HERFON HEALTH BLOG

ABUJA – The World Health Organisation, WHO, says Lassa fever outbreak, measured by the number of weekly reported cases and deaths, has shown a decreasing trend in Nigeria in the most recent four weeks. This was disclosed by the WHO in its disease outbreak report released over the weekend in Abuja. Lassa-fever According to the report, from January 1st through March 18th 2018, 1495 suspected cases and 119 deaths were reported from 19 states. During that period, 376 patients were confirmed, nine were classified as probable, 1084 tested negative and 26 are awaiting laboratory results. (pending). Among the 376 cases classified as confirmed and nine classified as probable, 95 deaths were reported indicating a case fatality rate for confirmed and probable cases of 24.7 percent. It, however, said that robust public health actions by the Federal Ministry of Health in partnership with key stakeholders, in the domains of enhanced surveillance, contact tracing, strengthening of diagnostic c...

In compliance with the National Health Act and towards increasing funding for the health sector, the Nigerian government has inaugurated a National Steering Committee on Basic Health Care Provision Fund. According to the Federal Ministry of Health in a press statement on Wednesday, the committee will seek more resources and ensure smooth operation of the Basic Health Healthcare Provision Fund. The Basic Health Healthcare Provision Fund is part of the National Health Act, a law that came into effect in 2016 to improve the access of Nigerians to health care delivery. The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, who is also the Chairman of the Committee, during the inauguration said Niger, Abia and Osun had been selected as the first set of states for commencement of the implementation of the Programme in the second quarter of 2018. “Baseline survey of the facilities to be used in each selected state has also commenced,” Mr. Adewole added. The Basic Health Care Prov...

Says His Investment In Nigeria Worth $1.6bn .Nigeria Most Dangerous Place To Give Birth Read more https://independent.ng/buharis-economic-plan-doesnt-address-nigerias-needs-bill-gates/ Says His Investment In Nigeria Worth $1.6bn .Nigeria Most Dangerous Place To Give Birth Read more https://independent.ng/buharis-economic-plan-doesnt-address-nigerias-needs-bill-gates/ Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, observed on Thursday that the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the Nigerian government, with its lofty ideas, does not fully reflect the genuine needs of the people, although it identified ‘investing in the people’ as one of its core objectives. Gates revealed that his investment in Nigeria’s health and education sector was in the threshold of $1.6 billion. Bill, the Microsoft founder, who used a PowerPoint presentation to show a model of the trajectory of Nigeria’s economic growth relating to health and education, said: “The Ni...

WHO on Wednesday warned Nigeria and 15 other African countries of a listeriosis outbreak that started in South Africa in 2017, confirming its support for their preparedness and response to the disease. The other African countries are Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Listeriosis is a bacterial infection most commonly caused by Listeria monocytogenes. It can cause severe illness, including severe sepsis, meningitis, or encephalitis, sometimes resulting in lifelong harm and even death. Listeria is ubiquitous and is primarily transmitted via the oral route after ingestion of contaminated food products. According to WHO, nearly 200 South Africans have died since January 2017 as a result of contaminated ready-to-eat meat products that are widely consumed in the country and may also have been exported to two West African cou...

Zaid Jurji, chief of water sanitation and hygiene (WASH), UNICEF Nigeria, said this while substantiating‎ the recent multiple indicator cluster survey (MICS) conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2016/17, which indicated that about 40 percent of households lack access to clean water sources. Jurji, citing a statement signed by Eva Hinds, UNICEF communications specialist, said: “For Nigeria to achieve the global goal of providing access to safe water for every citizen by 2030, it needs to make water, together with sanitation and hygiene, a national priority. This goal is closely linked with three key results for the country-good health, environment sustainability and economic prosperity.” “Access to safe drinking water remains a challenge to majority of Nigerians, especially those living in the rural areas. The recent Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) conducted by the government of Nigeria in 2016/17, indicated that about 40 per cent of hous...

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it provided health interventions to 3.8 million people affected by the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast in the past one year. WHO said in its 2017 annual report that it coordinated health sector partners and reached 3.8 million people with health services. The agency said it worked closely with local officials, partners and community leaders to address the health risks posed by malnutrition, disease outbreaks, and long-term inaccessibility to basic health services. WHO said it provided technical and financial support for measles catch-up campaigns reaching 2.2 million children aged between six months and 10-years in 25 local government areas of Borno. The fact sheet showed that more than 2.4 million doses of Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) were administered to 648,721 children at transit points in the war ravaged region. It said 375,706 children were inoculated at inaccessible wards and settlements in Borno, whil...

UNICEF has raised an alarm about the threat that measles pose in Nigeria after the country was ranked number one with the highest children unimmunised against measles coming after India. In a presentation: “Overview of 2017/2018 measles follow-up SIA” at a media orientation for journalists in Lagos state, which held in Lagos on Monday, Dr. Charles Nwosisi, Health Specialist, UNICEF, said that Nigeria ranked number one for being the most unimmunised for measles vaccine first dose with 3.3 million children as compared to India with 2.9 children. Nwosisi said that Nigeria is also 192 out of 200 countries in global ranking for measles vaccination coverage. According to him, measles vaccination coverage in 2016 was below the 95 per cent coverage target as Nigeria met 51 per cent coverage. This is coming as the Lagos State Government on Monday similarly, disclosed that it planned to achieve 95 per cent target in the 2018 Mass Measles Campaign to protect enough c...

The World Health Organization (WHO) and partners are supporting health authorities to respond to a new cholera outbreak in Borno State. Borno State Ministry of Health has detected more than 500 suspected cases, 23 of which are confirmed by laboratory culture testing including 3 deaths. Authorities declared the outbreak on 8 March. The outbreak is concentrated in Kukawa Local Government Area (LGA), a major commercial hub with a population of 150,000 situated near Lake Chad and near borders with Chad and Cameroon. Kukawa LGA is nearly 200 kilometres away from Maiduguri, Borno state capital where a five-month outbreak cholera was contained in late 2017. At a press briefing in Maiduguri, Commissioner for Health Dr. Haruna Mshelia said the Borno state government and partners are working to quickly contain the outbreak, noting that fifty percent of reported cases are among children under five years of age. “The State government, in collaboration with WHO and other partn...

Experts fear a currently undiscovered ‘Disease X’ could spark an Ebola-style outbreak in the future.PHOTO CREDIT:http://www.independent.co.uk/Getty The World Health Organization (WHO) has added a mysterious, yet-to-exist new malady to its list of nine diseases that may cause a worldwide epidemic.As if Ebola, Zika and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) are not enough to worry about, the WHO has added a mysterious, yet-to-exist new malady to its list of nine diseases that may cause a worldwide epidemic. “Disease X” is not a newly identified killer pathogen. It is a so-called “known unknown” — that could be created by biological mutation, such as previous deadly epidemics such as Spanish Flu or Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV). Or it might be spawned by a terror attack, or simply an accident. “Disease X represents the knowledge that a serious international epidemic could be caused by a pathogen currently unknown,” the organization said.By including this my...

The Nigerian Senate has urged the executive arm to declare a state of emergency in the health sector over the decay in infrastructure. The move follows the adoption of prayers by a senator, Suleiman Hunkuyi, who presented a motion on the state of public health sector in the country on Tuesday. Mr. Hunkuyi noted that the decay in infrastructure in public health institutions is being caused by epileptic power and inadequate water supply resulting in unhygienic conditions which further increases the risk of hospital acquired and transmitted infections. He said, “The senate further notes that critical diagnostic equipment such as MRI, CT Scan, Ultrasound etc. essential for providing efficient diagnosis are either non-functional or not available. “The senate is concerned that this situation has compounded the dearth of ability to attract the required calibre of health professionals and skilled manpower in our public health institutions with doctors and other healthc...

The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed that since the re-emergence of Yellow Fever in Nigeria in September 2017, at least 358 suspected cases have been recorded in 16 states where the disease has already led to 45 deaths. According to a statement, as part of activities to find solution to the outbreak, a total of 25 million people are scheduled to be vaccinated in a campaign that has already begun in three states: Zamfara in the North-East, Kogi in the Central and Kwara and health workers have already been mobilised across the country. “The country is also strengthening its routine immunization coverage,” the statement added. In a related development, the West African Health Organization (WAHO), in its efforts to contribute to the capacity building of ECOWAS member states in the area of preparedness and response to epidemics, is supporting the establishment of national emergency management mechanisms for public health emergencies. To t...

The Nigerian government has released the statement below on the treatment of Lassa fever. The disease has caused over 100 deaths in the past three months across several states. In the statement, an official also says treatment of the disease is free. The federal government has debunked a Newspaper report published by the Guardian of Sunday March 11, 2018, which stated that the high cost of treating Lassa fever was responsible for the high mortality rate recorded so far in the country. In a statement issued by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, and signed by its Chief Executive Officer, Chikwe Ihekweazu, he stated that Federal Government of Nigeria has ensured that Ribavirin, the major drug used for the treatment of Lassa fever has been provided free-of-charge to patients, ‘for every single case of Lassa fever reported in Nigeria.’ ‘We read with surprise the headline in the Nigerian Guardian newspaper on Sunday March 11 2018 stating that the prohi...

Basic Health Care Provision Fund 1. The Senate to include the Basic Health Care Provision Fund in the 2018 budget. John Enoh who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance was the first to speak on the move by the Senate to include the Basic Health Care Provision Fund in the 2018 budget. "there is no provision yet for it in the 2018 budget. “We are quite hopeful that will be done before the budget is appropriated.” Minister of Health, Mr. Adewole said “if the Basic Health Care Provision Fund is implemented, the National Assembly has done the country proud. 2. Reviewing the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS More than 75 per cent of the population of the country spend out of pocket for health services  SEN. Tejuoso said the National Assembly is proposing to amend the NHIS Act, adding that old people will be included in the new arrangement of the NHIS.  Kolawole Owoka, the Chairman of the Health and Management Care ...

The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole has said that World Health Organization (WHO) has approved the sum of 178 million US dollars in support of Nigeria health sector. The amount convers the WHO’s budgeted work plan and activities under the country’s office selected output for 2018 to 2019. The Minister made this known during the joint approval ceremony of the WHO biennium budget in Abuja. At the event, Adewole signed on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria while the WHO Country Representative, Dr. wondi Alemu signed for the World Health Organization. Speaking at the ceremony, Prof. Adewole who appreciated the WHO for her long standing support for the Nigerian health sector said that the joint approval initiative was an attestation to the unwavering commitment and support by WHO which would help in strengthening the health system in Nigeria. Adewole said that about 66 per cent of the approved amount would be committed to Polio eradication...

Gov. Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi State has signed four health bills into laws for the revitalisation and sustainable development of the health sector in the state. The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Zuwaira Hassan, said this on Thursday at the public presentation of the laws in Bauchi. “Gov. Abubakar for the first time signed four bills passed in to law by the Bauchi State House of Assembly,’’ she said. According to her, the laws are critical to the health sector revitalisation and sustainable development. Hassan listed the laws as establishing of the Directorate of Medical Laboratory Services in the state Ministry of Health, and Hospitals Management Board Bauchi. Other bills signed into laws are Traditional Medicine Board to regulate the practice of traditional medicine, and register practitioners and licence practitioners. According to her, the governor also signed into law the establishment of the Bauchi State Health Contributory Management Agency and the law ...

The federal and state governments have a three-year combined budget of N44 trillion but only N1.8 trillion or 4.2 percent was voted for health, Daily Trust investigations have shown. The figure covers the period between 2016 and 2018 and is well below the standards set by African Union and World Health Organisation (WHO) The low vote is not the only setback for the health sector. An even bigger problem is that far less is allocated to the critical areas like recruitment of more doctors and nurses, upgrading of existing facilities and building of more hospitals and health centres. The greater part of budgeted figures will be expended on salaries, allowances, general administration, and overheads. Official data analysed by Daily Trust shows that the two tiers of government have budgeted a total of N733.8 billion for health, representing 4.1 percent of their N17.5 trillion cumulative spending this year. In 2017, out of the N13.5 trillion total expenditure of th...

  Professor Babatunde Lawal Salako, Director General of the Nigerian Institute Of Medical Research, NIMR. *NIMR joins list of ten centres that can conduct independent performance evaluations of IVDs used in diagnosis, monitoring of HIV, hepatitis infections The Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) has been listed as a World Health Organisation (WHO) prequalified evaluating laboratory to perform assessment of In Vitro Diagnostics (IVDs) commissioned by manufacturers. This means that Nigeria is now part of the ten laboratories currently enlisted as WHO prequalification laboratories all over the world. They are located in eight countries of the world namely: Australia, Belgium, France, India, Nigeria, South Africa (two), Tanzania and United Kingdom (two).IVDs are those reagents, instruments, and systems intended for use in diagnosis of disease or other conditions, including a determination of the state of health, in order to cure, mitigate, treat, or...