By Sola Shittu, Gombe

Gombe has recorded four deaths out of 48 positive cases of cholera.

Commissioner for Health Dr. Abu Dahiru announced this to reporters on Tuesday.

He said 77 cases were tested out of which 48 were positive and four could not survive.

“We have six wards that are affected in Gombe Local Government: Bolari East, Bolari West, Heruwagana, Ajiya, Nasarawa, Jekadafari, Dawaki, Kumbiakumbia and Pantami. All these wards have presented various cases of diarrhea and vomiting and we term that as gastroenteritis. So we commence testing of those that reported to our facilities.

“In Bolari East, we have fifteen cases and ten tested positive. In Bolari West, we have none cases and six tested positive. In Heruwagana, we have seven cases and all the seven tested positive for Cholera.

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“In Samaki ward, 17 out of 34 tested positive for Cholera. In Nasarawa ward, we had three cases and all the three tested positive with one mortality.

“In Jekadafari we have one case but it was not positive. Kumbiakumbia, we have one case and it was positive and in Pantami, we have one case and it was also positive of cholera,” he said.

The Commissioner said all 77 cases were recorded in Gombe local government with 48 positive adding the 77 have been treated and discharged with four deaths.

He said a multi-sectoral incidence management response system has been activated to respond to the outbreak of the epidemic in Gombe.

By Moses Emorinken, Abuja

Health authorities in Guinea have confirmed a case of Marburg virus disease in the southern Gueckedou prefecture.

This is the first time Marburg, a highly infectious disease that causes haemorrhagic fever, has been identified in the country, and in West Africa.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Marburg, which is in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola, was detected less than two months after Guinea declared an end to an Ebola outbreak that erupted earlier this year.

Samples taken from a now-deceased patient and tested by a field laboratory in Gueckedou as well as Guinea’s national haemorrhagic fever laboratory turned out positive for the Marburg virus.

Further analysis by the Institut Pasteur in Senegal confirmed the result.

The patient had sought treatment at a local clinic in the Koundou area of Gueckedou, where a medical investigation team had been dispatched to probe his worsening symptoms.

Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa said: “We applaud the alertness and the quick investigative action by Guinea’s health workers. The potential for the Marburg virus to spread far and wide means we need to stop it in its tracks.

“We are working with the health authorities to implement a swift response that builds on Guinea’s past experience and expertise in managing Ebola, which is transmitted in a similar way.”

Gueckedou, where Marburg has been confirmed, is also the same region where cases of the 2021 Ebola outbreak in Guinea as well as the 2014–2016 West Africa outbreak were initially detected.

The WHO stated efforts are underway to find the people who may have been in contact with the patient.

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As the disease is appearing for the first time in the country, health authorities are launching public education and community mobilization to raise awareness and galvanize support to help curb widespread infection.

An initial team of 10 WHO experts, including epidemiologists and socio-anthropologists is on the ground helping to investigate the case and supporting the national health authorities to swiftly step up emergency response, including risk assessment, disease surveillance, community mobilization, testing, clinical care, infection prevention as well as logistical support.

Cross-border surveillance is also being enhanced to quickly detect any cases, with neighbouring countries on alert.

The Ebola control systems in place in Guinea and in neighbouring countries are proving crucial to the emergency response to the Marburg virus.

Marburg is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials.

Illness begins abruptly with high fever, severe headache and malaise.

Many patients develop severe haemorrhagic signs within seven days.

Case fatality rates have varied from 24 percent to 88 percent in past outbreaks depending on virus strain and case management.

Although there are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved to treat the virus, supportive care – rehydration with oral or intravenous fluids – and treatment of specific symptoms, improves survival.

A range of potential treatments, including blood products, immune therapies and drug therapies, are being evaluated.

In Africa, previous outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda.

By Fanen Ihyongo, Kano

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has tasked journalists to participate actively in sensitising the public on the importance of breastfeeding.

The engagement took place at a one-day media dialogue at Tahir Quest Palace, Kano, in commemoration of this year’s World Breastfeeding Week (WBFW).

Officer-in-Charge (OIC),UNICEF Field Office Kano, Michael Banda, gave the theme for the 2021 WBFW as ‘Protect Breastfeeding: A Shared Responsibility,’ explaining it focuses attention on the role everyone should play in supporting breastfeeding at all levels, including community and family levels, with special focus on reiteration of COVID-19 messages to enhance breastfeeding.

“Breastfeeding plays an important role in the life of the child so much that the first breast milk a child receives when he is born is indeed his immunisation as the colostrum in that first flow from the child’s mother contains immunity-conferring benefits on the child,” Banda said.

UNICEF Communication Specialist, Samuel Kaalu, who spoke on the objectives of the dialogue organised by UNICEF, in collaboration with Abubakar Rimi Television, said the meeting sought to inform journalists to focus on breastfeeding in their news stories and programmes.

Oluniyi Oyedokun, a nutrition specialist with UNICEF Kano Field Office, urged decision makers, mothers, caregivers and stakeholders to support breastfeeding and appropriate infant and young child feeding practices.

He disclosed that supporting, promoting and protecting breastfeeding from birth to the age of 23 months and beyond can reduce the high rates of infant and under-five mortalities in the country.

According to him a baby cannot even get infected with COVID-19 through the mother’s breast milk, adding that research shows the virus cannot be found in the breast milk.

Oyedokun said: “To date, active COVID-19 has not been detected in the breast milk of any mother with COVID-19, so it is unlikely that COVID-19 can be transmitted through breast milk.

“Mothers should continue breastfeeding with appropriate precautions which include wearing a medical mask if available, washing hands with soap and water before and after touching your baby, routinely cleaning and disinfecting surfaces you have touched.

“Your chest only needs to be washed if you have just coughed on it, otherwise, your breast does not need to be washed before every feeding.”

He noted that the challenges of child survival are enormous, with poor infant and young child feeding practices as a major factor responsible for millions of child’s deaths.

Oyedokun also cautioned against giving the baby water, disclosing that UNICEF and World Health Organisation (WHO) has in a joint statement declared that exclusive breastfeeding serves as the child’s first and most effective vaccine against malnutrition and all forms of diseases.

Doing by the projections of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the Federal Government has set a 10-year target to provide full health insurance coverage for all Nigerians. According to NHIS Executive Secretary, Prof Mohammed Nasir Sambo, all Nigerians will be captured in national health insurance scheme by 2030. He made the vow while inspecting facilities at the Garki Hospital, Abuja, recently.

“Our aim is that by the year 2030, all Nigerians will have had the opportunity to get into the social health insurance system as a principle of solidarity, as a mechanism for cross subsidization and effective healthcare financing,” Prof Sambo said.

To meet the target, the NHIS boss said the scheme is fine-tuning its policies and programmes to engender closer collaboration with healthcare providers, health maintenance organisations and sundry stakeholders. Specifically, Prof. Sambo described the problem plaguing health insurance scheme in Nigeria as systemic, which requires a complete paradigm shift. “What we have been doing in the last two years is to  engender value re-orientation that will make the scheme a credible and result-oriented organization; entrenching transparency and accountability in the entire operations of the national health insurance scheme as well as accelerate the attainment of universal coverage coming with so many initiatives,” he explained.

He also expressed concerns on the waiting time for the issuance of authorisation codes for referral cases by health management organisations. “We say that we wanted to reduce the waiting period to six hours and when we look at the structure available at the level of NHIS, we realize that we just made a promise that we cannot fulfill. We need to do some structural changes that will allow us to be able to adhere to the six hours,” he suggested.

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Prof Sambo promised quick structural changes to decentralise the activities of NHIS by empowering the states with necessary human resources and infrastructure to “perform the stewardship role.” He listed some of the changes at NHIS as restoration of quarterly payment to the HMOs by giving them a three-month capitation payment to remove delay in paying service providers; tariff for health insurance services to reflect the staggering inflation in the national economy and partnering with giant drug manufactures to produce NHIS- branded drugs. “We are also working with NAFDAC in this initiative so that whatever drug that is going to be produced by the accredited manufacturers will be of standard and quality and ensure regular availability of the drugs,” he added.

He also praised the PPP model operating at Garki Hospital, which he said has manifested in efficient management of human and material resources. He expressed surprise that the hospital with over 600 workers is not funded by the government and promised to partner with the hospital on its cost effective method for delivering healthcare services.

The Medical Director, Garki Hospital, Dr. Adamu Onu, who said a well-structured and efficient health insurance scheme is the pillar to providing universal health coverage for Nigerians, identified areas of improvement for Nigeria’s health insurance scheme: proper documentation of beneficiaries and their records as well as standardisation to streamline areas of insurance coverage.

Dr. Onu disclosed that Garki Hospital currently offers both primary and secondary care services to 33,468 NHIS patients, all registered on a digital platform. The hospital was accredited in 2008 and in September 2018 all its NHIS patients were consolidated into one operational unit. He said the scheme is working smoothly because the hospital ensures open and transparent billing system and ensures that no patient waits for more than 30 minutes before seeing a doctor. “We also give priority to continuous training of our personnel, especially resident doctors and we are able to offer specialized surgery including cardiac open (heart surgery) as well as hip and knee replacement surgery,” he disclosed.

The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) has stressed that the country is seriously in need of strong collaboration with other countries in order to be able to eliminate viral hepatitis, which has been projected to be a public health threat by 2030. This was the highlight of a media briefing by the PSN President, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, during a programme to celebrate this year’s World Hepatitis Day.

A hepatitis-free future is surely achievable with a united effort, he insisted. According to Ohuabunwa, someone dies from a hepatitis-related illness every 30 seconds, a crisis worsened by the current COVID-19 pandemic. Pharmacists can’t wait to act on viral hepatitis, he added. “We have set up screening, education and enlightening campaigns all over the country to equip people with knowledge to act. Today is marked throughout the globe as World Hepatitis Day (WHD). World Hepatitis Day is observed each year to raise awareness of viral hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver that causes severe liver disease,” Ohuabunwa said.

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According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), over 354 million people worldwide live with chronic hepatitis. Over 8000 new infections of hepatitis B and C occur every day and more than one million deaths from advanced liver disease and liver cancer occur every year. Ohuabunwa decried the low vaccination of COVID-19 vaccine in the country amid the new Delta variant spread. He said that this unacceptable gap in vaccination is too bad as the new strain, Delta variant, is ravaging. “This is because Delta strain spreads two times faster than the most common strain, especially in unvaccinated persons. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called this version of the virus the fastest; while the CDC of the United States labelled Delta as a variant of concern. Delta variant, a SARS-CoV-2 mutation that originally surfaced in India in December 2020, is real and the strain spread rapidly and almost becoming the dominant strain of the virus. Delta variant is the most dominant strain presently in India and the UK and by the end of June, it has made up more than 20 per cent of cases in the U.S. and has also been identified in Nigeria,” he said.

One of Nigeria’s leading pharmaceutical and healthcare suppliers, Med-In Pharmaceuticals Limited has unveiled an ultra-modern intravenous fluid production factory in Sagamu, Ogun State. The intravenous fluid plant, with capacity to produce 100,000 bottles per day, was officially commissioned on July 29 as part of providing locally manufactured intravenous fluid to help in the increase of quality healthcare services for Nigerians.

The construction of the facility, which began in 2010, was supported by the Bank of Industry (BOI) and further backed by Providus Bank to ensure that the quest to enhance quality healthcare delivery in the country remained obtainable.  The Managing Director of Med-In Pharmaceuticals, Mr Tola Awosika, said the milestone event is the result of years of consistency and deliberate efforts to deepen access to quality healthcare for Nigerians and to provide healthcare providers robust options, convenience, cost-effectiveness and ease of access in meeting the high demand for IV fluid products in the country.

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“With a global market size valued at US$ 10.7 billion in 2020 and estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.9% from 2021 to 2028, we understand the demand in this ecosystem, and we are poised to satisfy the market. Our facility is one of the largest and most sophisticated in Nigeria with a capacity and readiness to deliver.

“We are committed to driving product quality through strict adherence to the principles of current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP), regulatory and statutory requirements, and constant review of our systems to meet global standards,” Awosika said.

The Chairman of Med-in Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Olubayode Awosika, also stated: “Having served for about five decades in Nigeria’s healthcare delivery industry, we have had a robustly valuable experience to understand where the gap in providing sustainably effective solutions and services to the ecosystem lies. We have also spent the last ten years building a comprehensive system and facility to bridge this gap. We are pleased to commission this factory as a prelude to unpacking our sustainable intervention in Nigeria’s healthcare delivery space.”

In his remarks, Governor Dapo Abiodun said he is proud of the investment that Med-In Pharmaceuticals has in his state, saying it has put Ogun State on the global pharmaceuticals and healthcare manufacturing map.

Nigeria’s leading indigenous pharmaceutical manufacturing company, Fidson Healthcare Plc, has promised its customers the highest quality healthcare products and services. This was at its 22nd Annual General Meeting, which held on Wednesday, July 28 at the company’s head office in Lagos.

Its founder and managing director, Dr. Fidelis Ayebae, said the improved performance of the organisation was largely the combined result of volume growth on key product lines and improved efficiency in her supply chain. “As an organisation, we are committed to intensifying focus on these performance drivers going forward. This stellar performance has further strengthened our position as a leader in the healthcare industry. From inception (in 1995), we have shown commitment to offering customers the highest quality healthcare products and services in our relentless pursuit to becoming the leading pharmaceutical company in Africa,” Dr. Ayebae said.

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Shareholders also expressed their satisfaction with the performance of the company. A dividend of 25 kobo per share was unanimously approved by the shareholders, an improvement on the 15 kobo per share paid in the 2019 financial year. The company recorded a turnover of N18.28 billion for the year ended 31st December 2020, which represents an increase of 30% compared to the N14.06 billion revenue in 2019. Its operating profit grew by 38% between 2019 and 2020, while profit after tax also increased from N407.19 million in 2019 to N1.21 billion in 2020, an increase of 196%.

One of the highlights of the event was the presentation of three newly appointed directors to shareholders. The new directors are Dr. Vincent Ahonkhai, Mr. Ekwunife Okoli and Mr. Ola Ijimakin. While Dr. Ahonkhai and Mr. Okoli were appointed as independent non-executive directors, Mr. Ola Ijimakin was appointed executive director, commercial.

As Nigeria gets set for commencement of the second phase of its COVID-19 vaccination campaign, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has appealed to traditional rulers to mobilise Nigerians to be vaccinated.

UNICEF said the advocacy by traditional rulers will ensure effective utilisation of the second round of four million doses of COVID-19 vaccines donated to Nigeria by the United States of America under the COVAX Facility.

UNICEF’s Representative in Nigeria, Peter Hawkins, made the appeal during a courtesy call to the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, at his palace in the ancient city.

Hawkins was accompanied to the palace by Dr. Hamidreza Setayesh, Senior Country Manager, Country Support, GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance.

Hawkins noted mobilising Nigerians to get vaccinated was important in curtailing the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19, which is reported to be deadlier and spreads faster.

“UNICEF as well as my colleague from the General Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation would like to emphasise that some more vaccines are coming in and the public needs to be sensitised so as to achieve a wider reach and have more people vaccinated.

“I would like to appeal to HIs Royal Highness the Emir of Kano to use his influence and mobilise the people of Kano to turn out in mass for vaccination during the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign which begins in August.

“I also solicit continued support and routine immunisation on a sustainable basis,” Hawkins said.

The head of the UN agency for children in Nigeria expressed gratitude to the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) as well as state ministries of Health for the effective utilisation of the 4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines earlier donated to Nigeria by the COVAX Facility partners which have been successfully administered.

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“Another 4 million doses will be coming into the country and it’s very important that they are utilised in the same manner.

“It’s very important to build on the coordination of the Presidential Task Force but the states and traditional leaders also have pivotal roles to play, that is why I am here in Kano today,” Hawkins said.

Bayero assured that he and the traditional leaders in Kano would support the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign just as they did during the first phase.

“We have both the team and the network to support the vaccination campaign and we’ll do it,” the monarch assured.

Speaking on behalf of the Kano Emirate Council, the Director of the Health Department of council, Dr. Sha’awa Khalil Sa’id, said the emirate council is committed to ensuring the general public is adequately sensitised about the importance of vaccination and taking precaution against the deadly virus.

Dr. Sa’id said: “We have a role to play in addressing the spread of COVID-19, especially with the Delta variant found in Nigeria now, which UNICEF has cautioned, is deadlier than the variant recorded in the first and second waves of the pandemic.”

By Tijani Salami

Earlier this month, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Health, Dr Olorunnimbe Mamora, said that more widespread use of family planning can reduce maternal deaths by 30 percent, saving the lives of about 18,000 women every year.

The Minister called for increased investment in family planning services and reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to increase modern contraceptive use to 27 percent by 2024. Minister Mamora further stressed that men need to be involved in family planning discussions, which I discussed in my recent article about the dangers caused by social taboos around contraception.

I warmly welcome the Minister’s leadership on this issue and pray that his calls for investment will be heeded, however, it will need more than money. Low use of modern contraceptives in Nigeria is not only due to lack of investment, but also secrecy, embarrassment and misconceptions. Here, I believe that religious leaders have the potential to stand in the gap. As highly influential leaders across society, faith leaders can help change the story of family planning and contraception, just as they did around childhood vaccinations.

As a doctor and a religious man, I regularly conduct family planning outreach activities, including among religious groups. I know that when faith leaders speak to their congregations on family planning, it has an impact. At Tawiyi Baptist Church in Bosso, Niger State, I was invited by the resident pastor to talk to families about contraception and health. These measures have resulted in a significant percentage now understanding and using modern contraception, helping families to control unplanned pregnancies and saving them a lot of stress and worry. The Chapel of Grace in Minna is an interdenominational church which has a specialised unit that counsels couples intending to marry on reproductive health, including family planning. Women in the community suffer fewer reproductive health problems as a result, and more couples are able to live comfortably and plan their families.

It is not only Christian church leaders who can play a role. Muslim clerics have been vital advocates for polio vaccination and have mobilized their communities in past decades to participate in immunisation schemes. The clerics’ support for the program helped to dispel doubts and misconceptions about the polio vaccine, eventually leading to tremendous success, even after health authorities had struggled to break through. They can also play their part in encouraging use of family planning and should be included in discussions about how to increase uptake across the country.

Evidence supports the engagement of religious leaders in improving understanding of reproductive health and use of family planning. Research by the Johns Hopkins Center for Communications Programs found that Nigerian women whose clerics support family planning were significantly more likely to adopt modern contraceptive methods. A further report by Family Planning 2020 across Sub-Saharan Africa says that Faith-Based Organizations can help to “contextualize family planning concepts and interventions by using language and approaches that resonate with the cultures and beliefs of the communities they serve”.

Faith Based Organizations have some 30 percent of the health care market in Nigeria and are therefore important actors in this space. Healthy spacing of pregnancies offers the opportunity to save the lives of millions of women in Nigeria, ensuring that all babies are wanted and have the best possible start in life.

If Nigeria is to make serious progress on its terrible maternal health record, the health profession, government and private sector must actively engage religious leaders to improve Nigeria’s use of contraception. The government is yet to take the initiative on this issue, even among those faith leaders who are already making efforts to enlighten their members and who would benefit from more support. This could take the form of training and visits by health workers and even providing contraceptive products.

I sincerely believe that most religious people are not against family planning and in my experience, religious leaders do not need to be a block to family planning. Many of them already see the benefits of contraception and I believe a significant number of would be ready to spread the message if they are called upon by the government to do so, playing their part as critical stakeholders. I urge the Minister of State for Health to speak to religious leaders across the country as part of a national campaign to increase contraceptive use. I believe he will be pleasantly surprised by the response he receives. If we all work together, we can reduce Nigeria’s tragically high rate of maternal death, reduce the burden on public health and create a more sustainable, healthy, and prosperous future for all Nigerian children.

Dr Tijani Salami is a physician, sexual and reproductive health expert and founder of Sisters Caregivers Project Initiative, which provides medical and social support for women and advocates for an end to child marriage and maternal malnutrition. Twitter: @DrSalamiTijani1

Sometimes it seems individuals are powerless to tackle extreme pollution and severe global climate change. But it is important to remember that individuals can adhere to a clear set of guidelines and sustainability principles in order to benefit the planet.

Along with the planet, the fact that sustainability will also be beneficial to the least powerful in our communities: the young, the poor and disenfranchised should comfort us. Simple steps such as taking public transport, walking, cycling and supporting community gardens can help in addressing air quality, cardiovascular health statistics, food deserts and nutritional education.

It’s just about remembering the human side of sustainability. That people are also being affected in addition to flooding, rising water levels, storms, unreasonable high temperatures and their effects on ecosystems further demonstrating that sustainability is both an environmental and social justice issue.

If the links between sustainability and public health catch you by surprise, then it’s because many public health concerns previously focused on infectious epidemics which have mostly been controlled through immunization standards. But more recently, new public health concerns have been created as a result of climate change. These climate-related concerns include climate-sensitive diseases, heat waves, reduced air quality and extreme weather events.

It is important to note the various related, overlapping priorities with the Sustainable Development Goals proving a new logical way of thinking about issues as diverse as climate change, poverty and education fit together. These overlaps can’t be ignored by countries while addressing SDG targets individually.

For example, Zika virus is a climate-related illness that has been associated with birth defects can be spread quickly through heat and heavy rain with climate change playing a future role in this virus by providing conditions favourable to mosquitos that transmit it.

Hence there needs to be more awareness as well as the integration of climate science into public health decision-making.

Individually, we can take action to ensure that where we live is as energy-efficient as possible. Small steps such as checking doors and windows for heat loss, using energy-efficient light sources, weatherstripping and insulating our homes and conducting an energy audits in our homes can help reduce the unnecessary use of fossil fuel.

Also, we can encourage our friends, family and members of our community to bike or walk to work, errands, school or social activities as often as they can; not only for environmental reasons but also for health and wellbeing reasons. It is essential for young people to cultivate healthy habits early in life, therefore the more we can inculcate daily exercise into our routine, the better. If exercise becomes a daily routine habit rather than a temporary fitness weight loss plan, people’s lifestyles can change for the better.

Children of today are not only known for their poor eating habits but also their poor exercise habits. By encouraging children to imbibe healthy behaviours and incorporate exercise into family fun activities evening walks, cycling in the parks, etc., you will help in the improvement of bodily health, environmental health and air quality.

Climate change is definitely a public health issue; hence it is up to us to help drive effective change on a societal scale instead of a mere political policy scale. Actions speak louder than words.