Category: Health

Health

Lassa fever kills 166, spreads across 21 states – NCDC

Aminu Imam
NCDC on Lassa fever

Nigeria has recorded 166 deaths from Lassa fever in 2025, as the outbreak continues to spread across 21 states, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, (NCDC), has confirmed. The agency, in its epidemiological week 37 report, said the current case fatality rate of 18.5% is higher than the 16.9% reported during the same period last year. So far in 2025, Nigeria has logged 7,673 suspected cases, of which 895 were confirmed and seven classified as probable. These were reported across 106 local government areas in 21 states. For…

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“Northern Nigeria’s newborn has 15% chance of dying before age 5” – Bill Gates

Aminu Imam
Bill Gates

American billionaire businessman, Bill Gates, has raised alarm about the high child mortality rate in Northern Nigeria. Gates stated that “a child born in northern Nigeria has a 15% chance of dying before the age of five”. He then urged governments to reverse global health funding cuts. Speaking during an interview before the Reuters Newsmaker Foundation’s annual Goalkeepers event in New York on Monday, Gates said the world was at a crossroads, with millions of children at risk of dying if funding drops too steeply.  “You can either be part…

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Power outage killing patients: Kano Teaching Hospital begs KEDCO to restore electricity

Aminu Imam
AKTH KEDCO

The management of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) has urged the Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) to immediately restore electricity supply to the facility. The management of the hospital made the advocacy in an issued statement, signed by the AKTH’s Head of Information Unit, Hauwa Inuwa Dutse.  The appeal is coming shortly after some patients on life support reportedly died due to long hours of power outages.  The hospital expressed deep concern over the tragic loss of lives, describing it as avoidable had power been sustained. It lamented that the…

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FG subsidises kidney dialysis cost by 76% in federal hospitals

Aminu Imam
Screenshot 20250819 010253

The Federal Government has subsidised the cost of kidney dialysis in federal hospitals across Nigeria, slashing the price of the procedure by 76%. According to a statement yesterday by the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, the new policy, approved by President Bola Tinubu, reduces the price of a single dialysis session from an average of ₦50,000 to a new subsidised rate of ₦12,000. The move is expected to bring immediate financial relief to thousands of Nigerians battling kidney disease, a condition that often requires multiple…

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‘52% of Kano children stunted by malnutrition’ – UNICEF

Aminu Imam
UNICEF on Kano children

The United Nations Children’s Fund, (UNICEF), has raised concern over the nutritional status of children in Kano, revealing that 51.9 percent of children are stunted. Its Chief of the field office in Kano, Rahma Farah, stated this during the official handover of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food, which was held at Takai LGA. The food was procured through a joint government and UNICEF Child Nutrition Match Fund initiative. Farah noted that the figure implies that one in every two children in the state is not growing well due to chronic malnutrition. He…

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Nurses, Midwives suspend nationwide strike

Aminu Imam
Nurses begin strike2

The National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, (NANNM), has suspended its industrial action. Minister of Health, Professor Ali Pate, who announced the suspension to newsmen yesterday, after a closed-door meeting with the association’s leadership, the decision was reached following agreements between the Federal Government and the union leaders. However, the union representatives declined to comment on the outcome of the meeting. Recall that the association had launched a seven-day warning strike on July 29, 2025, accusing the government of failing to act on a 15-day ultimatum issued on July…

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‘Malnutrition crisis in North claims 652 Under-5 children in 7 months’ – MSF

Aminu Imam
MSF on malnutrition

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), a humanitarian health organisation, has raised the alarm that Northern Nigeria is currently facing an alarming malnutrition crisis, which has claimed the lives of 652 children within the first seven months of 2025 — a development that requires urgent mobilisation to tackle. MSF, in a statement issued to newsmen on Friday, lamented that, “Unfortunately, 652 children have already died in our facilities since the beginning of 2025 due to a lack of timely access to care”. It stressed that, “It is a worrying sign…

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FG suspends move to review medical officer’s allowances to avert strike 

Aminu Imam
FG suspends move

The Federal Government through National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission (NSIWC) has suspended the move to review medical officers and dental officer’s allowances. Recall that on July 2, the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) gave the Federal Government a 21-day ultimatum demanding the withdrawal of the circular and the resolution of other critical issues. The ultimatum is set to expire on Thursday, July 23. President of the NMA, Prof. Bala Audu, had described the circular as a breach of previously agreed terms regarding the welfare and allowances of medical and dental…

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Kaduna: ‘Only 10% of population are covered by health scheme’ — KADCHMA DG

Aminu Imam
KADCHMA

Kaduna State Contributory Health Management Authority, (KADCHMA), has lamented that only 10% of the Kaduna population are covered by the scheme despite media campaigns and community engagements. This was disclosed by the Director-General of the KADCHMA, Abubakar Hassan during the flag-off campaign for the informal sector held at the headquarters of the state Ministry of Health. Kaduna contributory health scheme targets the informal sector for universal coverage. Hassan said the scheme has achieved full coverage in the formal sector, particularly among government employees and their families, asserting that reaching those…

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Scientists’ study finds potential cure for HIV

Aminu Imam
Scientists cure for HIV2

A cure for HIV could be a step closer after researchers found a new way to force the virus out of hiding inside human cells. The virus’s ability to conceal itself inside certain white blood cells has been one of the main challenges for scientists looking for a cure. It means there is a reservoir of HIV in the body, capable of reactivation, that neither the immune system nor drugs can tackle. In a groundbreaking advance, scientists have successfully used CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to eliminate HIV-1 DNA from the genomes…

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