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COVID-19: Health worker advises FG to enforce restriction

Restriction
By Cecilia Ologunagba
Abuja, March 26, 2020 (NAN) Mr Peters Omoragbon, a Nigerian health worker based in UK,  has advised the Federal Government to enforce the restriction of movement to curb the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Omoragbon, who is a Director for International liason,   Nigerian Nurses Charitable Association-United Kingdom, gave the advice in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

He  said Federal Government should enforce restriction of movement and stay at home order to all categories of workers except those on essential duties.

The federal government had on Monday issued a circular for compulsory stay at home on non-essential public servants on level 12 and below as a further measure to curtail the spread of the virus

Omoragbon also advised the Federal Government to support the workers to cushion the effect of staying at home.

“The government should set up mechanisms to cushion the effects of any lockdown by providing financial support.

“Also, the government should increase both Private and Public Partnership for the production of the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for health workers and essential workers.

“We should avoid importation as much as possible in view of the spread of this infection by doing the needful.

“Let there be adequate dissemination of information in the mass media using all local languages.

“We should treat this issue seriously because Italy today is paying a great price as a result; America too is not exempted because they tried to politicise the spread of the infection.

“Now is the time for all Nigerians to forget their political difference and embrace unity because COVID -19 is no respecter of persons or positions,’’ he said.

The official further advised the Nigerian nurses to follow the guidelines provided by the Nigerian Centre Disease Control (NCDC) in attending to patients.

“Above all, apply the Universal Preventive measures as Nurses, regarding everyone as carrier and take needed precautions.’’

Omoragbon, however, commended the federal government for its efforts so far in curbing the spread of the virus.

“We are not on the ground to carry out full assessment but the reports are encouraging, especially if the government applies its might and service as was done during the Ebola.

“This is far worse than Ebola as its means of transmission is airborne.

“So, there should be increased fumigation and movements should be restricted to only essential services,’’ he said.

In addition, he urged the media to perform its social responsibility role by educating the publics on the measures to be adopted for them to be safe from the virus.

NAN reports that of the 51 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria, two cases have been discharged with record of one death. (NAN)
CIA/KOO/AFA
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Edited by Kevin Okunzuwa/Felix Ajide

Bills

By Cecilia Ologunagba/Franca Ofili

Abuja, March 11, 2020 (NAN) An official of the National Hospital says 46 Health Maintenance Organisation (HMOs) are owing the hospital N520 million reconciled bills under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) as at September, 2019.

The official who pleaded anonymity told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that HMOs owned the hospital a total of N1.7 billion unreconciled bills in the period under review.

“I want to tell you that the hospital has the highest number of patients under the scheme in spite the huge debt the HMOs are owing the hospital.

“We are not rejecting any referral because NHIS is a Federal Government’s initiative and National Hospital is working for the government.

“ It is alarming the rate some primary and secondary hospitals refer cases to us; cases they can handle but yet, we still treat them here.

“We receive referrals daily; we also take referrals from some private hospitals that have been suspended from the scheme; you can see that we have overwhelmed with the number of patients we handle,’’ he said.

According to him, National hospital has 31,000 patients receiving treatment in the hospital under the scheme.

The official said it was not encouraging with volume of debt the HMOs owed the hospital with this number of patients.

“Some private specialised hospitals accredited still do not perform their duty; they still refer cases to us which is not fair on their part.

“For instance, Caesarean Session (CS) costs N350,000 in private hospitals but it is N55,000 under NHIS so some of the private hospitals refer the case because of the low tariff from NHIS.

“We do the highest number of CS under the scheme; if we handle 10 Caesarean Sessions in a day, eight will be NHIS while only two pays.

“If we continue like this, we will not able to take care our bills,’’ he said.

In addition, he said the hospital had reported to the NHIS the challenge with HMOs and the NHIS has been supportive.

“The NHIS is taking it up with the HMOs and they have promised that if they do not pay, they will be paying directly to us.’’

On daily code introduced by the HMOs, he said, the process was too cumbersome for the hospital and the patients.

He said the hospital was giving code quarterly before and later to monthly, until the introduction of daily code.

The official said that the hospital needed to follow their instruction of daily code to be able to  reconcile the accounts with them.

Meanwhile, NAN learnt that Managed Health (Sunu) HMO is owing the hospital N25 million as at September 2019.

In his reaction, Mr Robert Ukeje, Branch Manager, Sunu HMO said he was not sure of the figure the HMO was owing National Hospital.

“I will check the exact figure we are owing them when I get to the office, even if at all, we are owing them.

“If they send their bill on time is another issue. If yes, we will pay them.

“We pay them monthly.  I am surprise the claim that we are owing them that much because we are going through a reconciliation period with the hospital.

“We are going through the reconciliation period with them to ensure that we do not own them anything.

“Besides, it is a continuous process. You cannot clear your debt the same time because the business keeps going,’’ he said.

According to him, they are two services under the NHIS- free service and capitation.

“What we cannot owe is capitation but as far as health insurance, free for service is grantee thing that you must owe. It is continues process.’’

In an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Prof. Mohammed Sambo, the Executive Secretary, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) said some of the reasons that had resulted to owing was not attributed to NHIS.

He told NAN that NHIS was not owing any HMO and was working to ensure that health facilities were not short changed.

Sambo said HMO was supposed to be paying health care facilities in turn, adding that there could be discrepancies as failure to agree on the reconciliation process.

“But what we are trying to do, we have taken the catalogue of old complaints and we are currently analysing those complaints by the healthcare providers and that is the first layer.

“After that, we will call for reconciliation and if the reconciliation is not possible at that level, we are even planning to employ the services of credible auditors and professionals.

“They will now go and take in depth reconciliation to ensure that nobody is short changed, if it is healthcare facility, if he has a genuine complain, we ensure that he is not short changed.

“If it the health maintenance organisation is the one that is right, we ensure that he is not put into serious pressure. So these are some of the things.

“ So reconciliation in the healthcare industry in not a new thing; when you go to even advanced countries you will see that the organ that is vested with the responsibility to reconcile are very big organs,’’ he said. (NAN)

CIA/ FNO/SH

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edited by Sadiya Hamza

Bill

By Cecilia Ologunagba

Abuja, Feb. 18, 2020 (NAN) The Ethiopian Parliament has passed landmark legislation with the aim of curbing smoking in the country, according to the World Health Organisation.

WHO Africa said this in a statement issued in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Tuesday.

As a result of the legislation, Ethiopia has now introduced a mixed-excise system on cigarettes in line with the recommendations of WHO.

This involves a 30 per cent tax rate of the cost of producing cigarettes, in addition to a specific excise rate of eight Ethiopian Birr (0.25 U.S .dollars) on each individual packet.

The passing of the legislation demonstrates the commitment of the Government of Ethiopia to addressing one of the leading causes of non-communicable diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases and chronic obstructive lung disease.

A considerable number of Ethiopians are at risk, the most recent Global Adult Tobacco Survey estimates the number of smokers in Ethiopia to be around 2.5 million people.

“Cancer and other non-communicable diseases are on the rise in Africa; this ground-breaking new law will significantly reduce cigarette smoking among Ethiopians and save lives.

“It is a powerful example of how the government, civil society and WHO can work together to enact meaningful change,’’ said Dr Boureima Hama Sambo, WHO Representative for Ethiopia.

WHO had estimated that the tax increase would reduce the rate of cigarette smoking among adults by as much as 10 per cent, and reduce the number of deaths attributable to smoking by around 91,000 people.

The increased tax on cigarettes will also increase cigarette tax revenues by as much as 81 per cent, meaning an additional Ethiopian Birr (ETB) 925 million (28.7 million dollars) that can be spent on public health or education programmes.

Prior to the approval of this bill, cigarettes in Ethiopia were among the cheapest in the world, even in comparison to other African countries.

The share of total tax on the retail price of cigarettes was also very low in Ethiopia, averaging 33 per cent in recent estimates, compared to the global average of 61 per cent.

WHO estimated that this legislation will increase the tax share of the average retail price of cigarettes to around 54 per cent.

Smoking poses serious health and economic challenges for Ethiopia.

The annual economic costs of smoking in Ethiopia are estimated to be around 1,391 million Ethiopian Birr, or 43.6 million dollars, according to the most recent edition of the Tobacco Atlas.

Buying tobacco also denies families the resources they need to rise out of poverty.

A smoker in Ethiopia would have to spend 11.70 per cent of their average income (measured by per capita GDP) to purchase 10 of the most popular brand of cigarettes to smoke daily each year.

Passing this legislation was the result of coordinated advocacy by WHO that involved engaging civil society groups, the media, medical and professional associations, and government partners. (NAN)
CIA/KOLE/EEE
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Edited by Remi Koleoso/Ese E. Ekama

Laboratory

By Cecilia Ologunagba

Abuja, Feb. 14, 2020 (NAN) The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, says Federal Government will soon establish a special laboratory to boost the testing capacity of Lassa fever in the country.

Ehanire said this while fielding questions from journalists in Abuja on Friday, on capacity of the existing laboratories to test the volume of samples from across the country.

Nigeria has five special laboratories strategically located to test Lassa fever in Ondo, Edo, Abuja, Lagos and Ebonyi states.

The laboratories are located at Nigeria Centre for Disease Control’s (NCDC) National Reference Laboratory in Abuja, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital in Edo, Federal Medical Centre Owo in Ondo State, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki and Lagos University Teaching Hospital.

The minister explained that the new laboratory would make it the 6th special laboratory so that the fever could be treated in most tertiary hospitals in the country.

He added that “we have five laboratories where Lassa fever can be diagnosed and we are in the process of getting the sixth one, courtesy of West African Health Organisation (WAHO).

“We want to place the new laboratory strategically so that the distance of getting samples to the laboratory is minimal just as we have other laboratories strategically located across the country.

“We are not going to use sentiment in establishing the new one, we will leave it for NCDC to decide since they are going to be the one to be doing the testing.”

Ehanire said that the Federal Government was working toward supporting the National Laboratory Network to facilitate easy diagnosis of any viral disease in the country.

He noted that Federal Ministry of Health was also working with stakeholders to upgrade a laboratory in Kano to add to the number of existing laboratories.

The minister, however, said that the Irrua Research Specialist Hospital was working on developing a vaccine to address the Lassa fever problem.

He said that a team was working on the first stage of the process, saying; “ the team has made a lot of progress.’’

According to him, a lot of work is being done on Lassa fever and the country has reduced fatality rate from 30 per cent to 14 per cent.

The Director General of NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, advised journalists against misinformation.

He added that the centre had been proactive in releasing timely information to the public through social and conventional media.

He said “please, confirm any information before publishing, we are always available to answer your questions.”

Meanwhile, 472 cases and 70 deaths of Lassa fever were recorded in the country as at Feb. 11, 2020 since the outbreak of the disease.

The overall Fatality Rate for the fever stands at 14.8 per cent in 2020, lower than the 18.7 per cent recorded during the same period in 2019.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Lassa fever is a viral infection carried by the multimammate rat, one of the most common mice in equatorial Africa found across most parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

The illness was first discovered in Nigeria when two missionary nurses got infected with the virus in 1969. Since then, it has become a disease that Nigeria contends with every year. (NAN)

CIA/ZGA/HA

Edited by Zainab Garba/ Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu

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