tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55924137872740515812024-03-13T09:05:37.718-07:00Topical Health Issues in Nigeriasquibloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07355932887225702360noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592413787274051581.post-6587109918501085262015-11-10T11:47:00.001-08:002015-11-10T11:47:36.918-08:00WHY ARE NIGERIAN WOMEN DYING IN CHILDBIRTH?
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I am
still in shock. The tragic death of the spouse of my friend in Lagos recently
has left me in a state of mourning. It is one death that should never have
happened. It is one of those needless deaths that expose the deplorable state
of our health care system. It is unfortunate and unacceptable that many of the
labour rooms in our health institutions have become death chambers where
expectant mothers go to die. Visiting a hospital has become a necessary risk.
For the ordinary citizen who cannot afford to travel abroad for medical
reasons, being left to die in the hands of quacks and disgruntled incompetent
health workers in our broken health institutions is a hard choice they have to
make.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 19.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">While
our political elite can seek quality health care services in some of the best
hospitals abroad, while their spouses can afford to give birth in choice
American and British hospitals, Nigeria’s bottom poor are left to die in our
run-down public hospitals under perpetually irritated medical workers who often
vent their frustrations on their patients. In recent times, I have heard and
witnessed enough maternal deaths that have left me wondering why life means
nothing to us as a people. Experiencing those tragedies have left me scared and
scarred. This latest one was painful because I witnessed the couple’s wedding
three years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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</script>I remember the joy of the bride and groom. The bride was the happiest
on her wedding day but now she lies in a morgue, a victim of Nigeria’s decayed
health system. With her death, she has become another victim in the endless
statistics of maternal death that stalks Nigerian women. The story was as
pathetic as it is shocking. On a certain night when my friend’s wife began to experience
the signs of labour pain, they headed for the hospital where she registered
where she was wheeled into the labour room. But she did not return home alive.
In the labour room, events took a different turn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 19.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">After
several hours of trying to deliver her baby, the woman died in the process.
What went wrong? How did a woman who walked to the hospital on her feet end up
being wheeled to the morgue with an unborn baby? The husband told me that after
several hours of trying to be delivered of the baby, his wife became too weak
that she could push no more. But the nurses kept admonishing her to push until
she became weakened from the long hours of prodding.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 19.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">He
lamented that in spite of the pleas by family members that his wife be allowed
to deliver the baby through Caesarean section, the nurses reprimanded them for
attempting to teach them their job. And in any case, there was no gynaecologist
in sight. After several hours, the labour room went quiet as her cries stopped.
The nurses emerged wearing long faces and avoided breaking the news of his
wife’s demise. He stormed into the labour room and only to meet the lifeless
body of his wife–with the baby also dead. He passed out momentarily and was
only revived later.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 19.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">He is
still devastated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 19.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In
recent years, more Nigerian women are dying from childbirth. The worst cases
are those that also affect the babies. Unfortunately, no one seems to be paying
attention. Hapless and helpless Nigerian women are dying every day in various
hospitals and maternity homes across the country. While only a few cases are
reported, many maternal deaths never make the headlines. When women die from
childbirth, children are orphaned and families are devastated. I have heard
stories of women who die with their unborn babies. Yes, people die, some deaths
are inevitable, but statistics of maternal mortality points to negligence,
unprofessional conduct and in some cases ignorance by the victims.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 19.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Across
the country, there exist clandestine delivery homes and rogue maternity homes
operated by charlatans. Some of these privately run so-called health facilities
are known to health regulatory agencies. Our public hospitals are also some of
the worst places for pregnant women today. Expectant mothers often have to
endure the negligence of abusive and aggressive nurses and other health
workers. I have been in a public hospital where agonising heavily pregnant
women were left unattended to for hours. Once, I heard a nurse yell at a
heavily pregnant woman, “Madam, stop shouting here, na me give you belle?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 19.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Maternal
death is also caused by other factors. According to experts, severe bleeding
and infections (usually after childbirth), High Blood Pressure during pregnancy
known medically as pre-eclampsia and eclampsia, complications from delivery,
unsafe abortion, HIV and malaria pose great risks to expectant mothers. But
these conditions are preventable if well-managed. According to a study by
Boniface Oye-Okediran et al, published in the Annals of Tropical Medicine and
Tropical Health, risks such as obstructed and prolonged labour, which killed my
friend’s wife, also account for over a third of the deaths that occur during
childbirth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 19.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">According
to the study, skilled practitioners can recognise and deal with slow progress
before labour becomes obstructed and if necessary, ensure that Caesarean
section is performed on time to save the mother and the baby. But for women to
benefit from those cost-effective interventions, they must have antenatal care
in pregnancy, and in childbirth they must be attended to by skilled health
providers. But a majority of women could hardly afford quality antenatal care
and these conditions degenerate or are not detected during childbirth. In many
public hospitals, the Obstetrics and Gynaecology section is chaotic with only a
few gynaecologists on hand to attend to pregnant mothers. The attitudes of
hostile nurses in public hospitals who abuse and harass mostly poor expectant
mothers also drive them into the hands of charlatans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 19.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The
Maternal Mortality Rate report 2013 updated in 2014 by the World Health
Organisation rated Nigeria among five countries in sub-Saharan Africa with the
highest number of maternal death in the world. According to WHO, there were an
estimated 289,000 global maternal deaths in 2013 with sub-Saharan Africa accounting
alone for 62 per cent (179,000) of the deaths. Africa is considered the
riskiest region in the world for dying of complications in pregnancy and
childbirth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The MMR
was calculated by taking into consideration the deaths of women while pregnant
or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, from any cause related to or
aggravated by the pregnancy or its management. India and Nigeria are reported
to account for one thirds of global maternal deaths in 2013. About 40,000
pregnant women died in Nigeria in 2013. It is worse in Northern Nigeria.
Maternal deaths occur particularly in areas where women have many babies in
short time spans under malnutrition, poor hygiene conditions and lacking access
to medical treatment. The last National Demographic Healthy Survey placed the
National Maternal Mortality rate at 545 per 100,000 live births. UNICEF’s
estimation of the incidence of maternal mortality in Nigeria is from 800 per
100,000 to 1,100 per 100,000 live births. Most maternal deaths are preventable,
as the health care solutions to prevent or manage complications are well-known.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 19.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Nigerian
women need access to antenatal care in pregnancy, skilled care during
childbirth, and care and support in the weeks after childbirth. Government and
stakeholders in the health sector must work to end maternal mortality in the
country.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 19.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 19.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><strong>By Bayou Olupohunda</strong></span></div>
squibloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07355932887225702360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592413787274051581.post-17125606123088720942015-10-23T08:19:00.001-07:002015-10-23T08:24:16.553-07:00FGN: Ebola Trouble Not Over Yet<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaziuyfOPc1noOZS9J-sImYCRrfJJIxS-63fruKHfiYgnoNgx_DE2m3FvuIWJrK3wgtG5KISWrXP2XcIaCD6LLUh0Ut6QQvVG-MmW_-wYGb8kP1Yh2UsiAbHV7abkByNiUpVKKQPaxUF4/s1600/Linus-AwuteHeathMinistryNigeria.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaziuyfOPc1noOZS9J-sImYCRrfJJIxS-63fruKHfiYgnoNgx_DE2m3FvuIWJrK3wgtG5KISWrXP2XcIaCD6LLUh0Ut6QQvVG-MmW_-wYGb8kP1Yh2UsiAbHV7abkByNiUpVKKQPaxUF4/s1600/Linus-AwuteHeathMinistryNigeria.jpg" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Federal Government said on Tuesday that the country was still under Ebola
alert and surveillance.<br />
<br />
</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="more"></a><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<br />
The government’s fresh warning is coming one year after the World Health
Organisation certified Nigeria free of the Ebola Virus Disease.<br />
<br />
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Mr. Linus Awute, said this
at a press briefing on Tuesday evening in Abuja.<br />
<br />
The press conference was held to commemorate the WHO certification one year
ago.<br />
<br />
According to Awute, Nigeria cannot rest until when “transmission of the disease
in human population reaches zero in West Africa.”<br />
<br />
He said, “In the past one year, Nigeria has not lowered her guard. We remain
vigilant through enhanced surveillance, not only for Ebola but also for all
diseases that constitute public health emergencies.<br />
<br />
“This was demonstrated by the numerous responses and investigations of the
Ebola scare, particularly the recent one at the University of Calabar Teaching
Hospital. Within the same year, Nigeria availed her resources to the ongoing
response to EVD outbreak in West Africa.”<br />
<br />
While warning citizens, Awute stressed that the disease could still be
transmitted sexually by survivors.<br />
<br />
He said, “Since Nigeria was declared Ebola free, the global Ebola control
environment has changed based on new evidences around care for Ebola in
pregnancy, survivors related symptoms, discovery of Ebola vaccine, relapse of
the disease by survivors carrying the virus in their semen and vaginal
secretions.<br />
<br />
“These recent developments have changed our understanding of the clinical and
epidemiological characteristics of this disease. This poses a stronger
challenge to us and our neighbours who have these survivors in their thousands
and also signifies that the fight is far from being over. Volunteers shall
serve as our foot soldiers, which deserve national recognition for meritorious
service to the nation.”<br />
<br />
He praised the sacrifice of late Dr. Stella Adadevoh and the medical team at
the First Consultant Hospital, Lagos, where the Liberian-American, Patrick
Sawyer, died and infected some of the health workers.<br />
<br />
The permanent secretary also commended the contributions of President of
Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; Founder, Tony Elumelu Foundation, Tony
Elumelu; the US government, WHO, UNICEF, Japan, Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency and other
international organisations.<br />
<br />
The Project Director, National Centre for Disease Control, Prof. Abdulrahman
Nasidi, pledged that survival clinic would be established to carry out
surveillance functions.<br />
<br />
He said that the clinic would act as a resource centre to equip health
officials with the technical expertise to address challenges relating to the
Ebola virus.<br />
<br />
The PUNCH reports that Nigeria has not recorded any case after it was declared
free of Ebola in October last year by the WHO, although there have been some
levels of resurgence of EVD in Guinea, Sierra-Leone and a relapse case in the
United Kingdom.<br />
<br />
There were 19 confirmed cases in Nigeria, with eight deaths and 11 survivors.<br />
<br />
Awute said that the success recorded in the fight against Ebola “has become a
pivot for how our beautiful country should tackle problems proactively and in
times of emergencies.”<br />
<br />
http://www.punchng.com/news/ebola-trouble-not-over-yet-says-fg/ <o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #656565; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Labels: </span><a href="http://www.benuenews.com.ng/search/label/Nigeria"><span style="color: #19cc11; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Nigeria</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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</span>squibloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07355932887225702360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592413787274051581.post-65566439658779160662012-04-23T02:11:00.000-07:002012-04-23T02:11:32.053-07:00How we plan to stop Nigerians from foreign medical trips<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: xx-small;"><em>prof chukwu</em></span><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-IU7t7QtA-MjguyzEcBiHxgSr-OddXtArTvU7r6baRCKbu3qp1CO2kyJx7mSlddEX1TksDyIylsGy5GKkFcQVWzfcZVVlTJxZ0rnILVD8sPhS1498Eb1yARSs4DOOhDr_wVDnE4_lSM/s1600/prof+chukwu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-IU7t7QtA-MjguyzEcBiHxgSr-OddXtArTvU7r6baRCKbu3qp1CO2kyJx7mSlddEX1TksDyIylsGy5GKkFcQVWzfcZVVlTJxZ0rnILVD8sPhS1498Eb1yARSs4DOOhDr_wVDnE4_lSM/s320/prof+chukwu.jpg" width="80" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><em><span style="color: #e69138;">How we plan to stop Nigerians from foreign medical trips<o:p></o:p></span></em></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The nation’s Health Minister, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, has many worries. One of the tasks before him is how to stop the outflow of foreign exchange in the name of medical trips abroad. He says in this interview with EMMA UJAH that some Nigerians, including public officers, travel abroad for treatments for which Nigeria has expertise and technology to effectively handle and that such waste must stop</span></i></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. Excerpts:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What was your first challenge upon assuming office as Minister of Health? </span></i></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">From time to time, I have been looking at issues regarding the Nigerian health sector. The first thing that I understood about the Nigerian health sector is that certainly, the minister, the minister of state and indeed the Federal Ministry of Health cannot do it alone because health is supposed to be on the concurrent list. I said it is supposed to be because under the current constitution, it’s not mentioned there at all.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s neither on the concurrent list nor the exclusive list. So, that tells you how we appreciate health matters in this country. But going by the 1979 constitution, it was clearly on the concurrent list. So what it means is that the Honourable Minister of Health alone cannot pretend to be responsible for the healthcare of Nigerians. He has to be sure that various local governments and commissioners of health, work with him. This means that he has to work very hard to get the cooperation of all stakeholders.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">There is a body called the National Council on Health, which meets once or twice in a year. But it is a consensus, advocacy and collaborative body and not just one where only the minister forces his instructions on the members.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">What is the issue at the federal level? In the health sector, it is the responsibility of the federal government to ensure that epidemics are prevented, managed and taken care of. That is the only area that is the exclusive responsibility of the government when it comes to public health and epidemics.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">How then are you collaborating with the two tiers of government to provide for efficient health services for Nigerians?</span></span></i></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> We operate from three levels: primary, secondary and tertiary. The federal government concerns itself only on the tertiary. What it does in the primary health care is to show the way for other tiers of government to follow. So, it is an instigator, a catalyst and promoter of primary health to ensure that it remains the bedrock of healthcare in the country.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">We have five priority areas in the health sector. The first is leadership, followed by governance and stewardship.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The second priority has to do with meeting the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs. The third priority is disease prevention, surveillance and control, by the federal government. The fourth one, given the background of what we met on ground where people were not working together in the health sector, especially the heads, professionals and groups working differently without harmony. It was clear that team work was the major mandate which Mr. President has given to the Minister of Health.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Finally, why do Nigerians still have to go outside the country to access health care and sometimes even what you may regard as ordinary healthcare? So, those are the five priorities which the government wants to tackle in the health sector. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One major health challenge in Nigeria is malaria. What are you doing in this regard?</span></span></i></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Malaria remains an endemic in Nigeria. Malaria is being fought with what we called integrated vector management, which is what we all agreed under the World Health Organisation, WHO. We are integrating this by ensuring that all pregnant women must take preventive drugs to assist them maintain malaria free period. We are saying that they need to sleep under the net just like the children and other people who are vulnerable to malaria. These nets must not be ordinary ones.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then Nigeria did what no country has ever done in the world by distributing almost 15 million nets from 2009 to date. Our target as at the end of 2010 was to distribute 63 million nets and we will get to that figure this year, but the population has increased and we need to do more than that. Everybody acknowledged that we have improved even though we can still do better.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Those nets are treated ones being distributed free, but people can buy them from shops. We distribute free to people who are vulnerable to malaria and can protect them for up to two years. We also do the indoor residual spraying, which we have been doing and it is still going on, but we have only been able to cover about 80 per cent of households. The spraying protects for about three months after which one needs to repeat it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Is there the possibility of mankind having a vaccine for malaria?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is difficult but not impossible. A few months ago I was specially invited by think-thank groups in the UK to lead a discussion at a forum. It was a two-day meeting where the strategies for fighting malaria were to be discussed. And also the vaccine candidate that has the greatest promise. We call them vaccine candidates because they have not been proved to have universal protection against malaria.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The best of all of them is the RTSS which is being produced by GSK. Preliminary trial shows that it can reduce the number of episodes of malaria when someone has been vaccinated with that particular one by 50 per cent.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">So if you used to suffer about six episodes of malaria a year, it reduces it to three. It still has not been zero. We came to discuss the development. It is most promising. It is not easy to produce vaccines because of the nature of the genetic make-up of the parasite.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">There is hope now and the target is that by 2020 more work would be done by GSK. Now it can help us to reduce child mortality. We discussed the modalities for introducing the vaccine to tell people that it cannot protect for ever but it can reduce malaria.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Another one is tuberculosis, TB. It also remains a problem in Nigeria, but what has made it worrisome is the fact that we have more drugs resistance in the country.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Unfortunately, the facilities for treating them are just being developed. During the TB Day on March 24, this year, we went to Lagos to open a new facility, which is a joint effort of the federal government, Lagos State government, WHO and the United States which has been committing a lot of funds to TB control by establishing the facility in addition to what we already have. Presently we have centres in Ibadan, Calabar and before the end of this year; the one in Zaria will be opened. And hopefully, that of Kano will also come on stream as we have started developing them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This year, the federal government will buy the second line drugs to treat the multi-resistance TB. What we have been doing is team work; we have set up a Presidential Committee on Harmonious Relationship among professionals in the health sector.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">It took the committee almost a year to submit its report, but we have reviewed it at the ministry and would soon be taken to the Federal Executive Council, but most of their recommendations have been accepted by the ministry.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Again, the present administration has cleared all the arrears of salaries of health workers in the federal government service. This is a major achievement in the area of staff welfare in the country, though there was a problem when the administration came on board, we have been able to pay all the arrears, so we do not owe workers. For sometime now, the federal health workers have not been on strike, but at a time, it was like an everyday show. We are into months now without having any strike by the health workers at the federal level. We hold meetings with them regularly where we interact and discovered that team work is better for all.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then still on the issue of disease control and surveillance, we are doing well. WHO says Nigeria is one of the best countries that are doing well in terms of integrated disease surveillance. But we want to do it better; we have a system that is working though not up to our standard as Nigerians. This present administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, for the first time in the country established the Nigerian Centre for Diseases Control with a director, Professor Ola Sidi in charge.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">We are also working with the United States which has the original centre for disease control to further develop it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Also, we have been able to introduce new vaccines for meningitis that can last for 10 years instead of the usual two years, but the introduction to cover the whole country is in phases.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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</div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span>squibloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07355932887225702360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5592413787274051581.post-76663942940092732452012-04-06T17:39:00.000-07:002012-04-06T17:39:07.947-07:00Don tasks doctors on service delivery<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">FORMER Chief Medical Director, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Prof. Eugene Okpere, has urged medical doctors across the country to put service to humanity first before financial gains.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 11.25pt 0in;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He also admitted that it was morally wrong for doctors to go on strike as strikes have always put lives of patients in danger.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 11.25pt 0in;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He stated this at a lecture he delivered in a ceremony organised by the University of Benin Medical Students Association (UBEMSA) in collaboration with Ashanti Graham Health and Education Initiative Foundation (AGHIEF) where the foundation’s founder, Douglas Okor said there was need for the Federal Government to invest in manpower development that could rule the medical world in 15 to 20 years from today.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 11.25pt 0in;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“Our vision is 21st century healthcare for Nigeria, like the kind of healthcare you have in developed countries and by our projections, in the next 15 to 20 years, we will have that kind of healthcare.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 11.25pt 0in;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">“We have all it takes in Nigeria to get to where we want to be, but what is lacking is the people to get us there. We lack the people for direction and that is what we are now preaching that we need leaders.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 11.25pt 0in;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Okpere in his lecture said doctors needed to develop passion for their jobs adding that for the over 37 years he has been practicing he had maintained the vow he made when he was inducted as doctor “never to turn down any patient because of money or refuse to attend to any patient.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 11.25pt 0in;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">He said administration has also been a bane of Nigeria’s hospitals just as he said he increased the daily revenue generated at the UBTH when he became the CMD from N3 million to N20 million four years after.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 11.25pt 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 11.25pt 0in;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><o:p><strong>source: guardiannews</strong></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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</div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span>squibloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07355932887225702360noreply@blogger.com0