The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Wale Adepoju

“Corruption stalls HIV treatment in Nigeria”

A non-governmental organisation, Projekthope has alleged that fraudulent practices from the National AIDS Control Agency (NACA) constitute reasons why the Global Fund suspended its grant on HIV/AIDS intervention in Nigeria.

In a release, Projekthope Coordinator, Steve Aborisade fingered NACA for incompetence, fraud and mismanagement, adding: “Global Fund had written to President Muhammadu Buhari to have a look at what is happening at NACA.

“Despite the efforts made by the Secretariat and with over $800 million disbursed to the country in the past four years, major deficiencies in the internal control environment persist in the portfolio.’’

Aborisade further noted that the fate of 3.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria now hangs in the balance.

“For instance, NACA was among organisations accused of making a US$20 million to suppliers without confirmation of delivery under the procurement of health and non-health commodities, which represented one of the risks to the Nigerian portfolio. There is also a US$3.7 million in differences for antiretroviral drugs,” he added.

According to him, out of 1.8million people living with HIV/AIDS who require treatment, only about 750, 000 get the support of the Global Fund and other partners.

The reason, he said, was because HIV/AIDS in Nigeria was funded mainly by donor money, saying that this accounts for over 90 percent of funds available for the intervention in the country.

Aborisade said that the agency could not control the distribution of health commodities for HIV and malaria programmes, thereby resulting in stock-outs at all 42 health facilities visited by the Fund’s Office of Inspector General for periods of eight months.

The coordinator requested for the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act 2011 to enable his organisation keep a tab on the agency.

“Our FOI request is pursuant to the FOI Act 2011 which will enable us to initiate an independent effort to ensure justice is served,” Aborisade noted.

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May 5, 2016
‘Know your HIV status’

The Lagos State AIDS Control Agency (LSACA) has urged residents to check their HIV status.

LSACA’s Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Olusegun Ogboye yesterday said knowing one’s status was important to reduce spread of the disease.

Ogboye, who briefed reporters on the World AIDS Day, with its theme: “Getting to zero: zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination, zero AIDS related deaths”.

“Expectant mothers, who test positive and receive treatment, would be preventing mother-to-child-transmission (PMTCT).

“The agency has made provision for three trucks for counselling and testing. It has also engaged the services of
commercial canoes to reach the coastal areas.

“We have keyed into the 90:90:90 Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) principle, which is to make 90 per cent of the population know their status by 2030. It will also enable 90 per cent of positive people have access to anti-retroviral drugs while 90 per cent of people living with HIV will be able to suppress it,” he said.

Ogboye said HIV counselling and testing would be carried out today at the secretariat in Alausa, Ikeja, and four local governments: Alimosho, Ifako-Ijaiye, Ajeromi-Ifelodun and Iju-Ishaga.

The counselling and testing, he said, would continue to ensure that nobody is left screened.

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December 1, 2015
‘Breastfeeding is for babies, not husbands’

[dropcap]L[/dropcap]agos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) Chief Medical Director (CMD), Prof Wale Oke has urged men to stop competing with their babies to suck the wives’ breast. Oke enjoined the men to allow their babies to enjoy their natural meal.

He spoke yesterday at the World Breastfeeding Week (WBW). The programme was organised by LASUTH Community Health Department in conjunction with the hospital’s Pediatrics.

According to him, the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding are many.

He said: “When a mother breastfeeds her baby, it creates bond between them. It is also a natural family mechanism as mothers cannot get pregnant. Breastfeeding mothers do not have bone diseases, breast and ovarian cancers.”

Oke said the state has created an enabling environment for mothers with its policies to work and still feed their babies.

“Working and breastfeeding can go together if mothers try because it is necessary to have healthy babies,” he said.

Wife of Lagos State Governor, Mrs Bolanle Ambode urged mothers to breastfeed their babies exclusively for six months so that they can be healthy.

This, according to her, will prevent babies from coming down with childhood diseases, such as cough, diarrhea and catarrh, among others.

Mrs Amode, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the state’s Civil Service Pension Office, Mrs Ademola Olabowale, said medical science has made it known that breast supplies basic nutrients to newborns, adding that the breast milk remains the most important protein for babies’ growth.

“The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for six months, and mixed breastfeeding up to two years,” she said.

Breast milk, she said, usually helps to build the immunity for the newborns, saying it would protect them from childhood killer diseases.

The state government, she said, has reviewed maternity leave for women in the state Civil Service from three to six months, adding that Lagos State is the only state in Nigeria where men go on paternity leave to support their wives with the burden of raising a new baby.

Head of Department, Community Health Dr Yetunde Kuyinu said the week would help to improve babies’ health.

She said the WBW is celebrated every year from August 1st to 7th in more than 170 countries to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies.

She said working mothers can actually breastfeed their babies.

“It is a known fact that many of our working class nursing mothers face a lot of challenges combining breastfeeding with work either at their work setting or at home. They tend to stop breastfeeding very early in the life of their babies, thus losing the dual benefits breastfeeding provides for both mother and child,” she said.

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August 6, 2015
Boy, five, needs N3m for cancer surgery

Five-year-old, Ayomide Feyisayo, needs N3 million for a cancer surgery in India.

His mother, Ms Adewunmi Adewale said her son came down with cancer of the right jaw known as fibrosarcoma three years ago.

According to her, it started like a pimple and within four months, it ballooned.

“This was when I took him to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi Araba, Lagos.

“There, he had a CT scan but it didn’t show what was really there. So, on February 11, he had an incisional biopsy. The doctor said he would need to have a skin graphing. Even when they had removed it the growth is still continue to grow. Then, he started bleeding. Sometimes he loses more than two litres of blood daily. It was after he started the chemotherapy session that it stopped.

“He had another surgery on November 8 last year, this which confirmed that he was suffering from fibrosarcoma.”

She said some tests were done, adding that he had been of chemotherapy ever since. “Now, I take him to LUTH every three weeks. Before, he was discharged on each occasion, the doctors would check his system to know how is responding,” she added.

Ms Adewale said the oncologist advised they debulk the mass on his jaw while the oral macilofacial said the reconstruction of the jaw should come after that.

“The chemotherapy really worked but he needs a jaw reconstruction. An expert said they will mix some bones with plastic to for his jaw,” she added.

She said the family has spent over N1 million since October 18, when the problem began. “He is going to have his 11th course of chemotherapy. Each course costs about N150,000.

“It is my church, Trinity House and a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Children Living with Cancer Foundation (CLWCF), which a matron introduces to me, that have been assisting me with chemotherapy drugs and finance.

Now, the tumor has been going down but the wound is yet to heal.

“A consultant macillofacial surgeon in LUTH, Prof Akinola Ladehinde advised that my son should be flown abroad for surgery.

“I want people to help my son to have the surgery. I want him to come back to his normal health.”

Ms Adewale thanked CLWCF for identifying with her at the moment of her grief. I need money to get this done. Children Living With Cancer Foundation (CLWCF): Diamond Bank: 0001180414.

Mrs Adewale, who is separated from her husband, a company driver, said her son’s dad, Mr Oluwagbenga Feyisayo, abandoned the family when the doctors said his son would need N3 million for recovery. “We don’t even see any of his extended family members again. We were happy (together) at 5, Emmanuel Street, Alapere, Ketu, Lagos before the problem started. “We separated three years ago,” she said.

Ms Adewale said life has been difficult for her and her son because she was forced by the problem to leave an eatery where she worked as a service assistant. “I left the place last December,” Ms Adewale said.

Managing Director, CLWCF, Dr Nneka Nwobbi, described fibrosarcoma as the cancer of fibron connective tissue. There is adult and infantile fibrosarcoma, she added. His cancer is infantile because it is before age two and it is quite an aggressive one. “The good news is that it is curable if it is picked early,” she added.

October 15, 2013