with HelloDocApp, the largest online community of doctors in Nigeria.
Health workers condemn favouritism, consider withdrawal from isolation centres
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Medical workers under the aegis of Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), have accused the Federal Government of prioritising the welfare of medical doctors over other health workers in the sector.
National President of JOHESU, Josiah Biobelemoye, who made the accusation in Abuja, decried the alleged discrimination in the health sector. He accused the Federal Government of trying to redefine the term, ‘health workers’, especially since the issues of hazard allowances for those managing COVID-19 patients cropped up.
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NMA Condemns Attack On FMC Lokoja, Calls For Adequate Security
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The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) Kogi chapter, has condemned the incident of hoodlums attack on Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Lokoja on Wednesday.
A statement on Wednesday in Lokoja, jointly signed by the state Chairman and Secretary of NMA, Dr Zubair Kabiru and Dr Okungbowa Osaretin, respectively, described the attack on FMC Lokoja premises as ”uncivilised and uncalled for”.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned against the use of masks while exercising as masks may reduce the ability to breathe comfortably.
According to WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public: Myth busters, “Sweat can make the mask become wet more quickly which makes it difficult to breathe and promotes the growth of microorganisms.
To find and treat more tuberculosis cases in Nigeria, the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) and the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme (NTBLCP) have launched a mobile application for screening and notifying TB cases by private healthcare providers.
Announcing this recently, the IHVN Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Patrick Dakum, said that the application, Mobile Application for Tuberculosis Screening (MATS), launched in June was a game changer in the provision of real-time and online information on progress made by private-for-profit facilities, faith-based organisation facilities, patent medicine vendors, community pharmacists, private laboratories and other TB referral entities.
Nigeria and 72 countries are at risk of stock-outs of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its negative impact globally.
According to a new survey conducted by the world Health Organisation (WHO) ahead of the International AIDS Society’s biannual conference, 24 countries reported having either a critically low stock of ARVs or disruptions in the supply of these life-saving medicines. The survey, the global health body said, followed a modeling exercise convened by the organisation and UNAIDS in May which forecasted that a six-month disruption in access to ARVs could lead to a doubling in AIDS-related deaths in sub-Saharan Africa in 2020 alone.
