Category: Health

Malaria: WHO says Benin, Liberia, Sierra Leone roll out vaccine

Abdul-Azeez Ahmed Kadir
malaria AND MOSQUITOE

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the Republic of Benin, Liberia and Sierra Leone have launched a large-scale rollout of the life-saving malaria vaccine targeting millions of children across the three West African nations. WHO said this in a statement as the world celebrates the 17th World Malaria Day with theme: “Advancing health equity, gender equality and human rights,”. The world health body said that the vaccine rollout, announced on World Malaria Day, seeks to further scale up vaccine deployment in the African region. “Today’s launch brings to eight the number of…

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Health Journalists get emergency hazard funds from network

Abdul-Azeez Ahmed Kadir

The Africa Health Budget Network (AHBN)has announced the launch of an Emergency andHazard Fund      dedicated tosupporting the Association ofNigeria Health Journalists (ANHeJ). Dr Aminu Magashi, Coordinator of AHBN, made the announcement during a roundtable with ANHeJ’s executive council in Abuja. Magashi explained that the fund aims to provide financial assistance to journalists facing personal emergencies or hazards while reporting on health-related issues. Acknowledging the risks and challenges encountered by health journalists, particularly during health emergencies, he emphasised the critical role these journalists play in disseminating accurate information to the public. He outlined the fund’s purpose as offering financial…

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Heatwave: Kano residents task on precautions

Abdul-Azeez Ahmed Kadir

The Kano State Government has urged residents to adopt safety measures against the current heatwave being experienced in the state.The state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr Abubakar Labaran, said this in a statement in Kano. Labaran expressed concern over the excessive heat and urged residents to adopt health precautionary measures to protect themselves against negative consequences.“The excessive heat began since March this year, causing increase in malaria and mortalities. That was why the ministry embarked on investigations to unravel the cause.“Kano people are very much aware of the fact that these…

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“Tinubu having sleepless nights over pharmaceutical drugs’ price hike” – Minister

Aminu Imam

The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has said that President Bola Tinubu is having sleepless nights over the hike in drug prices and scarcity of essential medicines in the country. The Minister noted that the high cost of drugs and the exit of some multi-national pharmaceutical companies from Nigeria were key issues the president was working tirelessly to address. Recall that in August 2023, British multinational drug maker and biotechnology company GlaxoSmithKline announced its exit from Nigeria. Following its exit, the prices of the…

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Allocate part of fuel subsidy to enrol Nigerians in NHIS” – Reps. ask Tinubu

Aminu Imam

The House of Representatives has called upon President Bola Tinubu to allocate the funds saved from fuel subsidy removal towards enrolling Nigerians in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). This resolution was prompted by a motion put forth by Bashiru Dawodu, a legislator from Lagos State. In his Motion, Dawodu pointed out that the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has not sufficiently covered vulnerable Nigerians, with only 5 million enrolled in the scheme. He suggested that the government could utilize the savings from subsidy removal, which amounts to N50 billion, to…

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78 percent of Nigerian senior citizens at risk of Parkinson disease

Abdul-Azeez Ahmed Kadir

A physiotherapist, Professor Matthew Olaogun, has said that at least 78 per cent of Nigerians of 60 years and above are at the mercy of Parkinson disease. Olaogun said this on Tuesday at the 7th Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Association of Clinical and Academic Physiotherapists of Nigeria (ACAPN) at the University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED), Ondo. He said that there was need for those showing symptoms of the disease to quickly consult health personnel for the disease to be handled early. Olaogun, who was the keynote…

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Brain Drain: FG to engage retired medical practitioners – Health minister

Aminu Imam

Minister of Health, Prof. Ali Pate, has confirmed that the Federal Government has made provisions for retired medical providers in non-administrative positions to be re-engaged on a contractual basis. Addressing newsmen during a visit to the National Hospital Abuja, the minister stated that the decision became necessary due to the human resource gap being experienced in the health sector due to ‘brain drain’ of clinical manpower. Ali also stated that in the health sector, human resource is one of the most important and not the building or equipment alone. He…

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Diphtheria: UNICEF Nigeria raises alarm over unprecedented outbreak, advocates urgent vaccination

Abdul-Azeez Ahmed Kadir

The United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF Nigeria has raised an alarm about the urgent need for widespread vaccination against the unprecedented outbreak of diphtheria. The outbreak has so far resulted in over 11,500 suspected cases, more than 7,000 confirmed cases, and claimed the lives of 453 people, mostly children. In a statement issued Wednesday in Kaduna, UNICEF said most cases are children aged between 4 to 15 years who have not received even a single dose of the vital vaccine, laying bare the urgency of the vaccination situation in Nigeria.…

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Diphtheria spreads to 18 States; kills 453, infects 7,202

Aminu Imam

The Federal Government has disclosed that Nigeria has recorded 7,202 confirmed cases and 453 deaths from diphtheria since the confirmation of the current outbreak in December 2022. A joint statement from the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, in collaboration with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, (NPHCDA) and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) yesterday, said as of September 24, 2023, “there have been 11,587 reported suspected cases, out of which 7,202 were confirmed cases from 105 local government areas (LGAs) in (18) States, including the…

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Diptheria: 11,000 suspected cases raises need for urgent vaccination in Nigeria

Abdul-Azeez Ahmed Kadir

The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare says it is aware of the mounting concern regarding the recent Diphtheria outbreak across several states with over 11,000 suspected case. The ministry gave the assurance that urgent vaccination efforts were underway. The Executive Director of National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, gave the assurance in an interview on Monday in Abuja. He said that since the confirmation of the re-emergence of diphtheria, the Federal Government had continued to respond to the outbreaks across different states. According to…

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