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Tag: Prof. Isaac Adewole

  • NHIS chief to minister: Only President can remove me

    NHIS chief to minister: Only President can remove me

    … Your suspension stands – Minister

    The Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Prof. Usman Yusuf, has told the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, that he is not proceeding on suspension as directed by the minister.

    Yusuf said the minister lacks the power to discipline him and that only the President “by virtue of the NHIS Act particularly section 4 and 8 thereof” can remove him from office “whether by way of suspension or otherwise.”

    The minister had, through a July 6, 2017 memo, asked the NHIS chief to proceed on a three- month suspension to allow for an uninterrupted investigation of petitions against him in accordance with Public Service Rules.

    But Yusuf, responding in a letter dated July 12,2017 said : “Except removed from office by the President under circumstances specified in the NHIS Act, my appointment is for a period of five (5) years subject to further term of the same period at the discretion of the President.”

    He said that although section 47 of the NHIS Act empowers the minister to “give directives of a general nature to the Governing Council of the Scheme and in the absence of the Council, you have Presidential mandate to exercise the powers and functions of the council. The powers and functions of the Council do not include discipline, suspension or removal of the Executive Secretary of the Scheme from office.”

    Besides, he said the suspension letter “is not in accordance with Public Service Rules as no prima facie case has been established against me in respect of the petition referred to in the letter.”

    “The mere fact that there are pending petitions against a public officer which is yet to be substantiated does not constitute a ground for suspension under the Public Service Rules. Otherwise, with over 18,000 petitions pending against public officer holders before the EFCC and ICPC as at the end of June 2017, the total number of public officers who would have been on suspension by now including honourable ministers is left to be imagined.”

    “As you are aware, the petitions referred to in your letter are currently being investigated by the ICPC which is yet to submit its report. In view of the criminal nature of most of the allegations in the petitions, security/investigative agencies like ICPC are the appropriate agencies for investigation contemplated in your letter; not a Ministerial Committee. I have cooperated fully with the investigations so far and will continue to do so,” he added.

    He asked the minister to allow “investigations of these petitions to follow due process.”

    But in a swift response on Friday night, spokesperson for the ministry, Boade Akinola, said Yusuf, being a public officer, is bound by the regulations governing the Public Service.

    Akinola, in a statement said: “The NHIS is an agency supervised by the Federal Ministry of Health and the Administrative Panel of Inquiry raised by the ministry to investigate activities of the agency has commenced its assignment with specific terms of reference.”

     

     

  • NHIS: Reps accuse minister of corruption

    NHIS: Reps accuse minister of corruption

    The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, was on Wednesday accused of corruption by the House of Representatives over his roles in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) scandal.

    He was also accused of contempt of the Legislative Houses Powers and Privileges Act and tried to frustrate ongoing investigation into the allegations bothering on fraudulent activities of Health Management Organisations (HMOs).

    The allegations came during the debate of a motion sponsored by Chairman, House Committee on Healthcare Services, Hon. Chike Okafor.

    At the end of the deliberation, the minister was ordered to reinstate the suspended Executive Secretary of NHIS, Usman Yusuf, within seven days.

    The minister suspended the NHIS chief over alleged poor handling of the agency.

    The lawmakers alleged that the refusal of the suspended NHIS chief to accommodate several demands like the payment of N197.073 million and $37,383 for trip to a World Health Organization (WHO) conference, and his unearthing of fraudulent activities of the HMOs led to his suspension.

    Members of the House were of the opinion that the minister, who was a President appointee, has no power to suspend another appointee of the President.

  • Nigeria loses N80bn to road accidents annually — FG

    Nigeria loses N80 billion annually due to road accidents, Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole said in Friday.

    Adewole who made this known at a handover ceremony of 31 ambulances donated by the Japanese Government in Abuja, said that Nigeria was among countries with the highest rates of vehicle accidents globally.

    “As a matter of concern, next to Boko Haram Insurgency, road crash is the second highest source of violent death in Nigeria.

    “According to FRSC reports, Nigeria is among the countries with the highest road accident rates in the world, having 5,400 deaths in 12,077 road crashes in 2015 and 18,353 people injured in road crashes between 2009 and 2013.

    “According to WHO report in 2015, one in every four road crash deaths in Africa occur in Nigeria, having a higher death toll than malaria.

    “ Also, Nigeria loses about N80 billion annually to road accidents,’’ he said.

    The minister said the donation of the ambulances was the outcome of a Memorandum of Understanding both parties signed in September 2016.

    He added that the ambulances donated by the Japanese government would support the Federal government’s policy on emergency medical services, developed in 2016 in response to the trend of road accidents.

    Adewole further said that the ambulances were to be distributed to selected tertiary health institutions in each state of the country.

    “This move by the Japanese government has provided the opportunity to strengthen greater collaboration and partnership between our two countries.

    “”This gesture will contribute immensely in supporting the Federal Government’s efforts in strengthening the National Emergency Response Programme of the Federal Ministry of Health.”

    In his address, Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Sadanobu Kusaoke said health was among the top priorities of Japan’s relations with Nigeria.

    Kusaoke said that the ambulances were part of a series of Japan’s aid project to Nigeria’s health sector.

    “”Through our Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects, the Japanese Embassy, in partnership with local NGOs, has been providing various primarily health care facilities for rural communities.

    “”We have also supplied advanced medical equipment for secondary health centres; another support is scholarship programmes for undergraduate medical students for training in Japan.

    “”These ambulances are the latest example of a series of our aid projects in the health sector. “

    He said the ceremony marked the delivery of the first batch of 31 ambulances in health centres in the country.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the remaining 12 ambulances would be handed over in 2018.

    NAN also reports that the Japanese Government earmarked 400 million Japanese Yuan (approximately 4.1 million dollars) for the project.

    The ambulances would be delivered to 15 teaching hospitals and 13 Federal Medical Centres in the country.

  • HIV: FG introduces new guidelines to curtail spread

    HIV: FG introduces new guidelines to curtail spread

    The Federal Government on Tuesday said it was set to implement new guidelines for  HIV prevention, treatment and care to consolidate previous efforts in tackling the scourge.

    The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, stated this at the opening of a two-day North-West Zonal Dissemination of 2016 National Guidelines for HIV prevention, Treatment and Care in Kaduna.

    Represented by Mr Segilola Araoye, his Special Adviser, Adewole said the guideline would ensure that those affected by HIV receive free health service at all levels in both public and private health institutions.

    “From this day hence, everyone who tests positive to HIV is automatically eligible for treatment and this applies to everyone with equal emphasis, child, man and women, pregnant or not.

    “From today onward we are duty bound to offer antiretroviral drugs as prevention to all persons who are at high risk of contracting HIV infection.

    “From today forward all persons on treatment are entitled to at least one viral load test per year.

    “From today hence, we will place greater emphasis on differentiated systems of care that are adjustable to the individual needs of the patient,’’ the minister said.

    Adewole noted that the recommendations in the 2016 guidelines by current standard were audacious, unambiguous and unapologetically pro-patient.

    The minister, however, appealed to state governments and other stakeholders to efficiently implement the recommendations of the guidelines to the later in an effort to tackle the menace.

    “For this to happen, we must change course a bit and find the courage to depart from the strategies that have not worked well.

    “The guidelines could not have come at a less opportune moment, as they will serve as the necessary catalyst for attainment of the UNAIDS 90-90-90 initiative.

    “And today, we hopefully bring to end the argument over deeply divisive option B and option B+ saga if our guidelines have been careful, to avoid the terms perhaps, it is time we stopped using them all together,“ the minister said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quotes available statistics showing that no fewer than 3.4 million people are currently affected by the HIV and AIDS scourge.

    However, the health minister said, with the 2016 guidelines things would be better, as there were already 860,000 patients on Anti-retro-viral treatment (ART) in some 1000 comprehensive HIV treatment centres.

    According to him, that has led to the decline morbity and mortality associated with HIV and AIDS in the country.

    “I simply cannot accept that our collective hard work against HIV and AIDS in Nigeria is wasted effort.

    “I accept that things can be done better but even at that we have achieved tremendous success in our battle against HIV.

    “And I am strengthened in this belief by the change in public perception from the fear, panic hysteria and horror of 2000 to the calm (Please be careful HIV is still out there) attitude that is the prevailing public sentiment about HIV and AIDS today,’’ he said.

    Adewole said these guidelines would work because they were acceptable to the vast majority of stakeholders.

    “They are acceptable because they are the product of huge and representative stakeholders consensus, with over 170 people contributed to the development of this document.’’

    He commended the various stakeholders for contributing to the development of the document and advised non-governmental organisations supporting the health sector and HIV interventions to work closely with the ministry.

    Adewole while thanking the states governments for their active role the fight against HIV and AIDS, appealed to People PLHIVs to come on board as stakeholders in the effort to eradicate the scourge.

    NAN reports that officials from eight states of Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara Zamfara and Jigawa are attending the two-day event.

    The event, being organised by the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) and the Management Sciences for Health, is also being attended by and other HIV control implementing partners.

  • Osotimehin will be greatly missed – Health Minister

    Osotimehin will be greatly missed – Health Minister

    Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole has described the death of the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin as shocking.

    Professor Osotimehin who was once a minister of Health, passed on in the early hours of Monday.

    Born February 6, 1949, the 68-year-old at a time served as Provost of the College of Medicine at the University of Ibadan.

    Osotimehin was appointed the fourth Executive Director of UNFPA in November 2010 and was reappointed in August 2014.

    An accomplished physician, former Provost College of Medicine University of Ibadan and former Director General of the National Agency for Control of AIDS (NACA). Until his death he was the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund.

    The late Osotimehin, according to the minister will be remembered for his role and global contributions to increased access to Family Planning as well as Sexual and Adolescent Health especially in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs).

    “Professor Osotimehin whom I fondly called the ‘Big Boss’ during his lifetime will definitely be missed for his dedication, humility, mentorship and patriotism,” Adewole said.

    While in office as the honorable minister, Prof. Osotimehin was at the forefront of the advocacy for improved reproductive health care in the country.

    The Minister who spoke on behalf of the management and staff of the Federal Ministry of Health condoled with the family, friends, associates and colleagues of the late professor at the United Nations.

  • No Polio case has been reported in over 270 days, says Minister

    No Polio case has been reported in over 270 days, says Minister

    … National Health Act ‘ll guarantee right to minimum health service

    Nigeria will sustain the current momentum in the effort to rid the nation of polio, Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole has said

    The Minister announced that Nigeria is yet to record any new case in over 270 days, since August 21st 2016.

    Adewole, who delivered an address on behalf of Nigeria at the 70th World Health Assembly at the United Nations building in Geneva, explained that the country immediately declared the polio outbreak a national public health emergency.

    He said,   “In curtailing the spread of WPV1 across our borders, there has been a robust international outbreak response and enhanced surveillance activities which include high level coordination with countries of the Lake Chad Region, implementation of high quality rounds and vaccination of high risk populations during in-between rounds activities and re-activation of RI services in newly liberated areas.

    “The Minister acknowledging the Nigerian Military, noted,  “through innovative collaboration with the Military, we gained access to fragile secured territories.”

    The Minister also assured that the current momentum will be sustained for as long as it takes to be certified polio free and beyond.

    Adewole, in his remarks also discussed Nigeria’s progress towards achieving Universal Health Coverage; he said that the agenda would be driven by the one Primary Healthcare Center (PHC) per ward programme of the Muhammadu Buhari administration. To this end, he said that the country had begun the operationalization of the National Health Act which specifies that “all Nigerians shall be entitled to a Basic Minimum Package of Health Services.”

    The Minister also discussed the country’s Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) efforts, Accelerated TB Case Finding and ongoing Humanitarian response in the Northeast of Nigeria.

    Professor Adewole appreciated the outgoing WHO President, Dr. Margaret Chan for her support for Africa in troubled times.

    The outgoing president, Dr. Chan, thanked the health ministers and international partners for their support during her tenure. She charged them to continue to put the people first.

    “Behind every number is a person who defines our common humanity and deserves our compassion, especially when suffering or premature death can be prevented,” she said.

  • FG urges calm on Ebola

    FG urges calm on Ebola

    The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, on Monday urged Nigerians not to panic over the recent declaration of Ebola outbreak in Congo Democratic Republic, saying the Federal Government will ensure that the disease is not imported to the country.

    The minister made the call while inspecting thermal screening machines located at the Port Health Stand of Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja.

    Adewole was on assessment tour of screening machines at the airport.

    He said: “We want to assure Nigerians that we have never stopped screening people. It has been going on at the International wing of all the airports in the country, although passengers many not have noticed it.

    “There is no reason to panic, everything is under control. If there is a need to screen local passengers we would do that but for now we are concentrating on passengers on international travels.”

     

  • Ebola: Nigeria on red alert over Congo outbreak

    Ebola: Nigeria on red alert over Congo outbreak

    The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole has called for heightened vigilance and intensified awareness efforts over the latest outbreak of Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    The Minister noted that health care providers and the general public must report any sign of illness to public health officials immediately.

    This is coming as the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has assured of adequate surveillance at the nation’s airports. Henrietta Yakubu, FAAN’s Acting General Manager, Corporate Affairs, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that there was no direct flight from Congo to Nigeria and that all the preventive measures being put in place at the airports were still in place.

    The federal government in response to the announcement by the World Health Organisation (WHO) which confirmed cases of Ebola in the DRC has directed port health officials to step up inspection activities and to report any sick person or suspects to ensure that epidemiologists in the states where they are present are immediately alerted and relevant tests conducted.

    The symptoms to look out for include; fever, fatigue, weakness dizziness and muscle aches. Patients with more severe cases show bleeding under the skin, internal organs or even from bodily orifices like mouth, eyes, and the ears.

    Nigerians are urged not to panic as the Centre for Disease Control is on ground and equipped to secure the health of citizens. The agency has for a while now, been strengthening states capacities to detect, manage and respond to hemorrhagic fevers including Lassa fever.

    The minister called on states to begin social mobilisation and media awareness efforts via TV, radio, print and social media and charged state health ministries to strengthen their supervision services and escalate any incident appropriately.

    Yakubu FAAN’s spokesperson, said that port health officials were at alert at all airports, adding that the authority had also informed them of the need to increase surveillance.

    “We don’t have direct flights from Congo, we only have from Rwanda but I want to assure members of the public that we still have all preventive measures in place at our airports.

    “There are sanitisers at our arrivals with the scanning apparatus called thermal scanners being installed by the Port Health Services.

    “The scanners have camera monitors that display pictures aside the capturing of temperature.

    “Passengers still fill that form to ensure that people arriving the country through our airports are not potential carriers of deadly diseases.

    “The port health officials are always at alert and we will also inform them of the need to increase their surveillance.

    “So, there is no cause for alarm,” she said.

    Nigeria experienced the Ebola virus in July, 2014 when a Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer, who had the virus flew from Liberia to the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos and died five days later.

  • Nigeria ranked 7th among countries facing shortage of health workers

    Nigeria ranked 7th among countries facing shortage of health workers

    Nigeria is ranked 7th among 57 countries classified as facing a critical shortage of health workers, it was learnt Tuesday.

    According to the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole the country has a shortage of 144,000 health workers.  Nigeria is ranked second in Africa behind Ethiopia with 152,000.

    Presently, the country boasts of 240,000 nurses and midwives and by 2030 the country will be needing 149,852 doctors and 471,353 nurses and midwives.

    He spoke yesterday in Abuja at the occasion marking the International Day of the Midwife 2017, with the theme, “strengthening midwifery preservice training in Nigeria “midwives, mothers and families: partners for life”

    The minister said only 99,120 doctors and 333,494 nurses and midwives will be available by 2030.

    He therefore warned that the shortfall will make the co try health system vulnerable if there is no urgent and concrete plan to address the situation.

    This the minister also linked to the high rate of maternal and child mortality in the country.

    The minister also decried the distribution of health workers in the country, which according to him was skewed in favour of urban areas, with more than 50 per cent of the health workers.

    He however assured Nigerians that the Midwives Service Scheme launched in 2009 will be modified to make it more effective, while at the same time ensure regular review of the curriculum of school of midwifery in the country.

    He said, “human resources for health issues in Nigeria contribute to poor population health in the country, alongside threats from terrorism, infectious disease outbreaks, and political corruption.

    Health inequities within Nigeria mirror the geographical disparities in human resources for health distribution and are worsened by the emigration of Nigerian nurses to developed countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. Nigerian nurses are motivated to emigrate to work in healthier work environments, improve their economic prospects, and advance their careers.

    “In 2006 the World Health Organization’s World Health Report defined 57 countries facing a critical shortage of health workers—those with fewer than 2.3 doctors, nurses, and midwives per 1,000 population. Against that ratio, Nigeria reported a shortage of nearly 40,000 health workers. The new data may indicate that Nigeria’s shortage is closer to 144,000—over three times the amount reported in 2006. This would be the seventh highest shortage of the 57 crisis countries. In Africa, only Ethiopia reported a higher shortage of 152,000 health workers.

    “Until recently, records from the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria indicated that there were around 240,000 qualified nurses and midwives within the country. Additionally, given limitations in available workforce data within the country, the council’s data on active registration remain the most reliable proxy for determining the combined number of qualified and available nurses and midwives in Nigeria, across both the public and private sectors.

    “According to a projection estimates from scientific modelling by Adebayo et al in 2016, Nigeria will need approximately 149,852 doctors and 471,353 nurses by the year 2030. With the available growth rate of Doctors/Nurses, by this same period only 99,120 doctors and 333,494 nurses will be available. This implies a shortage of about 50,120 doctors and 137,859 nurses. This translates to 33.45% gap in doctors’ supply and 29.25% gap in nurses’ supply. This shortfall will make the country health system vulnerable if there is no urgent and concrete plan to address the situation.

    “Apart from the shortage, health workers are poorly distributed and in favour of urban, southern, tertiary health care services delivery, and curative care. For some cadres of health workers more than 50% work in the South Western part of the country with the majority living in the commercial city of Lagos. Efforts have been made to make health workers available in the rural areas. About 60% of the states in Nigeria, provide rural incentives to health workers that volunteer to serve in the rural areas, while others make rural service a condition for some critical promotion. There is the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) that is mandatory for all new university and polytechnic graduates in Nigeria. The introduction of national service for freshly graduated midwives will address some of the shortages of human resource in the country.”
    Wife of the President of the Senate, Mrs. Toyin Saraki in her goodwill message said the I pittance of primary healthcare cannot be over emphasized.

    She said, “We cannot over emphasise the importance of Primary health care in the delivery of cost effective and high impact health outcomes for our mothers and their babies, including strengthening health and health-related systems. We know that an efficient and effective PHC systems is one that can cater to between 70-80% of the healthcare and health service needs of people, and as close to the people’s living and working locations. The move to ensure the revitalization and full functionality of PHCs across Nigeria, will also help cater to the professional needs of midwives especially in regions where mothers have been unable to access quality health care due to distance or an absence of skilled health workers.”

  • Meningitis: Minister calls for proactive measures

    Meningitis: Minister calls for proactive measures

    Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole has challenged heads of federal government tertiary hospitals in the country on the need to be proactive in responding to outbreak of diseases.

    Besides, the minister urged all the federal government tertiary hospitals to adopt secondary and primary health facilities, supervise it and make sure they work well.

    Prof. Adewole made the call while meeting with the heads of the federal government tertiary health Institutions in Abuja following the outbreak of meningitis which has claimed over 700 lives since November 2016.

    He said the meeting was convened to chart a way forward in case of any disease outbreak in the country.

    Adewole said: “I should start with global health security, as we might be aware, we have been dealing with series of outbreaks over the last one year. We started with Lassa, we moved on to cholera, there were pockets of measles and now we are dealing with meningitis”.

    “The outbreak of meningitis in Zamfara actually started late November 2016, but we did not know till February which was unfortunate, if we got to know early, we would have deployed the vaccines available to us, create awareness and take charge of the situation early enough, but since we did not know, we lost valuable time to respond to the outbreak”. He stressed.

    Speaking further on the strategies of the federal hospitals to support the primary and secondary health care centres in the States, the Minister urged all the federal government tertiary hospitals to adopt secondary and primary health facilities, supervise it and make sure they work well.

    The Minister said that during emergency, medical personnel in the federal hospitals must support the state, primary and general hospitals.

    In his words: “We cannot pretend that what is happening outside our tertiary health centres do not concern us, and this is one reason why we must interact with primary and secondary health facilities in the state, otherwise we would spend valuable time treating diarrhea and vomiting instead of looking after the complex cases that we ought to do”.

    The Minister also urged the general public to notify the Federal Ministry of Health on any outbreak to enable the ministry deploy response team immediately to checkmate the spread of the diseases.

    In his remarks, the National Coordinator, Nigeria Centre for Diseases Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu said that the Centre had already dispatched response team and presently working with the state governments in the affected areas of Sokoto and Zamfara. He added that the team is working on early detection and treatment.

    He urged the Chief Executives of the tertiary hospitals to work closely with the leadership of the state governments in managing the outbreak.

    Ihekweazu added that the agency was working hard to prevent the outbreak of cholera as the raining season has begun in some parts of the country.