The Nation Newspaper

Tag: awareness

  • Nestlé raises awareness on healthy lifestyle

    Nestlé Nigeria has celebrated this year’s International Chef’s Day by hosting chefs and school children at the company’s headquarters in Ilupeju, Lagos. In line with this year’s theme: ‘Healthy Foods for Growing Up’, 50 chefs from the Association of Professional Chefs Nigeria engaged the children in fun activities, demonstrating how healthy eating helps  children to attain their dreams.

    The children shared what they wanted to become when they grew up, and for each exciting career choice, the chefs were able to explain how eating healthy foods could help them achieve their great career goals and encourage good eating habits to carry with them for life.

    International Chef’s Day, celebrated every October 20, offers chefs from around the globe a unique opportunity to network, promote their profession and make a difference in their local communities through making healthy eating fun and exciting for children.

    Speaking at the event, Gbechoevi Benoit, Executive Chef, Protea Hotel, encouraged the children to dream big, and eat right to be their best every day while working towards their career goals.

    “As we all know, good food equals good health. Learning to eat the right food in these early days of your life will set you on the right path to live a productive and successful life.

    “The theme for this year’s event is very significant for us in the Association of Professional Chefs of Nigeria as it is in line with our objectives to showcase and promote healthy African cuisine. We thank Nestlé for creating this platform for us to teach the next generation healthy food habits that will help them through their lifetime.”

     

    Nestlé Professional, the business unit that offers a wide range of Beverage, Food and Confectionery products, to the out of home customers, organizes a yearly event in collaboration with the World Chefs Association to raise awareness of healthier diets and lifestyles.

    Mr. Rabie Issa, Business Executive Officer for Nestlé Professional in Central West Africa said, “Supporting

    International Chefs Day through various activities and partnerships is part of Nestlé Professional’s commitment to improve global nutrition by raising awareness on healthy eating and increasing nutrition knowledge. This commitment contributes towards fulfilling Nestlé’s purpose of enhancing quality of life and contributing to a healthier future by teaching children to make informed choices and form healthier habits even at an early age.”

    Since its foundation, Nestlé has been committed to helping parents and caregivers provide the right nutrition for their children. International Chef’s Day 2018 is another opportunity for the company to work towards fulfilling this commitment. The theme, ‘Healthy Foods for Growing Up’, aligns with the three Nestlé for Healthier Kids (N4HK) action pillars – Build, Share and Apply Nutrition Knowledge, Offer Tastier and Healthier Choices, Inspire Families to Raise Healthier Kids. Launched in Nigeria in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education and the Federal Ministry of Health earlier this year, Nestlé for Healthier Kids promotes healthy lifestyles in schools by educating children and parents on nutrition and fostering physical activity. N4HK reaches over 60 teachers and 17,000 children in 30 schools closest to Nestlé Nigeria’s operations in Ogun State and the Federal Capital Territory.

     

  • Firm holds safety awareness

    Experts have revealed that the ratio of serious accidents to near misses in the work environment is estimated at one to 300 at-risk behaviours.

    They spoke at the recently- concluded workshop on health, safety and environment organised by Oil Servicing firm, Eunisell Limited, at its Lagos Office,

    At-risk behaviour, according to them, are activities or work-related environmental issues that fail to meet or bypass best practices, safety programmes and training procedures.

    EuniselL Group Managing Director, Mr. Chika Ikenga, said: “At Eunisell, safety and the environment are our primary concerns, thus we take the well being of our team, customers and vendors very seriously. While working on projects, we are duty-bound and committed to implementing our Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) policy as well as meeting the rigorous standards set by our customers.”

    “We want our business and operations to be as risk-free as much as possible and our impact on the environment to be minimal. Our approach is proactive and this is why our Health, Safety and Environment policy evolves and is adaptive to meet the unique needs of each project without comprise,” he added.

  • Firm seeks awareness on blood donation

    MORE awareness on blood donation topped the

    interactive session organised by Life Bank, a blood distributor, in Yaba, Lagos.

    As Nigeria marked the World Blood Donor Day on June 14, the firm lamented that in Africa, only South Africa, Rwanda and Zambia, have their 100 per cent blood supply from voluntary donors, and that Nigeria had no excuse for not taking a foremost position.

    Life Bank founder Temie Giwa-Tubosun said her firm would not back down from its advocacy for voluntary blood donors.

    She said: “Aside advocacy and awareness on voluntary blood donation, there is the need to also educate Nigerians where and how they can donate blood. We still have a considerable level of ignorance in this part of the world and many Nigerians sometimes express fear when issues on blood donations are being discussed. This is why Blood Bank, apart from doing business, now has a novel application, a donor platform that helps the general public become blood donors.”

    Citing Nigeria, Giwa-Tunbosun said research revealed that between 30  and 60 per cent of blood donations were from commercial donors, as well as from family and friends, while voluntary donor constituted only 10 per cent.

    However, beyond blood donation, Giwa-Tunbosun noted that it was important to preserve it to guard against infections, such as HIV, adding that about 18 per cent of new HIV infections has been attributed to unsafe blood transfusion.

    “It is important to know that blood is safe before use, a lot of times, you found out that people get most diseases from blood. Apart from HIV, there is hapatitis and syphilis which you can contract from unsafe blood,” she explained.

    Taking reporters around the firm’s facilities, such as its newly-acquired Smart Bank, a new technology that guarantees blood safety, she said: “This product basically takes report about blood, where it was collected, who did the collections, was the donor safe, information around testing, what test was conducted, when the test was conducted and what was the result of the test.”

    According to her, the new facility has helped in keeping blood safe and reducing infection.

  • ‘Awareness key to curbing cyber attacks’

    Creating awareness about cyber security is on way of preventing falling victim of cyber attacks, a cyber security expert has said.

    Speaking in Lagos, the Lead Convener, NaijaSecCon, Rotimi Akinyele,projected that the devastating effect of cyber-crime will cost about $6trillion by 2021. This, he said is an increase of $3 trillion recorded in 2015

    He spoke ahead of this year’s #NaijaSecCon2018 scheduled to hold May 4 at The Zone Centre, Gbagada, Lagos.

    He said the forum is the first 100 per cent technical cyber-security conference in Nigeria complete with live technical demonstrations and hands-on workshops anchored by some of the best cyber security researchers in Nigeria and in diaspora.

    “This year, the conference parades an array of speakers, topics and technical live demos from digital forensics, malwares, incident response, Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), enterprise vulnerability management, and Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) and others,” he said.

    The conference would also host the finale of the “Nigeria Cybersecurity Competition for Tertiary Institutions Students” popularly called the Capture ‘The Flag (CTF)’.

  • Ikeja Electric takes safety awareness to school

    An electricity distribution company, Ikeja Electric Plc (IE) has equipped pupils of Estate Junior Grammar School, Ijaiye-Ogba, Lagos, with safety training material.

    Tagged Power Play, it is the firm’s proprietary board game, designed as an education and entertainment tool.

    The game, a registered trademark of Ikeja Electric, is conceptualised and manufactured locally. It comprises a segmented board, dice, tokens and labelled cards with instructions on how to play.

    It provides information relating to hazards and common violations as well as other operational aspects of the business, to customers in IE network, in a family-friendly format.

    During the unveiling yesterday, IE’s Head of Corporate Communications, Felix Ofulue, said the risks and hazards of the electricity sector needed to be communicated in a creative way, such that all customers including family units could embrace tenets of safety and care, while enjoying fun time.

    According to him, “The changing communications landscape is a major factor in IE’s quest to seek innovative ways of sharing important messaging that cuts across all customer segments. We have to find creative ways to communicate to all stakeholders in a manner that is both fun and factual. This is why we have created Power Play and we hope it will provide helpful information that will reduce accidents, protect from hazards, help provide operational information and even save lives,” he said.

    The choice of the launch location, Ofulue said, was strategic in order to make the pupils become champions of safety education.

    “We are beginning with our secondary school children as we believe that they will best embrace the knowledge embedded in the game and of course they will champion the fun-learning process in their various families,” he said.

    Lagos State Safety Commission Director-General Hakeem Dickson said the game will inculcate safety-consciousness in the pupils.

    The game, he said, will keep the children away from criminal activities and also aid their learning.

  • Cross River increases awareness on Lassa fever

    Cross River increases awareness on Lassa fever

    The Cross River Government has increased awareness campaign against Lassa fever to prevent further outbreak of the disease.

    Commissioner for Health Dr Inyang Asibong said the exercise became necessary as the two cases of Lassa fever recorded were traced to migrants who came into the state.

    Asibong presented personal protective equipment to health workers yesterday at the Ikang Border in Bakassi Local Government Area.

    The commissioner said the state government places high premium on the health status of the residents.

    The equipment donated included disposable gowns, hand gloves, nose masks, headgears and shoe covers.

    She noted that the equipment would be useful for other forms of medical emergencies aside from Lassa fever.

    “The idea behind this initiative is to protect our health workers against contracting any disease. We have solid health team across all the land borders in the state and it is important for us to equip them.

    “This Ikang border in Bakassi Local Government borders Cameroon. Many people transit this border for leisure and business. We are here today to sensitise the border community and equip our health team with the necessary health equipment.

    “This exercise will be replicated in all border towns across the state as we are leaving no stone unturned in our drive to strengthen our borders against disease migration,’’ she said.

    Director-General, Cross River Primary HealthCare Agency Dr Betta Edu, said the state had re-activated its Emergency Response Unit, set up a task force committee as well as isolation units across the state.

    She added that community health workers across the state have been equipped to pick up patients showing signs of any endemic disease in all communities and border areas.

  • HIV awareness campaign at Seme border

    Inter-state and border drivers have been urged to ensure proper use of condom to prevent the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDS).

    This was during the HIV awareness programme by the Lagos State AIDS Control Agency (LSACA) for members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Seme border Motor Park. It was in collaboration with Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR).

    The event was the second to the last among the 10 selected clusters in Lagos for LSACA  officials to counsel participants on the possible risks of HIV and how it could be prevented and managed if contracted.

    The principal investigator for the project, Dr Zaidat Musa,  said part of the rationale behind the programme was to study HIV prevalent among road transport workers in Lagos State and the associated factors that dispose them to HIV.

    Dr Musa asked those who are positive what  they did that made them positive, their life style and the risk factors. To him, ‘that’s what the study is about and it is an initiative by the LSACA in collaboration with NIMR’.

    She added: “We did a health talk about HIV; how you can prevent it; how you can live positively and where you can access treatment. We also administered questionnaires to them on what are the things you need to do? Proper/correct use of condom are demonstrated, because at times people use condoms wrongly. So,  the demonstration was to show them how correctly they have to wear a condom. The nature of the transport work tend to expose the drivers to sexual diseases because some may have multiple sexual partners

    “Because they move around a lot, they have multiple sexual partners. From the study, no one can prevent them from  having multiple sexual partners, but we can only tell them to reduce the number of sexual partners they have. Per adventure they do not listen to that advice, the best we can tell them is to use condoms because change is a very difficult thing. Although we said it during the health talk that one must maintain a stable sexual partner, but in their own case because they move from one location to another they can’t do that, then the best we can tell them is to use condoms regularly.”

    Representative of LSACA Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Oluseyi Temowo, Olushina Olumide Nataniel, said Lagos State is concerned with eradicating the virus by the year 2030 and it is on that premise that  the agency was moving around the nooks and crannies of the state to do free testing and counselling the people. “We want to look at the NURTW members and formed an evidence base programme. It was on that premise that we actually arranged with them free counseling and screening for the Seme Border axis and we are forming our data from here.

    “We’ve gone to other branches in Lagos. We want to focus on the NURTW first, although we move from one population to the other; we are hoping to do for the market women later. We have done for the motorcyclists. The law is in existence to take its course on anyone, who stigmatises people living with HIV. Lagos State House of Assembly has done that for the agency in the past and anyone caught would face the music,”he said.

    The NURTW chairman, Seme Branch, Alhaji Mustapha Dauda Awopeju, thanked the state government for the initiative, stating that it was a welcomed idea, but not the first time such programme would be brought to the park. “I am happy when I did the test and was cleared negative. I implore other people to come out and check their status, if you’re positive it isn’t the end of the world as they’ve told us, several people live with HIV and they still go about their businesses normally,”he said.

  • Using markets for immunization awareness

    I was deeply heartbroken when I visited a fellow market woman to console her after she lost her child to pneumonia early this year. The atmosphere was charged with so much grief and sorrow. I remember the pain that cut her so deeply, her cries and tears which never seemed to stop. She really loved her daughter, and now she was gone. It was truly an unbearable experience. My pain comes from the fact that it is a disease that could have been prevented through immunization. I am also shocked by the knowledge that every year in Nigeria, many thousands of children die from pneumonia, meningitis, diarrhoea and other diseases that can be prevented through immunization.

    Markets are places where a lot of our Nigerian women ply their trade. In addition, women carry the bulk of responsibility in caring for our children. The woman who lost her child is one of the many thousands of women in this situation. Imagine a scenario where as a market seller, she has to suspend her commercial activities in order to tend a sick child. She may make little to nothing on the days she has to visit a clinic. Having no money to cater for her family also brings additional problems. And after all the effort, you lose your child to a disease that can be prevented by immunization?

    No, it is very painful indeed.

    Nigerians, especially our children, need not die from these diseases because the vaccines to prevent them are available. What we must do is ensure that the government takes this case seriously to purchase and provide these vaccines for every primary healthcare centre in the country. I commend the Federal Ministry of Health for the leadership they demonstrated to quickly provide Meningitis C vaccines during the meningitis outbreak. This should also extend to all vaccines covered within the routine immunization programme. The vaccines under the government’s routine immunization programme takes care of diseases that can kill or maim children early in their life: diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, hepatitis B, diphtheria, polio, tetanus, meningitis, whooping cough, measles and yellow fever. It is commendable that the government wants to expand the programme by introducing two new vaccines within the next three years. These new vaccines will protect children against diarrhoea, and young girls and women against cervical cancer.

    Considering the population of this country, this shows the enormous responsibility that this part of the health sector carries in ensuring the safety of many Nigerian children. There are more than seven million children born every year in Nigeria. This also shows how wide the routine immunization programme in the country functions in reaching many poor and remote areas to keep our children healthy and productive. However, with the impending addition of new vaccines to the traditional ones in the routine immunization programme, the overall cost for funding them has increased. These new vaccines are also relatively more expensive than all the traditional ones combined.

    Currently, the government pays for all traditional vaccines. For the new vaccines, government co-pays with international donors such as Gavi. However, government disburses only about 20% of the total cost for these vaccines. The rest are paid by donors. We must ensure that government increases funding for the routine immunization programme because we have to take initiative in saving the lives of our children. We are not talking about American or British children, we are talking about Nigerian children. Why must we rely on foreign money to keep our own children healthy? We need to start taking real ownership of our problems and begin to take steps to plan ahead for the health needs of our country.

    Ensuring that there is enough funding for the routine immunization programme puts us on the right track on the road to preventing diseases or outbreaks if they arise. The funds should also be released on time to buy these vaccines and ensure that they are distributed safely to avoid stock outs. They must be distributed from the central storehouse down to the local primary healthcare centre, especially those in rural communities, where they are utilized.

    As we make efforts to get vaccines to where they are needed, we must also focus on getting more Nigerians to use our immunization services. Many people need to be aware about the importance of getting their children immunized.

    This is why I want our market places, where all manner of people visit for their daily activities, to be an avenue for immunization awareness and service. Whether you are in Balogun Market in Lagos, or Old Market in Sokoto or Ariaria in Aba, you should be able to see messages on the importance and benefits of immunization and realize how important it is to save lives. People should understand why government needs to spend more money to maintain the immunization programme. Visiting the market should also give you the opportunity to see and hear messages calling you to immunize your children.

    When this is done, over time, more children will receive their immunization because more people are better informed about the benefits and know where to access them. I am a vaccine champion under the Women Advocates for Vaccine Access (WAVA). So I stand for the right for all Nigerians to be fully immunized and lead a healthy life. If government working with traditional rulers in northern Nigeria can bring about a better control of polio, then it is possible that working with market women and men in all states in Nigeria can bring about a better control for every vaccine-preventable disease.

    Let me remind us that those who have died during the meningitis outbreak that claimed many lives could have been anyone of us. When the majority of children in Nigeria are immunized, this will prevent outbreaks from these diseases. Nigerians need to understand that as government is making efforts to provide these vaccines, we as citizens must use these immunization services. Immunization is free at all public hospitals, so no child should be deprived of this essential service.

     

    • Chief (Mrs.) Tinubu-Ojo is Iyaloja-General of Nigeria; President-General, Market Women and Men Association of Nigeria.

     

  • Hepatitis: Guild praised on awareness drive

    The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole has commended the Guild of Medical Directors for drawing the attention of the public to the menace of hepatitis in Nigeria.  He said this will reduce the dangers associated with lack of knowledge of hepatitis and prevent it from reaching epidemic levels like meningitis and Ebola viruses.

    Prof. Adewole also commended the Guild for supporting the efforts of the Federal Ministry of Health in its drive towards making Nigeria a healthy nation.

    The minister spoke at the 24th Annual General Meeting/Scientific Conference of the Guild tagged, “Let’s Make Nigeria Hepatitis Free”. The event was held in Abuja.

    Represented by Dr. Joe Amedu, Director of Health Services, the minister pointed out that whereas other infectious and non-communicable diseases have acute symptoms that can be easily noticed, “hepatitis is a silent ailment which causes severe damage to the liver; chronic liver disease, liver cancer and ultimately, death.”

    In his keynote address, a Consultant Special Grade 11/Prevention Lead, National AIDS/STIs Control Programme, Department of Public Health, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Chukwuma Anyaike, stated that 1.4 million people die annually from viral hepatitis and that 400 million people are living with viral hepatitis the world over. Out of this number, he said, 100 million are in the sub-Saharan Africa out of which Nigeria, at present, has 20 million.

    According to him, Kano State has the highest rate of infection, followed by Gombe and Kwara states respectively.

    “Prevalence rate is highest within the most productive years of 21-40 age range, while highest transmission rate is from mother to child; sharing of sharp objects, child-to-child transmission during play, blood transfusion and sex. The virus is made more deadly by its ability to survive on a contaminated surface outside the body of a carrier for at least one month, unlike HIV which has a shorter life span,” he explained.

    Anyaike further said efforts being made to checkmate the scourge include awareness creation, safe and effective vaccination, scaling up of strategies for blood screening, safe injection practices, safer sex and continuous training of care givers.

    He revealed that Nigeria has established a National Hepatitis Control Programme, inaugurated a Technical Working Group on Control of Viral Hepatitis and developed a National Policy for Control of Viral Hepatitis which was adopted by the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) at the National Conference on Health in 2013.

    “Other measures are the production of National Policy Guidelines and Ethics on the Programme; and a National Health Survey on Viral Hepatitis which is still in its planning stages,” he stated, adding that, “the World Health Organisation has kick-started programmes geared towards eliminating the scourge by 2030.”

  • Rheumatologist seeks awareness about lupus disease

    A Consultant Rheumatologist, Prof. Femi Adelowo, has called for more awareness and education about lupus among the general public, including doctors.

    Adelowo, who made the call at a seminar organised by the Department of Medicine, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, Lagos said awareness about the condition was poor in the country.

    He spoke in commemoration of the World Lupus Day marked annually on May 10.

    According to a website, Mayo Clinic, lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that occurs when your body’s immune system attacks your own tissues and organs.

    It stated that inflammation caused by lupus could affect many different body systems including your joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart and lungs.

    He said: “The condition is quite common in Nigeria; the failure to recognise it is a huge challenge.

    “Many patients who have it will present with recurrent fever, joint pains, tiredness, sores in the mouth, weight loss and skin rash and they can be treated for malaria repeatedly.

    “We need to educate the populace including doctors, so that, when they see the symptoms and signs they will know quickly that they need to refer to the rheumatologist as quickly as possible.”

    The consultant said the country did not have statistics to show how common the condition was.

    He said, however, that 10 per cent of patients with arthritis and rheumatism that were seen at LASUTH and other clinics in the state had the condition.

    “Every clinic day at LASUTH we see about two or three new cases of the condition,’’ he said.

    Adelowo said that the challenges facing the management of the condition include high cost and non-availability of drugs, inadequate specialists and poor recognition of the condition itself.

    He said: “The drugs are very expensive and because it will be taken for a long time that creates certain financial challenges.

    “There are a few rheumatologists in the country; presently, we have less than 30 all over the country and that is very small to cater for about 170 million people.

    “Part of the problem is that the awareness has been very low and one way to create awareness is to have days such as the world lupus day.’’

    He said the cause of the disease was unknown and could not be obtained from certain foods or things that people did.

    According to him, it is more common in young women in their reproductive age.

    “Some people have the genes for the condition and are predisposed to it and also it may be as a result of environmental factors.

    “The condition has no cure but requires management; patients should take their drugs regularly, eat well and exercise,’’ he said.

    Two patients who shared their experiences said the awareness about the condition was low and the need for more sensitisation.