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Tag: expert

  • Expert advises senior citizens on healthy living

    FoR the elderly to remain healthy, they should eat moderately, avoid smoking and excessive drinking, a United Kingdom(UK)-based health therapist, Mrs. Racheal Eniola Israel, has said.

    Mrs. Israel spoke at the wellness programme for the elderly, organised by the Grassroots Health Initiative (GHI), a United Kingdom-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) at  its Ifako-Ijaiye Area Office, Iju, Lagos.

    She advised them to  exercise regulary.

    Mrs Israel,  who was the GHI Chief Executive Officer, said the event became necessary because the elderly were prone to some illnesses, such as hypertension, diabetes and rheumatism, which could be managed before they become endemic.

    The group, which also carried out high blood pressure screening on the elderly, said it brought the outreach to area to enlighten them on healthy living, especially during the harmattan.

    She said: “Hypertension, diabetes and cholesterol are preventable and can be managed,’’ adding that anyone  who has high blood pressure must take his drugs regularly. You don’t stop using your drugs, if you are diagnosed of high blood pressure, because if it overshoots, it could lead to rupture of blood vessels, thereby leading to stroke.”

    She said those with high BP should reduce their salt and alcohol intake, eat fruits and vegetables daily, and exercise regularly.

    The council Chairman Oloruntoba Oke said the elderly needs regular health checkups to  manage their health.

    Oke, represented by his deputy, Mr Usman Amzat, said care for the elderly is one of the six cardinal programmes of the government, adding that the outreach would be organised monthly.

    The council’s medical officer Dr Fausat Sanni commended the NGO for bringing the campaign to the council.

    She said: “At 60 and above, most of the organs and cells in our bodies are aging and degenerating and may no longer be working optimally, as such they may be predisposed to illnesses which could be life threatening if not well managed.”

    The council’s Supervisory Councillor Babatunde Akanbi added that  the elderly would be better informed on healthy living.

    One of the beneficiaries Mr Samuel Adeyemi said theprogramme had helped him to know his health status and what drugs to take.

     

     

  • Expert raises the alarm on increase in male infertility

    Male infertility is on the increase,   an obstetrician/gynaecologist, Dr. Abayomi Ajayi, has said.

    Ajayi, who is also the Managing Director Nordica Fertility Centre, Lagos, pioneer of the Intracytoplasmic Morphologically Selected Injection (IMSI) in Nigeria, otherwise known as Test Tube baby, said the male factor is responsible for the increase in In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF).

    IVF is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm outside the body.

    Ajayi, who raised the alarm during an interactive session with reporters in Abuja, however, allayed any fear, saying that it is easy to handle when compared with the female fertility.

    He emphasised that the campaign was to let the men know  that there was a way out. He however urged on heathy lifestyle.

    Ajayi said: “Some studies that were done in my clinic, we saw that 12 per cent of the men who come to the clinic do not have sperm at all. We have seen also that this has been the commonest reason for IVF.”

    While regretting the lack of statistics on the issue, the Nordica boss, however, noted that efforts were ongoing to get a national figure on male fertility in the country.

    “We are still working to get national statistics. What we have seen in other part of the world, for some countries where they have statistics like in Denmark, about 40 percent of the men that the sperm count is bad. And, therefore, this tells us that either we like it or not, there is something happening to men in the world as relates to fertility and we cannot continue to ignore it. And if we are not careful, I hope we will not go into extinction. You can see in some countries like Japan now, the population is getting older and they are not having many young ones,” he said.

    He also said there is an advanced technology, which helps in identifies normal and abnormal sperm as well as choosing the sperm (Morphologically Selected Sperm).

    On the percentage of the successes recorded so far, he said it was difficult to state as the egg of the women most times determine the final result.

    “It depends on the wife because the egg is very important. When a woman is 40 years old, the quality of the egg is not very good; it is like putting two things that are not very good together. But if the wife was about 25 years and everything was good, the case could have been different. That is why it is difficult to put a percentage to that problem,” he explained.

     

  • Nigeria’s infrastructure stock hits 35 per cent, says expert

    THE value of Nigeria’s total infrastructure stock, comprising  road, rail, power, airports, water, telecoms and seaports, has been estimated at 35 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

    This figure is believed to a very small when compared to Nigeria’s peer in the emerging market, whose average stands at 70 per cent.  This, stakeholders say, makes it imperative for an urgent and critical assessment of the infrastructural development in the country.

    Global Properties Partners (GPP) Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Emmanuel Odemayowa, observed that the issue of infrastructure development could not be overemphasised until it was gotten right.

    According to Odemayowa, this is the basis for the second GPP’s National Infrastructure Summit slated for next November in Abuja.

    He explained that the summit will “focus exclusively on creating avenues that generate sustainable income and wealth through global partnerships” as well as serve as “a platform for the engagement of global institutional investors for infrastructure development.”

    Odemayowa disclosed that the summit would build on its first edition held in Lagos last year, where several critical issues on infrastructure financing and the creation of an enabling environment for infrastructure development in the country were discussed extensively.

    The summit, he further assured, would attract leading international and Nigerian professionals from across the globe as well as top government functionaries and policy makers.

    “The organisation of this year’s event in Abuja was to make for a more robust and meaningful exchange of ideas between the public and private sector on the way forward for this sector in the country,” he said.

    The GPP chief further said the summit was part of the company’s efforts to promote global best practice in the infrastructure sector in the country, given Nigeria’s vast economic potentials.

    Among the highlights planned for this year’s event will be the first Infrastructure Award Night in the country, where private and public sector professionals as well as institutions that have contributed significantly to infrastructure development in the country will be recognised and honoured.

    GPP a consortium of firms with diverse interests in real estate and infrastructure development.

  • Expert challenges govt on heart surgery, training as WACS opens N1.2b secretariat

    How can Nigeria be among leading comity of nations in surgery, especially cardiot-horacic?

    It is by streamlining the training programme for cardiothoracic surgery, West African College of Surgeons (WACS) President, Prof King-David Terna Yawe, has said.

    Yawe stated this at the inauguration of the N1.2billion secretariat of the college in Yaba, Lagos.

    Yawe said the establishment of two or three well-resourced standardised international centres for Nigeria, or other West African countries, would boost surgery training.

    He said that way, Nigeria would be a  boost to the West Africa sub-region, and WACS would be more than ready to offer technical advice, and support for its actualisation.

    He called on the Armed Forces to also set up a Post-Graduate Medical Programme.

    “In this regard, we commend the numerous strides of President Muhammadu Buhari in improving the health sector. We congratulate the government for signing into law the Residency training Programme Bill and the generous allocation made in the 2018 Appropriation Bill to address health needs of the country,” Yawe said.

    Yawe, who estimated the cost of building the secretariat at N1.2 billion, explained that it is a symbol of unity of West Africans, adding: “It is another example of Anglophone-Francophone integration, cooperation and the pride of West African Surgeons who levied members and raised N1.2 billion for the permanent secretariat without bank loans or support from the public sector.”

    Yawe recalled: “It was the dream and desire of the founding fathers and successive generations of college leadership to build a befitting office for our operations. In 2010, the first step was taken to raise funds for this project under the leadership of Emeritus Professor O. O. Mbonu.

    “In 2012, land was purchased during the tenure of Professor O. K.  Ogedengbe and foundation was laid in 2014 by Professor Herve Koffi Yangni-Angate Jnr.

    Yawe said when he assumed office last year, he chose middle and high-level surgical manpower development and extension of safe surgical services to the grassroots a priority.

    “In partnership with the Presidential Committee on the Northeast Initiative and Pro-Health International, we have been conducting outreaches in Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Gombe and Bauchi States and in Kebbi State where tens of thousands were offered free surgical services.

    “We also carried out similar outreaches in Enugu and Abia states. Our Surgical Outreaches Committee has been performing credibly in many other nations and has been requested to assist Central African states in the same vein.

    “To ensure essential surgery is readily available, our Surgical, Anaesthesia and Obstetric Plan Committee is working to generate data and develop National Surgical plans for each nation in line with global trends as captured in World Health Assembly Agenda 68, SGDs and AU Agenda 2063.

    The college’s past president, Prof. Olajide Ajayi said: “It is another tutorial on unity in diversity, pragmatic decision-making processes, balanced judgments, strategic planning, personal sacrifices, courage and devotion to duty, institutional trusts and abiding faith in the divine guidance which permeated successive generations of our college leadership.”

    Dignitaries at the event include WACS Asstistant Secretary-General, Prof Philip Mshelbwala; Assistant Honorary Treasurer, Prof Grace Parkins; Honorary Treasurer, Prof Aderonke Baiyeroju; Vice-President, Prof Peter Donkor; President-elect, Prof Serigne Magueye Gueye; past president, Prof Olajide Ajayi; representative of Lagos State Governor, Dr Olufemi Onanuga; WACS president, Prof King David Terna Yawe; representative of President Muhammadu Buhari, Prof. Cecelia O. Daramola; WACS Chairman Board of Registered Trustees, Justice Olukayode Somolu, (rtd); WACS Secretary-General, Dr. J. Olutola Olatosi; WASC past president, Emeritus Prof Osato Giwa-Osagie; past president, Emeritus Prof. Mbonu; WACS past president, Prof Ogedengbe; past president, Prof Akinyinka Omigbodun and past President, Prof Herve Yangni-Angate.

     

  • Indiscriminate mixture of herbs adverse to health- Expert

    Mr Bukle Zukum, an entrepreneur from the National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI) Jos centre says indiscriminate mixture of herbal remedies can adversely affect the wellbeing of citizens.
    Zukum made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.
    According to him, many people just mix herbs together without due consultation thereby causing harm to themselves.
    Zukum an expert in the production of herbal remedies using local spices such as turmeric, cinnamon seeds and honey said that people should adhere strictly to the direction and usage of medicines as directed by the producer.
    “Most of the problems people encounter after using herbal remedies come mostly from the misuse of such remedies.
    “In my work, I have come to notice that most people in the bid to get quick relief from their pain go and mix all sorts of remedies together with the hope of getting fast result.
    “But these things don’t work that way, each remedy has the ailment for which it is produced, in fact the patient ends up aggravating his situation because most agents in one remedy might be an anti-agent in another remedy.
    “So instead of helping the patient to get better, it rather adds to his discomfort and even in some situations may even lead to a life threatening circumstance,’’ he said.
    Zukum therefore advised citizens to always adhere to prescriptions and dosage written on the leaflets of all remedies before taking them in order not to endanger their lives.
    He further said that people should desist from mixing together remedies that they do not know the compositions and ingesting them without proper consultation.
    On the standards of local remedies, the entrepreneur said that most Nigerian remedies were now standardised, adding that all of the remedies in NBTI undergo the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) safety specifications before they are allowed to be released.
    He appealed to the government to provide funding for entrepreneurs to be able to commercialise their products and also go into further research to improve their innovations
    “Most entrepreneurs products can compete favourably with all these GNLD or Tianshi products what we need is funding to be able to showcase our products to the world.
    “With adequate funding, we can produce highest quality of materials that are locally sourced, produce enmass and export outside the country thereby bringing in the much needed foreign exchange for the country,’’ Zukum said.

  • Expert warns on capping of Olusosun landfill

    A pollution expert, Dr Tunde Odesanya, yesterday raised the alarm over the danger in capping the Olusosun landfill as contemplated by the Lagos State Government (LASG). Capping is the covering of a dump with sand to avert fire.

    Odesanya, the Acting Dean of College of Pure and Applied Sciences, Caleb University, Imota, Lagos, gave the insight in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    According to him, capping the site is not the best solution for preventing a potential gas explosion in the area.

    The landfill, he said, generated a lot of methane gas which must be trapped before capping the area.

    “Capping this Olusosun, in my own opinion, is not the best thing to do, because realistically when you have a landfill, a lot of methane gas is generated. That methane gas, we are now packing them and putting them under some lead because they (LASG) are sealing off the place.

    “Methane is what we use for our cooking, so they can actually explode and you have them nearly capped now; overtime they must explode. They are planning to do a recreational centre there and I think that is the worst thing they can do. One day, that thing must revolt.

    “We can see what is happening right now in Hawaii, in the U.S. The volcano had been docile for a long time, suddenly, it just erupted. Now it’s driving people out of their environment.

    “Olusosun had tried to do that before, but it’s going to do that in a way we don’t expect it. So we think that Lagos State Government should not just cap Olusosun. The ideal thing is to, first of all, degas that area and ensure that no gases are sealed under.’’

    Odesanya said the College’s Centre for Pollution Research had worked with the previous administration in assessing land, water and air pollution in the state.

    He said the aim of the research centre was to be able to determine the level of pollution across the nation, using the state as the first port of call.

    “We have mapped out Lagos State into five different zones and our intention is to make sure we can predict the pollution level of these zones, depending on various parameters,” he said.

    Odesanya said the centre was limited by funding, as the present administration had not continued the collaboration.

    “Unfortunately, the present Lagos State Government has not continued the collaboration and pollution study is very expensive. So, funding has been Inhering research activities of the centre.”

     

  • Expert harps on medical treatment for cancer

    AN oncologist Prof Remi Ajekigbe has advised cancer patients to take their chemotherapy and radiation treatments serious.

    Reacting to videos and other postings on social media, which he described as misleading, especially alternative medicine, Ajekigbe said they should not be adopted by any patient.

    Ajekigbe, a Professor of Radiotherapy and Oncology at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos, said cancer is a disease where abnormal cells divide uncontrollably and destroy body tissues.

    The common ones are: Breast cancer (a cancer that forms in the cells of the breasts); Prostate cancer (a cancer in a man’s prostate, a small walnut-sized gland that produces seminal fluid); Basal cell cancer (a type of skin cancer that begins in the basal cells); Melanoma cancer (the most serious type of skin cancer); Colon cancer (cancer of the colon or rectum located in the digestive tract’s lower end); Lung cancer (a cancer that begins in the lungs and most often occurs in people who smoke); Leukemia (a cancer of blood-forming tissues, hindering the body’s ability to fight infection) and Lymphoma cancer (cancer of the lymphatic system).

    Chemotherapy is a form of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs as part of a standardised chemotherapy regimen. It may be given with curative intent, or it may aim to prolong life or reduce symptoms. Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is using ionizing radiation generally as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator.

    Ajekigbe said cancer needs both treatments (chemotherapy and radiation) for a positive result. He added that radiotherapy reduces cancer pain in bones – whether the bone is the primary or secondary site.

    Ajekigbe said: “I will use breast cancer, which is the commonest cancer as an example. By the time a patient notices a one centimetre lump in the breast, she is happy that she has presented early. Yes, she has. But a centimetre lump contains one billion cancer cells. Before the lump is palpable, the sub-clinical stage has been on for between eight months and 10 years, depending on how indolent or aggressive the cancer is.

    “In an early cancer with a billion cancer cells because some body fluids like the blood flow through it in at least 20 per cent of the patients, the cancer would have spread microscopically. How many of our patients present this early? And presenting later, the worse, the prognosis.”

    Ajekigbe explained that cancer, spread microscopic or macroscopic, is an indication for chemotherapy, which is a systemic form of treatment.

    “Chemotherapy involves the use of anti-cancer drugs in different combinations, depending on the type of cancer with the addition of some other drugs to minimise the side effects of the chemotherapy, and we never administered the next chemotherapy until the patient has fully recovered from an earlier one as evidenced by adequate blood count.

    “Radiotherapy involves the use of ionising radiation. You don’t see it, nor smell it, you don’t feel it. It kills cancer cells. It reduces cancer, especially in bones. It arrests bleeding as we have it in cancer of the cervix or endometrium uterus, and it reduces tumour mass and thus alleviates the symptoms of cancer.

    ‘’Monthly, every woman should endeavour to do self-breast examination (SBE) while men aged 40 and above should do prostate screening.

    ‘’Cervical cancer screening should also be done from age 18 for girls, or once they are about being sexually active,’’ he added.

  • Expert seeks monitoring of livestock diseases

    A consultant to the World Bank, Prof Abel Ogunwale, has called for an improved monitoring system by animal health authorities to prevent the spread of livestock diseases.

    Animal resources are a critical part of its agriculture development effort for potential food and nutritional security, poverty reduction, income generation, wealth creation and improved livelihoods.

    About 70 per cent of  farmers  earn more than 50 per cent of their incomes from livestock rearing while the livestock sector contributes between 23 per cent and 35 per cent to the agriculture Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    Ogunwale said  climate  change can trigger  animal-borne diseases.

    He  urged  animal  health authorities to put on resistance to deal with outbreaks.

    According to him, efforts must be made to strengthen veterinary services, including surveillance, laboratory diagnostic capacity, control of animal diseases and institutional support to the livestock and agriculture ministry.

    He called for capacity strengthening of key public institutions in the livestock sector, with the specific objective of improving delivery of advisory and technical services to enhance the adoption of good husbandry practices and innovative technologies, and promote sustainable development.

    With greater surveillance of wildlife diseases, he added that it would be possible to control the spillover of animal viruses to humans.

    According to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), animal diseases have become major global health threats. This is due to factors of change like trends in unregulated livestock intensification, climate change, trade and globalisation.

    FAO stressed on the need to increase information exchange amongst nations and research institutes on pathogen behaviour, adding that it is crucial to preventing, early detection and controlling the emergence and spread of animal diseases.

    To encourage global exchanges of information on animal disease threats, FAO’s animal health service seeks to create connections with Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) that could lead to future collaborations.

     

     

    in order to improve knowledge in the field of disease surveillance and reporting. Often surveillance infrastructure and capacities for the early detection and identification of diseases is unavailable in developing countries.

     

     

  • How to harness opportunities in Nigeria, by expert

    A United Kingdom-based expert Prof Pawan Budhwar is to x-ray strategies, that if engaged, would help organisations navigate their way out of the difficulties by harnessing the limited opportunities in these tough times.

    Budhwar, from Texem UK, a reputable consulting firm in the United Kingdom and Editor-In-Chief of the British Academy of Management, is billed to unveil these strategies in a tailored- executive development programme titled: “Building Successful Organisations that Endure: Aligning Purpose, Process, Performance and People.”

    He said the programme is “specially-designed to ensure that every organisation in Nigeria successfully succeed, create long-lasting organisations which win and, ultimately, achieve a sustainable competitive edge, by ensuring that leaders, teams and organisations in Nigeria successfully harness the limited opportunities in these tough times, stimulate innovation and emerge as winners’’.

    He said leaders could learn how to create enduring success by attending the programme, which he said in a statement, is slated for May 2 and 3 at Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos, saying  this training will also enable executives network with key stakeholders.

    Budhwar said a successful organisation can be defined in a variety of ways depending on a given stakeholder’s viewpoint. “It can be defined regarding market leadership, profitability, and reputation, achievement of action/target/goal in a given period and monetary rewards, or positive impact on others, among others,” he said.

    He said there were few ways of building an enduring organisation; these, he stated, include  embedding resilience in their businesses, can act fast to respond to forces of change (e.g., competition, demands, technological advancements), continuously transforming by developing new competence and capabilities.

    Others are by minimising the gap between intention and needed actions, having proactive and agile leadership, a strong culture aligned to a clear vision, and providing extraordinary returns of key stakeholders.

    ‘’It is worth emphasising that Professor Pawan Budhwar has decades of research on world-class organisational best-practice principles, which he plans to share with executives at the forthcoming training to ensure attendees build and maintain organisation that will last beyond a life-time,’’ the statement added.

     

     

  • Expert seeks appropriate pricing regime for farm produce

    •As Landmarks Varsity holds seventh Founder’s Day

    AN Agriculture Extension and Rural Development expert, Professor Moses Omotayo, is advocating a more developed agricultural practice as a way of modernising the sector.

    Omotayo of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, is not happy at the present situation whereby a farmer subsidises every consumer to the tune of between 50 and 1000 per cent of the cost of different commodities in the value chain.

    He therefore wants an appropriate pricing regime to guarantee farmers a minimum price for farm produce with a view to boosting their morale, production, yield and income.

    He spoke in   a lecture to commemorate the seventh Founders Day of Landmark University held at the institution’s multi-purpose hall in Omu-Aran, Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State.

    According to him, “The average Nigerian farmer produces a cob of maize at N20 and he is forced to sell between N5 and N10. A major problem with agriculture in Nigeria, which requires a special attention by government and development practitioners, is appropriate pricing of farm produce, more importantly, if agriculture must be modernised.”

    He also called for the active involvement of the entire 774 local governments in agricultural transformation.

    He recommended the introduction of conditional grants not only to allow local governments actualise their constitutional roles and responsibilities, but also translate financial autonomy into active economic development at the grassroots.

    In his remarks, the institution’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Adeniyi Olayanju, said Landmark’s vision was borne out of a passion for change from unsatisfactory status quo to unprecedented transformation of the black race in the scheme of development globally.”

    He listed the institution’s achievements to include: deliberate expansion of the farm capacity in the areas of egg production, meat production, rice cultivation, and cassava processing unit.