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Tag: patients

  • Help for 50,000 AIDS patients

    Help for 50,000 AIDS patients

    •A timely FG policy that requires proper implementation

    President Muhammadu Buhari has committed its government to support treatment of 50,000 HIV/AIDS patients in a year. This pledge, made at a special event during the UN Assembly in New York on getting countries to work towards ending AIDS by 2030, indicates readiness of the government to add this number to 60,000 patients already receiving subsidy from a combination of sources that include donor funding and government assistance. Under this scheme, the government will provide anti-retroviral treatment for 50,000 patients each year.

    This pledge is timely in view of the heavy reliance on donors for such treatment. Although a modest commitment in relation to the total number of people estimated to have HIV/AIDS, the move is still encouraging, especially that hundreds of patients are paying out-of-pocket for the expensive drugs and procedures required by AIDS patients. Currently, Nigeria is estimated as having about three million people with the infection, with close to one million already receiving treatment made possible by a cocktail of funding sources: out-of-pocket payment, donors’ funds and government assistance.

    President Buhari’s enthusiasm is unmistakable in the announcement of his government’s resolve to join forces with foreign donors to fight this deadly disease: “We recognise the impact of the global financing environment and the need for shared responsibility in order to end AIDS in Nigeria by 2030. Thus, we have committed to increase domestic resourcing of the AIDS response. In the light of this, the government of Nigeria is committed to maintain the current 60,000 plus clients on life saving medicines and an additional 50,000 new clients per year.”Also re-assuring is the president’s promise to work with partners to conduct a national population-based HIV survey to gather new evidence to guide Nigeria’s response, and to urge states to contribute to HIV funding and provide leadership for the establishment of a private sector Trust Fund to fight this disease.

    Given that people with HIV/AIDS are also susceptible to tuberculosis, government’s plan must include provision for this costly collateral effect. With other challenges competing for the government’s attention: poor performance of primary health care (PHC), perennial fight against malaria, inadequate health insurance coverage for citizens, and periodic outbreaks of meningitis, Lassa fever, and cholera, it is commendable that the government wants to join other countries to support treatment of few of the many patients of HIV/AIDS infection.

    In the past, there have been complaints that aid funds for treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS have been abused, just as similar complaints have been made about management of funds and supplies for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). It is, therefore, imperative that the Federal Government monitor effectively management of funds allocated for procuring anti-retroviral drugs for efficiency and transparency. The government must also ensure equity in identification of those that will benefit from this special assistance.

    Year 2030 is around the corner and efforts to end this deadly infection require in addition to providing subsidy for patients, intensification of campaign about the dangers of citizens’ involvement in practices that cause HIV/AIDS.  By 2015, new HIV infections had reduced by 35%, certainly a result of governments’ HIV education and prevention campaigns. More efforts still need to be put into this strategy by including many more Nigerian languages in design and propagation of HIV/AIDS education programmes. States and local governments ought to be encouraged to increase and improve strategies for well-coordinated AIDS-related health education and prevention services.

    We particularly urge the Federal Government to give needed support for immediate gathering of accurate evidence to assist in the fight against HIV/AIDS and other diseases. All subnational governments should be made to key into this initiative. The country’s health care financing and management can benefit from efficient evidence-based planning for all health challenges.

  • The joke is on the patients

    Last Thursday, I went to keep a medical check-up appointment at a federal Teaching Hospital in Lagos. I left my house at about 6.30am, got to the hospital about an hour later, but had to wait till about 11.00am for my medical records file to be found.

    Some patients got theirs earlier while others waited endlessly without getting theirs.

    After the nurse on duty checked my weight and I was waiting with others for our blood pressure to be taken, she got a call that the nationwide strike by health workers has commenced and immediately packed the files.

    “Sorry, I have to leave now. Our strike has started and union officials will soon be here to chase us out,” she told dejected patients who have been waiting for hours to see the doctors.

    The doctors who just resumed from their own strike did their best to salvage the situation by attending to the few they could without the assistance of the nurses.

    A doctor who was not aware the nurses had hurriedly left their duty points came into the waiting room to check why files had not been brought to him. When he was told of the strike, he joked that the “no work, no pay” policy would be applied to the workers.

    Some nurses who tried to complete what they were doing before the announcement of the strike were chased out by cane-wielding union officials who threatened to beat them up.

    After seeing the doctor, I could not book my next appointment as the record officials have also been chased out by the union officials.

    The doctors promised to do their best but it was apparent that there was not much they could do without the nurses and record officers.

    I left a crowd of dejected patients, many of whom left their homes before 6am to be early enough for their appointments.

    I am still haunted by the desperate expression on the face of a female patient who was recovering from stroke and managed to come alone to the hospital.

    Her medical file could not be found. She managed to move round the clinic pleading with the record officers to retrieve her file.

    The very hard-working record officer who was obviously overwhelmed by the crowd he had to attend to tried his best to sort out the files before he was chased out, but the files were nowhere to be found.

    How can doctors attend to patients without their medical records?

    Twice, my medical file has been missing and a temporary one had to be opened without details of my past treatment.

    The joke is really on Nigerians who have to attend government hospitals where they cannot get prompt treatment because the medical officers are either inadequate, do not have enough facilities to work with and have to resort to  strike to get government attention.

    Unlike most Nigerians, our leaders at the slightest opportunity jet out at our expense to get medical treatment.

    Who cares about others who cannot go abroad for treatment?

  • LUTH, LASUTH open for patients

    LAGOS University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Chief Medical Director Prof. Chris Bode said yesterday that measures have been put in place in the hospital to ensure that patients are attended to.

    He spoke in his office, while addressing reporters on the state of the nationwide strike by the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).

    When The Nation visited LUTH, it was observed that people moved in and out of the hospital freely as activities remain as usual.

    The Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja also attended to patients yesterday.

    But the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbogbi, Lagos (NOHIL) attended partially to patients.

    Prof. Bode said, even though not too many doctors came to work as a result of the strike, the hospital had put measures in place to ensure safety of patients, noting that if one patient suffer or dies, it would be a loss to many.

    He urged the Federal Government and NARD to negotiate.

    “The two parties need to negotiate. Government has been responsible and the doctors have been matured in the approach. The doctors have stated their complaints, government has invited them and they are discussing. We should allow fruitful discussion to emerge so that the best decision can be taken and we can move ahead. The two parties should come together in the spirit of give and take.”

    A nurse in one of the wards in LUTH, who craved anonymity, said there was a slight difference in normal activities.

    According to her, “We do not have so many patients as much as we usually do because many of them did not come since there is strike. Although we had more crowd in the morning than we have in the afternoon, some of the patients had to go back home since there was no doctor to attend to them. We nurses are attending to the ones we can.”

    President of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) in LUTH, Dr. Adebayo Sekumade said the directive from NARD is meant to be total and indefinite strike action.

    At LASUTH, a resident doctor, Dr. Adebola Badmus, said the hospital complied with the directive from the national body of the association.

    One of the patients at hospital, Mrs. Folasade Ilori, said the strike should have been avoided in the interest of patients.

    Another patient, Mr. Yinka Elemo, appealed to the striking doctors and the Federal Government to reach an agreement that would put a stop to the menace in the nation’s teaching hospitals.

    “Majority of Nigerians cannot afford the medical service at the private hospitals and our only hope is the government hospitals.

    “Consultants alone cannot attend to us all,” he said.

  • No admission of new patients in UBTH

    The strike action embarked upon by National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has started taking its toll on patients as those seeking urgent medical attention at the University of Benin Teaching were turned back at the hospital’s accident and emergency unit.

    The hospital, it was gathered, stopped receiving patients on Monday, when the strike began.

    A security personnel at the hospital, who confirmed this to The Nation, said many patients, who came to the hospital, were told to go elsewhere.

    Activities at the Accident and Emergency Unit were low as only two patients were seen around.

    Other beds were empty even though nurses were seen on duty.

    The patients said they were attended to by some doctors.

    As at press time, the hospital management was yet to begin discharging patients already on admission at the hospital.

    The hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Dr. Darlington Obaseki, told The Nation in an interview that arrangements have been put in place for the patients to get medical attention throughout the period of the strike.

    NARD President in UBTH Dr. Oseghale Eustace said his members complied with the strike since it was a national directive.

  • How to reduce sickle cell patients, by hospital

    The Federal Medical Centre in Ebute-Meta, Lagos, has called on those yet to know their genotype to avail themselves of the hospital’s services.

    By doing so, the hospital said a significant reduction in people living with the Sickle Cell Disorder (SCD) will be recorded. According to the centre, one out of every four Nigerians has sickle cell trait.

    According to the Acting Medical Director, Dr Olubukola Aseru, over 300, 000 children are born annually with SCD, and 70 per cent of these births happen in Sub-Sahara Africa.

    He said: “Nigeria by virtue of its population stands out as the most affected country in Africa with annual infant deaths of 100, 000, representing eight per cent of infant mortality. One out of four Nigerians has sickle cell trait; therefore, people need to be sensitised about the existence, consequences, prevention and care of SCD. The first step is to undergo genotype screening, and abide by medical counsel of the results.”

    Describing the condition, he said Sickle cell disease is a group of disorders, which affect hemoglobin, the molecule in red blood cells that delivers oxygen to cells throughout the body. Haemoglobin is a protein in the red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body. People with this disorder have atypical hemoglobin molecules called haemoglobin S, which can distort red blood cells into a sickle or crescent shape.

    Going by this year’s theme: “Sickle cell disease-importance of comprehensive management”, Dr Aseru said the hospital conducted free genotype screening of pupils and interested persons through the hospital’s Sickle Cell Disease project office. “When results are given and are SS (HbSS and HbSc) there will be a need for a comprehensive management of the disorder. This holistic approach goes beyond treating the biological and physical manifestations of the disease such as crises and complications, but also encompasses strategies aimed at reducing the prevalence and burden of the disorder and putting into consideration the psychosocial and economic impacts on the person, the caregivers, the family and the society as a whole,” he explained.

    The centre’s Consultant Family Physician, Dr Usman Olagoke said the SCD Project office opens from 8:00am to 4:00pm, every week day andnon-governmental organisations can assist people with SCD because home care and hospital care of those living with SCD have become increasingly complex and expensive.

    “These people need help in the area of subsidising their medical expenses, equip healthcare facilities, rehabilitation and reintegration of SCD patients, who have had irreversible complications, promote research works on SCD, and get involved in the awareness drive and vocational training,” he said.

  • Niger Gov’s wife funds 63 patients’ surgeries

    The wife of the Niger State Governor, Dr. Amina Abubakar Bello has sponsored surgeries on 63 Vesico Vaginal Fistula (VVF) patients across the state. In the same vein, she has also conducted 1, 029 free cervical cancer screenings and 1,145 for breast cancer screenings for women in the rural areas.

    This was contained in a press statement signed by her Press Secretary, Aisha Wakaso highlighting the achievements of the governor’s wife in the past two years.

    Giving the breakdown of the VVF surgeries, the statement said, 19 VVF surgeries were done in Kontagora General Hospital, 30 in Umaru Sanda Ndayako Hospital, 10 in Minna General Hospital adding that the wife of the Governor sponsored four VVF patients who were referred to Katsina fistula Centre where she paid for their treatment, feeding, transport, and other expenses.

    Wakaso stated that for the 1029 Cervical Cancer Screenings, 630 women were screened in Bida in collaboration with PPFN, 208 in Anfani village in Mashegu Local Government during a medical outreach, 50 in Rofia village in Agwara Local Government during a medical outreach, 30 in Gbajibo village in Mokwa Local Government during a medical outreach while 31 women went to the RAiSE Cancer Screening Centre to be screened.

    “There have also been 1,145 breast cancer screenings. 650 women were screened in collaboration with 5th Chucker Polo and country club during the breast cancer awareness month, 304 women were screened during the breast cancer awareness week, 80 during a medical outreach at Anfani village in Mashegu Local Government, 50 during a medical outreach at Rofia in Agwara Local Government, 30 at Gbajibo during a medical outreach while 31 women were screened at the RAiSE Foundation screening centre.”

    She disclosed that out of those screened during the breast cancer awareness week,15 were positive of breast lump, 13 of them were referred for mammography, nine of them needed surgeries but only six out of those who were referred for mammography needed biopsies which Dr. Bello paid for while two who already had advanced cancer were referred to Shika.

    The statement further said that over 1,500 women in rural areas in the state have been empowered  in the past two years adding that, “The Governor’s Wife has also empowered 500 Women with multipurpose crop milling machine in Kuchita, Lavun LGA, Kwagana in Paikoro LGA and Gurara LGA to enable them process their farm produce while another set of 500 Women were trained in Kontagora on how to use agro wastes such as groundnut shell, egusi waste and rice waste to make alternative charcoal for cooking. Others were trained in skill acquisition.”

     

  • 2000 eye patients get glasses in Aba

    2000 eye patients get glasses in Aba

    There is visual relief for over 2,000 optometric patients in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, as two non-governmental organisations, Emeka Nnamani Foundation (ENF) and Universal Mission USA provided them with reading glasses and also treated them of various eye diseases. The event lasted three days.

    Flagging off the outreach in Aba, Hon Emeka Nnamani explained why he organised the programme in partnership with Universal Mission USA.

    He said, “We gave away over 2000 reading glasses; we are working in partnership with an American-based organisation called Universal Mission USA and we are hoping by the end of the exercise, we would have been able to reach out to as many people as possible who have problems with their eyes.”

    Apart from giving free eye treatment and reading glasses, the boss of ENF hinted that his organisation would soon start up an anti-cancer campaign which is to enlighten people on symptoms, effects and causes of cancer. He equally informed that by the end of the year, his foundation will donation a dialysis machine to the state hospital in Aba.

    Declining to state the cost of the free programme, he, however, admitted it ran into millions of Naira.

    Coordinator of Universal Mission, USA, a charity organization, Nne Ihuoma Ngumoha said her outfit decided to partner Emeka Nnamani Foundation due to the similarity in vision of the two non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

    “This young man has been touching lives in Aba as I heard and he invited us all the way from US to come and help to alleviate some of the sufferings of people which include those who have eye problems. If you don’t have your sight, you become debilitated, you won’t live a normal life and you become unproductive. When he invited us and I saw the need for it, we accepted and that’s why we are here to help restore sight as much as we can.”

    According to Ngumoha who is a public health consultant, “The correlation between both foundations is that we have the same vision; they say like terms attract. We work with people anywhere in the world, even we’ve been to Ghana, we’ve been to other countries where they have the same vision with us which is helping people to better our community, to reach out to the needy, to reach the underserved in any way we can, both eye check, we organize sickness awareness. Right now we have an upcoming awareness on prostate cancer which has been known to cause over 70 percent of middle age men’s death. So, we want to take care of anything we can, after that we might go into sickle cell treatment.”

  • Relief for indigent patients in Imo

    Relief for indigent patients in Imo

    ‘I can’t thank God enough for what he has used the Deputy Governor to do for me and my baby,” she said. “We were like slaves here. They had discharged us and didn’t have beds anymore. We just slept on any available space on the floor. At a time I was afraid that my baby may be infected. Life was hell for me in the last five months. But today I am happy that my suffering has come to an end and I am going home’.

    ‘I can’t thank God enough for what he has used the Deputy Governor to do for me and my baby,” she said. “We were like slaves here. They had discharged us and didn’t have beds anymore. We just slept on any available space on the floor. At a time I was afraid that my baby may be infected. Life was hell for me in the last five months. But today I am happy that my suffering has come to an end and I am going home’

    For months they were not allowed to go home after they were treated at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Owerri. Why? They could not pay their medical bills. The stranded patients, Derek Peter and parents, Francis Victoria, Chinonyerem Rejoice and newborn Eliezer Chibiko, and their parents had to contend with the unfriendly antics of the nurses, who treated them like inmates in a prison facility.

    While their parents ran from pillar to post to raise the money and free their loved ones, the children played away their time in the hospital ward, trying to get used to their new environment. Some visiting clerics encouraged them to be hopeful. A miracle could happen.

    And it has, just when they least expected it. Not only were their bills paid, they were given enough money for their upkeep.

    The haste with which they packed their belongings and hurried out of the hospital ward spoke volumes about their relief after a nine-month ordeal.

    The journey to freedom for the indigent patients started on a note of coincidence. That fateful evening, the Imo State Deputy Governor, Prince Eze Madumere, was informed by one of his aides that his little child was hospitalised after suffering burns when she accidentally threw boiling water on herself. Moved by the story, the Deputy Governor left for the hospital almost immediately to see for himself. On getting to the ward where the little girl was admitted, the sight of the disenchanted patients who were huddled at a corner of the room with their parents caught his attention. He beckoned on one of the women and asked why they were looking dejected.

    On learning that they had been held in the hospital for up to nine months for not offsetting their bills, Madumere who was accompanied by his wife, asked that all their bills running into hundreds of thousands of naira be calculated and he wrote out a cheque and that settled it.

    Recounting her ordeal, one of the patients, Mrs, Eunice Chibiko, who was in the hospital with her newborn baby after she had a Caesarean section, stated that she had committed her case to God after her husband and relatives abandoned her.

    “I can’t thank God enough for what he has used the Deputy Governor to do for me and my baby,” she said. “We were like slaves here. They had discharged us and didn’t have beds anymore. We just slept on any available space on the floor. At a time I was afraid that my baby may be infected. Life was hell for me in the last five months. But today I am happy that my suffering has come to an end and I am going home”.

    She continued that, ”not only that I am going home, but I have enough money that will help me take care of my baby until I am strong enough to resume my petty trading”.

    Also speaking, one of the nurses, who didn’t want her name mentioned, described the act as commendable.

    She said, ”We actually felt for the patients but there is little or nothing we could do to help them.  It was a management decision that patients who can’t pay their bills after they have been discharged should not be allowed to go until the bills are paid. We used to allow them to go before but they don’t come back to pay. So what the Deputy Governor has done today has relieved not just the patients but the hospital staff as well”.

    Madumere who took time to chat with the patients, advised them not to give up to despair but should remain positive about life.

    The Deputy Governor encouraged Nigerians to extend a hand of charity to those who do not have. He described the act of giving as the duty God has commissioned man to do, adding, “giving brings about fulfillment since riches mean nothing when the needy are not given hope”.

  • UNTH heart patients form association

    UNTH heart patients form association

    Former heart patients who went through surgery at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) are coming together to form an association.

    Numbering over 300, they underwent their surgeries between 2013 and 2017. The chief medical director of UNTH, Dr. Chris Amah who disclosed this said the former patients aim was to encourage people with heart problem to come forward and be treated. They also aimed at raising funds for indigent patients as well as enlightenment.

    Amah disclosed that right now, over 50 children and 30 adults are queuing up for attention while 20 children were currently undergoing the surgery at the hospital.

    The current surgeries are being undertaken by the United States based VOOM Foundation led by its president, Nigerian-born Dr. Vincent Ohaji.

    The CMD said an Italian NGO, PONIC, was also using the hospital’s facilities to carry out surgeries for patients mainly from Bayelsa state. “Before now, the NGO use to fly their patients to Italy but after inspecting our facilities, they reached an agreement with us for the use of the facilities,” he said.

    Amah disclosed that both the Enugu state and Federal ministries of health have always been supportive to the hospital.

    The CMD showered praises on an Enugu oil magnate, Dr. Arthur Eze whom he said comes around to foot the bills of the patients.

    “Arthur Eze is always kind enough to help off bills of patients.“

    Amah called on wealthy Nigerians to emulate the gestures of Eze and help those less privileged who are in distress.

  • Reprieve for TB patients in Ebonyi

    Reprieve for TB patients in Ebonyi

    In a visit to Ebonyi State, Minister of Health Professor Isaac Adewole revealed that Nigeria is among six countries that account for 60 per cent of new cases of tuberculosis globally. He noted that Nigeria ranks fourth among the 30 high tuberculosis countries and is number one in Africa.

    It is on account of this that the donation of a fully equipped chest clinic to the state government by a consortium of oil firms under the umbrella of Agbami Partners, is a very good development.

    The facility was provided for the Mile Four Hospital, Abakaliki, the state capital.

    The donor consortium is made up of FAMFA Oil limited, Petrobras, Statoil, Chevron and Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    The Mile Four Hospital was established in 1946 by the Catholic Church to provide specialised care to sufferers of tuberculosis in the Southeast.  Inaugurating the project, Professor Adewole announced that the federal government was making efforts to achieve the target of providing one machine per local government area across the country for the fight against tuberculosis epidemic.

    According to him, the machine would not only provide GeneXpert MTB/RIF technology as the primary diagnostic tool for TB among all presumptive TB cases in the country including PLWHA but also increase the number of notified TB cases, especially in the rural areas.

    The Minister who commended the initiative and contribution of the church in providing quality healthcare for the people added that tuberculosis remains a serious public health problem in most parts of the world causing deaths of nearly one-and-half million people each year, mostly in developing world.

    In a remark, the Group General Manager, NAPIMS, Mr. Dafe Sejebor, who stated that the project was aimed at facilitating the socio-economic development of the country, added that the commitment of the agency is to see that the standard of living and quality of life of Nigerians were improved upon daily. Represented by Uzo Ejidoh, the group General Manager added: “I am happy to note that the Agbami partners remain committed to improving the quality of healthcare in our society through the provision of infrastructures such as Chest Clinics to address chest-related ailments”.

    In their separate remarks, the Chairman, FAMFA Oil Limited, Modupe Alakijia and Director, Star Deepwater Petroleum Limited, Richard Kennedy represented by Obinna Iheonu and Mike Kabi of Deepwater Community Engagement Advisor respectively, the duo stated that Agbami partners had so far donated 25 chest clinics to different states of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

    They said the chest clinic came with fully equipped standard X-ray machine, male and female wards, treatment rooms, laboratories and GeneXpert machine.

    Commissioning the project, Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State commended the benefactors for the initiative adding that they have through the execution of the project fulfilled their corporate

    responsibility to the society.

    Umahi who was represented by the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Daniel Umezurike expressed hope that the Chest Clinic would help to tackle incidences of tuberculosis and other health related issues in the state even as he x-rayed some of the contributions of the present administration in the area of combating malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS.