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Tag: Minister of Health

  • Reps summon Ministers over Queens College epidemic 

    Reps summon Ministers over Queens College epidemic 

    The House of Representatives has summoned the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole  and his Education counterpart,  Malam Adamu Adamu  over the outbreak of an epidemic in Queens College, Lagos that led to the death of three students.

    The two Ministers were expected to explain steps taken by the Federal Government to remedy the situation.

    However, House Committees on Health and Education services have been mandated to investigate the death of the three students.

    The school was shut down after two students, Vivian Osuinyi and Bithia Itulua allegedly died of diarrhoea, between Thursday, February 23 and Friday, February 24, 2017.

    While 14 year old orphan, Praise Sodipo also died days later, many of students were hospitalized.

    The cause of the epidemic was linked to a contamination of the source of water supply in the school.

    The lawmakers also condemned threat of expulsion of any student whose parents make remarks on the issue on social media by the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu.

    Adamu had, through a circular directed parents and students of the school to stop making comments on the incident, especially on social media or face expulsion from the school.

    Sponsor of the motion, Majority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, who raised a motion of urgent public importance expressed disappointment over the handling of the issue by the Education Minister.

    “Rather than take action that would bring succour to students and their worried parents, the Minister chose a high handed approach to the matter,” he noted.

    He also condemned the insistence of the former Principal of the school that there was no disease outbreak as well as the remark of the Vice-Principal of the school, that the management of the college ought to be commended for taking care of over 2000 girls with only a few affected during the epidemic outbreak.

    The House Leader said the school should be investigated on how N663m allocated to it in the 2016 budget and N776m in 2017 were utilized.

    The joint committee was expected to obtain the action plan by the two Ministries to forestall a re-occurrence of a disease outbreak in the school.

  • Meningitis: Reps invite Health Minister

    Meningitis: Reps invite Health Minister

    The House of Representatives on Thursday resolved the investigate Federal Government’s handling of the recent outbreak of Meningitis in parts of the country.

    It has mandated its Committee on Healthcare Services to invite the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, to brief it on the ministry’s efforts combating the scourge.

    The resolution followed the adoption of a motion entitled “Urgent Need to Curb the Scourge of Meningitis in Nigeria’’ sponsored by Rep. Johnson Oghuma (Edo-APC).

    The committee was also mandated to ensure there was no scarcity of the vaccine to treat patients and report back to the house within two weeks.

    Moving the motion earlier, Oghuma had expressed sadness with the developing, saying that the disease was ravaging parts of the country unchecked.

    He said that the scourge had so far killed no fewer than 230 persons, with numerous others hospitalised.

    The lawmaker condoled with families of victims of the disease and said that the extent of the spread of the scourge would have been minimised if adequate proactive measures were taken.

    Oghuma said “the outbreak being an annual phenomenon, the Federal Ministry of Health ought to have been proactive to anticipate and put in plans to address it.

    “This ravaging scourge of meningitis may not be over unless measures are taken to curb the spread,’’ he added.

  • N12bn earmarked for hospitals’ decongestion in 2017 Budget

    N12bn earmarked for hospitals’ decongestion in 2017 Budget

    The Federal Government made a commitment of N12 billion to decongest national hospitals and other tertiary teaching hospitals in the country.

    Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, said this on Monday in Abuja at the sideline of the Public Presentation of the 2017 Budget Proposals tagged “Budget of Recovery and Growth”.

    He said in the 2017 Budget, about N51 billion was proposed for health infrastructure development, part of which would be dedicated to implementing the new National Health Policy.

    He said that the policy would focus on strengthening primary healthcare centres and encouraging states to strengthen secondary healthcare centres while the Federal Government focused on the tertiary teaching hospitals in the country.

    “In the last 12 months, we have seen the rehabilitation of close to 3,000 of primary healthcare centres. This was done from both internal funding and funding from development partners.

    “In 2017, we intend to continue to support primary care. In addition to this, we intend to take more people away from tertiary hospitals.

    ” Many Nigerians go to tertiary hospitals for any kind of ailment, be it a headache, fever, diarrhoea they go to national hospitals. That is not where they ought to go.

    “They should go to the primary healthcare facility close to them. So we will de-congest the tertiary hospitals so that they can attend to serious cases such as cancer, heart disease among others,” he said.

    Adewole said that the ministry planned to leverage and partner with the private sector to get more funding for the sector, especially in the development of tertiary teaching hospitals.

    “The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority will help us pull more money from the private sector so that we can grow this N12 billion.

    “The N12 billion is not up to what we need; but with the private sector, we can achieve our goals for the year,” he said.

    “We have the human resources; we just need to upgrade the facility and give doctors space to achieve specialisation,” he said.

    With this done, he says Nigeria will stop losing money to medical tourism which is one of the focus of the Federal Government in 2017.

  • About 15m babies are born prematurely annually – Minister

    About 15m babies are born prematurely annually – Minister

    …Nigeria 3rd largest contributor with estimated 871,000
    Globally, about 15 million babies are born prematurely each year, it was learnt Thursday.

    Nigeria is also the 3rd largest contributor to this number with an estimated 871,000 babies born pre-term every year.

    Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Oyewole disclosed this yesterday at the occasion marking the World Prematurity and Pneumonia Day.

    Also, as part of the efforts to save Newborn lives, Federal Ministry of Health launched three policy documents relating to Newborn Health. These are: Nigeria Every Newborn Action Plan, essential Newborn Care training package and National Chlorhexidine Scale up Strategy document.

    Speaking at the occasion, Prof. Oyewole reveals that babies born too soon have a higher risk of death that is thirteen times higher than babies born at term.

    He also disclosed that one of every three newborn deaths is attributable to complications of prematurity, while those who survive may face lifelong disabilities, including learning, visual and hearing problems and their quality of life is greatly affected.

    The minister however said it was not all doom and gloom as recent survey has shown a reduction in under-five mortality rates from 157/1000 lives births in 2008 to 128/1000 in 2013.

    He said: “Globally, about 15 million babies are born prematurely each year, Nigeria being the 3rd largest contributor to this number has an estimated 871,000 babies born preterm every year.
    “Babies born too soon have a higher risk of death that is thirteen times higher than babies born at term. Thus, one of every three newborn deaths is attributable to complications of prematurity. Those who survive may face lifelong disabilities, including learning, visual and hearing problems and their quality of life is greatly affected.

    “In the same vein, globally, Pneumonia follows closely neonatal causes as the next largest cause of under-five mortality and is the leading single disease cause of under-five deaths in Nigeria (WHO-CHERG, 2014). Pneumonia majorly affects the marginalized and the poorest children, accounting for 18% of cause of death in under-fives, about one million deaths among children annually and more than 2500 children per day under the age of five suffering from complications resulting from pneumonia. Evidence has shown that simple practices such as early and exclusive breastfeeding, vaccination, hand washing with soap and water as well as low level of exposure to greenhouse gases are protective against the development of pneumonia.

    “It is however not all doom and gloom. Results from the 2013 NDHS indicate an 18% reduction in under-five mortality rates from 157/1000 live births in 2008 to 128/1000 live births in 2013. Commendable as this may seem, we are mindful that additional efforts are required to further crash the mortality rates and reduce preventable deaths from prematurity and pneumonia to the barest minimum.”

    He also stressed that “the Ministry has not relented in her efforts to reduce preventable deaths of her newborns and children since the last commemoration but has achieved some milestones.”

    To tackle prematurity issues, the minister said ” it is important to promote essential care during childbirth and in the postnatal period for every mother and baby, including antenatal corticosteroids (given to pregnant women at risk of preterm labour to strengthen the babies’ lungs), kangaroo mother care which provide thermal care via skin-to-skin contact for the baby and support breastfeeding (particularly, exclusively, for the first six months of life), and antibiotics to treat newborn infections.”

    The representatives of World Health Organization (WHO), Mr. Andrew Mbewe assured the country of WHO continuous support in the fight to eradicate pneumonia.

    He said already, WHO has helped in building capacity and also supply commodity in communities across the country.

    Mbewe also revealed that the international Organisation have almost more than 1000 community response persons treating children with pneumonia in some states of the country.

    On his part, Representative of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Dr. Joseph Monehi, who confirmed the decline in mortality rate in the country, said the agency would be working towards supporting local manufacturer in producing medicine to combat pneumonia in the country.

     

  • AfDB approves US $1m grant to fight malnutrition in Borno

    AfDB approves US $1m grant to fight malnutrition in Borno

    Executive Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) have approved a US $1 million grant as emergency assistance to support the fight against malnutrition in Borno State.

    A statement from the AfDB said the Nigerian Minister of Health had declared a nutrition emergency in Borno State.

    In addition to that, the West and Central Africa Regional Food Security and Nutrition Working Group called on the entire international community to respond in order to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.

    The AfDB intervention will strengthen the on-going Government and partners (UNICEF, WFP, OCHA, etc.) support in the North East region of the country. The Bank will focus on Borno State where the situation is dire, to rationalize funds and be more efficient.

    This AfDB said; “will contribute to reducing malnutrition rate among the most vulnerable population, mainly children under five years and women of childbearing age.”

    The support aims to contribute to mortality reduction due to Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) of children under five years of age in Borno State by 46% and to the reduction of infant mortality by 20%.

    The specific objectives of the project are to: (i) treat 11,468 children in Borno state with Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), (ii) provide 60,000 children 6-23 months in the affected areas with multiple micronutrient powder and (iii) Strengthen sector coordination and monitoring at state level to provide effective coordination of nutrition response.

    To achieve high coverage and quality service delivery of the program, community mobilization, capacity building, coordination and partnership (with International Non-governmental Organizations) and strengthening of information management systems will be employed. In addition, monitoring and introduction of surveillance systems using quarterly surveys and mobile technology for real-time reporting and data collection will be introduced.

    “The nutrition sector in Nigeria estimates a burden of 296,601 cases of SAM in Borno state in 2017. If these children are left untreated, it is envisaged that an estimated 59,320 would die. This intervention will augment efforts at attaining the target to reach 80% of the estimated SAM cases in the region by 2017” AfDB President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina told the Board.

    Nigeria is currently in economic recession which has stretched the Government’s capacity to address vulnerability. Over 2.5 million children under five years are severely malnourished across the country and are 9 times more likely to die than their counterparts. In the midst of these challenges, the humanitarian situation in the North East of Nigeria continues to deteriorate, with an estimated 7 million people in need humanitarian assistance, while about 2.2 million people are internally displaced.

    The conflict in the region continues to restrict farming and other income earning activities due to insecurity. Children and residents in the rural parts are most affected and IDPs continue to be negatively impacted by the food and nutrition deficiencies.

    According to the August 2016 “Cadre Harmonisé analysis” there are 4.4 million food insecure people in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States, 3.2 million of them in the Borno state. The conflict has affected the food and health supply systems and left the health sector with very limited health workers available to provide services.

    This intervention is aligned with one of the operational priorities of the Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy, 2013-2022, namely governance and accountability, which is reiterated in two of the High-5s: Feed Africa and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa.

     

  • FG renew commitment to end Obstetric Fistula

    FG renew commitment to end Obstetric Fistula

    Federal Government has renewed its commitment to end obstetric fistula in the country.

    Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole made this known while launching the guideline on Urethral Catherisation for prevention and managing of Obstetric Fistula in Nigeria.

    The launch was part of the sixth International Conference of International Society on Obstetric Fistula Surgeon (ISOFS) in Abuja.

    The Minister while evaluating the surgical exercise held at Federal Medical Centre Jabi, Abuja in collaboration with the society urged the International Obstetric Fistula Centre Working Group to work with the Federal Ministry of Health not only to repair fistula patients but also to find lasting solution to the problem.

    The Minister said, “It is not enough to keep on repairing, we must close the tap, by closing the tap, I mean we should do everything possible to stop all new cases of obstetric fistula in Nigeria”.

    According to the Minister since it is part of the Federal Government’s contributions to repair all fistula cases, the ministry had established three hospitals dedicated for fistula repair in the country namely: Abalaki, Ebony State, Baba Ruga, Katsina State, and Ningi in Bauchi State, adding that the government intend to establish three more in the year 2017.

    Adewole said, “We need to tackle the root causes by addressing education and poverty: when a woman is educated, she would understand what it means to have a child, understand what it mean to seek for medical care when things are not going well”.

    The Minister reaffirmed that the Federal Government of Nigeria was committed to put in place reasonable resources in the current budget to address social welfare problem that would lift people out of poverty.

    He said when people are educated and have resources, they could live well, eat well, and they would really attend issues affecting not only their health but general wellbeing.

    Deputy Representative, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Nigeria Country Office Eugene Kongnyuy, said experts should think differently from the normal routine. He called for robust campaign against early marriage and harmful traditional practices like female genital mutilation which he considered the main cause of Obstetric Fistula.

    The wife of the Niger State Governor,  Dr Amina Abubakar Bello said her project Raise Foundation was working toward improving the lives of women and children including  creating awareness and repair of fistula patients in Niger State adding that the foundation was willing to partner with the Federal Government in the quest to end obstetric fistula.

  • FG to establish national agency for cancer control

    FG to establish national agency for cancer control

    Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole has announced that Federal Government is tinkering with the possibility of setting up National Agency for Cancer Control (NACC) in Nigeria.

    The Minister made this known during a an audience with with Director, Head of Eastern Europe, Middle East, African (EEMEA ) region, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Pharmaceuticals Division Dr. Peter HUG in Abuja.

    The minister explained that the institution when establish would be responsible for research, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and palliative care for cancer patients. It will also provide leadership and technical direction for cancer control in Nigeria integrating services provided by the National Cancer Centre and in-cooperating a cluster of public and private tertiary Hospitals.

    Other functions expected to be performed by the Agency include, policy formulation, advocacy and mobilization, adopt best practices as per the Global Non-Communicable Diseases Framework to make the NACC a Centre of Excellence for cancer prevention and care. It is also believed that the Agency would develop national plan for cancer prevention and care, measure burden and impact of cancer and establish registries for routine monitoring.

    He said that the Ministry in collaboration with other stakeholders in cancer control was working hard in creating awareness at the rural areas on early detection of cancer.

    The Minister expressed government’s determination and willingness to partner with Dr. Peter HUG on cancer prevention and control in Nigeria “If you ask me what do I want from Dr. Peter HUG, I will say how we can build a strong partnership and move from talking to action, what can you bring to the table in terms of partnership that would bring reliable service to Nigerians.”

    The Minister and Dr. Peter HUG later agreed that the partnership would focus more on Human Papiloma Virus (HPV) and Breast Cancer.

    Speaking earlier, on rationale behind his visit to Nigeria Dr. Peter HUG said that they were interested in partnering with the Nigerian Government on cancer prevention and treatment.

    He said they have the facilities to support Nigeria in the fight against cancer.

  • FG cancels plan to build 10,000 PHCs

    FG cancels plan to build 10,000 PHCs

    …To merge health department for effective performance

    Federal Government may have put off its earlier plan to build 10,000 primary health care centres across all senatorial zones across the country, it was learnt Thursday.

    Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole said the decision to cancel the project was on the advice of Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, who felt that the states may not be able to meet up with their contributions.

    Adewole spoke during an audience with Under-Secretary-General and Executive-Director, United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin in Abuja

    Absolving the Finance minister of any blame, Adewole said the minister (Finance) had earlier pledged upon assumption of office that the PHCs would be made available by President Buhari-led administration within four years, and that the nation’s health systems would be driven through it.

    But with the turn of event in the country, she was concerned that the states may not be able to meet up with their contributions. This, Adeosun said will be a burden on the Federal Government.

    Minister of Health had on Tuesday assured the country that government would harmonize various departments in the ministry for effective performance. He said most of the health projects in the country are funded by sponsors, and that the best way to show seriousness as a government, and appreciate such aids is to expend the funds through a well-coordinated channel.

    He said of the PHC’s: “Truly, we came up with the agenda of revitalizing one PHC per political ward, that would lead us to ensuring 1000 PHCs are in place. But, then, there is a problem. Government set up an inter-ministerial committee. At our first meeting, it was obvious, the Minister of Finance said ‘wait a minute, when you take this up, the local government and states will abandon its responsibility. And, when they abandon it for you, you are in trouble.

    “About 40 percent of the resources go into personnel cost. So, if you want to bear the responsibility of the resources, you want to bear responsibility for commodities, then, what exactly will the states be doing?

    “So, we are trying to repackage the concept. We are taking on one hundred and ten for pilot. We are going through the backdoor, using the Save-One-Million-Lives, which is actually $500 million facility from the World Bank. We’ve given out to the states as grant, and what we’ve done is to advance them and advance payment at $1.5million. Use this, and then, in a year’s time, we would re-evaluate and match you with you. In other words, we compared, say Lagos State in 2015 with Lagos State in 2016. We then advance them with rewards based on improvements. And, I’ve been talking to many of the state governors, saying use this to strengthen your primary health care system. I think many of them are listening. If they do not invest, there will be nothing for them next year.”

    He added that one of the core goals of the ministry under his leadership is promote family planning services as the best way for mothers to plan and live their lives meaningfully.

    In his remark, Prof. Osotimehin, who was accompanied by Permanent Secretary, United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, DfID, Mark Lowcock, expressed the concern of UNFPA and DfID over high maternal death rate in the country.

    He however reiterated the support of international community for the country to reduce the incidence. He however informed that family planning would effectively reduce the deaths by 30 percent, and that it should be embraced by all people in the country.

  • ‘Nigeria’s health matters to Africa’

    ‘Nigeria’s health matters to Africa’

    The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Rebecca Moeti, has pledged to support the Nigerian Health Agenda especially in the areas of Universal Health Coverage, primary healthcare and resource mobilization.

    The Regional Director also promised to help with capacity building, maternal and child health, immunization to prevent child killer diseases, as well to improve surveillance and preparedness against health emergencies.

    Dr Moeti made this known on Monday while meeting with the management of the Federal Ministry of Health in Abuja.

    She said that the essence of her visit was to meet with national authorities in Nigeria to strategies on ways of sustaining the landmark achievements so far in the health sector.

    Her words: “Nigeria is biggest country in Africa in terms of population, so it is very important to work with Nigerian Government to improve the healthcare system of the country  if Nigerians are healthy it means African people are healthy.”

    Speaking on Primary Healthcare, the WHO Regional Director for Africa said that Primary Healthcare and Universal Health Coverage is number one priority in WHO Agenda, Nigeria and WHO would share experience, ideas on Primary Healthcare System with a view to achieving the Universal Health Coverage in the country.

    “I want to assure you of our firm commitment and support to make sure that Nigeria realize and achieve the laudable Health Agenda,” she said.

    She further suggested that government at all levels should provide incentives to healthcare officials residing in rural areas, such incentive will encourage them to put in their best no matter the difficult circumstance they find themselves.

    Earlier in his presentation titled: “Universal Health Coverage an Agenda for Change”, the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, said that the Ministry’s focus is more on achieving the Universal Health Coverage as it was believed that it would change the perspective of Health to the one that is contributory to National Development.

    He said that the Federal Government is in the process of rehabilitating 10,000 PHC in the next two years with a minimum of one functional PHC per ward.

    “Having at least 1 functional health facility per ward offering quality health services 24 hour 7 days a week for free, will go a long way of closing the gap between the rich and the poor in accessing the healthcare service,” he said.

  • FG inaugurates Governing Board of the ECOWAS RCDC

    In order to increase the surveillance and information system for early detection, strengthening of laboratory capacity, preparedness and emergency response and retention of trained healthcare workforce in West Africa, the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole has flagged off the ECOWAS Regional Centre for Disease Control (RCDC).
    Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the Governing Board of the RCDC in Abuja, the minister charged members to build upon the existing structures and successes recorded by Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
    Prof Adewole said the Centre was also pilot – testing an open source Surveillance and outbreak response management and analytic system (SORMAS) software that uses smart phones to improve bi-directional communication and management of outbreak, thereby significantly reducing outbreak response time. This, he said contributed to making our health system more resilient and improved response time to health emergencies.
    He said the Government’s commitment towards providing the necessary infrastructures for the immediate operationalisation of the ECOWAS RCDC, as contained in the MOU and our acceptance to use Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) as a platform for the immediate take of the RCDC.
    The Director General of the West African Health Organisation (WAHO), Dr. Crespin Xavier, said that the Governing council has the difficult task of supervising the activities of the Centre in strict compliance with ECOWAS rules and regulations. due to the rampant outbreaks of disease epidemics in environment with scarce resources. “The stakes are high, the task is difficult but there is no doubt that we have what it takes to deliver best practices for disease surveillance and control which already exist, indeed we have the support  and goodwill of our heads of state and government’’, he said.
    Dr. Xavier expressed gratitude to the Government for all the support given to WAHO, for the smooth take off of ECOWAS RCDC in the country and also thanked the technical partners for their support.
    The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Amina Shamaki, represented by Director, Public Health, Dr. (Mrs.) Evelyn Ngige, urged the Governing Board to use their expertise in carrying out the assignment for the overall benefit of the West African populace.
    The Members of the Governing Board are:   Dr. Xavier Crespin (DG WAHO) as Chairman of the Governing Board,   Prof. Dagnan N’cho Simplice – ( Cote D’ ivore),  Dr. Badu Sarkodie -(Ghana),  Dr. Placido Monteiro Carddoso – ( Guinea Bissau), Lamine Koivogui – (Guinea),  Dr. Abdoulaye Bousso – (Senegal), Dr. Henri Kabore –  (Mali),  Dr. Carlos Pedrio Faria de Brito – (WAHO), Mr. Richard Awunyo – ( WAHO), Mme Savage Ami Ibrahim – (WAHO) and  Maitre Ely Diallo – (WAHO)