The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Disease Control

  • Disease Control boss to Nigerians: resist monkey pox vaccination

    NATIONAL Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) National Coordinator Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu has urged Nigerians to resist any attempt by anybody to vaccinate them against monkey pox infection.

    He stated categorically that there was no vaccine against monkey pox virus in the country at the moment.

    Ihekweazu told the Senate Committee on Primary Healthcare and Communicable Diseases that the centre has no relationship whatsoever with what the military was reportedly doing in the Southeast.

    He said: “Now, in terms of vaccine, there is no vaccine for monkey pox. So, it is not a vaccine preventable disease. There is absolutely no connection between the work that we are doing and any intervention in the Southeast.

    “There is no relationship between our work and any intervention in the area. There are a lot of anxiety and people are spreading all sorts of rumors.

    “We want to rule out categorically that we are not intervening in any way, we are not vaccinating in any part of the country. Absolutely not.

    “There are vaccination campaign in some states, there is one happening in Kwara State tomorrow on yellow fever in a few local governments but there is nothing going on monkey pox in any part of the country.”

    He insisted that Nigerians should “resist any attempt by anyone to administer vaccination against monkey pox on them because it is not a vaccine preventable disease”.

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Primary Healthcare and Disease Control, Senator Mao Ohuabunwa said: “I want to believe that the first alert on the monkey Pox virus in Bayelsa State was made on the September 22, 2017.

    “Now, as you speak, you are still telling us that the symptoms have resemblance of monkey pox. Why is it taking so long to confirm to Nigerians that truly out of the 33 cases one or two have been identified to be monkey pox?”

    He also wanted to know whether there is a laboratory for diagnosing the disease.

    After listening to the centre’s coordinator, Ohuabunwa said:  “It is a national embarrassment that Nigeria does not have simple laboratory to diagnose simple infections. It is a shame.”

     

    No case of confirmed monkey pox disease, says FCT

     

     

    Seven suspected cases of monkey pox were recorded in four hospitals in Abuja yesterday with samples of six victims taken and sent to Senegal for confirmation.

    But the Secretary, Health and Human Services Secretariat (HHSS) of Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) Amanda Pam, while briefing reporters, denied the rumours that there is an outbreak of the dread disease in the nation’s capital.

    She said the recorded cases were that of chicken pox, which shares similar appearance to monkey pox.

    On Wednesday, there was a rumoured two cases of monkey pox outbreak at Gwarinpa General Hospital, Abuja.

     

    More schools shut in Delta

     

    The panic ignited by alleged rumours that some strange persons were going round some schools to forcefully inject students in parts of Delta State spread to more parts of the state yesterday as many schools in Isoko North, Isoko South, Okpe and some other council areas were forced to close down by parents.

  • AU nominates Nigeria, four others as disease control centres

    AU nominates Nigeria, four others as disease control centres

    The African Union (AU) has nominated five countries from the sub-regions of the continent to serve as Africa Centres for Disease Control (ACDC).

    Olawale Maiyegun, Director of Social Affairs, African Union Commission, who made the disclosure to newsmen in Abuja on yesterday, explained that the centres would be the Regional Collaborating Centres (RCC) for AU on disease control.

    The countries are Nigeria, Gabon, Egypt, Zambia and Kenya.

    Maiyegun said that the nomination, spread across West, East, North, South and Central Africa, would see the countries have a coordinating office inside the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa.

    He said that the idea was approved in 2015 with a mandate to each of the five sub-regions to nominate one country each as a collaborating centre.

    “We are supposed to embark on a visit to see if the institutions being put up by these countries meet the criteria contained in article 26 of the ACDC statutes.

    “We are in Nigeria and our aim is to determine if the National Centres for Disease Control (NCDC), which serves as centre for disease control in West Africa, meets the criteria that are contained in the statutes.

    “We are not comparing the countries with each other rather we are evaluating and assessing them to ensure they meet every criteria,” Maiyegun said.

    He said that AU would achieve the mandate through government commitment, human resources, infrastructure and funding.

    The AU representative lauded the efforts of the Nigerian government toward the realisation of the idea going by the commitment demonstrated by the minister of health.

    “We were received by the minister of health for state who demonstrated clear knowledge on the subject matter. We also got calls from the minister of health; we were not disappointed by the deep knowledge that he showed. It shows that they understood deeply the issues of public health and the reason for our coming,” he added.

    Maiyegun said that NCDC could take on the responsibilities that had been entrusted to it going by what had been put on ground.

    He expressed the hope that the federal government would provide its counterpart funds for the project.

    He commended the Federal Government’s strategy used to combat polio and expressed the hope that it would be sustained.

    According to Maiyegun, the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) that is dedicated to the fight against polio in Nigeria, is strong and well established and the government will need to continue to sustain the project.

     

     

    He, however, said that AU partners were prepared to support Nigeria and efforts would be made to correct the gaps identified.

    Maiyegun urged the minister to ensure the country lived up to expectation in managing its triple responsibilities of being the NCDC, Regional CDC and a collaborating centre for ACDC. (NAN)

  • Afe Babalola tasks medical practitioners on disease control

    Afe Babalola tasks medical practitioners on disease control

    •ABUAD hosts veterinary council conference

    Founder and Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola (SAN), has advocated a sustainable synergy between animal and human medical practitioners to minimise the spread of diseases in the country.

    He spoke during a two-day seminar for veterinary doctors and laboratory technologists held at ABUAD which drew participants from all over the country.

    Babalola advised those dealing in the raring of live animals across the country to always patronise veterinary doctors in the course of their business.

    The ABUAD founder noted that neglect of veterinary services could lead to bankruptcy and immense loss, especially for those in the practice of animal husbandry on a large scale.

    At the meeting, the Veterinary Council of Nigeria (VCN) urged governments at all levels to prioritise animal health in their policies in order to ensure a holistic health programme for the country.

    Speaking through its National President,Prof Garba Sharubutu, the council said the neglect or lukewarm attitude towards animal health could spell doom for the nation’s health sector noting that a well driven animals health service is  required to ensure drastic reduction of diseases and sicknesses in the Nigeria  society.

    Sharubutu said the seminar was intended to broaden and update the knowledge of veterinary practitioners drawn from across the country on contemporary issues in veterinary practice.

    He expressed hope that the seminar would boost animals health services delivery in the country if its imports are put to use by government and practitioners

  • U.S., AU sign pact on African centre for disease control

    U.S., AU sign pact on African centre for disease control

    The U.S. and the African Union on Monday signed an agreement to create the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, chairperson of the African Union Commission, signed a memo of cooperation.

    The document formalised the collaboration between the African Union Commission and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    “The West African Ebola epidemic reaffirmed the need for a public health institute to support African ministries of health and other health agencies.

    “This is in their efforts to prevent, detect, and respond to any disease outbreak,” CDC director Dr Thomas Frieden said in a statement.

    The African CDC is slated to be inaugurated later in 2015 with the opening of a surveillance and response unit.

    The statement said that the unit will provide technical expertise and help coordinate response to health emergencies.

    It said that as part of the agreement, the U.S. CDC will send two public health experts to serve as long-term technical advisers to the African CDC.

    According to the statement, the U.S. will also support fellowships for 10 African epidemiologists to help staff five regional African CDC coordinating centers.

    The centres are being established to help monitor disease activity on the continent.