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Tag: health

FG unveils health security strategy to tackle pandemics

The Federal government has launched its Strategy and Implementation Plan 2023-2027 in furtherance of its firm stand against emerging public health threats and evolving challenges.

The 5-year strategy identified seven goals, 41 objectives, and 225 activities of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) whereby multi-sectoral coordinated collaborative efforts of the Federal government, State and Local governments, including the private sector, and development partners would ensure an improvement and transformation of the nation’s public health security.

The second edition of the Strategic Plan was launched in Abuja on Tuesday during the NCDC Health Security Partners meeting.

While launching the document, NCDC Director General (DG), Ifedayo Adetifa said the new strategy is focused on systems, scaling, and sustainability leveraging the Strategic, Ambitious, Speed, and Scale – SASS approach to accelerate the impact of health security interventions in Nigeria, while also helping to serve as a model to other African countries.

According to him, the NCDC Strategy 2.0 was a result of its successful predecessor, the NCDC Strategy and Implementation Plan 2017-2021 which enabled the agency to build on its strengths, further close identified gaps, and embrace innovation to achieve its overarching goals and objectives.

He also revealed that Nigeria has been able to blaze a trail with its response to the coronavirus pandemic with what it has been able to put in place since the aftermath of COVID-19.

Nigeria not only improved its Joint External Evaluation (JEE) from 39% in 2018 to 54% in 2023, but it has also become the third country in the world to conduct the second JEE.

The JEE is part of the tool the World Health Organization (WHO) use to access countries health security

He said: “In 2017, Nigeria conducted its inaugural JEE, employing the JEE 1.0 tool, which yielded a readiness score of 39%.

“This led to the development of the National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS) for the years 2018 to 2023 to address the identified gaps and recommendations arising from the 2017 evaluation.

“This year, we have successfully conducted the 2nd Joint External Evaluation for Nigeria, resulting in a commendable score of 54% for Nigeria’s health security capacity when assessed against its International Health Regulations (IHR) prescribed core capacities.

“The significance of this 2023, 2nd JEE cannot be overstated. It propels Nigeria to the position of being the second country in Africa and the third globally to undergo a second JEE.

“This achievement is a testament to the relentless dedication of our country, health security partners, and the tireless efforts of NCDC.

“This launch of the NCDC 5-year Strategic Plan (2023-2027) is designed to incorporate the insights and recommendations stemming from the 2nd JEE, as well as to encapsulate Nigeria’s priorities for strengthening health security.

“As we move forward, the NCDC is steadfastly committed to enhancing our public health core capabilities, particularly in the realms of surveillance, laboratory services, and response to outbreaks, ultimately fortifying the protection of our citizens from national to sub-national levels including every LGA or Wards across Nigeria”.

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Adetifa said besides the JEE debrief and Strategic Plan Launch this year, the primary objective behind convening the annual meeting was to facilitate networking and collaboration among health security partners.

“We seek to share best practices, lessons learned, and innovative approaches in health security, all while ensuring that partner initiatives align seamlessly with the NCDC Strategy.

“Ultimately, our goal is to promote collective efforts aimed at enhancing health security, preparedness, and response capabilities”, added.

Development partners, including the World Health Organization (WHO), Global Fund, GAVI, United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA), United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (USCDC), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (ACDC) and a host of private sector partners expressed optimism and support for the implementation of the Strategy while calling for extensive engagement of the sub-national level governments for the Plan to achieve its objectives.

November 21, 2023
Why women should pay attention to health, by experts

A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Health Tips by Sunset Affairs, has organised its maiden medical outreach for business/market women in Lagos.

The programme, with the theme: Prevalent Health Issues Among Market Women: Possible Solutions and Health Management; Connections of Menopause State of Women’s Health Issues, was meant to ensure that every woman knows her health status and gets early treatment, should any need arise.

The medical screening, which included checks for high blood pressure, sugar level, and cholesterol, will also hold today at Kairo Market in Araromi, Oshodi.

A pharmacist and consultant, Mrs. Adenike Adeyanju, said health education and screening for market/business women, who are mostly busy, is important to stay healthy for their families.

She said: “I have been a pharmacist for over 30 years. I left Nigeria for the United States (U.S.A) when I was 14. Now that I’m back, I want to give back to society. The area I want to concentrate on is the market/business women.

“As a businesswoman myself, when I leave the house in the morning, I don’t return till late at night. I will start cooking and take care of the house. I have no time for myself.

“Women take care of everybody but neglect themselves. That is why I chose this community of women to teach them how to pay attention to their bodies and take care of them.”

To help the women, Adeyanju said health screenings would be held quarterly for them.

The health expert said when health issues are being addressed, “we will follow them up and make sure that they get help, and that’s the goal”.

Highlighting the prevalent health issues among market women, Adeyanju said: “From our research, we found out that most market women don’t see a doctor because they feel that nothing is wrong with them. Some say that they don’t have the time to see a doctor because they will miss work. Therefore, they don’t go to examine their bodies, and they keep going until the body drops.

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“There has to be an intervention to help them. If they know that they have cholesterol or HBP or diabetes, at least, they can narrow down on that one and threaten it before it leads to other serious issues.”

Lecturing on the topic: Cardiac Diseases and Blood Pressure Disease, Adeyanju explained that the risks of a heart attack include HBP, high low-density lipoprotein (cholesterol), diabetes, smoking, second-hand smoke exposure, obesity, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity.

She advised women to take charge of their health and watch what they eat.

Founder of Menopause Support Nigeria, Mrs. Mosunmola Dosunmu, also a pharmacist, spoke on the topic: Know Your Body Pre- and Post-Menopausal Stages, noted that by the Year 2030, one out of every six women would be menopausal.

“Every woman should prepare for ageing by acquiring knowledge. By the Year 2030, if the knowledge level on menopause doesn’t improve, we are going to have a pandemic of sick old people, and that will affect the nation as well,” she said.

The pharmacist advised women to acquire knowledge on menopause while paying close attention to their bodies to know the right thing to do when their body hormone changes.

Addressing the diabetes epidemic on the topic: Diabetes, Causes, Treatment and Preventative, the Director of Ibukun Olu Maternity Clinic, Dr. Dapo Ogunsola, described diabetes as a silent killer that could be managed through lifestyle changes, nutritional habits and medication, if detected early.

The event was supported by Dan Pharmacy, Access Healthcare Links, and Grace Pharm Limited.

November 17, 2023
‘Discontentment, complexes fuelling rivalry among health professionals’

Medical and health professionals have identified discontentment, complexes and unequal remuneration among healthcare professionals as major factors fuelling rivalry among health workers and dysfunctionality of healthcare system in the country.

Speaking during a summit by the Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN), Anambra State, themed ‘Professional Synergy in Healthcare Provision; A Panacea for Quality and Stable Health’, the professionals canvassed for synergy and tolerance as solution to rivalry in the health sector.

One of the discussants and National President of Nigeria Academy of Neurological Surgeons, Prof. Jude-Kennedy Emejulu, regretted that the identified negative tendencies have contributed to growing mortality rate in the country.

He said: “The root of rivalry among professionals is pecuniary. Besides is the creation of trade unions where people seek for relevance. Social strife is another factor. You see antagonisms and industrial unrests; petitions and pull –him-down syndrome

“More worrisome is the issue of complexes. It takes an inferior mind to feel inferiority complex, and to begin to advocate superiority complex. If you’re comfortable where you are, you don’t need to make too much noise.”

Emejuru proffered job description, massive advocacy among trainees and students, seeking guidance from other climes and legislative discipline to curtail prevalent rascality among professional bodies as solutions to rivalry among health workers.

“Once we blunder in this profession, lives are lost, quite unlike most other professions. The mortality rate is high, reason we need to be serious with the job God has anointed us to do. Above all is contentment which is a godly virtue. If you don’t have it, you can’t be satisfied, regardless of your position. No matter where you are, people will come looking for you, so long as you have skills, service or product you’re marketing,” he added.

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Another discussant, Pharmacist Josephat Obasi, underscored the place of communication, teamwork and synergy in improving healthcare and reducing mortality rates associated with poor inter-professional collaboration.

APBN National President Manason Rubainu represented by Engr. Sunday Ali, said addressing challenges in healthcare system, such as professional participation, practices and ethical conduct were key to sustainable development of health sector.

Commissioner for Housing Paul Onyeaka advised professionals to avoid imposing negative status on themselves, urging them to improve on their image and believe in their distinguishing qualities.

“As a government, we’re not only committed to ensuring unity and equal treatment to all, but looking for those with integrity, honestly, competence and capacity to ensure speed,” he added.

State Chairman of APBN who doubles as State Director, National Population Commission (NPC), Dr. Joachim Ulasi, described the theme as apt and chosen to address professional quackery among health workers.

“The APBN comprises 30 bodies with six sectors. For past years, we’ve been discussing topics around building collapse. This year we decided to delve into health to ensure proper synergy among health workers,” he said.

November 13, 2023
Society for Family Health partners PSI on innovation for women self care

The Society for Family Health (SFH), in conjunction with Population Service International (PSI), is implementing the “Delivering Innovation in Self Care” known as the DISC project in some states, including Lagos.

The initiative was funded by the Children Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF).

According to the Social and Behavioral Change Communication Officer in Lagos State, Samson Okoliko, the Delivering Innovation in Self Care project started in Lagos in 2021 with five Proprietary and Patent Medicine Vendors (P PMVs) and 74 Public Health Facilities which includes Primary Health Centres and Secondary Health Facilities across 12 local government, with the support of Lagos State Government.

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The project supports women to assume greater control over their sexual and reproductive health by using contraceptive self-care methods like self-inject (Depot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate- Subcutaneous DMPA-SC), which can help in delaying or preventing pregnancy if a woman so desires.

The Social and Behavioral Change Communication Officer, Omotola Omotoso said that since the DISC project was introduced various activities have been executed in Lagos State to sensitize and train the public, including Women of Reproductive Age (WRA), on the need to embrace self-inject method of contraceptive. Some of these programmes include- Moment of Truth (MOT) training. The MOT seeks to improve the providers empathy skills,which addresses the gaps demonstrated by the providers. The MOT initiative has trainned more than a hundred family planning providers.

The DISC project has also utilized various strategies such as Below the Line (BLT) and Above the Line (ATL) to educate women of reproductive age in Lagos of the need to embrace self-care to help them take care of their sexual and reproductive health needs.

November 10, 2023
Investment fund for health: An approach to attaining universal coverage
- By Noimot Balogun
Health has been agreed at the United Nations General Assembly to be a “precondition for and an outcome and indicator of the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development”. According to WHO, Universal Health Coverage means that “all people have access to the full range of quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship”.

Unfortunately, approximately 75% of Nigerians have to pay out of pocket in order to access healthcare, with less than 5% of its population having any form of health insurance. These figures should be viewed in the context of a country whose minimum wage is approximately N30,000. With this context in mind, it is evident that the average Nigerian with no health insurance is at a very high risk of being impoverished due to health expenses. Imagine the effect of this gap on the pregnant woman and her unborn child. In 2020, Nigeria had the second-highest maternal deaths globally and the fourth country with the highest neonatal deaths in 2021.

These depressing indices caused by financial incapability, other health burdens such as infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases, and poor maternal health advocacy continuously put thousands of pregnant women in low-income communities at risk of death or life-threatening complications. This crisis also affects the economy as negative birthing outcomes could lead to reduced human capital, increased absenteeism from work, and increased financial burden on the government and taxpayers.

Therefore, achieving Universal Health Coverage is a multifaceted need that requires solutions from collaborative interactions of government, donor organizations, private stakeholders and the populace. Without a doubt, significant efforts have been put into achieving UHC in Nigeria; however, the results of these efforts are still not satisfactory. It is therefore imperative to begin to look at other innovative opportunities to improve sustainability for health.

One such opportunity is creating an investment fund for health towards building social capital where all actors benefit. One of the oldest forms of funding for healthcare apart from government funding is donor aid from international organizations; some of these aids are however time-bound; hence the issue of sustainability. Local mobilization of funding is therefore more veritable to harness potential resources from local actors.

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A key element to achieving this funding is the effective collaboration between the public and private stakeholders of healthcare.

Using the maternal and child health index as a case study, one factor that contributes to maternal mortality is the low use of skilled birth attendants at delivery.

This has been shown to be partly due to the affordability of the cost of care amongst other factors.

With an investment fund, healthcare services such as antenatal care and delivery can be further subsidized to improve access to these services and subsequently reduce maternal mortality.

Aside from improving access to care, an investment fund can also improve the quality of care received at public facilities through the provision of modern facilities such as incubators, radiant warmers, oxygen dispensers, and inverters.

Also, in the area of drug delivery in maternal and child health, having a pool of funds that caters to the supply of essential medicines and routine antenatal care drugs, and even kits such as diapers, and baby clothing will further reduce the cost of care and improve quality of healthcare delivery.

Another very important sector which will expedite the achievement of UHC in Nigeria is the technology industry. By funding the digitization of healthcare, we stand a chance to promote health across wider regions and areas.

For example, the provision of simple digital tools to carry out point-of-care diagnosis in rural areas as well as training of health staff in such facilities has the potential to reduce the distance travelled by these individuals to get quality care and encourage the use of health facilities for health needs.

Also, the use of simple mobile technology to disseminate health promotion messages in local languages can encourage the average Nigerian to make better health choices and improve their health outcomes.

Inadequate data storage and management also have negative impacts on the quality of care Nigerians receive. This is because with poor data, healthcare will not be appropriately budgeted for, hence, leaving Nigerians to deal with the effects of having limited health resources. However, digitization of healthcare will address the key areas of healthcare delivery which include health information management and data storage, maintenance of servers, and provision of digital apparatus among others.

Although these projects require funding and human resources, an investment fund developed through a public-private partnership increases the chances of taking up these challenges in Nigeria.

This is the idea behind MRH Collective’s MamaBase Digital Registry, an innovative registry to take unique identification of all pregnant women in Lagos State; and a systematic tracking of the identified mothers such that the women present for antenatal visits, complete all tests and vaccinations, receive and use all drugs, and then deliver with a skilled birth attendant at the time of delivery.

A health investment fund creates a pool for funding cutting-edge research and maternal follow up which are tailored to the peculiar needs of Nigerian women while accounting for the peculiarities of the Nigerian health sector.

This not only gives room to create local solutions for Nigerians but also empowers the average Nigerian health provider to give adequate healthcare delivery using evidence-based research which strives towards global standards. It is also important to strengthen the social capital for health by deliberately creating conversations for partnerships for health.

Partnerships are innovative paths towards improving universal health coverage through Primary Healthcare.

Through partnerships, everyone wins: Government is able to achieve its dividends for democracy; private partners are positioned as socially responsible corporate citizens with a sense of social good; the public benefits as the lives of primary caregivers at homes and families are protected for now and the future.

•Dr. Balogun writes from Maternal and Reproductive Health Research Collective, (MRH Collective www.mrhrcollective.org).
October 27, 2023
Group decries corrupt practices at health centres

The ATM (AIDS, Malaria and TB) network for the C19 RM/RSSH (COVID-19 Response Mechanism and Resilient and Sustainable Systems for Health) has decried high cost of drugs and medical services in Primary Health Care Centres (PHCs) in Anambra State.

The project led by Civil Society Organisations for Malaria Control, Immunisation and Nutrition (ACOMIN) also lamented alleged corrupt practices by health workers in some PHCs in the state, warning those involved to desist.

Speaking in Awka during its monthly coordination meeting, Zonal Coordinator, ACOMIN, Southeast, Prof. Dennis Aribodor, blamed the low patronage witnessed at PHCs across the state on such nefarious activities.

He advised heads of health departments of health facilities to demonstrate high level of transparency and accountability in the discharge of their assignments.

Aribodo, who is also executive director, Malaria Eradication and Safe Health Initiative of Nigeria, enjoined officers-in-charge of the PHCs to make use of basic health care provision fund for maintenance of the health centres.

He said: “The corrupt allegation in Awka South has been addressed. But that of PHC in Nnewi South Local Government is still under investigation.

“It’s our hope that resources for PHCs should be transparently managed. The local government heads of health departments and heads of health facilities should shun corruption in whatever form, so that available resources will be used for the good of community members.”

State Coordinator, Mrs. Chioma Okeke, urged members to replicate achievements being recorded in their areas of coverage in other neighbouring towns with no PHCs or underutilised ones.

“As you oversee PHCs assigned to you, nothing stops you from replicating what is happening in your area in other neighbouring communities and even in your own towns where there are no PHCs.

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“Anywhere you have opportunity, sell this market to community members and other stakeholders in communities where PHCs are not existing or functional and you will be surprised with the positive outcome.”

State Coordinator for Tuberculosis Network, Mrs. Ify Unachukwu, told members that the group’s target remained ensuring functional, community driven PHCs towards better health care delivery for residents of the area.

The Programme Manager, State Malaria Elimination Programme, Nonso Ndibe, lamented the human resource challenge in most health facilities, stressing the need for engagement of more health workers at the centres.

The state Programme Officer, Wisdom Jacob, urged CBOs to ensure the project was sustained in the community they were working.

He also enjoined them to build capacity of the Ward Development Community (WDC) to continue canvassing for maintenance of the health centre in the locality through community members.

October 24, 2023
Nigerian prof wins $100,000 health prize
- By Oluwatoyin Tajudeen
Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Ibrahim Abubakar, has won the $100,000 Roux Prize of University of Washington for his work in improving health outcomes in the last 30 years.

   The Roux Prize is awarded by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine.

   Abubakar, dean of Faculty of Population Health Sciences at University College, London (UCL), received $100,000 at the ceremony in London.

According to UCL, the award is to reinforce his efforts to support health systems in Nigeria and Africa’s Sahel region, benefiting some of the world’s poorest countries.

Director of IHME, Chris Murray, praised Abubakar for contributing to global health.

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   “His expertise and advocacy have affected policy implementation and people,” Murray said.

   He said the Nigerian embodies what the Roux Prize represents: innovation, ambition, and collaboration.

“The world of public health is a stronger place because of his contributions and commitment to change,” he added.

   According to UCL, Abubakar’s greatest achievement is his work on The Lancet Nigeria Commission, which led to Nigeria passing a law mandating basic health insurance and creation of a vulnerable fund that covers 83 million underprivileged.

In March 2022, Abubakar led a multidisciplinary team on an analysis of Nigeria’s health system supported by Global Burden of Disease (GBD) data, which identified gaps and recommended key areas to improve the system.
October 17, 2023
Foundation partners A’Ibom Govt on menstrual health

The Advocacy and Marketing Manager, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Nigeria, Steve Aborisade has disclosed that the foundation is partnering with the Akwa Ibom State government to improve the menstrual health of school children in the state.

Aborisade made this known while speaking at an event to mark the 2023 International Day of the Girl Child in Uyo.

He said that the AHF would work with state government to establish a sanitary pad bank in Aka Community Secondary School Uyo.

”In AHF, we take issues relating to women and girls seriously, we want to play a part in safeguarding the menstrual health of school girls in the state.”

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”It is important for school girls to have access to sanitary pads, disposal units and clean water,” he said. In her speech, Dr Ini Adiakpam, the Akwa Commissioner for Women Affairs, said that the state government placed huge value on the education and wellbeing of the girl child.

She expressed the willingness of the state government to partner relevant stakeholders towards supporting girl children to understand their rights in the society.

The commissioner urged parents and school administrators in the state to play prominent roles in the upbringing of girl children. ”And for you girls, what you know is what makes you. Take your studies seriously and avoid unnecessary emotional distractions. You are the future of the society, endeavour to improve the content in you, grow up to be a woman whose voice can be heard,” she said.

The Guest Lecturer, Mrs Mfon Akpan, urged school girls in the state to maintain good menstrual hygiene in the interest of their health.

In the lecture titled, Comprehensive Health Education and Menstrual Health Management, Akpan urged school girls to indulge in safe menstrual health practices.

”It is in our interest to ensure regular change of sanitary pads and proper washing of our genitals. Always speak out to a more experienced person when you notice strange developments in your menstrual cycle,” she said.

Miss Divine Favour Isiah, SS3 students of Aka Community Secondary, Aka Ofo, Uyo, commended AHF Nigeria and her partners for their investment and push to ensure the voices of girls are heard.

Meanwhile, AHF also distributed sanitary pads to school girls who attended the event.

October 11, 2023
To health minister, a memo

• Treble blips of a serious public health emergency

The statistics are dire: cancer, high blood pressure (HBP) and diphtheria could pose a treble threat, climax in a public health emergency, claiming avoidable millions in deaths and infirmities; and billions of Naira in economic costs.

However, two of the three health risks — HBP and diphtheria — can be effectively neutered by a robust primary health system: the very base of a strong health system.

Besides, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, the new health and social welfare minister, is Coordinating Minister for Social Welfare (read: the health segment of social capital).

A coordinating ministry assumes a ready frame for an integrated public health care policy that should not only boost general health across income demographics, but also drive up citizens’ wellness, across Nigeria’s wide geographical swathes.

Still, a frame is something. Putting that frame to good use is another. That is why the minister — and Dr. Tunji Alausa, the health and social welfare minister of state —should tackle these potent challenges before they turn avoidable crises.

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According to the Association of Radiation and Clinical Oncologists of Nigeria (ARCON), 78, 000 Nigerians yearly die from cancer-related illnesses. These deaths are from 125, 000 yearly reported cases, translating to 62.4 % of deaths from reported cases.

That number might be higher, if you add undocumented deaths from non-reported cases, though how much higher, we wouldn’t know. But this we know — at least from ARCON statistics: Nigeria records the highest yearly global deaths from breast cancer, even if cancer itself is a global burden, from which practically no country in the world, rich or poor, is immune.

Yet, Dr. Amaka Lasebikan, ARCON president, enthuses: “… cancer is curable, but it has to be presented early.” Late presentation is a clear function of many factors that, again, ARCON has itemised: inadequate medical infrastructure (for early tests, accurate cancer diagnoses and treatment).

Access to this limited infrastructure, by the way, varies so widely among Nigeria’s six geo-political zones, that ARCON is alarmed at that basic skewness. To address that challenge, it coined, as theme for its 2023 yearly medical conference: “Equity in Oncology: Policy, Practice and Patients”.

The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare should partner with ARCON, so that the government can formulate policies, and design accelerative programmes, to make cancer diagnoses and treatment much more accessible and effective.

The ministry should also pay no less attention to the brain drain among medical professionals, that fast depletes the local stock of care givers. Urgent investments in latest equipment and in medics’ welfare, in good salary packages and less tasking work environment, can help to address that challenge.

But beyond manpower and hospital work challenges, the ministry should campaign against cultural and religious beliefs — but sensitively so — which ingrained fatalism often encourages costly denials that propel late treatment and avoidable deaths.

A persistent blitz, all season-round, should help to change such costly behaviours. Integrated into this campaign should be deliberate efforts to discourage stigmatising cancer patients, and tone down scary messages. It was beautifully done for HIV/AIDS. It can also be done for cancer.

Such publicity drives should also incorporate reckless dietary habits and lifestyles, and how they trigger cancer: processed foods leaning more towards western diets, smoking, excessive alcohol intakes, multiple starchy foods, without a healthy balance of vegetables and fruits.

Nevertheless, cancer denials are often caused by a lean pocket, which often craves magical or miraculous cures in religious houses, foreign or native — the treatment for cancer isn’t cheap!

So, the government should work harder at a general and comprehensive health insurance for citizens. That way, more should be able to access the right treatment at the right time.

HBP and diphtheria are no less scary. But both, complex problems if allowed to get out of hand, can easily be averted by a strong primary health system, in the best tradition of prevention being better than cure.

Like cancer, HBP is a global pandemic. Hypertension, HBP’s full manifestation, affects one in every three adults worldwide. At its worst, hypertension could cause stroke, heart attack, heart failure and kidney damage, with their huge medical bills.

In Nigeria, four out of every five hypertensive patients are not adequately treated. Perhaps that partly explains the World Health Organization (WHO) alarming numbers that people living with hypertension, between 1990 and 2019, doubled from 650 million to 1.3 billion.

This dangerous flare is also easily explained by urban stress: imagine some Lagos folks, for instance, leaving home for work as early as 5 am, returning no earlier than 10 pm, grabbing very late dinner and having barely five hours of sleep, five days-a-week!

Beyond a medical response, bucking such deadly daily cycles requires significant investments in better transport infrastructure — rail, bigger and less-clogged roads, safe and fast water transportation, where available — for instance.

One thing is clear though — and again, the source is WHO: sorting out hypertension “could prevent 76 million deaths, 120 million strokes, 79 million heart attacks, 17 million cases of heart failure, between now and 2050.” Yes, this is a global projection. But for Nigeria, the virtual “open sesame”, to avert all these human catastrophes, is a sound and robust primary health system!

Again, a sound anti-hypertension programme should include public enlightenment that stresses prevention. Citizens should stay off avoidable triggers: a high-salt intake (which many Nigerian cultures encourage), physical inactivity (inadequate regular exercises, for instance), high consumption of alcohol, and smoking.

Diphtheria is a childhood/teenage disease that again falls within the purview of primary health care, with established regimes of free childhood vaccines. Yet, diphtheria has latterly wreaked a sick harvest of lives, because some parents have not availed their infants and tots the available vaccine advantages at the right time.

Combined statistics from the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDCP), reveal that as at September 25, 7, 202 cases of diphtheria had been confirmed, from 11, 587 suspected cases; 453 deaths had also been recorded.

Affected states, in their order of severity, are Kano (6, 185), Yobe (640), Katsina (213), Borno (95), Kaduna (16), Jigawa (14), Bauchi (eight), Lagos (eight), FCT (five), Osun and Sokoto (three each), Niger (two), Cross River, Enugu and Imo, Nasarawa and Zamfara (one each).

The North West and North East geo-political zones are the most impacted. That should prompt an aggressive enlightenment, in those areas, calling parents out to vaccinate their children. But the government must closely watch too other driving factors: poverty, manifested in folks living in crowded homes, with poor sanitation.

Such huddled homes also condemn the children to direct contact with infected people, expose them to droplets from coughing or sneezing, and also make them have contact with contaminated clothing and objects. Tackling poverty is beyond the purview of the Federal Ministry of Health but public campaigns against poor sanitation is not.

A diphtheria vaccination gap has also been established: only 42% (less than half) of Nigerian children between one and 14 years have been fully vaccinated; whereas there is free and ready vaccination: the Pentavalent (for children between six weeks and four years) and the Tetanus-diphtheria (Td) for children between four years and 14 years.

As immediate response, the government should rally parents to get their children full vaccination, by involving everyone: particularly the traditional communications and institutions, to sell the message. The special task force to rein in diphtheria spread should also rally the affected states and collaborate with them.

But stats from both HBP and diphtheria show a common feature: Nigeria’s primary health system is not top-notch yet. So, the minister should immediately revamp NPHCDA for better service delivery. But the Federal Ministry of Health must work closely with the states, to achieve prime results.

A solid primary health system holds the simple key to solving Nigeria’s complex public health problem. Now — not tomorrow — is the time to build such a system. Millions of lives depend on it.

October 9, 2023
Society for Family Health trains 150 in Niger

In an effort to empower women and improve access to family planning services, Society for Family Health (SFH) has trained 150 healthcare workers and community mobilisers on promoting and strengthening the uptake of self care contraceptives in Niger State.

100 family planning providers were trained in 81 facilities while 50 community mobilisers were trained across 10 local government areas of the state. The Behavioural Change Communication (SBC) officer for SFH DISC, Nufin’allah Al-hamdu who disclosed this to our reporter said the DISC project aims to shift the health system to a more patient-centered approach, with individuals taking charge of their own healthcare.

He added that the DISC project is under the sexual and reproductive health sphere with focus on contraception and family planning.

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“The whole essence of self-care is to ensure women have more autonomy over their sexual and reproductive health, allowing them to decide when they want to get pregnant. By providing access to self-injecting contraceptives, we aim to prevent unintended pregnancies, reduce the strain on healthcare facilities, and improve women’s overall reproductive health.

“Under the DISC project, healthcare providers in 81 facilities across ten local government areas in Niger State have been trained and mentored to deliver self-care contraceptive services. Concurrently, community mobilisers have been empowered to advocate for contraceptives and refer interested individuals to healthcare facilities.

He highlighted the advantages of self-injection to include decongestion of healthcare facilities, reduced waiting times for patients, cost savings on transportation, and a decreased workload for healthcare providers; while it offers the women privacy and convenience, addressing the stigma associated with contraceptive use.

“The small size of the syringe used for self-injection also helps alleviate fear and anxiety,” Al-hamdu said.

October 8, 2023