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Tag: Doctors

  • ‘African players believe in ‘juju’ men than doctors’

    Former Super Eagles’ striker Osaze Odemwingie has explained how he received treatment from a voodoo man year’s back when he was injured while playing football.

    Osaze Odemwingie was born in Russia but was brought to Nigeria by his parents before he began his professional football career at Bendel Insurance of Benin.

    The 37-year-old who currently plays in Indonesia, has now revealed how he got injured in training before he was taken to a place for ‘juju’ treatment on his shoulder.

    ”I had a fall in training, I also hurt my shoulder and broke my arm. I was afraid to tell my mom so they took me to the local juju man.

    ”They poured hot water to relax their muscles. Somehow they returned the hand to the place, while I yelled, they twisted some small sticks. There was a rite with a chicken. ”I came home, my mother saw the hand: “Broke?” I answered: “Yes.” I was taken to a regular hospital, anaesthesia was done, and they put the plaster on. All is well in the end,” Odemwingie told championat.com.

    Odemwingie who was known for his superb skills while playing for the Super Eagles added that most African players believe in juju treatment (voodoo) than going to see doctors when injured. ”

    ”At least 70% of players believe in it. They think that some kind of salve will save them. This is more suggestion. Brainwashing goes.

    ”But three years in Nigeria have been helpful to me. They called me to the Big League, and there my career developed much faster,” he added.

  • 88 doctors quit civil service – NMA

    The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has called on Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi to reverse the ‘current internal drift’ of doctors and other healthcare workers in the state.

    The association made the appeal in a statement issued to newsmen in Lokoja on Monday by the state NMA Chairman, Dr Kabiru Zubair.

    This followed the exit of 88 medical doctors from the state public service.

    The association however felicitated with the governor on the celebration of his third year anniversary in office and for making healthcare one of his five thematic areas.

    According to Zubair, “Under this administration, a total of 88 doctors have left the Kogi Civil Service; previously, 79 doctors left plus another nine who had succeeded in securing new employment recently.

    “Doctors and other healthcare workers remained the drivers of healthcare delivery anywhere in the world.
    “Steps such as the payment of outstanding salary arrears of doctors and other healthcare workers, implementation of the corrected CONMESS, promotion and annual step increment, among others, are needed to reverse this unfortunate trend.

    Read Also: LASUTH resident doctors begin warning strike Jan 28

    “As you commence your fourth year in office, the NMA as the custodian of the health of the people is ready and willing to partner with state government to improve the health sector in Kogi.’’

    Zubair said that the association equally felicitated with the Deputy Governor, the SSG, the Chief of Staff, Commissioner for Health, Special Adviser on Health Matters and the entire cabinet members for sustaining the progress made thus far.

    NAN recalls that Bello was sworn-in as the fourth civilian governor of Kogi by the satte Chief Judge, Justice Nasir Ajanah, on Jan. 27, 2016.

    Zubair, however, commended the state government and Bello for some positive steps the government had taken in repositioning the health sector in the state.

  • Doctors lift diabetic patients

    A group of doctors yesterday launched an application to assist persons with diabetes, hypertension embrace positive lifestyle changes for improved health.

    The initiative, Mobile Doctor (MDoc), a health hub, was introduced at the General Hospital Ikorodu, where over 100 patients were schooled on managing their conditions for longer and healthier lives.

    According to the initiator of the hub Dr. Nneka Mobisson the MDoc was in collaboration with two organisations outside Nigeria to address a wide array of chronic diseases.

    Mobisson who said her father died of stroke, disclosed that she dedicated herself to help other sufferers of chronic diseases live better lives as a way of remembering her father.

    “The MDoc is an app which can be downloaded on mobile phones. It helps users check their blood pressure and sugar level. This is the first time we are having something like this in Nigeria.

    At the event were the Jagunmolu of Ikorodu Chief Rafiu Ogbara, MDoc co-founder Imo Etuk, Medical Director Ikorodu General Hospital, Dr. Funmi Bankole, representative of Roche Diabetes Care Mrs. Folasade Olufemi-Ajayi among others.

    In his remark, Etuk said: “This is our first launch and we are also introducing health hub into the communities to make it easier for people to get screened and manage their conditions better.”

    The Nation reports that patients were taught the importance of physical exercises and maintaining a healthy diet.

    A beneficiary Mrs. Adenike Akindele who said the facilitators have helped her achieve normal blood sugar level, encouraged others to take the lectures seriously.

     

  • Doctors launch initiative to help diabetic, hypertensive patients

    •Doctors launch initiative to help diabetic, hypertensive patients

    A group of doctors yesterday launched an application to assist persons with diabetes, hypertension embrace positive lifestyle changes for improved health.

    The initiative, Mobile Doctor (MDoc), a health hub, was introduced at the General Hospital Ikorodu, where over 100 patients were schooled on managing their conditions for longer and healthier lives.

    According to the initiator of the hub Dr. Nneka Mobisson the MDoc was in collaboration with two organisations outside Nigeria to address a wide array of chronic diseases.

    Mobisson who said her father died of stroke, disclosed that she dedicated herself to help other sufferers of chronic diseases live better lives as a way of remembering her father.

    “The MDoc is an app which can be downloaded on mobile phones. It helps users check their blood pressure and sugar level. This is the first time we are having something like this in Nigeria.

    At the event were the Jagunmolu of Ikorodu Chief Rafiu Ogbara, MDoc co-founder Imo Etuk, Medical Director Ikorodu General Hospital, Dr. Funmi Bankole, representative of Roche Diabetes Care Mrs. Folasade Olufemi-Ajayi among others.

    In his remark, Etuk said: “This is our first launch and we are also introducing health hub into the communities to make it easier for people to get screened and manage their conditions better.”

    The Nation reports that patients were taught the importance of physical exercises and maintaining a healthy diet.

    A beneficiary Mrs. Adenike Akindele who said the facilitators have helped her achieve normal blood sugar level, encouraged others to take the lectures seriously.

     

  • Doctors kick against drug abuse

    Islamic Medical Practitioners Association of Nigeria (IMPAN), Lagos State chapter, has organised a workshop on the menace of drug addiction.

    The workshop, held at the Pavilion Hall of the National Orthopaedic Hospital, (NOH) Igbobi, Lagos, was organised in conjunction with Green Crescent Health Development Initiative.

    Speaking at the event with the theme: ”Issues in understanding, communicating and preventing addiction”, NOH Managing Director Dr. Mustapha Alimi described the rising cases of drug addiction as worrisome.

    Alimi, who is also the chairman of IMPAN in Lagos State, said the need to curb the menace necessitated the training.

    He said: ”Hardly do we have any street in Lagos Mainland where alcohol is not freely sold. Even to the underage people, alcohol and cheap drugs such as tramadol are freely sold to them and we are all exposed to this.

    ”In the North, there is high addiction rate among women, who are predominantly Muslims. Islam is an expressive religion with moderation. Therefore, in trying to be true Muslims we have to balance the way we moderate our children; not only by telling them to run away from drugs, but also by explaining to them the implications of drug addiction.”

    The Consultant Psychiatric at Neuro Psychiatric Hospital, Kaduna State, Dr. Tajudeen Abiola, said in his keynote address that ”addiction means a long lasting abuse of the brain. When a person continuously uses hard drugs, it becomes serial addiction and an individual’s ability to stop the abuse becomes difficult.”

    He said: ”Drug abuse and addiction can lead to concentration of heavy metals, memory loss, skin rashes, joint stiffness digestion problems, cold feet and heat problems, among others.”

  • Doctors, UCH settle 12 indigent patients’ bills

    The University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, and its branch of the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) have settled the medical bills of 12 indigent patients at the hospital.

    The association paid about N400,000 to the patients, mostly children tied down in the hospital due to their financial incapability to settle their bills.

    The affected patients are in the medical, surgical and psychological departments of the hospital.

    The cash donation, which was in collaboration with the hospital management, was part of activities marking MDCAN’s annual general meeting (AGM).

    The weeklong AGM with the theme, Team Building in the Health Management and Leadership in Contemporary Nigeria, began yesterday and will end on September 30.

    Addressing reporters on the meeting, MDCAN’s Chairman Dr Victor Makanjuola said while the association presented the cash to the patients, the UCH management granted waivers on various fees to the patients, including bed and surgical fees.

    Makanjuola, who was accompanied by UCH’s Chairman of Medical Advisory Committee, Dr. Victor Akinmoladun and other executives of MDCAN, visited the patients in their wards.

    The union chairman said the beneficiaries were selected after their cases were reviewed and it was discovered that the beneficiaries could not settle their hospital bills.

    He added that despite the non-payment of the salaries of the doctors in the last three months, the association’s members were undeterred in showing kind gesture to the needy.

    The beneficiaries included a 17-year-old boy, Sanni Akinkunmi Abdullahi in East One Ward, who got N40,000; 17-month-old baby, Afolabi Oluwaseyi and a 22-year-old woman, Esther Olaoye, who was delivered of a boy through surgery.

    Makanjuola said: “I must also bring to the notice of the public that we in MDCAN as well as some of our younger colleagues (interns) in UCH have not been paid our allowances and salaries in the past three months. Nevertheless, we have been consistently delivering clinical services.

    “This information is important to correct the erroneous belief by the public that doctors always go on strike for money. The non-payment of salaries has also not prevented us, as an association, from being charitable to the underprivileged.”

    On the theme of the AGM, the chairman said it was chosen in recognition of the inter-professional rivalry in the Health sector, its attendant negative effects on service delivery and health-related indices.

  • Less than 36,000 doctors attend to over 182 million patients in Nigeria -Don

    Nigeria has less than 36,000 doctors attending to over 182 million patients. A medical expert of Health Policy/ Systems Development Unit, Department of Community Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Dr. Jubril Mohammad Bashar, has disclosed

    Bashar disclosed this at a one-day capacity building workshop on Basic Healthcare Funding in Nigeria for the media organised by Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) which was held recently at Chesterfield Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.

    According to Bashar, Nigeria needs no fewer than 237,000 medical doctors to meet World Health Organisation (WHO) standard, as opposed to the “36,000 working in the country today.”

    To corroborate this fact Dr. Bashar cited example of Jigawa State which has the highest number of health workers in Nigeria but 92% of them are auxiliary nurses, laboratory attendants and cleaners, while Kaduna State has more of ghost doctors and ghost hospitals.

    Bashar, who spoke on Financing for Primary Healthcare: Harnessing Domestic Funding Opportunities, Enabling Policies and Legislation, pointed out that lack of success in achieving health care financing has continued to be a challenge in achieving universal health care in Nigeria.

    “The health of any nation is very vital to the development of that country. Therefore, for any country to develop, the health care sector must be adequately funded,” he said.

    In his address, the Executive Director CISLAC, Mallam Auwal Ibrahim Musa, pointed out that the ultimate goal of the project is to promote policy implementation of government’s commitment to primary health care in Nigeria.

    “This is so because the challenges facing primary health care in Nigeria are complex and essentially arising from poor legal regulatory frameworks and implementation, economic and socio cultural challenges.”

    Investigative journalism in the words of the Programme Manager CISLAC, Chioma Kalu, may be challenging and constrained by finances, access to information, threats from individuals or society but it is highly rewarding for journalists in that it propels them to levels where others cannot get. They may even get international acclaims and awards.

    “Investigative journalism is the panacea towards rebuilding our primary health care. It will bring about accessibility and attendance to health centres. It may also reduce cost, thereby enhance affordability,” Kalu said.

    At the end of the workshop, participants recommended the following: Full-fledged community consultation in planning and processes establishing primary health care to enable ownership, attendance and monitoring; Strategic community-oriented advocacy in demanding accountability from the policy and legislative realms; Strengthened judicial institutions to enable social equity and justice, and appropriate implementation of existing legislation;  Persistent site visits by civil society to primary health care facilities to observe challenges, monitor situation, track progress and document reports to educate the policy and legislative realms;  Increased focus on public-private spending to encourage equitable distribution of comprehensive primary health care services in Nigeria, as a middle income country, among others.

  • Ministers to doctors: be compassionate during emergencies

    Minister of State, Health,  Dr. Osagie Ehanire has advised Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) members to show compassion while handling emergency and accident cases.

    He urged doctors to give prompt attention to victims.

    The minister spoke when he received NMA’s executive members, led by their President, Dr. Francis Faduyile.

    According to him, life is sacred and the medical profession is a divine calling; as such, health professionals, particularly medical doctors, should have a change of attitude towards their patients while discharging their duties.

    He said: “As keepers of a profession that has to do with human existence, you need compassion, dedication, integrity and selflessness. As team leaders, you must remember to carry others along because quality health care delivery requires the cooperation of everyone involved, success requires team work.”

    The minister urged the executives to ensure better working relationship with other associations in the sector, adding that this  would stem the tide of strikes in the sector.

    Ehanire assured the group that the ministry would continue to partner the association and other bodies to achieve a strike-free atmosphere.

    He assured that the ministry was committed to resolving every issue to improve the welfare of health professionals.

    Faduyile said there was the need to ensure the release of the white paper  by the Yayale Ahmed-led Presidential Committee on experts on Inter-Professional Relationship in the Public Health Sector, adding that it would play a vital role in achieving peace in the sector.

    He said the NMA was poised to partnering the ministry and other relevant stakeholders in the sector towards health care delivery.

    Meanwhile, the Federal Government has put in place strategies to improve the health of adolescents and youths.

    The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole made this known at a stakeholders’ meeting on Health and development of adolescents and young people in Nigeria, organised by the ministry in partnership with World Health Organisations (WHO).

    The minister, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mr. Abdulaziz M. Abdullahi, said the meeting was a reflection of the ministry’s commitment to ensuring significant improvement of health and well-being of adolescents and youths.

    Adewole said adolescence is a period of transition between childhood and Adulthood (aged 10-24). There are about 47 million adolescents and youths.

    Evidence indicates that adolescents and youths face challenges, which include mental health resulting from drugs and substances abuse, sexual and reproductive health problems as well as endemic and chronic diseases.

    As part of the strategies, the ministry banned production and distribution of codeine drug and other substances harm adolescents and youths.

    The minister explained that National Strategic Health Development Plan II, approved during the National Council on Health in Kano, would support adolescents and youths.

    He said the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), being adopted by states, had great impact on adolescents and youths, adding that the Saving One Million Lives Programme, the health intervention funds to states, was beneficial to adolescents and young people.

    “I implore the group of experts to come up with innovative ideas and feasible interventions that would enhance adolescents and youth friendly health services and programmes across the country, particularly as we work together towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” the minister said.

    The Permanent Secretary, represented by the Director, Department of Family Health, Dr. Adebimbe Adebiyi, said investing on adolescents and youths was a national priority considering the growing population and the increasing need of their health care services.

    Abdullahi called on participants to assess adolescents and youths to harness resources to address their needs.

    The WHO Country Representative, Dr. Wondi Alemu, represented by Dr. Andrew Nbewe, said the global health body made adolescents health a flagship programme.

    “Adolescent health is a flagship Programme for World Health Organisation and the Organisation is available to provide every necessary assistance to ensure that our adolescents are healthy,” he said

  • Doctors warn against patronising quack bone setters in Cross River

    Residents of Cross River State have been warned to stop patronising quack bone setters whenever they need bone treatment.

    Head of Department of Orthopaedic and Traumatology, University of Calabar, Prof. Ngim Ngim, gave the warning in Calabar during a public enlightenment campaign on the need to care for the human bones.

    Ngim said that visiting quacks for bone problems had caused severe damages to many individuals.

    According to him, the road walk was to sensitise the people as part of the activities lined up to celebrate the Calabar Orthopaedic Week 2018.

    He explained that the purpose of the Calabar Orthopedic Week 2018 was aimed at discouraging people from doing harm to their bones by patronising quack health practices.

    “The essence of this road work is to sensitize the public and invite them to the main event which holds on Wednesday at the Unical International Conference Centre.

    “The programme is also to serve as an enlightenment forum to reachout to our people on issues relating to orthopaedic problems.

    “Our aim is to discourage people from doing harm to themselves by patronizing quack health practices particularly in this era.

    “We want to achieve a degree of awareness that will let people to come to the University of Calabar Teaching hospital and see specialist whenever they have their problems.

    “Most of them usually end up in the wrong place before they come to us. And before they come to us, many things would have gone wrong.

    “By that time even when we have done the right thing, the whole thing may still not be too good due to the damages they have done to themselves at first by visiting quack healthcare practitioners”, he said.

    He called on all Nigerians to always visit the Orthopaedic Department at the Teaching Hospital for their bone problems, adding that some people travel abroad for cases that can be handled locally.

    Chairman Local Organising Committee of the week, Prof. Tony Udosen, said the aim of the programme was to sensitize the public on the importance of taking care of their bones and visiting the right hospital for treatment.

    “It is purely a public enlightment to create awareness on issues relating to bone diseases; ranging from injuries from accident, congenital problems that people are born with, ageing problems, and many others”, he said.

    The public enlightenment took place at the main gate of the University of Calabar, Mary Slessor roundabout, Watt Market and the popular Etim-Edem park.

  • Dearth of doctors

    •It’s high time the brain drain stopped

    When a lawmaker in the Benue State House of Assembly, Dr Adoga Onah, drew attention to the paucity of doctors in the state’s 23 general hospitals, the information he supplied was alarming. Indeed, Onah, who is the chairman, House Committee on Health and Human Services, had urged Governor Samuel Ortom to declare a state of emergency in the health sector.

    “I lost about eight persons,” Onah had said, adding that the dearth of doctors had led to the loss of many lives in the state. He stated that people would not have died from simple ailments, if doctors were available at the hospitals. Onah lamented that the authorities had not paid sufficient attention to the health sector. The lawmaker observed that although the assembly allocated 15 per cent to the health sector this year, as against the usual four per cent, the current allocation was far from the 50 per cent provision recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

    It is noteworthy that the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Benue State had also drawn attention to the acute shortage of doctors in hospitals in the state, ahead of a doctors’ strike in October 2017.  The association’s leadership had complained that the state had “less than 50 medical doctors.’’

    The commissioner for health and human services, Dr. Cecilia Ojabo, had responded: “They talked of shortage of doctors; we have 91 doctors at the teaching hospital and across the general hospitals in the state…There is nothing yet to warrant declaration of a state of emergency in the health sector in Benue State… there is no cause for alarm… There are four doctors to every general hospital across the state.”

    The commissioner’s figures show that there are clearly not enough doctors. It is ironical to have hospitals without enough doctors. Indeed, the situation in the state is a reflection of a national crisis. The country has a poor doctor-patient ratio, which is said to be one doctor to 4, 000 patients. The WHO recommendation is one doctor to 600 patients.

    Severe shortage of doctors and other health workers remains a big challenge across the country. Medical brain drain is a major issue among factors responsible for the inadequacy of medical personnel. According to a report, an estimated 35,000 Nigerian doctors are practising abroad out of the 72,000 registered with the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria. The United Kingdom and the United States are the top destinations of the migrant doctors.

    For instance, figures released in February by the British government indicate that no fewer than 5,405 Nigerian-trained doctors and nurses are currently working with the British National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom. This means that Nigerian medical workers constitute 3.9 per cent of the 137,000 foreign staff of 202 nationalities working alongside British doctors and nurses.

    What are the authorities doing to retain the health professionals at home and attract those abroad? What are those things that attract these professionals to foreign countries?  Poor working conditions, including inadequate remuneration and inadequate facilities, are usually cited as reasons for medical migration. It is lamentable that many medical professionals trained in Nigeria leave to work in foreign countries where they are better able to practise with a sense of fulfillment.

    This matter comes within the purview of the government, especially as it concerns public hospitals.  It is scandalous and unacceptable that public health facilities across the country are operating far below the desired standards mainly on account of governmental underperformance.

    To fix the health system, the authorities need to prioritise healthcare, increase health-sector funding, and improve the working conditions of medical personnel.