Frontpage News (3256)
COVID-19: US TO VACCINATE 100 MILLION PEOPLE BY FEBRUARY — OFFICIAL
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The US hopes to have immunized 100 million people against Covid-19 by the end of February, a top official said Wednesday, which is approximately 40 percent of the country’s adult population.
The push should start within weeks when vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna-NIH are expected to be approved. Each of these requires two doses, the second after three weeks and four weeks, respectively.
Kogi to train, employ 200 midwives, 100 nurses for rural areas
Written by Super User
The Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria has approved the training of 200 Midwives and 100 Nurses specifically for Hard-To-Reach rural areas in the State. This was disclosed today when the Director of Nursing Services at the State Ministry of Health, Mrs. Oguche Martina led other heads of Nursing and Midwifery
Institutions on a courtesy visit to the State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Hon. Kingsley Fanwo in his Office, Tuesday. Mrs. Oguche said the initiative was to bridge the manpower gap in the healthcare sector. She said the beneficiaries will be trained for two years at the Nursing and Midwifery institutions in the State, after which they will be posted to work in their communities.
Malaria gains threatened by access gaps, COVID-19, funding shortfalls — WHO
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A new World Malaria Report released on Monday by the World Health Organization, WHO has revealed that progress against malaria continues to plateau, particularly in high burden countries in Africa even as it states that gaps in access to life-saving tools are undermining global efforts to curb the disease.
The report which called on countries and global health partners to step up the fight against malaria added that the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to set back the fight even further.
World AIDS Day: New HIV infections, death not reducing in Africa — WHO
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With 1 million people infected and 440,000 lives lost to AIDS in the African region in 2019, the World Health Organization, WHO has raised the alarm that new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths were not reducing fast enough to meet the Sustainable Development Goal target of ending AIDS epidemics by 2030. In the region.
In its message to mark this year’s World AIDS Day with the theme: ” Global solidarity and shared responsibility” WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti disclosed that children living with HIV are not being adequately identified for HIV treatment.
Nigerian govt launches health policies to address disease burden
Written by Super User
The Nigerian government on Monday launched the revised National Health Promotion Policy 2019 and four others to address the increasing burden of diseases in the country.
The other strategic documents launched are National Strategic Plan for Health Promotion 2020-2024, Knowledge Management Guideline for Health Promotion 2020-2024, Counselling Flip Chart on Key Household Practices, and Counselling Flip Chart on Family Planning/Child Birth Spacing.
We Are Prepared To Tackle Any Disease Outbreak ― FG
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The Federal Government has said it is ready to tackle any form of the disease in the event of its outbreak in Nigeria. Vice president, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, stated this in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, at the commissioning of the state disease control and research center.
Osinbajo noted that with the completion of the state art of the disease control centre, diagnosing diseases outside the country would soon be a thing of the past. He described the centre as the largest in Africa and expressed optimism that with the quality and components of the centre, Nigeria is ready to battle any form of infectious diseases.
FG plans electronic records for patients, hospital finances
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The Federal Government on Monday promised to deal with administrative lapses in public health institutions by introducing a fully automated electronic management system of patients’ records and finances.
The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said this in a keynote address he delivered at a media engagement organized by the Federal Ministry of Health in Abuja. He promised that the government would strengthen “a framework that mandates quarterly financial reporting on critical funding lines, in line with the provisions of the National Health Act 2014.”
The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, says the Federal Government is committed to ensuring there is a functional primary healthcare centre in each political ward in the country, lamenting that the nation currently has barely one-third of the required PHCs.
In a series of tweets posted on the official Twitter handle of the Federal Ministry of Health @Fmohnigeria on Monday, Ehanire said the Federal Government was committed to addressing the challenge of PHC and bring healthcare closer to the people.
UNICEF Pre-Orders Two Billion Doses Of COVID-19 Vaccine For Nigeria
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The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has revealed that the agency had pre-ordered Two Billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines from global manufacturers for Nigeria alone.
UNICEF Communications Specialist, Dr. Geoffrey Njoku gave this revelation at the 4th Annual Health Conference of the Association of Nigeria Health Journalists (ANHEJ), held in Goshen Nasarawa State. He hinted that, the reason for the request of such amount of doses was to ensure every Nigerian have access to the COVID-19 vaccine when it is satisfied usable.
Physicians Demand Compensation For Members Who Were Victims Of COVID-19
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Physicians across the world have stressed the need for countries to begin to recognise COVID-19 as an occupational disease even as they advocate compensation for physicians, who have died or fallen ill from the pandemic.
The physicians under the auspices of the World Medical Association.WMA, said the past few months physicians had received applause and recognition.
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30-minute molecular diagnostic COVID-19 test validated by NCDC, WHO
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A biotech startup with minimal research and development operations in Nigeria, Eurekan Biotechnologies, says its technically-optimised simple Nucleic Acid Amplification Test with an average run time of 30 minutes for COVID-19 has been validated by the World Health Organisation, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases.
Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, confirmed the validation, warning, however, that validation is not the same thing as approval.
The Federal Government says it will be introducing second dose of measles vaccination into the routine immunisation schedule. The second dose measles vaccination is for children aged 15 months. The first dose is administered at nine months.
According to the FG, the new immunisation schedule is to commence in 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory. The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, disclosed this in a press statement released on Tuesday.
UK issues allergy warning over Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine
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British health officials on Wednesday warned that anyone with a history of significant allergic reactions should not have the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 jab for the time being.
The warning came after two members of the state-run National Health Service who were among the first to receive the vaccine on Tuesday suffered allergic reactions and needed treatment. NHS England medical director Stephen Powis said both people, who had a history of reactions, were now recovering well.
‘9 of 10 people in poor countries won’t get COVID-19 vaccine’
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Amnesty International has warned that nine out of 10 people in poor countries are going to miss out on a COVID-19 vaccine next year.
The international organisation said COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers — Pfizer, Moderna, BioNTech and AstraZeneca — must share their science, technology and know-how. “Otherwise, billions could miss out,” Amnesty warned. It added, “We need a people’s vaccine, not a profit vaccine.”
