The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ministry of Health

  • Experts call for stronger early childhood development policies

    Experts call for stronger early childhood development policies

    Health experts have called for urgent prioritisation of early childhood development (ECD) in Nigeria, stressing that the survival, safety, and future of children depend on adequate care from birth to age five.

    The call was made at the public presentation of the Osun State Early Childhood Development Strategy, held at the Ministry of Health Conference Room in Osogbo.

    Consultant at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife, Oluwatosin Olorunmoteni, said early childhood development is cost-effective and impacts all areas of human endeavour and policy.

    She urged the Federal Government to introduce child survival action plans, explaining that such measures would further boost survival rates.

    “The children should have their development monitored by the parents and this should be for every child. The brain of the children can be worked upon when they are young and not when they are already old. Every child should also have developmental screening while every school is also encouraged to monitor the growth of the children,” she said.

    Permanent Secretary at the Osun State Ministry of Health, Dr Adekunle Isiaka, said a pivotal foundation had already been laid in Ife Central Local Government Area as a pilot study.

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    He assured that the project would be extended across the state in no distant time, urging development partners to support the government.

    Special Adviser to the Governor on Hospitals Management Board, Bosun Awoyemi, suggested that all states of the federation should adopt the initiative.

    Similarly, Commissioner for Health, Jola Akintola, pledged that Osun State would formally adopt the strategy and present it to the National Council on Health.

  • Cervical Cancer: Ministry to acquire Mobile Treatment Machines

    In an effort to eliminate cervical cancer in Nigeria, the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole has said that his ministry would procure mobile solution treatment machines and distribute to the 774 Local Government Councils in Nigeria.

    The Ministry would also purchase the bigger size of the machines to distribute to the Federal Tertiary Hospitals across the country.

    The Minister made this revelation while meeting with General Manager, WISAP Medical Technology, Stephan Hilgers, the industry that produces the mobile solution treatment machines based in Germany.

    ReadAlso: Breast Cancer: Awareness gets boost with pitch competition in Ondo

    The Minister said that Federal Government in her nationwide campaign to eliminate cervical cancer, using the mobile treatment machines could serve as one of the key strategies to achieve the goals.

    “What we want is at least one per local government, that is 774, if we make it 1000 is appropriate because we need to scale it up.”

    Minister of health
    Hon. Minister of Health Prof. Isaac Adewole holding the mobile cervical cancer mobile treatment machine

    He said the procurement would be in batches, the Ministry would purchase some this year while the rest would be purchased in 2019.

    “We would look at our budget, in 2018 we can buy some and then we buy the remaining in 2019,” Adewole said.

    He said the Ministry would work in partnership with WISAP Medical Technology to train the staff that would handle the machines.

    Earlier, the General Manager, WISAP Medical Technology Stephan Hilgers demonstrated to the officers of the Federal Ministry of Health how the Machine works.

    He said the machine was very effective in the treatment of cervical cancer. It is mobile and uses rechargeable battery that could be more useful in rural areas.

  • No going back on strike, says Lagos health workers

    The Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) Wednesday said there was no going back on the strike called by the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) until their demands are met.

    MHWUN’s Federal Area Council chairman, Comrade Ibrahim Attah, said the action was a continuation of last year’s suspended strike, adding that it was called due to the Federal Government’s failure to fulfill an agreement that was reached.

    Attah led other union executives to federal hospitals, including the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), to ensure total compliance with the strike.

    He said all the agreements reached with the Federal Government at last year’s meeting were not implemented, including an adjustment of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) scale.

    Attah said the Federal Government also allegedly violated a judgment in a case won by JOHESU in November 2013 in which the court held that JOHESU members could skip grade levels, which was allegedly stopped by the Ministry of Health.

    He alleged double standard, saying while skipping was allowed for some health workers, such as those in the core Ministry of Health who could jump from levels nine to 11, it was stopped in parastatals and departments.

    “Because they felt that we’re not human beings, they felt that other health professionals should not enjoy skipping,” he said, adding that several workers were suffering career stagnation and injustice as a result.

    According to Attah, when the agreement was signed, the time-line for its implementation was five weeks. “From September 2017 that the meeting was held till now, is that not over seven months?” he asked.

    The MHWUN chief said medical doctors were treated as if they were more important to the health sector than other professionals, such as pharmacists, radiologists, nurses, hospitals administrators and others, adding that such professionals are not given senior management positions like doctors.

    Attah alleged that most medicals doctors spend more time running their private clinics than they do in the government hospitals despite the huge salaries they receive.

    “They close from government hospitals and they go to their private practice and even direct patients to their private practices, which is against Public Service Rules, yet the government is not doing anything about it,” he said.

    He said public hospitals were not only poorly funded, but were badly managed, saying hospitals should be run by trained administrators rather than strictly by doctors.

    Attah the hospitals would remain shut until their demands were met, such as upward adjustment of CONHESS salary scale, payment of skipping arrears, employment of additional health professionals, implementation of court judgments and upward review of retirement age from 60 to 65.

    Read Also: Health workers resume suspended strike over service conditions

  • Corruption and the health sector

    Corruption and the health sector

    SIR: The recent revelation by the wife of the president, Mrs Aisha Buhari, on the deplorable condition of the Aso Rock Clinic, Abuja is quite disturbing. As the matriarch of the nation’s first family and its chief caregiver, Mrs Buhari owes her family the sacred duty of ensuring that their well-being and healthcare needs are met at the state house health facility in the Aso Villa.

    Mrs Buhari’s exposé affirms the widely held notion that all is not well with the nation’s health sector. If the state house clinic, which is supposed to be primus inter pares among other health facilities in the country is not better than a glorified consulting station, one can only imagine the dire straits other hospitals are in. When this is weighed alongside the recent strikes by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) and the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), as well as the imbroglio between the Health Minister, Professor Isaac Adewoye, and Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Professor Usman Yusuf, our health sector might soon enter a state of shock.

    The allegation of fraud and other disreputable issues emanating from the Ministry of Health, following the suspension of Professor Yusuf by Professor Adewole deserve some scrutiny. The NHIS boss, who was suspended over allegations of fraud and abuse of office, was quick to counter the action, describing it as a witch-hunt. He alleged that he was suspended because he refused to grant several monetary requests from the Federal Ministry of Health.

    It is instructive to note that such allegations of corruption, official recklessness and unethical conduct among parastatals, agencies and committees in the health ministry are not new.

    The Buhari administration must begin to walk its talk in its fight against corruption by cleansing the Federal Ministry of Health. The president’s antecedents in fighting corruption raised expectations from Nigerians on his ability to deal with the social malaise, upon resumption of office, and revive the economy from the ashes of accumulated monumental corruption. Of course, there have been promising signs in this regard but the expectations are yet to be fully met. Therefore, the present situation in the Ministry of Health and government-owned health institutions is a litmus test for the anti-corruption crusade.

    The House of Representatives Committee on Health Services should extend its investigation to every department of the ministry and refer any criminal finding to the EFCC and other anti-corruption agencies for prosecution. All those named and implicated in the allegation should be made to face the full wrath of the law. Also, efforts must be made to ensure that there is strict adherence to financial regulations in cooperation between MDAs and other arms of government and their parastatals.

    The allegations of corruption in the nation’s health sector are too grave to ignore, considering the critical nature of services it provides and thus should be given serious thoughts and met with firm actions.

     

    • Rasheed Adegeye, Abuja.

  • Ondo college to admit 650

    Merit will be the only criterion to admit 650 students into the six departments of the Ondo State School of Health Technology for the 2017/2018 academic session.

    While monitoring the entrance examination held simultaneously at the school premises and at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, the Permanent Secretary, Ondo State Ministry of Health, Dr Taiye Oni, praised the management and students for the success of the examination, which he said was devoid of malpractice.

    He added that the track record of the school has made it popular for prospective applicants to seek its admission across the country.

    Oni assured the candidates that the examination will be marked by the computer, thus will be devoid of favouritism.

    He warned the candidates not to lobby or bribe any staff for assistance, as candidates would be admitted on merit.

  • Ogun inaugurates committee on illegal drugs

    As part of its commitments to rid Ogun State of all forms of drug-related crimes, the government has warned that it will deal decisively with illegal drug dealers. In the circumstances, it has set up a committee to fish out illegal drug dealers and those patronising them.

    Addressing reporters in Abeaokuta, the state capital, the Director of Pharmaceutical Services in the Ministry of Health, Mr. Olufemi Fafiolu said the government took the action against the backdrop of increase in illegal drug dealers and outlets.

    Fafiolu said the committee would commence raiding and picketing of illegal and counterfeit drug businesses, and food outlets that produce unwholesome processed foods for residents’ consumption from this month.

    He advised those who deal on illegal drugs as well as those who patronise them to desist from the acts, noting that anyone caught in the act would be prosecuted.

    “The government is worried over the influx of illegal drug dealers from Lagos State. It will not fold its arms and allow any unscrupulous elements to perpetrate any illegal drug deals,” Mr Fafiolu said.

    He added that the activities of the illegal drug dealers were responsible for the rise in the consumption of hard and illicit drugs among school children, especially in the primary and secondary schools.

    Fafiolu said government, in its attempt to curb the menace of illicit drug-related crimes and abuse among the youth, had established drug-free clubs in 22 public secondary schools across the state.

    The committee set up by the state government are made up of officials of the state’s ministries of health and justice, National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) and the police.

  • Fire at Ministry of Health headquarters

    A minor fire has been reported at the Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja, following an electric spark on Saturday morning.

    Mrs. Boade Akinola, the Director, Media and Public Relations, in the ministry, said a private security outfit in charge of the premises contacted the fire service which responded immediately to put off the fire.

    She said: “There was no damage to any government property or records as the minor fire did not affect any of the offices in the complex.”

    NAN

  • Sokoto restates commitment to curbing of meningitis

    The Sokoto State Government on Thursday restated its total commitment to curbing the outbreak of Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) in the state.

    The Commissioner for Health, Dr Balarabe Kakale, made this assertion when members of the State House of Assembly Committee on Health, visited the Murtala Muhammad Hospital in Sokoto.

    Kakale said that the State Government had released funds to procure consumables and drugs in order to ensure that those infected are saved.

    He said that the efforts being made by the government to nip the epidemic on the bud was already yielding positive results.

    “We have a number of patients in this centre but in other facilities in the Local Governments, the cases are few.

    “As such, it cannot be used as a yardstick for the state of the disease in Sokoto, as the centre was chosen to be the referral centre in the state.

    “So, I still insist and maintain that, the disease is under control in the state,’’ the commissioner said.

    He said that the government had initiated a powerful public enlightenment campaign and community sensitisation, which resulted in the large turnout of patients at the Murtala Mohammed Hospital in Sokoto.

    Kakale lauded the lawmakers for their support to the ministry in controlling the outbreak of the disease.

    The committee’s chairman, Alhaji Arzika Sarki (APC- Sokoto North II), also lauded the State Government’s efforts in curbing the disease.

    Sarki said that from what was seen, the State Government, through the Ministry of Health, was doing everything possible to save the lives of those infected.

    “So, we at the State House of Assembly are very much impressed with the steps so far taken by the State Government in tackling the epidemic,” he added.

    Sarki also advised the public to maintain a clean environment and ensure that they stay in well ventilated rooms.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the disease has claimed no fewer than 328 lives in 16 states of the federation in the last four months.

    Fourteen states are severely affected in the North with two states in the South.

    No fewer than 41 lives have been confirmed lost to the epidemic in Sokoto between November 2016 and March 31, 2017.

     

  • FMC Keffi confirms Lassa fever case

    FMC Keffi confirms Lassa fever case

    Dr Giyan Joshua-Ndom, the Medical Director of the Federal Medical Centre, Keffi, Nasarawa state, has confirmed that a patient at the centre was suffering from a disease suspected to be Lassa fever.

    Joshua-Ndom told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday that the centre had reported the matter to the Ministry of Health as well as the Centre for Diseases Control, Abuja.

    “It is true that a suspected case of Lassa fever had been discovered at the centre with a male patient being its victim.

    “But, I want to use this medium to appeal to patients and members of the public to remain calm as necessary steps had been taken to avert the spread of the virus.

    “The patient with the suspected case of Lassa fever had been separated from other patients and we are on top of the situation to curtail the spread of the disease,” he said

    The medical director reaffirmed the commitment of the centre to continue with projects that had a direct bearing on the lives of doctors, other staff and Nigerians at large.

  • Lassa fever Kills medical doctor, three others in Anambra

    Lassa fever Kills medical doctor, three others in Anambra

    Anambra State is now battling to save lives, as Lassa fever has claimed the lives of a medical doctor and three others in the state.

    This was a revelation by the state Ministry of Health Thursday in Awka during a one-day Lassa fever training workshop.

    One of the resource persons at the workshop Dr. Jane Ezeonu confirmed that the medical doctor died at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, three days ago.

    Also, the Director of Public Health in the state, Dr Emmanuel Okafor, said the state had equally recorded the death of three others, recently.

    For Ezeonu, the late medical doctor was referred to NAUTH from Asaba, Delta state.

    She warned the people of the state to stop drinking raw garri, adding that they should protect their food and related items from rats.

    Furthermore, she explained that people don’t acquire immunity after suffering from Lassa fever.

    Ezeonu said general hygiene was important in Lassa fever prevention.

    For Dr Okafor, the essence of the workshop was to train professionals who would go to the grassroots to educate the people on the prevention of the disease.

    According to him “In Anambra State, we don’t know the number of cases of the disease, but we have three confirmed deaths”

    He therefore, called on health workers in the state to exercise high standard in handling Lassa fever cases.

    But he hinted that the state government had put machinery in motion to tackle the scourge.

    In his speech, the permanent secretary in the state ministry of health, Dr Okwuchukwu Chukwuka insisted that there was no such epidemic in the state.

    He represented the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Josephat Akabuike on the training workshop.

    He said “It is a training workshop for health professionals in the 21 local government areas of the state who would sensitize and disseminate information about Lassa fever to the grassroots.

    “We are having the workshop for prevention, not that we have an epidemic in the state,” the permanent secretary said.

    The Nation gathered Thursday that Lassa fever had been on in the state, with the Ministry of Health doing everything possible to hide it.

    Before now, the State Government had denied the influx of tuberculosis that hit about 2000 patients in the state in recent times.