Frontpage News (3256)
The National Health Bill was accented to by the President on the 31st day of October, 2014. Prior to that historic moment, stakeholders in Nigeria and in diaspora had lamented the absence of any legislation guiding the operations of the Nigerian National Health System. The major lacuna observed as a result of this situation was the lack of clarity on the responsibilities of the different tiers of the Health System in the provision of health care services – a situation that was argued to have accounted for low levels of commitment and investment in health care at all levels, and its attendant below par output.
The National Health Act (NHAct) 2014 is without doubt one singular instrument required to unlock economy and the greatest transformation for the Health Sector in Nigeria. The NHAct 2014 has established the Nigerian National Health System, specifying all the key players and actors therein and their roles and responsibilities. It has strengthened the operations and operators of the Health System for greater and improved health outcomes. Coming at a time when the world is negotiating its future in a post-2015 world is even more significant, because we are now more empowered to become global players in health.
The National Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Thursday destroyed fake and adulterated herbal products worth over N5 million in Enugu. The NAFDAC Enugu State Coordinator, Mr Ikechukwu Okoye, who led a team that carried out the destruction, told newsmen that the exercise would deter counterfeiters from producing such unwholesome products. He said that the manufacturer of the products had been apprehended by the agency and handed over to the police, while investigation was ongoing.
"The suspect operated an illegal factory along Okpara Avenue in the heart of Enugu metropolis, where he carried out the concocted mixture of herbal products and sold to unsuspecting members of the public,’’ Okoye said.The NAFDAC coordinator said that the environment where the herbal products were being produced was hygienically unsafe. "His hidden production site where he mixed the concoction is under a tree with a toilet beside it,’’ he said. Okoye urged the public to join NAFDAC to rid the country of counterfeit, substandard and unwholesome products through prompt
In a recent report, WHO claimed that TB infections now rival HIV/AIDS as leading cause of death from infectious diseases. The report found that during 2014, 1.1 million people died of TB in 2014. During the same period, HIV/AIDS killed 1.2 million people globally, including 400,000 who were infected with both HIV and TB. “The good news is that TB intervention has saved some 43 million lives since 2000,” the director of the WHO TB program, Dr Mario Raviglione, told Reuters. Raviglione insisted that it is time to start funding TB at a level that can make even more of a difference in curbing global deaths.
Interim medical director Doctors without Borders, Dr Grania Brigden, added that the report should serve as a wake-up call that enormous work still needs to be done to reduce the burden of this ancient, yet curable disease. In treating TB expert assert that you will need to have TB treatment for at least six months, to make sure all the TB bacteria are killed. If you have TB of the lungs or throat, after two weeks of treatment you should no longer be infectious. Then, gradually you will start to feel better. This may take weeks, but you will stop feeling sick and tired all the time. Even when you feel better, it’s important to take the full course of your treatment, or you could become ill again.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Saturday declared that Ebola virus transmission in Sierra Leone has ended. WHO made the declaration after 42 days, or two Ebola virus incubation cycles, have now passed since the last person confirmed to have Ebola virus disease had a second negative blood test. This is contained in a statement by Dr Anders Nordstrom, WHO Representative in Sierra Leone. "Since Sierra Leone recorded the first Ebola case in May 2014, a total number of 8,704 people were infected and 3,589 have died, 221 of them healthcare workers, all of whom we remember on this day," it stated.
The country now enters a 90-day period of enhanced surveillance which will run until Feb. 5, 2016 and WHO said it would continue to support Sierra Leone during the period. The World health body highlighted this new phase is critical for ensuring early detection of any possible new case of Ebola virus disease. WHO commended the Government of Sierra Leone and its people on achieving the significant milestone in the country's fight against Ebola. "Sierra Leone achieved this milestone through
The United States Government has announced the theme for this year’s World AIDS Day 2015. The theme, The Time to Act Is Now, was announced on Friday through the official white house website by Douglas M. Brooks, MSW, the Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy and Ambassador Deborah L. Birx, MD, the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy. Read the official statement below as published on the White House Blog;
We are pleased to announce the theme for World AIDS Day 2015: The Time to Act Is Now. There is no better time than World AIDS Day to recommit ourselves to achieving an AIDS-free generation. This year, we will celebrate the tremendous progress we have made together in expanding access to HIV prevention, treatment, and care services, and focus on the potential to achieve sustainable epidemic control and end AIDS as a public health threat. In 2015, we know what it takes to prevent HIV infections and improve the lives of people living with HIV, and we are building on the success of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan forAIDS Relief, the release of the United States’ National HIV/AIDS Strategy: Updated to 2020, and our commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals. The Time to Act Is Now looks to the future and demonstrates the urgent need for action today.
NAFDAC alerts public on circulation of falsified Amoxverse and Ampiverse capsules in DRC
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has alerted the public and especially healthcare providers of the circulation of falsified versions of the drugs Amoxverse and Ampiverse in Democratic Republic of Congo.According to the agency’s website, the notification was received from the World Health Organization three days ago and after careful Laboratory analysis of the products, they discovered it did not contain any active ingredient. The purported manufacturer (UNIVERSE Ltd Kenya) stated on the label explained that they do not manufacture any Penicillin.
The falsified versions of the antibiotics labeled as manufactured by UNIVERSE Ltd Kenya are being circulated in plastic containers of 1000 capsules and have been reportedly found in private health care facilities in DRC. NAFDAC gave more details of the the falsified products and urged health care providers and the general public to be vigilant and ensure that any information in respect of importation, distribution or sale of the falsified Amoxverse and Ampiverse capsules is reported to the nearest NAFDAC
The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug, Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Paul Orhii received a prestigious honorary award from the Black Caucus of the United States Congress under the auspices of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), Georgian Bureau for his global leadership in the fight against counterfeit regulated products. The leader of the delegation who led two other congressmen to present the award to the NAFDAC boss in Abuja, Rep. Dee Dawkins Haigler said Dr. Orhii and his team have worked tirelessly in fighting the menace of counterfeiting of medicines and other regulated products.
Responding, the highly elated Director General of NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii said the honour shows the increasing international awareness and concern about the global menace of drug counterfeiting and a common resolve to combat the problem frontally. While dedicating the US special congressional award to the staff of NAFDAC and the hapless victims of drug counterfeiting, Dr. Orhii thanked the Black Caucus of the US Congress for the inspiring honour
The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) has disclosed that a law which would prescribe stiffer sanctions and penalties for doctors found guilty of gross misconduct, is currently undergoing review. Speaking to journalists yesterday on the council’s activities, the registrar, Dr Abdulmunin Ibrahim, said the act setting up the council was obsolete and weak as it cannot mete out strong punishment for doctors found wanting in the discharge of their duties. He noted that the review became necessary following the magnitude of cases of negligence against doctors practicing in the country, especially cases that have to do with life.
The registrar also disclosed that the tribunal has disciplined about 10 doctors within a year from June 2014 to July 2015 from about 30 cases. He said the doctors were sanctioned based on the magnitude of their offences ranging from three to six months withdrawal of licenses. He added that the council has over 78,000 registered doctors from 1963 till date though it does not translate to the doctors currently practicing in the country. “We have to note that this does not mean that these are the number of doctors practicing in the country as some have left. But, tentatively, we have less than 40,000 now practicing in Nigeria while over 10,000 are outside the country practicing.”
The federal government of Nigeria has stopped all medical doctors from participating in the mandatoryNational Youth Service. The resolution was made public at a press briefing yesterday by the Registrar/Chief Executive of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), Dr. Abdulmumini Ibrahim. According to him, the decision was made in order to abolish quackery and sub-standard practices in the country’s health sector. He said they can only commence with the service after they have been qualified as medical doctors and have secured practice licence from the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria.
The registrar also disclosed that the decision was necessitated by several complaints of incompetence exhibited by some of the Youth Corps members posted to rural communities to deliver health services and cases of individuals presenting themselves as health professionals when they are not. “There has been increasing number of personal non-grata people who are not trained impersonating as medical doctors. The NYSC has inundated us with complaints. Those who have completed their one year internship have been given certificates. Most corpers are sent to rural areas.
Effective Vaccine Raises Hope Of Eliminating Meningitis From Africa
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced that the introduction of MenAfriVac vaccine for treating meningococcal A meningitis -a bacterial infection of the lining of the brain and spinal cord- is bringing Africa close to wiping the disease. The disease is highly feared on the continent as it can kill or cause severe brain damage within hours while disabling young people every year. “The use of MenAfriVac has led to the control and near elimination of deadly meningitis A disease in the African “meningitis belt.”
In 2013, only 4 laboratory-confirmed cases of meningitis A were reported by the 26 countries in the belt, which stretches across the continent from Senegal to Ethiopia,” the WHO said in a statement yesterday. The meningitis A vaccine for Africa, MenAfriVac, was developed in response to a plea for help from ministers of health in sub-Saharan Africa after an outbreak of meningitis A in 1996 infected over 250 000 people and killed over 25 000 in just a few months.
More...
Katsina State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has issued a 21- day ultimatum to the state government to address deplorable infrastructures in health centres and welfare of personnel or risk industrial action. Addressing newsmen yesterday, the NMA chairman, Dr Kabir Suleiman said a health care service in the state was riddled with lack of adequate health personnel and dearth of basic equipments. “Most of the hospitals are underfunded and many lack basic x-ray services, emergency drugs, oxygen and dressing materials,” Usman said, adding, “Workers’ welfare is yet to receive serious attention”
Suleiman said the association had made several efforts to ensure that the state government addresses deplorable state of health sector but the APC government has failed to heed the association’s demands. “Government has failed to create conducive environment in which the state health workers can deliver efficient and effective health care services to the good people of the state”. The NMA hinted that due to the poor working condition as is currently obtained in the state, most of the consultants in the state have perfected plans to leave by January.
The newly inaugurated minister of health, Professor Isaac Adewole Folorunsho has expressed shock over his appointment to head the ministry while setting a target of reducing medical tourism in Nigeria to at least 20 percent in five years. Adewole stated this in Abuja Wednesday at a grand reception in his honour at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja adding that as a team, they have set high goals for themselves.
He said “I believe by the end of our first year, we should be able to reduce medical tourism such that in five years time, less than 20 per cent of Nigerians will go abroad for treatment. We will make our teaching hospitals work, and do public-private partnerships so that we can have the healthcare we deserve.” “I’m extremely delighted to be here because for me it is home coming. Even when I must admit that I wasn’t expecting to be posted to health. But being posted to health has a significance, it is like the President saying ‘go back to your terrain and sort things out.”
Women are twice as likely to die from causes related to pregnancy or childbirth in the United States than in Canada, a new global survey of maternal mortality published by the United Nations and the World Bank showed on Thursday. The United States was also one of only 13 countries to have worse rates of maternal mortality in 2015 than in 1990 – a group that also includes North Korea, Zimbabwe and Venezuela.
The survey, led by the World Health Organization, aims to track progress against the U.N. Millennium Development Goals. It estimated there would be 303,000 maternal deaths globally this year, down from 532,000 in 1990. The U.N. target is to get the global average number of maternal deaths below 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030, with no country averaging worse than 140. The United States and other developed countries are already far ahead of the target, but the U.S. average has slipped from 12 deaths to 14 per 100,000 live births over the past 25 years, while Canada’s is where it was in 1990, at seven.
Scientists working in Nigeria have developed a new laser test that can detect malaria in humans within minutes with a simple urine test without drawing blood. Current malaria testing methods requires piecing with a needle to draw blood but the new urine malaria test (UMT), developed by Fyodor Biotechnologies, doesn’t require use of blood. The fast, non-invasive test can detect malaria in both humans and mosquitoes. It has advantages over current techniques because it does not depend on blood sampling, reagents, facilities or trained personnel.
The simplicity – it can be operated by non-medical personnel – and sensitivity of the test mean it could be a low-cost, safe and universal tool for clinical and field diagnoses. Speaking at the launch of UMT in Abuja, Dr Victoria Enwemadu, Fyodor’s global head of projects, said “There are some challenges with adopting that [national malaria testing] guideline mainstream because of the invasiveness of trying to get blood for testing. Now we have made it easier by just using urine to test for malaria.”
