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  • Feb, Wed, 2020
Health

Paediatrician calls for deeper collaboration to reduce preterm deaths

Preterms
By Joan Odafe
Lagos, Feb. 26, 2020 (NAN) A Consultant Paediatrician, Dr Efunbo Dosekun, has called deeper collaboration between government and other stakeholders in the health sector to reduce preterm deaths.

Dosekun, who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Outreach Women and Children’s Hospital Group, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.

She said that a combined collaborative and innovative network by government at various levels and stakeholders in the health sector would reduce preterm deaths and infant mortality.

The paediatrician explained that birth practitioners who are responsible for delivery, care of mothers and newborns are sometimes far from the reach of the mothers during emergencies or delivery.

Dosekun urged the government to provide better service delivery for preterms by collaborating with private sector doctors.

“We can’t keep recording death of mothers or their babies, even if they are preterm.

“There is need for more emergency facilities for high risk pregnancies, for a mother who is ill, diabetic or suddenly starts bleeding; there’s a limit to what is obtainable.

“There is the need for Public-Private -Partnership in service delivery in low and medium income countries because the population of our countries is very large.

“I will say that there is a mismatch between those who require emergency services and the government hospitals delivering them; if they can’t provide it, they should use private sector doctors,” she said.

The Paediatrician recommended that the emergency care be given at the private hospitals while follow up care be done at the government ones.

Dosekun, however, advised the government to regulate the private sector by way of surveillance and accreditation, to ensure they work optimally.

“We need to work with international donors, governments, corporate and voluntary organisations to ensure that preterm deaths are reduced to the barest minimum.

“If it becomes inevitable that the baby is coming early, does everyone know what to do? What is the health system doing for newborns to ensure that these babies survive ?

”All these questions must be worked on if we have to solve the problems of preterm deaths in the country.

“Obstetrics and Gynaecologists, midwives, even the traditional birth attendants, need to work closer with those providing care for newborns, so they have a chance to live without disabilities,” she said.

Dosekun said that emergency care for preterm babies was  sensitive, expensive and most times out of the reach of those who need it.

She urged the government to engage more hands to do the job, particularly at the grassroots.(NAN)
JOJO/BOLA/SOA
================
Edited by Bola Akingbehin/Oluwole Sogunle

08035789896

Agriculture

FG says 45% of under-5 mortality preventable

By Cecilia Ijuo
Deaths
Abuja, Oct. 11, 2019 (NAN) The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammed Umar, says 45 per cent of death of children under five years old was preventable with healthy diet.

This is contained in a statement by the Director of Information in the ministry, Mr Noble Adaelu, in Abuja on Friday.

The statement noted that Umar made this known at the School Quiz Competition organised as part of events to mark the 2019 World Food Day, with the theme: ‘’ our Actions are our Future. Healthy diets for A #ZeroHunger.”

Addressing the students, Umar said: ‘’My dear children, as you may be aware, a healthy diet is a diet that helps to maintain or improve the overall health of a person.

“It comprises carbohydrate, protein, fats and oil, water, mineral, salt and vitamins, and a healthy diet is important because the organs and tissues in the human body need proper nutrition to work effectively.

“Without good diet, the body is prone to diseases, infection, fatigue, poor performance and malnutrition, which experts say is the underlying cause of 45 per cent of all deaths of under five years children worldwide.”

The permanent secretary stated that the Federal Government recognised the role of healthy diet as a developmental issue, which has led to the development of a Food Guide by Ministries, Departments and Agencies in Agriculture, Health, Environment, Information and Education, among others.

Umar said that ‘’the Food Guide is a guide for healthy eating and for all Nigerians. It is a food pyramid that is divided into five food groups using locally produced foods.

‘’At the bottom are bread, grains and tubers, followed by vegetables and fruits eaten sparingly with confectionery.

“A a glass of water is placed outside the pyramid with the advice to always drink lot of water, for full benefits of a healthy diet.”

He highlighted some of the benefits of healthy diet to include weight loss, reduced cancer risk, diabetes management, healthy heart and stroke prevention, strong bones and teeth.

Umar applauded the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), OXFAM, Action Aid and Leventis Foundation Nigeria, for their continual contribution towards agricultural development in Nigeria.

The FAO Country  Representative in Nigeria, Mr Suffyan  Koroma, who was represented by the World Food Day Coordinator, Hajia Saadiya Haliru stated that the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recognised the importance of food and nutrition security.

He assured that the organisation would remain focused on its mandate of raising the level of nutrition and standards of living and ensuring humanity’s freedom from hunger by promoting sustainable agricultural development and alleviating poverty.

Koroma further said ‘’on our part, FAO has developed educational materials for universities, trained school’s curriculum developers as well as nutrition education professionals.

“This was as a result of a needs based assessment in seven countries that revealed a lack of adequate training for nutrition educators.

“FAO launched the nutrition course ENACT in 2015, in partnership with African academic institutions, Nigeria inclusive.”

The school quiz completion had 1p secondary schools in attendance including Nigeria Turkish International Colleges, Government Secondary School Tudun Wada Zone 4, and Fou’ad Lababidi Islamic Academy Basic Education.

Others are Olumawu International School, Wuse 11; Government Secondary School, Wuse; Federal Government Day Secondary School, APO,  Garki; and Paris Africana International Secondary School.

The Nigeria Turkish International Colleges emerged first, with the Paris Africana International Secondary School coming second, while Government Day Secondary School, Garki, came third. (NAN)
CJM/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Defence/Security

Elections: Police confirms 3 dead in Kogi

Elections: Police confirms 3 dead in Kogi
Deaths
Lokoja, Feb. 24, 2019 (NAN) The Police in Kogi has confirmed the killing of three persons during the Presidential and National Assembly elections in the state.
DSP William Aya, the command’s spokesman, confirmed the deaths to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lokoja.
He said that two persons were killed on election day, while the third person, a police Inspector, was killed in the eve of the election.
He said that the deaths were recorded in Ayingba, Dekina Local Government Area, and Odolu, Igalamela Local Government Area, all in Kogi East Senatorial district.
He also said that a policeman, identified as Insp. Mohammed Hammani, was killed on the eve of the election at Okene while in company of an aide to the state governor.
He said that the situation in Okene, Ayingba and Odolu had been brought under control.
Aya described the situation in the state as calm and commended the residents and candidates for their peaceful conduct.
He also dismissed reports that some candidates in the election were prevented from the state on the eve of the elections, explaining that the stop and search carried out on the day was normal. (NAN)
KKA/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

Expert harps on first aid training to avert deaths

Expert harps on first aid training to avert deaths
By Olasunkanmi Onifade
Training
Abuja, Dec. 28, 2018 (NAN) Dr Biodun Ogungbo, Neurological Surgeon, Brain and Spine Surgery Consortium(BASS), Abuja, on Friday advised the Federal Governments to train law enforcement agents on first aid treatment during emergencies.
Ogungbo gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
He said that civil servants in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as youth corps members must be knowledgeable in first-aid to preserve life.
“We as doctors and other healthcare practitioners have perhaps not done enough in the communities to empower people with the information and knowledge to respond appropriately to situations requiring first aid. We should do more.
“We should do more within the family, in churches and mosques and in our places of work.
“We should start in our own homes and then go into schools to teach and train, and perhaps change attitudes to pain and distress,” he said.
Ogungbo said there was need to know how to be humane so we can resuscitate our humanity, adding that the media should be able to carry first aid training to all Nigerians.
“First aid is necessary in case of burns, heart attacks, heavy bleeding, allergies or even in times of analeptic shock, the timely reaction of one or more people can help stabilise the victim until help arrives.
“One act of kindness can mean the difference between death and life; this is reason enough for people to take to learning the steps and methods involved in first aid.
“It could ensure the right treatment and prevent quacks from ruling the roost in times when one has an accident, a major one or a minor one, the first aid training can come in handy and make sure that the right treatment can reach the person,” he said.
Ogungbo also advised Nigerians to have primary education in terms of first aid administration, be it women at home or teachers at school, to people who work at places where a large confluence of people meets, like malls, theatres or stadia. (NAN)
OEO/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Politics

2019: INEC uncovers 1,224 dead persons in Adamawa register

2019: INEC uncovers 1,224 dead persons in Adamawa register
By Muhammad Auwal
INEC
Yola, Nov. 15, 2018 ( NAN) The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has detected 1,224 dead persons’ names in its Adamawa voters’ register for the 2019 general elections.
Mr Kassim Gaidam, the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, disclosed this during the opening of a two-day workshop for North East Zonal lmplementers on election monitoring and support, holding in Yola on Thursday.
Gaidam said that the statistic was uncovered during the recent display of voters’ register for claims and objections.
The commissioner said that the exercise was successfully conducted across the state.
He explained that during the exercise, the commission recorded 2,113 claims and out of the 1,588 objections, 1,224 were reported death.
The commissioner noted that during the exercise, 38,658 Permanent Voter Cards were collected across the state.
Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the INEC Chairman, said that the election monitoring and support centre was one of the significant tools used by the commission in planning, monitoring and implementation of support provision to field officers for credible conduct of the elections.
Yakubu, who was represented by his Special Assistant, Prof. Muhammed Kuna, said that the commission would use all resources at its disposal to ensure fair and free conduct of the 2019 general elections.
He explained that the workshop was to strengthen the commission’s capacities to monitor the mechanisms and activities put in place for smooth conduct of the 2019 general elections, among objectives.
Also speaking, Mr Samson Fadare, the representative of European Centre for Electoral Support, said the EU was proud to support INEC’s laudable initiative that sought to ensure free, fair and smooth conduct of elections.
“It will be recalled that European Centre for Electoral Support supported the conduct of the election monitoring support implementer workshops for the off-cycle governorship elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun in 2017 and 2018, among others,” Fadare said.
He noted that the workshop was the second of its kind designed for zonal implementers and would be organised across the six geopolitical zones to educate and familiarise the functionaries of the commission across the nation.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop was organised by INEC and supported by European Union.
Five out of the six INEC resident electoral commissioners from North East with their top management staff were participants, excluding Bauchi State. (NAN)
AMA/JEO/MST
Edited by Janefrances Oraka/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

Ban of TFAs will reduce stroke, deaths in Nigeria – NMA

Ban of TFAs will reduce stroke, deaths in Nigeria – NMA
By Ummul Idris
TFAs
Abuja, Oct. 9, 2018 (NAN) Dr Tonnie Okoye, the National Strategic Programme Manager, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), says the banning of food products with Trans Fatty Acids (TFAs) will greatly reduce incidences of hypertension, stroke and death in the country.
Okoye said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
He stressed that we have been feeding ourselves, children and the next generation with the wrong kind of foods which had made the group of diseases called non-communicable diseases an epidemic.
“You have the cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hypertension, stroke and cancer making up this very important part of this emerging epidemic of these non-communicable diseases.
“When you use the word epidemic it supposed to refer to diseases that are communicable but because of the prevalence of these diseases especially the cardiovascular category, non-communicable disease have become an emerging epidemic.
“The ban of importation, production and distribution of vegetable oil that contain TFAs and replace them with healthier oils for Nigerians to consume will reduce the incidences of death, stroke and hypertension.
“This is because those cardiovascular related diseases are related to the consumption of these same toxic chemical that is in common oil that we use in cooking in our fast foods, restaurants, hotels and our families.
“When children begin to consume it early in life, by the time they get to 30, they have hypertension, diabetes and different heart diseases especially sudden death,’’ Okoye warned.
According to the NMA strategist, there is high rate of coronary heart diseases that lead to cardiac arrest which are traced to TFAs.
He maintained that when TFAs are ban from Nigeria, “we the clinicians and medical practitioners will begin to see less of hospital admissions and deaths that are related to cardiovascular diseases’’.
On if the ban will negatively affect the fast food industry and other relevant stakeholders which could lead to a fight back, Okoye said: “We believe it will not negatively affect the industry or a fight back.
“What we are saying is change your production line in business; you are giving us a paper that is brown, give us a white paper; it is still same paper business and trade.
“It is same vegetable oil trade but please when you go to import, import those ones that don’t have TFAs or with TFAs that is not more than two per cent.
“We expect collaboration from all industry players and stakeholders.
“It is a win-win situation for all.’’ (NAN)
UMD/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

Gynaecologist decries high rate of death resulting from pregnancy, childbirth

Gynaecologist decries high rate of death resulting from pregnancy, childbirth
By Ummul Idris
Deaths
Abuja, Sept. 21, 2018 (NAN) Dr Liman Mohammed, a Gynecologist based in Abuja, has decried the high rate of deaths resulting from pregnancy and childbirth in the country.
Mohammed told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja that about 287,000 women die every year as a result of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth or postpartum across the world.
He noted that almost all 98 per cent of these preventable deaths occur in developing countries.
According to him, the difference in maternal mortality rates between developed and developing countries are the biggest global health inequity today.
He said: “Every year more than 8 million children under five years of age die from preventable causes and many 40 per cent within the first 28 days of life.’’
Mohammed said that concentrating on addressing the direct obstetric causes of maternal mortality was insufficient to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.
The physician noted that maternal and newborn mortality in low- and middle-income countries was heavily impaired by neglected diseases.
He said “taken together HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis are among the leading causes of maternal mortality’’.
He stated that maternal mortality was unacceptably high, adding that about 830 women die from pregnancy- or childbirth-related complications around the world every day.
According to him, it is estimated that in 2015, roughly 303,000 women died during and following pregnancy and childbirth.
“Almost all of these deaths occurred in lost resource settings, and most could have been prevented.
“The high number of maternal deaths in some areas of the world reflects inequities in access to health services, and highlights the gap between rich and poor.
“The major complications that account for nearly 75 per cent of all maternal deaths are severe bleeding which is mostly bleeding after childbirth, infections which are usually after childbirth.
“Others include high blood pressure during pregnancy, complications from delivery and unsafe abortion,’’ said the expert. (NAN)
UMD/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

General news

Flood: 3 feared killed, hundreds displaced in Yola

Flood: 3 feared killed, hundreds displaced in Yola
By Muhammad Auwal
Flood
Yola, Aug. 18, 2018 (NAN) No fewer than three people have been killed and hundreds of people displaced following a monsoon rainfall in Adamawa.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a heavy rainfall was recorded in some areas of the state last Thursday night.
NAN gathered that the affected areas included Yolde-Pate, Jambutu and Loko in Yola South, Yola North and Song Local Government Areas of the state, respectively.
Reacting to the development, Dr Muhammad Suleiman, the Executive Secretary, Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency (ADSEMA), however said that only one person lost his live in the flood.
“One person lost his life, while over one hundred people mostly women and children displaced in the recent flood at Yolde-Pate in Yola South Local Government Area.
“Many people are also affected by the flood in Loko village and Jambutu area in Song and Yola North Local Government Areas of the state,” Suleiman said.
He said that Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), especially from Yolde-Pate, were camped at the primary school in the area.
The scribe said that the agency has provided relief materials to the victims and appealed to humanitarian actors in the country to come to the aid of the victims. (NAN)
AMA/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

Cholera: FCT records 7 deaths in 4 communities – Official

Cholera: FCT records 7 deaths in 4 communities – Official
By Mustapha Sumaila
Cholera
Abuja, Aug. 13, 2018 (NAN) The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has said that seven deaths had been recorded from the outbreak of cholera in four communities in the territory.
Dr Humphrey Okoroukwu, the Director of Public Health in the Health and Human Services Secretariat, FCTA, confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
Okoroukwu said two deaths were recorded at Kubwa village; one at Sauka, another two deaths at Mpape and two at Ushafa.
However, he said that the outbreak in Kwali and Kuje Local Area Councils did not claim any live, while the situation in the two area councils and those at Sauka, Mpape and Kubwa villages had been curtailed.
According to him, the outbreak at Ushafa is the most recent, and “all efforts have been put in place by the administration to address it.
The director also disclosed that there were 58 cases listed in the recent outbreak at Ushafa, comprising 36 females and 22 males.
He emphasised that only two deaths were recorded at Ushafa and refuted speculations of five deaths from the disease in the community.
Okoroukwu noted that the cases fit into the definition cases of cholera, while laboratory confirmation was being awaited.
The director said, however, that a case of cholera had been established from the laboratory tests conducted on one of the patients.
“We are treating them as cholera so that we won’t take any chances, and our disease surveillance officers in Bwari Area Council are all on ground in Ushafa, to curtail it.
“We have since sent some medications to Bwari General Hospital as well as chlorine and water guard for the treatment of their drinkable water,” he said.
Okoroukwu noted that health education had been intensified in communities to sensitise residents on the prevention and management of the disease.
The official urged residents not to panic as necessary measures had been put in place to prevent the spread of the disease. (NAN)
MS/FLP/MST
Edited by Folorunso Poroye/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

Cardiologist attributes common global deaths to heart diseases

Cardiologist attributes common global deaths to heart diseases
By Talatau Maiwada
Heart
Abuja, July 29, 2018 (NAN) Dr Damar Chwarji, an Abuja based Cardiologist with Nisa Premiere Hospital, says chest pain and cardiac conditions are common causes of death globally.
Chwarji told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja people need regular medical checkups to avoid sudden attacks and death.
According to him, chest pain is a discomfort felt at the front of the body, between the neck and upper abdomen.
“There are possible causes of chest pain; some are not dangerous to the health while others are serious and life threatening such as acute heart failure and heart attacks.
“Also any organ or tissue in the chest can be a source of pain such as the heart, lungs, muscles, ribs and oesophagus, among others.
“Pain could also spread to the chest from the neck, abdomen and back such as the rupture or tear in the walls of the aorta which also are life threatening,” he said.
Chwarji listed other causes of chest pain to include panic attack which often occurs with fast breathing inflammation where the ribs join the breast bone.
Others include strain of the muscles and tendons between the ribs as well as digestive system conditions such as heartburn, stomach ulcer and narrowing of the oesophagus.
He listed symptoms of chest pain to include “a sudden crushing, squeezing, tightening or pressure in the chest area, pain that spreads around the jaw, arms and around the shoulder blades.
“Also the feeling of dizziness, nausea, a racing heart or shortness of breath”.
Chwarji further advised patients to contact their doctor if they experience a severe chest pain and difficulty swallowing that last longer than three to five days.
He also urged individuals with family history of heart diseases, cigarette smokers, users of hard drugs, those with high blood pressure and high cholesterol to embrace regular medical checkup. (NAN)
TIM/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola