The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Drugs

  • Study confirms holistic approach to health: Diet cures, not drugs

    A ground breaking study, conducted by a doctor at Seattle Children’s Hospital and published in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, has demonstrated, for the first time, that dietary intervention alone can allow complete remission of symptoms in cases of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

    “For decades or longer, medicine has said diet doesn’t matter, that it doesn’t impact disease,” researcher and gastroenterologist, David Suskind, said adding: “Now we know that diet does have an impact, a strong impact. It works, and now there’s evidence.”

    IBD is a cluster of related diseases characterised by pathological inflammation of the digestive tract. The two most common forms are Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis (UC). The causes of IBD are unknown, but it is believed to arise from an interaction of genetic factors, abnormal composition of the gut microbiome, and immune dysfunction. It is typically treated with steroids or immune-suppressing drugs, both of which can result in lifelong side effects.

    Neither treatment addresses the underlying causes of the condition. The new study consisted of an analysis of a small group of pediatric Crohn’s and UC patients at Suskind’s clinic whose parents consented to their treatment solely with an experimental dietary treatment for IBD.

    For 12 weeks, participants were placed on a diet called the specific carbohydrate diet (SCD), which is designed as a nutritionally balanced diet based around natural, nutrient-rich foods such as fruits, vegetables, meat, and nuts, but does not contain any grains, dairy, sugars (except honey) or processed foods. No other treatment was given.

    At the end of the study period, eight of the 10 patients were in remission, showing no further IBD symptoms. “This changes the paradigm for how we may choose to treat children with inflammatory bowel disease,” Suskind said.

    More studies will be needed before the medical establishment is willing to embrace the SCD as a treatment for IBD. But no further proof is needed for Nicole Kittelson, whose daughter Adelynne was diagnosed with Crohn’s at age eight. At the time, Suskind offered a variety of treatments, and Kittelson opted for the SCD.

    “Today, Adelynne has been in clinical remission for more than two years. She’s a healthy, happy and thriving 11-year-old girl. I can’t believe how far we’ve come. When we first walked into Seattle Children’s, she was an 8-year-old girl, who was barely heavier than our 4-year-old. Now, she’s growing and foods are no longer an enemy,” Kittelson said.

    According to Kittelson, adjusting to the SCD was hard at first, but following the diet is relatively effortless and automatic. “Her lunch doesn’t look much different than other kids at school. There are so many options out there. We haven’t felt like we’ve had to sacrifice. We’ve even adjusted holiday traditions to fit into our new lifestyle. Instead of candy for special occasions, we swap them for other things,” said Kittelson.

    The implications of Suskind’s findings are potentially far reaching. The study is the first to demonstrate clinically that dietary change alone can be a safe and effective method for treating IBD. “Each person’s disease is unique, just as each person is unique. SCD is another tool in our tool belt to help treat these patients. It may not be the best treatment option for everyone, but it is an effective treatment for those who wish to try a dietary therapy,” Suskind said.

    If further, placebo-controlled studies back up the effectiveness of the SCD, it may lead to treatments for other chronic inflammatory conditions — which includes most chronic diseases that plague modern civilisation, including cancer and heart disease.

    Because foods are more complex than drugs and don’t make profit for drug companies, medical research has been slow to research dietary intervention. Perhaps the new study will help that pattern start to change.

    “I don’t have the words to thank Dr. Suskind for what he did for us. To have a doctor that is willing to explore other options and is willing to try new things, it’s incredible,” Kittelson said.

     

    • Source: www.naturalnews.com
  • NAFDAC cautions youths against illicit drugs

    NAFDAC cautions youths against illicit drugs

    The National Agency for Food, Drug, Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has cautioned youths against use of illicit drugs because of its adverse effects in the society.

    NAFDAC’s Kwara State Coordinator Mrs Roseline Ajayi gave the warning in Ilorin while fielding questions from reporters yesterday.

    She expressed concern about the rate at which youths over dose on drugs, which she describe as a challenge facing the agency due to the harmful effect on health.

    According to her, the agency is scaling up enlightenment campaign in schools, markets and other public places, and with youth corps members in various languages on the need  to be aware of drug abuse.

    She highlighted logistics as one of the problems NAFDAC faces in meeting some of its responsibilities.

    Ajayi said as a regulatory body for drugs and foods, it also monitor the products of manufacturers until it gets to the end consumer or user and ascertain that marketers do not stock expired drugs or other products.

    The coordinator, who is a deputy director, said it always collaborated with the state and other security agencies in the war against drug abuse, but noted the difficulties due to inadequate logistics.

    She said another major problem the agency faces in the state was bread bakers who, she claimed, bake their products in hygienic premises.

    Ajayi refuted claims by some bread bakers in the state that the agency was making life difficult for them.

    The coordinator explained that they were only asked to bake on a stainless tray, keep a clean environment and get the right premises for proper hygiene as well as pay their yearly dues.

  • Nigeria seeks reversal of Common External Tariffs on drugs

    The Federal Government is considering a review of the Common External Tariffs (CET) because the subsisting order is hurting the pharmaceutical industry.

    The Ministry of Health and his counterpart in Investment, Trade and Industry  are coordinating the government’s bid to reverse the CET, which has been widely criticised as unfair to the Nigerian pharmaceutical manufacturing industry.

    The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), CET, which implementation began last year, reduces import duty tariff on finished pharmaceutical products to zero per cent compared with the five to 20 per cent duty on raw and packaging materials respectively. This scenario hugely favours importation to the detriment of local production.

    Nigeria accounts for about 75 per cent of the region’s pharmaceutical manufacturing with Ghana accounting for about 20 per cent, as against  other sub-regional countries that depend  mostly on importation. This development has prompted stakeholders  to impress it on government to take  measure to protect the local industry by invoking the Import Adjustment Tax of the CET, while working on a medium to long-term review of the agreement.

    Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, said Nigeria has written a letter to the Ecowas seeking a reversal of the CET as it relates to the pharmaceutical industry, noting that the CET undermines the huge investments that had been made in the Nigerian pharmaceutical industry.

    “It doesn’t make sense to allocate higher tariffs to raw pharmaceutical materials, it doesn’t make sense, government is looking at the reversal,” Adewole said.

    Adewole recently undertook factory tour of the N9 billion World Health Organisation (WHO)-standard new pharmaceutical plant of Fidson Healthcare Plc.

    At least four companies, including May & Baker Nigeria Plc, invested in WHO-standard plants to further upscale  domestic manufacturing into global competitiveness.

    Adewole said the government would support the development of the pharmaceutical industry by patronising locally produced drugs and ensuring prompt payment for government orders.

    The Minister of Health, who was impressed by the breathtaking plant of Fidson Healthcare, said the government may consider granting waivers to the company to support it.

    He added that the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) will also be encouraged to consider supporting Fidson with funding for its raw materials and additional equipment.

    The Fidson Healthcare’s new plant, located in Ota, Ogun State, is reputed as the largest pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Africa. It is one of the few that had been shortlisted for WHO certification in Nigeria. The new plant is equipped to produce six distinct product lines-tablets, capsules, oral liquids, creams and ointments, dry powder and intravenous infusions to meet Nigeria and regional medicine needs.

    The new manufacturing plant is expected to save and generate foreign exchange (forex), create employment, reduce health tourism and contribute meaningfully to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of the Federal Government through job creation and reduction in infant mortality and maternal death.

  • A prescription for access to medicine

    A prescription for access to medicine

    In Egypt, a pharmacist’s matchmaking system links thousands of needy patients with excess drugs

     When Waleed Shawky came across a large cache of donated medicine in a Cairo mosque in 2010, he was awestruck.

    Knowing how difficult it was for his low-income customers to pay for drugs they needed, the pharmacist had long wondered where unused medicine ends up. He says corporate waste of medicine in Egypt equals roughly E£1 billion (US$112 million) per year.

    “I asked where the medication goes, and the people at the mosque said: ‘A pharmacist may come or he may not come,’ ” Shawky recalled, seated in his modest pharmacy.

    Subsequently, Shawky launched Medicine For All, an NGO that collects surplus medicine and matches it with needy patients. First, he partnered with pharmacy students to open charity pharmacies for college staff. Then he scaled up the program, reaching 60,000 Egyptians last year.

    Medication represents the largest expenditure in the Egyptian health system, and is out of reach for a significant number of Egypt’s nearly 90 million people. According to the World Bank, while more than half of Egyptians have access to some sort of health insurance, 72 percent of healthcare costs are still covered out of pocket. With more than a quarter of the population living below the poverty line, and 17 percent having trouble even purchasing food, many go without medicine.

    Medicine For All works by redistribution, linking excess supply—unused or partially used medicine—with demand. The majority of donations come from pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies, since they are not allowed to sell medicine three to six months before expiration, even if the medicine is still good.

    Donations also come in from private individuals who, by law, must buy full packages of medicine, whether or not smaller quantities suffice. In certain cases, people switch medications or die before finishing their prescription. Affluent people might donate unused medicine out of altruism, or because the donations are tax deductible and can count as tithing to one’s church or mosque.

    Shawky’s idea has won him recognition, from being a finalist at the MIT Arab Forum to being named an Ashoka Fellow in 2013.

    In Medicine For All’s headquarters, in the eastern Cairo neighborhood of Nasr City, a large donation from a pharmaceutical company is spread across a dozen plastic weave bags, waiting to be sorted. Shawky trains volunteer pharmacy students to screen and filter the donated medicine, giving them invaluable hands-on experience working with actual drugs.

    His team discards expired or compromised medicine, cataloguing the rest into a database. Then the organization distributes the medicine via partner NGOs, which select recipients based on their medical need and economic means, following up to ensure patients complete their course of medication. Each month, medical caravans also deliver medicine to patients in remote areas. Last year, Medicine For All distributed E£1.6 million worth of donated medicine, up from E£300,000 in 2013, when the NGO was officially created.

    In Zeitoun, an eastern Cairo neighborhood, Helmy Torky’s organization, Al-Nour Al-Mohamedy, distributes medicine to about 30 patients each month.

    “I can’t even buy half a pill,” said Saber Mostafa Mohamed, a 64-year-old former plumber. Mohamed receives E£360 a month in social insurance, but his medicine would cost him nearly twice that.

    Even before he had to stop working due to his heart condition, he would have had trouble choosing between supporting his family and his medicine. “I would’ve had to put my fate in the hands of God,” he said.

    With about E£100k in annual expenses, Medicine For All is self-sustaining for now, in part due to the stipend Shawky receives from his Ashoka fellowship. Shawky hopes to scale up operations, and is seeking more funding and partnerships.

    He has launched a sponsorship program for chronically ill patients with diseases such as hepatitis C and schistosomiasis, which are endemic in Egypt and require expensive medicine. In Zeitoun, Karima Bakry Ahmed, a 54-year-old building attendant, held her latest lab results, which showed she has been clear of the hepatitis C virus since receiving medication through Medicine For All.

    Wasted medicine and high drug costs plague countries around the world, and have led to similar programs elsewhere. In the United States, the organization Sirum uses an online system for peer-to-peer redistribution.

    “Wherever there is the problem of the misuse of medicine, the project could work there,” Shawky said. “I know it is replicable for the Middle East and the Gulf region. My friends in those countries tell me they have the same problem as Egypt.”

    Beyond the medical and developmental benefits, Medicine For All has caused changes in mentality, encouraging even the neediest to share.

    “The organization taught me how to live,” said the plumber Mohamed. “If I have any leftover medicine, I bring it back to Mr. Helmy.”

    For more information

     Website: https://www.ashoka.org/fellow/waleed-shawky

    Dr. Waleed Shawky, 36, founder of Medicine for All, at his pharmacy in Cairo. March 2016.

     

  • 8,778 arrested with 903,624kgs of drugs in 2015

    8,778 arrested with 903,624kgs of drugs in 2015

    The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), arrested 8,778  suspects comprising 8,143 men and 635 womenlast year, its Chairman/Chief Executive, Col.  Muhammad Mustapha (rtd) said yesterday.

    About  903,624.56kg of narcotic drugs were seized during the  period.

    The drugs arecannabis, 871,480.32kg, psychotropic substances, 30,652.93kg, ephedrine, 785.10kg, methamphetamine, 410.82kg, cocaine, 260.47kg, heroin, 30.09kg and amphetamine 4.83kg.

    The agency also won 1,690 of the cases it  prosecuted during the period.

    At the launching of activities marking the 2016 International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Lagos yesterday, Mustapha said the World Drug Day was for self-appraisal on how countries have suppressed illicit production and trade in narcotic drugs.The theme for this year’s event is Listen First.

    He said: “This theme focuses on drug abuse prevention and places a responsibility on parents, guardians, opinion leaders and stakeholders to listen to the views of persons with drug abuse problems, with a view to helping them overcome drug use. Substance abuse is an equal opportunity ailment with medically certified preventive and treatment solutions. This theme is a timely caution for persons who may be provoked by the involvement of their loved ones in drug abuse into treating them harshly and unconventionally. Let’s listen to them and share in their pains as we take necessary steps in drug abuse counselling, treatment and rehabilitation.”

    NDLEA also introduced what it called The Drug Anonymous Support Group for people who are trying to remain in remission from drug dependency and use but need peer support and encouragement to cope with the daily pressures of illicit drug use.

  • NAFDAC to end drugs hawking

    NAFDAC to end drugs hawking

    Acting Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Mrs. Yetunde Oni has promised to rid the country of drugs hawkers.

    She spoke at the weekend during a courtesy visit to the Kano State Governor Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.

    Mrs Oni said: “The task of safe guarding the health of the nation, which is the key mandate of NAFFDAC, is one task that NAFDAC cannot accomplish alone.

    “Although a hawker may claim that he or she has genuine drugs in his or her wares, but whether we like it or not, the drug loses potency because when they are hawked.

    “They are not hawked under the right storage condition and so, over time, they loss their potency. They could have been of the right quality at the beginning, but having lost potency, they become substandard products and we don’t want that!

    “Another major challenge facing us today is the upsurge in drug abuse among our youth, who are the future of tomorrow and it is gratifying to note that Kano has taken the lead and is doing a lot in the area of rehabilitating our children who have taken to drugs.”

    She went on:  “At NAFDAC, while we are committed to making available control medicine for medicinal and scientific purposes only. We recognised the fact that controlled drugs can be diverted to illicit use and abuse. This is why we your assistance to intensify surveillance and continuously monitor the supply, distribution chain for transparency and integrity.

    “There is the need for NAFDAC to be established in two other senatorial districts within Kano State. When we have these offices, NAFDAC will be closer to the grassroots to perform our regulatory functions and rid Kano State of the menace of counterfeit and unregulated products,” she said.

    Ganduje agreed that there is a need for a strong presence of NAFDAC in the state.

    “I am happy when you announced that you will want to open two offices in two senatorial districts and coincidentally, the headquarters of those senatorial districts are major routes of getting into Kano or going outside Kano to other states of the federation.”

  • Nigeria receives drugs to fight tropical disease

    Science and technology company, Merck, has delivered the largest single chunk of its praziquantel tablets to Nigeria to fight schistosomiasis as part of its endowment programme.

    Nigeria, the company said, received about 34 million tablets for distribution to school children.

    It is the largest donation Merck has made to a single country, more than the 27 million tablets it gave to the continent in 2012.

    Health Minister Prof. Isaac Adewole thanked Merck and the World Health Organisation (WHO) for their effort in fighting schistosomiasis.

    The Chairman of the Executive Board of Merck, Stefan Oschmann, met Adewole and Ethiopia Minister of Health Dr. Kesetebirhan Admasu, as well as WHO Assistant Director-General Dr. Ren Minghui, at the 69th World Health Assembly (WHA), the decision-making body of WHO, in Geneva.

    He said: “We want to eliminate the insidious worm disease and give children the opportunity to participate in the economic development of their home countries. Our donation of 34 million tablets to WHO for Nigeria – enough to treat 13.6 million school children – shows that we are on the right track.

    “However, millions of children still suffer from schistosomiasis. And we know that we alone cannot solve the problem with our tablets.”

    In Africa, Merck is supporting educational and awareness programmes, researching schistosomiasis therapies for very young children and cooperating with partners in the Global Schistosomiasis Alliance, among other things.

    “Furthermore, in the future we will collaborate even more closely with our partners to finally eliminate schistosomiasis,” Oschmann continued.

    ”With more than 235 million people requiring treatment, schistosomiasis is one of the most prevalent tropical diseases in Africa. The worm disease is widespread in all regions of Nigeria, above all among children. We are, therefore, grateful for every sustained initiative that supports us in fighting schistosomiasis,” said Adewole.

    Admasu added: “Merck’s commitment not only helps children who are ill – it also relieves the public healthcare systems of the affected countries.”

    Minghui continued: “Medicine donations such as this are essential to the fight against neglected tropical diseases. If we are to meet the ambitious sustainable development goals, we need the strong engagement of the private sector, sectors outside health and all development partners.”

    As part of its responsibility for society and within Health, one of its corporate responsibility strategic spheres of activity, Merck is supporting WHO in the fight against the worm disease schistosomiasis in Africa.

  • Lassa fever: NDDC donates drugs, kits to Cross River

    Lassa fever: NDDC donates drugs, kits to Cross River

    As part of efforts to check the spread of Lassa fever in the country, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has donated drugs worth millions of naira as well as other personal protection equipment (PPE) to the Cross River State Ministry of Health.

    The delivery of the items taken at the Ministry of Health and Essential Drug Stores was made on behalf of the acting NDDC Managing Director, Mrs Ibim Semenitari by the State Director, Mr Alexander Okenwa, to the Director of Medical Services, Ministry of Health Calabar, Dr Ogban Ikpoti.

    Okenwa said, “We are very proactive in all modus operandi because we try to give people in the Niger Delta region the very best, we don’t want to be reactive in responding to any health issue whether endemic or otherwise and this is why we are carrying out this gesture.

    “We have donated the consignment so that the hospitals can be well prepared to handle any incident of Lassa Fever professionally and efficiently too.”

    Okenwa said though no incident has been recorded in the state, there was need to fully equip and prepare the health workers.

    He said Lassa Fever has killed over 80 people in 18 states of the Federation.

    Director of Medical Services, Dr Ogban Ikpoti said it was very important for the health workers to protect themselves before caring for others.

    Ikpoti said, “With this donation we now have the means to protect caregivers and health workers in our various hospitals with NDDC gesture they can now do their work no matter the nature of the disease they have to deal with.”

  • Two Nigerians, eight others to be executed in Indonesia for drugs

    Two Nigerians, eight others to be executed in Indonesia for drugs

    TEN foreigners, including two Nigerians, are among 15 convicts on death row in Indonesia scheduled to be put to death, it was learnt yesterday.

     Liliek Darmanto, Central Java Police spokesman, confirmed that authorities were preparing a new round of executions.

     He said one Pakistani, two Nigerians, two Senegalese, one Zimbabwean and four Chinese nationals were among those to be executed.

    “There are five Indonesians, one woman and four men and there are 10 foreign citizens,” he said.

     Darmanto said among other foreigners on death row for drug trafficking were Mary-Jane Veloso, from the Philippines; Lindsay Sandiford, from Britain and Frenchman Serge Atlaoui, but did not say if they were among those scheduled to be executed.

     He said no date for the execution had been fixed but  added that 150 police shooters had been appointed to do the job.

    “They have practised for days so that the execution can be conducted any time,” Darmanto said.

     Under Indonesian law, each convict would face a squad of 10 shooters.

     Last year, Indonesia executed 14 convicts, all but two of them foreigners, in a move that drew international condemnation.

     At least, 121 persons are currently on death row in Indonesia, including 35 foreigners, mostly convicted of drug-related crimes, according to the Justice Ministry.

  • Zentiva brand of drugs enters market

    Zentiva brand has entered the drugs market. From the stables of Sanofi, it will manufacture high-quality and affordable generic drugs.

    Zentiva is the third largest and fastest-growing generics medicines company in Europe.

    At the unveiling of the brand in Lagos, the  Commissioner for Health, Ogun State, Dr. Babatunde Ipaye, said the brand would enhance access to quality healthcare.

    He said: “In Nigeria, there is dire need to offer quality healthcare service to the citizenry. There is a huge gap in the healthcare spend in the more developed economies when compared to what is spent on healthcare in this part of the world. Many citizens cannot afford the kind and quality of medicines that are used in developed countries. So, one of the ways to get the citizens to afford qualitative drugs is to support companies that produce generic medicines. That is why I will align with organizations that explore innovative ways of providing qualitative and affordable healthcare products and services.”

    the Managing Director of Sanofi Nigeria-Ghana, Mr. Abderrah-mane Chakibi, said the company’s ambition is to increase access to healthcare through the provision of innovative medicines and disease management expertise.

    He said one of the brand’s strategies is to continue to provide safe, effective and cost-effective medicines to support the driving down of overall healthcare costs.

    He said: ”This is why we are today unveiling our rich portfolio of quality and cost effective generic medicines under the identity of Zentiva in Nigeria. It is in direct reinforcement of Sanofi’s ‘access to healthcare ambitions’.”

    With said with the Sanofi extensive and secure distribution network, and the unique expertise of its workforce and trade partners, Sanofi is strategically positioned to make the Zentiva brands available to all who need it in Nigeria.

    Meanwhile, the Chairman, Health and Managed Care Association of Nigeria (HMCAN), Dr. Kolawole Owoka, said only about 10 per cent of drugs in Nigeria are manufactured locally; hence, the need for a reputable company, such as Zentiva, to establish their plants.