Frontpage News (3256)
The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned on Monday that Nigeria risked falling short of achieving the goal of universal health coverage by 2030 due to the shortage of health workers. WHO said capacity building, safety concerns and poor welfare for health workers are key challenges in the nation’s health sector.
Nigeria, according to the United Nations agency, has one of the largest stocks of human resources for health in Africa but currently maintains densities of nurses, midwives, and doctors that are still too low to effectively deliver essential health services.
Interswitch Partners Edo State on Health Improvement Programme
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Interswitch Limited has announced that eClat Healthcare Limited, its subsidiary, has partnered Edo State to improve healthcare delivery through technology and innovation. The announcement followed the recent launch of the state’s compulsory healthcare insurance scheme, under the direction of Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki.
This followed the launch of the first phase of disbursement of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF) to states through the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
Nurses in Plateau State say they are no longer safe working in the North-East. Boko Haram has wreaked havoc in the North-East, particularly in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states since its inception in 2002.
Addressing a press conference in Jos on Monday, the chairman of the Plateau State chapter of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, Mrs Briskila Dabit, lamented that a number of nurses had either been killed or abducted by Boko Haram fighters.
The Abia State Government and the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, on Tuesday, confirmed the death of a Lassa fever patient in Umuahia. Addressing newsmen, the state government, however, said the people should not panic, saying the “government is on top of the situation.”
78 medical officers separate conjoined twins in 12-hour operation
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A conjoined set of twins that had one liver, a protruding tummy and a lower chest were successfully separated, in a 12-hour surgery involving 78 medical personnel, at the National Hospital in Abuja.
Speaking during a briefing held to announce the successful operation, the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, said the feat was an indication that Nigerian hospitals were ready to compete with the best in the world. The twins were both delivered at the Federal Medical Hospital, Keffi, Nasarawa State before they were referred to the NHA.
Foundation Launches 10-Minute Genotype Testing Kit In Nigeria
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Sickle Cell Hope Alive Foundation (SCHAF) is set to promote the use of a 10-minute point of care rapid test kit and Hemotypes kit to improve access and reduce the wrong diagnosis of sickle cell disease in the country. SCHAF’s President, Professor Adeyinka Falusi launches the kit at a workshop on knowing your genotype and empowerment programme for 10 caregivers and people living with sickle cell disease in Ibadan.
The occasion also had the launch of seven KYG (Know your genotype) school clubs, where schools like Abadina Secondary School, University of Ibadan, Christ the King College, Basorun, Lead City International and Urban Day Grammer School were present.
The $364m Nigeria is getting from the World Bank and others for malaria drug production is an unprecedented health initiative and a boost for local industry, the Buhari Media Organisation said on Wednesday. The group also described it as a further proof of global trust in the ability of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to judiciously utilise funds at its disposal.
In a statement signed by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju, and Secretary, Cassidy Madueke, the BMO said the move would enhance local capacity in drug manufacturing. “It is a thing of joy that the National Malaria Elimination Programme has succeeded in securing a commitment of $364m from the World Bank
Stop using paracetamol, bleach to cook, process garri, Osun govt warns
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Osun government has called on caterers and food vendors in the state to stop using paracetamol to tenderise meat and also the use of ‘hypo’ a bleaching detergent for cassava processing to induce ‘whiteness of fufu and garri.’
The warning was issued in Osogbo during a joint press conference addressed by the Special Adviser on Public Health, Pharmacist Siji Olamiju and the state Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Mrs. Funke Egbemode on the harmful effect of the illicit acts on vital organs of the body such as the liver, kidneys, heart and the small intestines.
AGPMPN, AHAPN call for health reform, industrial harmony
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The Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria and the Association of Hospital and Administrative Pharmacists of Nigeria have called for a health reform and industrial harmony. The Chairman of the Lagos State Chapter of AGPMPN, Dr Tunji Akintade, in an interview with our correspondent, said a reform of the health sector in Lagos State would address the challeges facing the state health insurance scheme.
“We got a letter in November from the Lagos State Government, which said they wanted to review the Lagos State Health Law. I believe this is long overdue. There is a need for health reform in the state and we commend the government for thinking in this direction. “The content of the reform must come up with solutions that will address current issues relating to the state health insurance.
500,000 children orphaned by HIV benefit from USAID/LOPIN’s programme
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The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has said that more than half a million vulnerable and children orphaned by HIV have benefitted from its five-year activity. African Children USAID’s Mission Director, Mr. Steven Haykin, made this known in Abuja on Wednesday at the closing of a five-year Local Partners for Orphans and Vulnerable Children Project in Nigeria (LOPIN 3).
The $10 million USAID/LOPIN 3 programme was implemented by the Health Initiatives for Safety and Stability in Africa (HIFASS), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO). The programme was also aimed at building the capacity of beneficiaries to make them self-reliant.
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Medical experts disagree on plea by Buhari for Nigerians to end medical tourism
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At a time when Nigerians’ hope for improvement in the nation’s health sector has been dimmed by the paltry budgetary allocations to the sector, tasking Nigerians to desist from seeking medical care abroad might sound awkward.
But this was President Muhammadu Buhari’s shocking message to Nigerians on Friday, January 3, 2020. Represented by the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, at the inauguration and handover of a project designed to check flooding and gully erosion at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital in Abakaliki, the president said: “Nigerians have suffered so much going abroad for medical treatment. This is not good for us and it must stop because we can’t afford it again.”
Lagos Deploys Technology to Aid Delivery of Precision Healthcare
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The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has said that the state government will deploy technology to aid precision, faster and smarter healthcare services in all healthcare facilities as a means of achieving its health and environment mandate.
Sanwo-Olu who disclosed this while declaring open a three-day Smart Health Technical Symposium on e-Health, themed “Lagos State Smart Health Information Platform, (SHIP)” stressed that the present administration was prepared to leverage on technology to improve healthcare delivery in the state.
The Medical Guild has urged the Lagos State Government to replace doctors who have exited the service of the Lagos State Government to avert the imminent crisis in the state’s health sector. The Chairman of the Guild, Dr Oluwajimi Sodipo, at a briefing held on Tuesday in Lagos lamented that an estimated 2,650 doctors were insufficient to cater for the population of Lagos State.
“On average, one to three doctors leave the service of the Lagos State Government every month. It is, indeed, worrisome that in the last two years, over 600 doctors had left the employment of the state government without being replaced.
The Federal Ministry of Health, through the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has announced the inclusion of three new laboratories into national yellow fever/measles/rubella laboratory network.
According to a statement signed by the Director-General, NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu on Tuesday, the three new laboratories are the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Edo State, the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu and NCDC National Reference Laboratory, Abuja.
