The Nation Newspaper

Tag: health

  • Over 150,000 lnfants die of sickle cell

    Sickle Cell Community, a group founded for the control of Sickle Cell Disease, SCD, in Kano State has said that about 150,000 infants die of the ailment annually in Nigeria, representing 8% of infant mortality rate in the country.

    A member of the Board of Trustees of the group, Shema’u Adam Imam, stated this at the launch of the Sickle Cell Community Trust Fund to support people living with Sickle Cell Disorder, held in Kano.

    She said Nigeria has the highest burden of SCD in the world and the country is also the top sickle cell endemic country in Africa.

    Read Also: Sickle cell patients protest members’ detention in hospitals

    Imam explained that the Trust Fund, established in collaboration with Community Health Research Initiative, CHRI, and Centre for Sustainable Development and Communications Initiative, CSDCI, was a financing mechanism to support the less privileged persons living with sickle cell.

    She noted that the fund would cushion the soaring economic condition of parents of the sickle cell patients, especially in purchasing drugs and payment of screening and investigations.

    Shemau Adam maintained that poor availability of resources to the public health facilities, welfare sectors and economic inflation are seriously hampering access to appropriate medical and social services.

  • Obaseki inaugurates Advisory Committee for Health Improvement Programme

    The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has inaugurated the Edo Healthcare Improvement Programme (HIP) Advisory and Steering Committee, charging members to ensure sustainability of the programme.

    Speaking during the inauguration of the committee at Government House in Benin City, the state capital, the governor said, “Our emphasis is on the sustainability of the programme because we want to have a healthcare system that goes on forever within the limits of financial, social and environmental resources.”

    He charged members of the Advisory and Steering Committee to come up with modalities on how the challenges confronting the state’s health sector could be tackled, drawing from their professional expertise.

    “We have so many issues to deal with in our healthcare system, which include the payment for healthcare services, data gathering mechanism, getting Universal Health Coverage and health regulations,” he noted.

    He said the Edo HIP Programme should be structured in such a way that would allow for diversity and flexibility to accommodate all persons irrespective of status, level of income and location.

    Read Also: Obaseki celebrates with Godwin Abbe at 70

    He also charged the committee to come up with modalities to get people to key into the programme and improve access to qualitative healthcare.

    “Healthcare is not cheap because medical equipment is expensive. So, if we need quality healthcare service, we have to get people to pay for it.”

    The Edo HIP Advisory and Steering Committee is made up of three sub-committees, namely; Primary Health Care Advisory Committee, chaired by Dr. Julie Erhabor; the Secondary Health Care Advisory Committee, chaired by Dr. Patrick Okundia, and the Health Financing Advisory Committee, chaired by Dr Alex Okoh.

    Responding on behalf of the Edo-HIP Advisory and Steering Committee members, Dr. Erhabor thanked the governor for the opportunity given them to serve.

    She also assured of the committee members’ commitment to live up to the confidence reposed in them.

  • NGO provides welfare package to 100 women in Lokoja

    Health, Education, Advocacy and Livelihood (HEAL) for Africa Initiative, an NGO, said on Saturday that it distributed foodstuffs to 100 women and fed more than 300 children  in Lokoja.

    Dr Kelechi Okoro, founder of  the NGO, who disclosed this at the distribution centre at Lokongoma market, added that the organisation also cleaned a street in the state capital.

    Okoro said that the gesture was to mark this year’s Christmas with the less privileged.

    The programme, tagged: `Heal the Slum’, was aimed at extending hands of love to slum dwellers.

    According to Okoro, the NGO is focusing on empowering people living in slums, sensitising girls and women in Africa to health, education, advocacy and livelihood issues, among other things.

    “We are committed to giving better livelihood to African communities by alleviating the suffering of the people living in the slums and this is the fourth of such outreaches in Kogi state.

    “The first outreach was at Paparanda Square, during 2017 Christmas, 2nd and 3rd editions at Adankolo and Madabo communities on Valentine and Sallah Day respectively, and the 4th one, today at Lokongoma community.

    “Today, we have cleaned a street, fed over 300 children, donated foodstuffs such as rice, noodles, tomatoes, salt and other ingredients to 100 women.

    “The ‘Heal the Slums project’, is also an avenue to interact with community leaders to know their needs, in terms of basic amenities so we could find ways of meeting those needs.” Okoro said.

    “We thank the Kogi government for being very supportive,and commended volunteers and donors including the social media partners, for contributing immensely to support the outreach.

    “In 2019, we hope to have more funding, sponsors, partners, and volunteers across Nigeria, that would take up this initiative and implement them in their various communities,” she said.

    Dr. Afolashade Ayoade, Secretary to Kogi State Government (SSG), who flagged off the distribution of items, commended the NGO for reaching out to the less privileged at the grassroots.

    Ayoade urged groups, individuals and organisations to emulate such kindness by caring for the poor, saying, “God blesses us to bless others, and not for our families and friends alone”.

    One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Abibat Yinusa, expressed appreciation to the NGO for the gesture and for having the slum dwellers at heart.

    Joy Ogbonna, one of the children, who were fed, thanked the NGO for giving them free food and for playing music for them to dance and be happy.

    NAN

  • An air pollution filter to prevent heart and lung diseases

    Delhi is one of the most polluted cities in the world. But the Indian capital is also the birthplace of an innovative device that aims to prevent people from suffering the consequences of air pollution, a major contributor to noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular and chronic respiratory conditions.

    The invention is called a Nasofilter – literally a filter that covers the nostrils and uses nanofibre-based technology. Its creators claim this is the first device of its kind to prevent up to 90 percent of PM2.5 (particulate matter under 2.5 millimetres in diameter) and 95 percent of PM10 from getting into our lungs through the nose.

    The product was developed by Nanoclean Global, a local startup founded by a team of graduates and faculty members from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi.

    It launched in November 2017, just days before a toxic blanket of smog covered the Indian capital. “As soon as we launched we got thousands of inquiries from schools, hospitals and companies in Delhi and across the country,” said one of the company’s co-founders, Prateek Sharma.

    Sharma had grown up watching his mother struggle with asthma and was determined to help her protect her lungs. “No mask seemed to work,” he said. He had the idea for an air pollution filter during his last year of studies.

    In 2016, he joined with fellow graduates Tushar Vyas, Jatin Kewlani, Sanjeev Jain, and faculty members Ashwini Agrawal and Manjeet Jassal to develop the first Nasofilter prototype.

    The filters can be used for up to 12 hours. They are barely noticeable, since the edges that stick to the bottom of the nose are almost transparent.

    “The concept is fairly simple,” Sharma explained. “The fibres allow surface filtration and, when you exhale, the filters clear out all the accumulated harmful particles.”

    Today, the device sells for 10 Indian rupees (USD 0.14) a pair, and the startup is receiving bulk orders nationally and internationally from countries such as Iran, Dubai and Vietnam.

    “The response is very encouraging and we are growing”, said Sharma. “Of course demand grows when we have bad air days.”

    It is no surprise that the product found a growing market in India.

    Between May 2015 and October 2017, Delhi saw only two days of “good” air quality, with the monsoon season bringing some relief, according to the Indian Central Pollution Control Board.

    In 2018 the capital enjoyed a few more precious days of good air quality, only thanks to the rain. But for most of the past 900-odd days, the city’s air quality has varied from severely polluted to very poor to satisfactory, even in the best weather.

    Delhi’s doctors are alarmed about the damage this is causing to lungs and hearts.

    “There has been a huge rise of young, women and non-smoker patients coming in with lung cancer, which previously affected mostly smokers and adult men,” said Dr. Arvind Kumar, Founder and Trustee of Lung Care Foundation and Chairman of the Centre For Chest Surgery at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi.

    A recent study conducted by the hospital links this trend to air pollution. “The occurrence of the disease in patients under 50 or even under 30 years of age, an increase in the proportion of women, and a nearly 1:1 ratio of non-smokers to smokers all point towards environmental factors such as air pollution as a major causative agent. These are trends that indicate something is terribly amiss,” noted the report.

    But the scope of the problem goes far beyond lung cancer. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), around seven million people die every year from exposure to fine particles in polluted air.

    As cities’ air quality declines, the risk of stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and chronic and acute respiratory diseases, including asthma, increases for the people who live in them.

    In 2016, a report in The Lancet noted that air pollution was responsible for 9.8 percent of the total disease burden in India, the second leading risk factor in the country after child and maternal malnutrition.

    Sharma believes the Nasofilter could bend the curve. “People who suffer from allergies and asthma use it year-round,” he said. So far, his company has been recognised by the South Korean government as one of the top 50 technical startups in the world.

    In 2017, it received the Indian government-sponsored Startups National Award, and was the only Indian startup among the 100 finalists of the Elevator Pitch Competition, in Hong Kong.

    Meanwhile, the Nasofilter team is developing another device that could prevent bacteria from entering the body’s system. “We’re hoping to maybe even keep TB and other diseases at bay,” said Sharma. “Work is underway and we are very hopeful.”

  • There is ‘oil’ in education and health

    In the past forty years or more, Nigeria had been a mono-product country exporting crude oil. This is understandable.  Crude oil produces easy cash without much effort. Much efforts would have been required if we had decided to refine the oil and sell the finished product.  Government had not made any sustainable efforts to divert attention to other sectors of the economy which are cash cows elsewhere.

    Prior to what has become a seeming disadvantage of oil discovery for Nigeria, agriculture used to be a very viable sector but the sorry state of that sector is not encouraging many investors to look at this direction. Many want a quick turn around of investment which is not guaranteed in that sector. Yes our stories here are gradually changing for good but we still have a long way to go.

    But given the opportunity in the information, technology-driven economy we now live in, coupled with the Nigeria population advantage, it is very clear if we are willing to drill the oil in education and health, Nigeria can take better advantage of the Africa market. This used to be the case before in the 70s and early 80s, but Nigeria has lost her capacity to be the real giant of Africa.  What we have now is shadow and bravado which leads to nowhere.

    The nature of our lopsided educational sector, aside from the little improvement with the private sector player, has opened the door for  Nigerians seeking better education standard outside the country. Each year Nigerians huge some of monies on education outside their shore

    According to Prof Adeyi, a Nigerian based in Canada, at least an average of $1.5trillion naira was spent by Nigerians seeking foreign degrees in 2016 alone. Imagine what that means if we use N360 as exchange rate! This is only the sum total of Nigerian students that were captured. Imagine if that amount is invested in Nigeria. Prof Adeyi maintained United Kingdom, Canada and United States top the list of the countries where Nigerians sought better education.

    As if that is not enough, UNESCO’s institute of statistics affirmed that in the past four years there had been increase of about 44 percent of Nigerians students seeking degrees from higher institutions outside Nigeria. If our education standard has been good enough and is in the top quality as it used to be in early 70s, our educational sector can still draw countless numbers of African students to our shore.

    What if we examine the level of capital flight in medical tourism?  Ebun Bamgboye, clinical director at St. Nicholas Hospital, in 2017 claimed Nigerians spent average of $1billion annually. Nigerians patronise hospitals in UK, USA, India as well as Germany.

    If government can make deliberate efforts in investing in our health facilities and make them match up to international, Nigerian and African market are big enough. It is amusing to note as of today if Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital will do one heart surgery, an estimated three months planning is the minimum requirement.

    Meanwhile in Ghana here, I am aware of a hospital which performs up to two to three heart surgeries a day. In nine hours the hospital usually finishes one surgery. All these capital flights do not add any value to our economy as we can neither tax nor repurpose such huge fund into something significant.

    Other countries blessed with oil like the United Arab Emirate, Saudi Arabia, amongst others, have done a great job with the money received from oil. Can we say our level of immorality and corruption at the highest places are responsible for our woes? Has trouble not accompanied Nigeria’s oil treasure and revenue, as the good book affirmed?

    It is never too late. Education and health sector can be another sources of ‘oil’ fund, if we annex it.

    • Yinka Olaito is a communications and media specialist based in Lagos

  • Africa records high health improvement in new WHO report

    A new report by the World Health Organisation ( WHO ) Regional Office for Africa has shown a high improvement in health in the region.

    WHO, at the study, launched during the 68th session of the WHO Regional Committee in Dakar, provided a snapshot of the state of health in the African region.

    The report said life expectancy across Africa had improved significantly, but national health systems must be improved to ensure that services get to the people who need them most.

    Emerging data shows a continued improvement, with the continent seeing the biggest jump in healthy life expectancy – time spent in full health – anywhere in the world.

    The life expectancy jumped from 50.9 years in 2012, to 53.8 years in 2015, according to the report.

    Deaths resulting from the 10 biggest health risks in Africa – such as lower respiratory infections, HIV and diarrhoeal diseases – dropped by half between 2000 and 2015, partly as a result of specialised health programmes.

    Speaking at the launch of the report, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s Regional Director for Africa, said: “I’m proud that Africans are now living longer and healthier lives.

    “Nearly three years of extra health is a gift that makes us all proud. Of course we hope that these gains will continue and the region will reach global standards”.

    At the same time, the report warned that this achievement could only be sustained and expanded if health services are significantly improved.

    It stated that the performance of health systems in the region – measured by access to services, quality of care, community demand for services and resilience to outbreaks – was low.

    Chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer need to be tackled, with a person aged 30 to 70 in the region having a one in five chance of dying from a non-communicable disease.

    Two critical age groups – adolescents and the elderly – are being under-served, with surveys indicating a complete lack of elder care in a third of African countries.

    Moeti said: “Health services must keep up with the evolving health trends in the region. In the past we focused on specific diseases as these were causing a disproportionately high number of deaths.

    “We have been highly successful at stopping these threats, and people’s health is now being challenged by a broad range of conditions. We need to develop a new and more holistic approach to health.”

    This approach involves increasing spending on health, but also targeting funds in more effective ways, according to the report.

    The report suggested that health systems that perform well invest up to 40 per cent of their budgets on their workforce, and a third on infrastructure.

    WHO said, however, the report, which made specific recommendations for each of the countries of the region, and identifies areas where nations are demonstrating good practice, was not a scorecard.

    Algeria demonstrated good practice with its good coverage of available health service, Kenya has a good range of available essential services, and Mauritius has good access to services.

    By improving performance, the countries have a better chance of meeting their commitment to achieve health-related targets set by the Sustainable Development Goals, the report stated.

  • USAID increases support for good governance, health

    The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced more development assistance to support achieving the development goals outlined in the bilateral Development Objectives Assistance Agreement between the U.S. and Nigerian governments signed in 2015.

    Of the new funding, $25 million will strengthen good governance by supporting state governments’ efforts to bolster Nigeria’s Open Government Partnership commitments to improve transparency and fight corruption.  An additional $1.5 million will support a healthier, and more educated population in targeted states through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), totalled at $26.5 million.

    USAID is also partnering federal and state health ministries to build stronger health systems with the aim of guaranteeing equitable access to quality healthcare services nationwide.  The additional new funding brings the total U.S. government assistance provided under the five-year Development Objectives agreement to $1.1 billion.

    “The United States believes that as the most populous country in Africa, with the largest economy on the continent, Nigeria holds tremendous influence over the future of Africa,” Acting Mission Director Erin Holleran said, adding: “USAID is committed to partnering with the government and the people of Nigeria to address its development challenges.”

    USAID collaborated with the ministries of Budget and National Planning, Health, Agriculture, Power, and Education, as well as state-level government counterparts to structure the bilateral assistance agreement, which runs through 2020.

  • Health consumers receive empowerment

    Hopes are high that consumers in the health sector are set to enjoy professional and higher quality services from care providers as the Consumer Protection Council of Nigeria [CPC] launches the Patients’ Bill of Rights [PBoR].

    The event which took place at the Banquet Hall, State House, Abuja, with the vice president in attendance attracted a large turnout of people from the government circle, senators, heads of government agencies and other stake holders.

    In essence, the PBoR will ensure that people’s rights, both the rights of patients and care providers, are truly respected and protected. It will guarantee that patients and families become conversant with their rights and responsibilities while care providers become familiar with their roles and duties to patients.

    For example, patients have the responsibility to pay their bills and treat care givers with respect. However, in order to expect and ensure compliance with these responsibilities, they need to have full information, including transparent billing, consent or choice where applicable.

    “What we have done with the PBoR is really to aggregate all these into one educational material that serves both patients and care providers. In addition, we have articulated the responsibility of patients too, as they take control over the course of their own treatment to the extent supported by law and ethics. For instance, patients have a responsibility to pay their bills and treat care-providers with respect. In order to expect, and ensure compliance to these responsibilities, they need to have full information, including transparent billing, and consent or choice, where applicable.”

    The DG regretted that “as in other aspects of our national life, majority of Nigerians are dissatisfied with the quality of care they receive from both private and government facilities or institutions.”

    Citing a 2016 study by PwC, Irukera noted that the study revealed that 90 percent of respondents associate health care in Nigeria with low quality, while over 80 percent and over 70 percent respectively associate it with words like “rude” and “fear”.

    Conversely, he said that less than 20 percent felt that the health care provided in Nigeria gave value for money, and less than 10 percent felt that it was transparent. The public dissatisfaction with the system does not end with the providers, as only six percent of the respondents felt confident that if things were to go wrong with their care, they would be protected by the authorities.1

    According to the report, “The lack of patient protection within the system is perhaps the most significant factor affecting the level of trust in Nigerian healthcare… Stories abound of patients who have had undesired healthcare outcomes or had concerns about the quality of care received in hospitals, but few cases of successful medical malpractice investigations/action have been recorded in the last 5 years.”

    This assessment, emphasised the DG, underscores the importance of the PBoR. “We have an urgent responsibility to reverse this scorecard. We at the CPC recognise that for any meaningful change to occur, patients and their families must become conversant with their rights and responsibilities; and providers must be familiar with their roles and duties to patients.  It is in that demand and supply side awareness and education, as well as enforcement, that we can change the sad perception, or narrative, and in the process save lives and build mutual confidence.  This is what underpins our ‘Demand and Insist Campaign’ to empower consumers in ensuring they are better served.”

    Speaking further, he noted that “the PBoR is our boldest step yet in soft infrastructure in healthcare.  It is the vital vehicle upon which even physical infrastructure must ride to truly deliver service. In the absence of a humane, attentive and secure approach by healthcare professionals, we neglect inclusiveness, and in reality, lessen access.

    “Today, we take a definite step in ensuring peoples’ rights in the healthcare sector are truly respected and protected in part because no one in our country is insulated or immunised from needing medical services.  Essentially, our comfort, lives and life expectancy are in part determined by the quality and delivery of healthcare services others.”

    Describing the launch of the PBOR as a watershed in the history of Nigeria, he added that the bill is the evidence of the broad collaboration and consensus CPC has with other regulators, stakeholders and entities. “It represents our collective commitment to improving care. This turning point in our development as a nation has been a long time coming,” claimed Irukera.

    (Footnotes)

  • 40,000 residents to benefit from free health mission

    Over 40,000 residents of Alimosho will benefit from a five-day free health mission which commenced yesterday at the Ipaja Mini stadium in Alimosho.

    The health mission which is a yearly affair is put together by the Prince of Hope Turns to Reality Foundation, an initiative of a member of the Lagos state House of Assembly, Adebisi Yusuff.

    Yusuff said the number of beneficiaries has kept increasing over the years, “like last year, we attended to about 30,000 people with over 300 undergoing surgery. We expect over 40,000 people this year because past beneficiaries have given the programme wider publicity.”

    Yusuff said residents and non-residents of Alimosho with various ailments will be attended to and that free surgery would be performed on those with health challenges like: Hernia, Lumpectomy, Ganglion, Keloid among others, while free glasses will be given out including tests and treatment for other ailments like diabetes, typhoid, HBP etc.

    The lawmaker also said that apart from local medical personnel, there are also 25 medical personnel from the United States (US) on ground as part of the medical team.

  • Environmental changes and our health

    In the world today, we hear of global warming. There are illness and deaths from changes to our environment. Such changes do influence the health of human beings in an adverse way (such as pollution causing skin illnesses, respiratory illness such as asthma, food poisoning from industrial chemicals, and food poisoning from insecticides being used by farmers). Floods, earthquakes and mudslides may spread diseases such as cholera and typhoid when the sewage systems are affected.

    Take the impact of the Sun on the skin for example. Excessive Sunrays may cause human illness such as dehydration in the short term and melanoma in the long term. By virtue of excessive sun, fibroid and some cancers and diseases may worsen in our environment. To reduce the risk, take good care and protection against Sun radiation via sun shades and do minimal exposure to sunlight. Watch carefully if there are any changes taking place in your birthmarks (such as colour changes, or if getting bigger).

    On the other hands, chemicals from industrial pollution, chemicals to aid manufacturing and farming as well as products from vehicles, aircrafts, ships and home/domestic  wastes are all discharged unto our environment. Some, if not all, pollute our foods and water. In turn, we eat food or drink that are from polluted water with some dire consequences. People could get poisoned if water and food are not properly treated. Skin rashes, breathing problems such as asthma, bronchitis, cancers of bladder and of lungs are some of the results of chemical pollution to our bodies.

    Environmental pollution can also be from germs such as from viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites that are used industrially or from variety of sources that has not been property disposed.

    Impact of Bad Environment on our Health.

    Regardless of our perspectives, we are part of the ecosystem of our immediate world as well as the global environment. Wherever we may be in the world, we are part and parcel of where we live and the immediate air that we breathe. Polluted air in the environment such as burning of fuel and burning of wastes will generate fumes that may lead to irritation in our lungs and hence breathing difficulties such as asthma. Irritants on our skin may lead to allergic reaction and in children cause atopic allergic reactions. Seasonal rhinitis, perennial allergic reaction may be due to environmental pollution. Discharges from transport vehicles engines such as aeroplanes and cars causes particles to be discharged into the air. This particles may get lodged in our lungs, blood and skin. The results may be cancers in different parts of human body and respiratory difficulties. Adverse human reproduction, reduced fertility especially in women has been linked to particulates and pollutants in the air. Deformed babies can result from polluted environment as we have seen in countries where atomic bomb had been used or where nuclear radiation had leaked into the environment.

    Now, the world must deal with the seas and oceans that are filled with plastics. Our food chain, human and animal nutrition are in danger from plastics and oil pollution: fishes and other seas creatures may be seriously impacted. Our entire ecosystem will be affected and human survival seems perilous.

    Blocked drainages or improperly channelled water pose a serious risk to our individual and collective well-being.  Flood could cause serious damages to our properties apart from the risk of death of relatives that may result. The stress from all these adversities will often lead to anxieties and depression with consequential visits to the physician.

    Prevention:  Very often the prevention starts from exerting pressure on governments and intergovernmental organisations to enact effective laws and execute proper guidance for farmers, factory owners and related industries. At individual level, we will need to adequately dispose of our wastes in a secure place. Whatever can be recycled should be recycled. Whatever can be reused such as nylon bags, should be reused.  Also, there is no substitute for good air, properly prepared food and water and avoiding overcrowding as well as paying prompt attention to our health if affected. Our environment and the health of our ecosystem are our collective responsibilities.