HERFON HEALTH BLOG

Health workers give Nigerian govt strike notice

Trump approves fresh $89m development assistance to Nigeria   President Donald Trump through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced a donation of $89 million in additional development assistance to Nigeria. This he said was in continuation of US’ support for development goals outlined in a Development Objectives Assistance Agreement signed between both countries. A statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Sunday by the US embassy stated that USAID collaborated with the Nigerian Ministry of Budget and National Planning, the Nigerian Ministries of Health, Agriculture, Power, and Education, and state-level government counterparts among others to structure the bilateral assistance agreement, which runs through 2020. The statement reads in part: “Nearly half of the new funding ($44 million) will support HIV/AIDS control through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). “The remainder will help nort...

Maternity Worldwide - Safe Delivery App Safe Delivery app provides instructions to health workers in remote areas on how to deal with complicated births, to help save the lives of mothers and babies. The app includes animated video guides on how to address problems such as prolonged labour, hypertension and maternal sepsis. It also has step-by-step instructions on the manual removal of placentas, resuscitation of newborns and prevention of infection. the app is aimed at health workers “on the periphery of the health system”, particularly those in remote areas where classroom-based teaching is difficult to deliver. It’s for the health workers who may not specialise in maternal healthcare, but who could be stationed at a rural clinic where they are faced with these types of complications,It also acts as a training tool for people looking to keep their knowledge fresh. the app was tested in a controlled trial in Ethiopia across 78 health clinics, which sh...

11 ideas to improve maternal health in areas of conflict and extreme poverty    1 | Empower women The lower social status of women and girls often translates into less education, which means they often don’t know where to access maternal healthcare or seek remedies when they are denied care or their rights are otherwise violated. It is also essential that men are educated about women’s fundamental human rights, including their rights to access health services 2 | Kit out refugee camps We need to provide refugee camps with the resources needed to transform any incidental delivery location into a clean, safe, and fully equipped health facility. Safe delivery kits contain all the necessary health commodities to deliver a baby, such as misoprostol [a medication used to start labour]. We also have to increase access to antenatal care for pregnant women in refugee camps. We have introduced free antenatal education programmes in camps for internally displace...

Buhari ignores health minister, reinstates suspended NHIS chief

WHO lauds Ugwuanyi on primary healthcare Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/02/lauds-ugwuanyi-primary-healthcare/ WHO lauds Ugwuanyi on Primary Healthcare 

WHO scores Kano low on routine immunization.   Osinbajo Inaugurates Northwest Response Team Against DV The World Health Organisation (WHO) yesterday scored the performance of Kano State Government on Routine Immunisation (RI) against polio and other diseases related vaccination below 40%. WHO assessment came when records from the state ministry of health for the update of first quarter of 2018 RI on Polio indicated 61 percent of the targeted children were not captured. Besides the WHO immunization assessment, the Organisation donated 72 motorcycles and 45 mobile phones worth millions of naira to the Kano State Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers as part of proactive measures to enhance surveillance activities against outbreak of diseases across the 44 local government areas of the State.

Time To Implement The National Health Act Nigeria’s quest to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) may continue to be a mirage, until certain steps are taken to ensure that the right policies are not only put in place but also translated into actionable plans and procedures. Even among the policy makers, a lot has been said about Universal Health Coverage which the World Health Organisation (WHO), defines as a system in which everyone in a society can get the health care services they need without incurring financial hardship. It is a system that ensures that all people are granted access to needed promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative health services of sufficient quality to be effective. The system also ensures that people in the process of accessing the healthcare they need, did not suffer financial hardship when paying for those services. Unarguably, Nigeria is reputed to have some of the best policies on any given subject. However, the challenge has always bee...

LASSA FEVER HAS NO VACCINE (Lassa Fever Advisory) Lassa fever is a viral infection caused by the Lassa fever virus. The virus is primarily transmitted to humans via contact with excreta from rats. The disease occurs throughout the year, but more cases are recorded during the dry season. Lassa fever is spread through: • Direct contact with urine, faeces, saliva or blood of infected rats. • Eating food or drinking water contaminated with urine, faeces, saliva or blood of rats. • Person-to-person through contact with blood, urine, saliva, throat secretion or semen of an infected person. • Touching of floors, beddings and household materials contaminated with urine, faeces, saliva or blood of rats or an infected person. • Inhalation of air contaminated with urine, faeces, saliva or blood of rats or an infected person. Prevention and Control Presently, there is no vaccine against Lassa fever. To reduce the spread of Lassa fever in the country, the Nigeri...

Nigeria’s parliament has said it will commit adequate budgetary allocations to pay for vaccines and effective immunization. This is as the country gets closer to losing support from the Global Alliance for Vaccine Initiative, which has helped fund immunisation in years past. It comes as lawmakers go on two days of retreat to consider strategies for immunisation and strengthening primary health care. Muhammad Usman, deputy chair of the House of Representatives committee on health, said both the House and the Senate are concluding effective legislations to guarantee adequate funds for vaccine procurement, immunisation services and PHC in general, beginning from 2018 financial year. GAVI has supported immunisation in Nigeria for years, but Nigeria is close to losing support for immunisation after a rebasing of its economy pulled the country out of the league of low-income countries. A rollback of funding has begun and Nigeria is expected to take total control for fundin...

We are committed to adequate budgetary allocation for immunisation, says NASS The National Assembly has assured Nigerians and members of the international community of its commitment to ensure adequate budgetary allocation and release for procurement of vaccines and effective immunization of Nigerian children. The Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Health Hon. Muhammad Usman disclosed this at a 2-day retreat on Nigeria Strategy for Immunization and Primary healthcare (PHC) Strengthening. According to Muhammad, the House of Representative and the Senate are concluding effective legislations to guarantee adequate funds for vaccine procurement, immunisation services and PHC in general, beginning from the 2018 financial year. The lawmaker assured the donors and development partners of the personal commitment of both the Senate President, Bukola Salaki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, to ensuring budgetary allocation and timely release o...

Antenatal care is one of the measures to help curb the global menace of maternal health problems. They exist in most primary healthcare facilities. But lack of money has made this otherwise readily available service, inaccessible for displaced persons in the Federal Capital Territory. They say the almost 100 percent difference in cost for accessing the care in the FCT as against what they paid for it back home before Boko Haram attacks, has made it a luxury they can do without Pulwa Achaba, 23, is five months pregnant with her fourth child. She fled Kuda, Adamawa State in 2016 after it was sacked by Boko Haram. She now lives in Gongola, a camp where internally displaced persons reside in Abuja. For her previous pregnancies, Achaba said she diligently went for antenatal sessions at the Cottage Hospital Gulak, Adamawa State, where it cost a maximum of N200 to register and transportation was N50 at the most. Although she was registered to receive free treatment at the Asokoro Gen...