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Pneumonia: Nigeria has highest number of child deaths globally – UNICEF
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Nigeria has been listed as the leading country with the highest number of child death to pneumonia globally. According to statistics by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 19% of child deaths were due to pneumonia in 2018, and it was the biggest killer of children under-five in 2017 in Nigeria.
In a statement made available to the Daily Times, the acting UNICEF representative in Nigeria, Pernille Ironside, revealed that while most global child pneumonia deaths occurred among children under the age of two, and almost 153,000 within the first month of life, more children under the age of five died from the disease in 2018 than from any other.
The Management of Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia, Nasarawa State has dismissed 10 of its staff for stealing and selling blood meant for patients. Dr Hassan Ikrama, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lafia. “Some of them were engaged in stealing of blood from the blood bank and selling the same to private hospitals and diverting money meant for the hospital. “Some are using hospital equipment to conduct private medical investigation, they charge patients and put the money in their pockets” he added.
He noted that all the dismissed staff were investigated and found culpable by a committee that looked into the matter. Ikrama said that when he was appointed as the CMD, he discovered many leakages in the finances of the facility which needed to be blocked.
An expert in diabetes care Dr Ejiofor Ugwu has asserted that about 30 to 50 per cent of diabetes patients in Nigeria with foot ulcers eventually get their feet amputated due to poor care. He made the assertion Wednesday during the opening ceremony of the 2019 world diabetes day celebration and national diabetes workshop organized by the Diabetes Association of Nigeria (DAN) with the theme ” Improving Diabetes Care in Nigeria” held at Peter Akinola foundation, Abeokuta, Ogun state.
20 “hidden” destinations of purported health spendings in 2020 proposed budget
About N5 billion will go to service major construction works in the nation’s health sector in the 2020 proposed budget, but development experts, working around accountability process in public budgeting, worry that this may come to waste because the projects they are nominated to develop are not captured in the vision of the Ministry of Health, the regulatory institution for health development in the country.
In the proposed budget, a minimum of 20 health-related projects got generous appropriation but only for construction purposes and without regard for how such health facilities will be subsequently manned, staffed and remunerated, since the Ministry of Health which has these responsibilities has been bypassed by this budgetary arrangement.
The Nigerian government has launched a large-scale campaign to vaccinate children in 19 northern states. The campaign is part of the effort to boost the immunity of children against measles and meningitis in the country.
Measles is a highly contagious viral disease. It remains a major cause of death among young children globally, despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced plans to test a mosquito sterilization technique aimed at containing the spread of diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, and Zika.
The Sterile Insect Technique, a form of “birth control” for mosquitoes and other deadly insects, has been used to tackle invasive pests in the past. It was first developed by the United States Department of Agriculture and has been used successfully to target insects that attack crops and livestock, especially the Mediterranean fruit fly and the New World screwworm fly. It is now being used across the world to boost agriculture.
HealthPlus Pharmacy has bagged the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) Presidential Award for practicing pharmacy in the most ethical manner, the first pharmacy in the industry to win this prestigious award. The award presented to the company took place during the closing banquet of the 92nd Annual National Conference of the PSN, tagged Crocodile City 2019, held in Kaduna on 8 November 2019.
The Federal Ministry of Health and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Federal Ministry of Environment, World Health Organisation, key private sector, and civil society organizations, are marking the 2019 National Antibiotics Awareness Week (NAAW).
The NAAW is an annual national campaign to increase awareness across all sectors on the global threat of antibiotic resistance and to promote best practice of antibiotics usage among the general public, health workers and policymakers. The week is marked to increase awareness and prevent further emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance. Nigeria's commemoration is part of activities to observe the 2019 World Antibiotics Awareness Week.
The Nigerian Senate, on Tuesday, debated ‘the proliferation of fake medical reports emanating from public hospitals in Nigeria.’ It directed the Federal Ministry of Health to set up an efficient and proper mechanism to identify and prevent ‘the dangerous trend’ in public hospitals.
This motion was sponsored by Uche Ekwunife (Anambra Central). Ms. Ekwunife expressed worry that the commercialization of medical reports poses danger to the medical health and safety of Nigerians and could result in fatal misdiagnosis of patients or anyone else who relies on the contents of such medical reports.
First Lady launches initiative to improve maternal, newborn, child health
The wife of the President, Her Excellency, Dr. Aisha Muhammadu Buhari has launched the Action-Nigeria Campaign, tagged Albishirin Ku which unites Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, Malaria and Nutrition Social behavior change intervention under one identity in Abuja.
Her Excellency, who was represented by the wife of the Kebbi State Governor, Dr. Zainab Bagudu disclosed that the Maternal and Child Health trajectory has experienced various strategies by numerous actors, which have contributed to a degree of improvement, bringing the country to its current status.
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The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called on the Nigerian government to create awareness on the danger of antibiotic-resistant, saying it has endangered health security and the progress towards universal health coverage for all.
WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, at a press briefing in Abuja, said, the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) reduces our ability to treat diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, gonorrhea, and cancer and also threatens our ability to conduct surgeries and care for premature babies. He said the awareness is to improve understanding in the African Region and globally of AMR.
A gynecologist, Dr. Olatoye Ogundipe, says the gender of a child is not determined by the sex position or duration of sex contrary to beliefs by some people.
Ogundipe, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ilorin, said that most couples had been misled in believing that there were certain sex positions to adopt to have a baby boy or girl.
The Ogun State government says it has concluded plans to de-worm over 800,000 school children in the ongoing health awareness programme across 10 local government areas in the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Governor Dapo Abiodun made this known on Wednesday in Abeokuta. Mr Abiodun, who spoke through the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Adesanya Ayinde, said the exercise was an opportunity to help children get rid of worms that might make them susceptible to skin and respiratory infections.
A bill that seeks to establish a commission for mental health passed second reading at the Senate on Wednesday.
The bill entitled “A Bill for an Act to provide for the establishment and regulation of mental health and substance abuse services, protect persons with mental health needs and establishment of National Commission for Mental and Substance Abuse Services, for the effective management of mental health in Nigeria and for other related matters,2019” was sponsored by Ibrahim Oloriegbe (APC, Kwara Central).
