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Tag: Professor Isaac Adewole

  • On Professor Isaac Adewole’s 70th birth anniversary!

    On Professor Isaac Adewole’s 70th birth anniversary!

    Professor Isaac Folorunso Adewole, obstetrician, gynaecologist, academic, administrator and former Minister of Health, is 70 years old. So, congratulations to the Ilesa, Osun State-born role model for the youths who rose to become the 11th substantive Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan.

    Longevity is the currency of life! Biblical researchers have confirmed that Psalm 90:10, which puts seventy years as the ‘benchmark’ of human life, was a Psalm written by Prophet Moses, who was recorded to have died at 120 years. By interpretation, therefore, God’s own words remain 120 years!

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    Genesis 6:3 but divided into three parts for Moses: 40 years in Egypt; 40 years in Midian; and 40 years to fulfill his mission as the messiah to the Nation of Israel. As we can therefore see, Adewole is just in the middle space of life, stepping into the last decade of the second part of life! After all, Moses began his real destiny fulfillment at 80!

    Now that the once-little bird is now an eagle soaring, may the Stone of Israel grant Professor Isaac Folorunso Adewole the uncommon grace of perfect fulfillment in the last lap of life’s purposes!

    May the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, grant us peace in Nigeria!

  • Nigeria and illicit tobacco protocol

    When news of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval of Nigeria’s ratification of the protocol to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products broke on May 23, 2018, the public health community within the country and beyond went into spontaneous celebrations. It was one long wait for the country to join other countries to collaborate in efforts to combat illicit trade and duty not paid by tobacco companies among other trans-boundary illegal movement of tobacco products. The FEC approval was, indeed, long overdue, coming six years after the protocol was initiated.

    The protocol, under the auspices of the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC), aims to eliminate all forms of illicit trade in tobacco products and provides tools for preventing illicit trade by securing the supply chain, including by establishing an international tracking and tracing system. It will also counter illicit trade through dissuasive law enforcement measures and a suite of measures to enable international cooperation.

    Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, who made the announcement at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja, said that the move would enable Nigeria control smuggling, track tobacco marketing and raise taxes on tobacco products.

    At the time of the FEC approval, Nigeria was primed to be the 35th country to ratify the protocol and the race was on for the country to be among the first 40 countries whose deposition of the instrument of ratification would make the treaty enter into force. All Nigeria would have done to merit that list was to process the ratification through the Ministry of Justice exploiting a 90-day window period and deposit it with the WHO.

    The protocol proper contains provisions that require: the licensing of all entities involved in tobacco supply chains; tobacco companies to apply due diligence measures to its customers; secure track and trace of tobacco products and production controls in factories; among others.

    The WHO FCTC adopted the Illicit Trade Protocol in 2012 to check smuggling. The big stick that the protocol wields is a “track and trace” system, which would ensure every pack of cigarettes or other tobacco product would be marked so that it can be identified on its journey from manufacturer to the buyer in any part of the world.

    But as would be expected, the tobacco industry always has Plan B. For instance,  Philip Morris International (PMI) swiftly created a track and trace system called Codentify around 2005 which it licensed for free to British America Tobacco (BAT) and other tobacco entities. PMI also created the Digital Coding and Tracking Association in 2011 to promote Codentify to governments.

    Anti-tobacco groups were, however, quick to insist that the tobacco industry should have no part in tracking and tracing owing to the industry’s complicity in smuggling of cigarettes. Public health groups referred to a recent study by the Tobacco Control Research Group at the University of Bath which exposed tobacco companies as being behind the smuggling, while also lobbying to control the global system designed by the WHO to regulate it.

    The documents showed that tobacco companies went to great lengths to control a global track and trace system and to undermine the Illicit Trade Protocol.

    Here in Africa, leaked documents show that BAT staff suspected Japan Tobacco International (JTI) was facilitating smuggling into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and then clandestinely moved millions of dollars in cash from Uganda to the DRC to buy tobacco leaf which was presumably then illegally exported.

    Groups like the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) insist that tobacco corporations are actually behind the smuggling of cigarettes and only put up a facade by signing agreements with agencies of government to whitewash their soiled image. The ratification of the illicit trade Protocol would have marked a new beginning to genuinely curtail influx of illegal tobacco products into the country.

    It is another negative commentary that Nigeria announced to the whole world that it had ratified a UN protocol whereas months after the announcement, the instrument is yet to be deposited at the United Nations.

    The Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and indeed the Ministry of Health would do Nigeria some good by ensuring that the instrument of the ratification of the Protocol is deposited speedily to save the nation from avoidable embarrassment.

    • By Musa Mohammed

    Kaduna.

  • Minister inaugurates ear, hearing care group

    Health Minister Professor Isaac Adewole has inaugurated a Technical Working Group (TWG) for ear and hearing care in Abuja.

    Adewole urged the group to develop a National Strategic Plan on Ear Health Care and Community-Based Hearing Healthcare programmes across the country.

    He said the government was targeting one million students nationwide.

    He noted: ‘’The relationship between hearing and speaking cannot be overemphasised.’’

    Adewole urged the group to come up with a plan on how to reduce hearing losses, improve access to hearing health professionals, and provide rehabilitative services to those with hearing problems.

    He assured TWG of Federal Government’s assistance, adding that the group was expected to complete its assignment within four months.

    The Minister said the Starkey Hearing Foundation has agreed to sponsor TWG’s activities to ensure the timely completion of the assignment.

    The Minister listed the group’s terms of reference to include:  To develop a National Ear Health Policy, develop a National Strategic Plan for Ear Care and to develop and implement the plan for Ear screening  for public schools.

    Director, Hospital Services, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Joseph Amedu said members of the group include ear care and hearing health specialists.

    He observed that there was the need for the group to fast-track its activities to achieve results.

    Responding on behalf of TWG members, Co-chairman and Director, Global Health/Research, Starkey Hearing Foundation, Dr. Luqman Lawal pledged the group’s commitment to their task.

  • Women, children,to get lowest basic health, nutrition services

    The Federal Government is committed to ensuring that Nigeria women, children and adolescents access basic health and nutrition services at lowest cost, the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole has said.

    The Minister, in a statement signed by Mrs. Boade Akinola, Director, Media and Publicity made the commitment at a forum put together by the Government of Nigeria, the Global Financing Facility (GFF) and Partners, to co- finance efforts towards improving the health and Nutrition of the poorest Women, children and Adolescent in the country.

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    ‘The GFF has created a new sense of awareness that we must put our money on the table for these essential investments in our people and use them in even smarter ways and that is something that has not been done before,” he said.

    The Minister explained that Nigeria being the most populous country in Africa was facing big challenges.

    Nigeria he further said is the single largest contributor to the global infant and child mortality rates annually, something he said was unacceptable.

    The Minister regretted that, those challenges had hugely outpaced government spending on health and nutrition, coupled with government spending in recent years being unable to reach those who needed them most and doing little to reduce high and impoverishing out –of-pocket spending on health by poor Nigerians.

    To this end, Adewole maintained that the grant from the GFF would co finance early implementation of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) with funds mobilised from the government and other contributors, starting in three states: Abia, Niger and Osun.

    Following the start-up phase, the Minister revealed that Nigerian Government would provide most of the financing for the scale-up to the remaining 33 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

    Also speaking, the Director of the GFF, Mariam Claeson, said that Nigeria’s commitment to sustainably financing health and nutrition was a beacon for other countries as they worked closely with the GFF to make sure the investment they made lasted for years to come.

    ‘’The Government on Nigeria will make an enormous difference in the lives of millions of Nigerians by making a lasting investment in the health and nutrition of women, children and adolescents, the foundation of the society and the economy’’

    In his remarks, the World Bank Country Manager for Nigeria, Rachid Benmessaoud, said that the Government of Nigeria, with the support of the GFF, the World Bank and other partners were catalysing REALCHANGE for the people of Nigeria. ‘’This investment in human capital will pay dividends in lives saved and improved and help build a stronger and more prosperous economy’’

    In the long run, the BHCPF’s success will be underpinned by the use of the Government of Nigeria’s own resources to purchase services instead of inputs; the buying of services from both public and private providers; the establishment of a system of accreditation to improve quality of care; the financing of a rigorous system of verification that helps ensure value for money; the creation of robust payment systems and the demonstration of long-term government commitment to using public funds to subsidise the cost of services for the poor , amongst others.

    The GFF is investing a total of US$47 Million in Nigeria, linked to US$350 million in funding from the International Development Association and the World Bank’s fund for the poorest countries, which had focused on scaling-up health services in North East, Nigeria and accelerating nutrition results for women, children and adolescents in the country.

    The Global Financing Facility is a multi-stakeholder partnership that is helping countries tackle the greatest health and nutrition issues affecting women, children and adolescents. GFF is supported by Governments of Canada, UK, Denmark, Japan, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Norway.

     

  • Minister hails CPC’s bill of rights

    The Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, has commended the draft Patients’ Bill of Rights (PBoR), initiated and developed under the leadership of the Consumer Protection Council (CPC).

    The broad and comprehensive statement of rights of patients, their responsibilities, and obligations of healthcare providers is the largest step yet to protect patients and ensure the highest level of ethical conduct by healthcare professionals as well as enhance the quality and standard of care in the healthcare sector.

    The Minister’s enthusiasm and support for the initiative which he characterized as impressive, thoughtful and a matter of legacy was apparent and unmistakeable.

    The Minister made these assertions when CPC’s Director General, Babatunde Irukera led a team of CPC management and the working team on the PBoR to a working meeting with the Minister and leadership of the Ministry of Health on the document.

    The Minister and members of his team in particular commended the Council for also identifying the responsibility of patients and their families in the entire care value chain and healthcare ecosystem.

    He noted that he had gone through the document, the Legal Department of the Ministry had vetted it, and now critical senior and relevant directorates of the ministry have contributed to the document.

    The new Nigerian Medical Association President, Dr. Francis Faduyile, and members of his new executives, who were also on hand, expressed their appreciation for the initiative, and their familiarity with it, as it was part of handing over briefings from the previous and outgone executive team.

    Irukera, while responding, noted that the PBoR is an example of how the Council can collaborate with professional associations to foster consumer protection, improve internal ethics, and weed out quacks.

    He remarked that CPC was proud and grateful about the broad consensus and commitment that culminated in the document with all major professional associations in the healthcare sector, including nurses, pharmacists, radiologists, laboratory technologists, among others, working with the CPC in a working group to ensure the final document captures all the salient issues.

  • Minister alerts on meningitis outbreak

    Minister alerts on meningitis outbreak

    The minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole has appealed to Nigerians to be on the look out for suspected cases of outbreak of meningitis, saying the country is already approaching its season.
    Professor Adewole made this appeal in Ibadan, Oyo State over the weekend while speaking with the members of Network of Reproductive Health Journalists of Nigeria, on some of his ministry’s preparedness to curtail any reported outbreak of CSM.
    The Minister said the alert is important because the country has no money to vaccinate all Nigerians.
    He said it is known that meningitis is seasonal and this is the season, “that is why we are saying Nigerians should be on the lookout for it. It is so easy to treat. The vaccine is expensive.  When a case is detected we have an epidemic threshold then we quickly vaccinate people in the Local Governments, that is the best we can do for now.  When we are more prosperous then we can vaccinate everybody.”
    Prof Adewole added that the conjugate vaccine will protect everybody for 10 years, the polyvalent vaccine for three years, as he added that for now both are expensive.
    “The conjugate is about $20 a vial, while the polyvalent is $3 a vial, so you can calculate what we need for the Nigeria population, and that is for just the vaccine, not including the syringes and other consumables, so our best bet is to alert Nigerians that this is the season for meningitis and they should beware. We need to contain it,” he noted.
    The Minister retriaiated that anywhere there is an outbreak of CSM, the system is weak, as he explained that Kaduna state had an outbreak but contained it.
    “And there was another outbreak in Zamfara and because the system was weak, it killed many people. Meningitis is seasonal and this is the season and we are alerting Nigerians. The terrible outbreak we had in 2017 was because it was on for three months before we got to know.
    ” All of us know what meningitis is, it requires a lumbar puncture, look at the fluid cerebrospinal fluid, when you check and it is milky, then you know there is infection and you can culture it and begin treatment.
    “It is so easy to treat because the causative organism is responsive to antibiotics, but when we do not know that it is meningitis, we could treat malaria for three to five days, typhoid for one week then by the time we get to know, it would have spread.
    “And it spreads like wildfire. As we attend to patients, 10 people can surround the infected person and that one patient would infect six or seven persons and it spreads like that. So this is the season to alert people to look out and promptly report any suspicion to nearest health facility.”
    “Prompt reporting by people will assist the government to curtail further spread, and even deaths, because, “The government does not have enough money to vaccinate the whole country. The meningococcal vaccine is expensive and what we are trying to do case detection. Once we have a case to treat, it causes what we call an epidemic and we can quickly do its prevention, so help us alert Nigerians that this is the season and we need to curtail it,” said Prof Adewole.
  • Nigeria increases funding commitments for Family Planning

    Nigeria increases funding commitments for Family Planning

    Nigeria has increased its funding to commitments for expanding access to family planning for millions of women and girls worldwide to four million dollars.

    The Health Minister, Professor Isaac Adewole made this declaration at the Family Planning  Summit in London, United Kingdom, where more than 60 governments and partners pledged commitments of at least $2.5 billion.

    Professor Adewole said Nigeria’s commitment will go a long way in reaching thousands of women and girls with critical reproductive health information.

    Nigeria has over 3.8 million married and sexually active adolescents (ages 15-19) of whom 19 percent have an unmet need for contraception. If Nigeria is to increase its focus on adolescents, enabling an additional 584,000 adolescent girls to use modern contraception by 2020, the country would see a 14 percent reduction in its adolescent birth rate.

    He said there will be a distribution of $6m to states through loans to the success of introduction of family Planning as part of basic health in the health sector. This is to complement ante natal services, and immunisation routine.

    Prof Adewole said barriers will also be removed, and policies implemented with new vigour by partnering with the private sector-Patient medicine/drug vendors to ensure commodities get to the targeted end users.

    “Barriers to the success of family planning will be identified and brought down, just as the Berlin wall was brought down in those days. Serious focus is to break down the barriers hindering females, especially women and youths from accessing commodities and services. This will bring us to speed with modern day use of contraceptives. The ministry will be collaborating with its partners and the private sector to achieve a modern contraceptive rate of 27 percent among all women by 2020.

    “There is a huge disparity between usage in the northern part and southern part of the country. We will also remove the roadmap for the realisation of demographic dividends. With a population of over a 400 million population, Nigeria can soon emerge the largest country in West Africa region that will be demographic disaster.”

    The Minister said: “Nigeria will use its Minimal Initial Service Package for sexual reproductive health to provide family planning supplies within its national crisis preparedness and response. We will remove regulatory barriers and scale up access to new contraceptive methods such as sub-cutaneous Depo Medroxyprogesterone Acetate injections (Sayana Press).

    “To transform its last-mile distribution of health and family planning commodities, as a country we will use a push-model system, and collaborate with the private sector to optimally transport, store and track commodities using an electronic logistics management system. A new tracking and accountability system will report annually and real-time, expenditures for family planning at national and state levels. “

    He added that the government will increase the number of health facilities providing family planning services in each of its states and federal territory to 20,000 and leverage its 10,000 functional primary health care facilities to raise awareness about family planning.

    The government will partner with stakeholders and gatekeepers to reduce socio-cultural barriers for family planning services, including by collaborating with line ministries to ensure the provision of age-appropriate sexual and reproductive health information to youth through the Family Life Health Education Curriculum and youth-friendly services in health facilities and other outlets.

    “Nigeria committed increasing its annual allocation for contraceptives to $4 million USD and to ensure total disbursement of $56 million to the states through its participating in the Global Financing Facility and via international development assistance loans so Nigeria can expand the implementation of its task-shifting policy to include patent medicine vendors and community volunteers to improve access to family planning services in difficult-to-reach areas and among disadvantaged populations,  ” the Minister stated.

  • Borno humanitarian response: Health minister commends security agencies

    Borno humanitarian response: Health minister commends security agencies

    Minister of Health Prof. Isaac Adewole has praised the efforts the security agencies put in place for the success of emergency response to the humanitarian crisis in the state.

    According to the minister, the health and humanitarian emergency response in Borno state was only possible in the hard reach areas of the state due to the gallant efforts put into liberating the communities hitherto in the hands of the insurgents.

    The minister who spoke at the presentation of the midterm review of Health and Nutrition Emergency Response Project in Borno State at the Multi-purpose Conference Hall of the Government House Maiduguri said the military and other security agencies deserve commendation for making sure health personale get access to the hard to reach areas.

    “The military and other security agencies have made this work possible. Particular commendation must to given to our security agencies for their efforts in liberating those communities in the hands of the insurgents which has made it possible for the health workers and other humanitarian intervention easier for us,” the minister said.

    While setting the agenda for the meeting, the Prof. Adewale explained that Malaria, Diarhoea diseases, Upper Respiratory Tract infections were the three common diseases that were identified during the assessment period.

    He noted that the Federal Ministery of Health through the FMOH Humanitarian Support Team will continue to:

    • To Provide Coordination and Support to the State to manage the emergency response initiative.

    • To strengthen the state`s capacity to undertake integrated supportive supervision in health facilities and communities;

    • To strengthen the logistics and supply chain for medicines and other health commodities;

    • Assist and support the strengthening of the health management information system;

    • To work with SMOH and WHO to rebuild the integrated disease surveillance and response system;

    • To administer and manage the team of health personnel contracted to support with the delivery of health services in the State.

    • Ensure cooperation with all local and international stakeholders under a unified command structure.

    • To perform oversight responsibility for the control and coordination of the field activities, working in consultation with the SMOH.

    • To articulate reports and areas of further intervention and resource mobilization for the consideration of the management of the Federal Ministry.

    Speaking on the objectives of the MTR meeting, the minister informed that the meeting will comparatively analyse the HNER key performance indicators which would form the basis of assessment of the project, adding that , “ we intend to assess and achieve the following parameters:-

    The Level of implementation Common ailments noted during course of implementation The Efficacy of this intervention to the project goals Identification and addressing of project bottlenecks Take necessary steps to improve on project implementation going forward”.

    In his address, Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima commended the joint ministries committee on humanitarian response in the state and the level of supervision put in the program.

    His words: “Our gathering today, couldn’t have been possible without the efficient role played by the joint team from the Federal Ministry of Health and our own State Ministry of Health and the various implementing teams who defied all odds to go to Local Government Areas in the country side to render nutritional intervention to the most vulnerable communities liberated by our gallant armed forces. Judging from favorable health indices now being reported across the state particularly, the marked improvements in status of Nutrition, it is clear that our collaborative efforts are paying off in the Health sector. I salute the courage and sacrifices of our field men and women who move round the State for the sake of humanity.

    “I understand that today’s Mid-Term Review Meeting is to assess implementation of the HEALTH AND NUTRITION EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROJECT launched earlier on. This is a positive step. As someone from the private sector, I can say that Review and supervision are twin bridges to success in implementing any initiative. In fact, lack of adequate supervision is mostly responsible for failure of most programmes in the public sector.I will therefore urge stakeholders to use today’s Mid-Term Review to, in their usual meaningful ways, recommend ways to strength supervision and implementation of the project. Our goal should be how to increase beneficiaries without compromising standards,” Gov. Shettima said.

    Kashim also took time to remind the Federal Government on some of the promises made to Borno state which include the promises for the establishment of a Radio Diagnostic Centre at the State Specialist Hospital; the establishment of a Burns Centre at Umaru Shehu Ultra-Modern Hospital and the Completion of the Drugs Store under Construction at Molai, stressing that those promises if fulfilled will bring a lot of positive impact on the health of Borno people.

    Goodwill message were presented by the WHO, UNICEF, the Representative of the minister of State Budget and Economic Planning among others.

  • Ebola outbreak in Central Africa: FG calls for vigilance

    Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, has called for heightened vigilance and intensified awareness efforts on symptoms of hemorrhagic fevers following the outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    The Minister made the call in a statement issued on his behalf on Saturday in Abuja by Mrs Boade Akinola, Director Media and Public Relations, Ministry of Health.

    The Minister advised health care providers and members of the public, to report any sign of illness to public health officials.

    He said in response to the announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO) on confirmed cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), government had directed health officials stationed at the ports, to step up inspection activities.

    He said that the symptoms to look out for included fever, fatigue, weakness, dizziness and muscle aches.

    He said explained that patients with more severe cases would show bleeding under the skin, internal organs or even from mouth and ears.

    The Minister urged Nigerians not to panic as the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) was equipped to secure the health of citizens.

    He said NCDC had been strengthening states capacities to detect, manage and respond to hemorrhagic fevers, including Lassa fever.

    Adewole therefore called on states to begin social mobilization and media awareness efforts, via TV, Radio, Print and Social Media.

    The Health minister directed all Nigerian health workers to maintain a high index of suspicion, by screening all fevers for Ebola and other hemorrhagic fevers. NAN)

  • Don’t fight your govs, Adewole warns fellow ministers

    Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, has advised fellow ministers against being at war with their governors.

    Such hostility between governors and ministers, he warned, could stifle socio- economic development of states.

    He pointed out many states have failed to develop because ministers and governors were always at war.

    He spoke at a luncheon by Justice OlayinkaAyoola JSC (rtd) in his honour in Ibadan at the weekend.

    Present at the event were members of the bar and bench, politicians, academics and Ilesa socio- cultural groups

    The minister, who was elated by the honour, said there were no sound reasons ministers and governors should be at loggerheads over irrelevant issues.

    He called for cordial working relations among ministers and governors, citing himself and Governor Rauf Aregbesola as example worthy of emulation.

    According to him: “My governor and my humble self, I can say without mincing words, that we enjoy good working relations .

    “We see ourselves working together to bring development to the our people.

    “I often go to my governor to ask for one thing or the other to bring healthcare delivery to our people.

    “And in some cases, he will call me, saying ‘look why can’t we do this to help develop the state?”.

    “So, I think that is the most ideal thing to do to lift the standard of living and ensure we bring social amenities and all that will make our people happy.”

    On his scorecards, he said 3,000 Primary Health Centres would be delivered this year across the country.

    Government, he informed, is targeting 10,000 to bring quality healthcare delivery nearer to the people.

    The minister explained: “Through support of British government, we are funding 995 in six states of the North.

    “We have just signed a new agreement with the European Union they will do 774.

    “On our own, we are funding 110 in 2016. This year we will fund 500 and the wife of the Senate President has received support from Access Bank.

    “Access Bank said they will do one per state that is 36. So, we keep on adding together to it.

    “We have already awarded contract for three per state in the South West and that is for 2016. In 2017 you will see more.”