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Health

2019: NPC to generate records of dead persons for INEC – Chairman

2019: NPC to generate records of dead persons for INEC — Chairman
By Chinenye Offor
Deaths
Abuja, May 8, 2018 (NAN) Ahead of the 2019 general elections, the National Population Commission (NPC) says it has commenced the listing of all dead persons in the country for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Mr Eze Duruiheoma, the Chairman of the commission, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday that NPC would complete the process and hand over the accurate data to INEC within two months.
“In the next one month or two, the data will be made available but we have to be sure of the numbers before we make it available to INEC.
“We do not have 100 per cent coverage in registration of deaths and births.
“But the 50 per cent we have from it will be made available to INEC for them to clean out dead names from voters register,’’ he said.
He said that the final stage of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between INEC and NPC would be implemented soon.
He reassured that the partnership between the two agencies would help ascertain records of dead people nationwide.
NAN recalls that INEC recently requested for the list of dead citizens in the country from NPC, beginning from 2015, to enable it “sanitise’’ the voters register. (NAN)
CSO/JTJ/WOJ
Edited by Julius Toba Jegede/Wale Ojetimi

Health

Nigeria records 756,000 under five deaths annually – FG

Nigeria records 756,000 under five deaths annually – FG
By Diana Orouvie-Omueza
Childhood
Abuja, March 13, 2018 (NAN) The Federal Government says Nigeria records about 756,000 under five deaths annually.
Mr Osarenoma Uwaifo, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, disclosed this at a two-day annual symposium on experience sharing on Integrated Community Case Management of Childhood illness (ICCM) on Tuesday in Abuja.
Osarenoma, who was represented by Dr Bose Adeniran, Head, Child Health Division, said that the data was made known by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (IGME).
According to him, Nigeria contributes 11 per cent of total global deaths of under-five, ranking second on the list of countries with burdens of child mortality.
He said that one in every eight children born in Nigeria die before their fifth birthday.
He said that pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria represented an estimated 58 per cent of under five deaths with malnutrition underlying about 50 per cent of them.
He said that majority of these childhood deaths can be prevented with high impact interventions and treated with very low cost medicines which most of these children living in hard to reach areas do not have access to.
“The challenges to childhood deaths remained finance and access to healthcare; that is why the ministry adopted the ICCM; an evidence based community curative intervention that addresses the issues of access, quality, demand and equity in healthcare.
“Strengthening the ICCM will maximise the impact on treatment outcome for sick children,’’ the permanent secretary said.
Osarenoma urged state governments to buy into the initiative in order to curb childhood deaths.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, who was represented by Dr Adebimpe Adebiyi, Director, Family Health Department in the ministry, said that government was working on scaling up of the evidence based intervention of the well being of children.
Adewole said that Nigeria with an approximate population of 190 million people and annual growth rate of 3.2 per cent was the second largest population in the world and the most populous nation in Africa.
He said that children below five years of age constituted approximately 17 per cent of this population and Nigeria’s demographic and health indices as at 2013 was characterised with fertility rate of 5.5 per cent.
He said that Nigeria also had a low contraceptive prevalent rate of 10 per cent maternal mortality ratio of 576 per 100,000 live births, up to five maternal mortality rate of 128 per 1000 live births and neo natal mortality rate 37 per 1000 live births.
“The major causes of mortality include neo natal causes which accounts for 32 per cent malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea put together are responsibly for approximately 34 of deaths.
“Addressing these challenges requires investment in terms of political will, leadership as well as provision of adequate content.
“Our plan is to domesticate health plans that will reach out to mothers and babies in rural areas.’’
Adewole also urged states to sustain the ICCM initiative implementation in Nigeria to boost healthcare.
He said that the ministry of health was collaborating with development partners with a focus to integrate the management of childhood illnesses and the management of sick mothers as well.
He said the plan was majorly targeted at the rural areas that were hard to reach areas including the internally displaced camps.
He said that the ministry was not only using the conventional health workers to achieve this but also community resource persons that had been trained in order to deliver first aid treatment to some illnesses before they aggravate.
He said that these health workers help in identifying early childhood killer diseases and refer serious cases beyond their management.
He said that this plan was helping to drastically reduce childhood deaths in Nigeria adding that the ministry started with two states but had reached 12 and was targeting to cover the 36 states soon. (NAN)
DOM/AOM/MST
Edited by Abdullahi Mohammed/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

Jigawa local council says no 40 deaths from CSM

Jigawa local council tackles CSM outbreak
NAN-H-34
Meningitis
By Abdullahi Shugaba
Taura (Jigawa), March 8, 2018 (NAN) Alhaji Ismail ChiKwekwewa, the Chairman, Taura Local Government Council, Jigawa, says the council is tackling the outbreak of Cerebrum Spinal Meningitis (CSM) in Majia town.
Chikwekwe told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at Taura on Thursday that the council was collaborating with the State Government and Federal Governments as well other stakeholders to contain the situation.
He said meningitis had claimed nine lives in the area as against the 40 earlier “mischievous reports speculated’’.

“Every mortal can fall ill sick and can die; I don’t see any reason why we should play politics with illness and death.
“What really happened is that some people fall sick complaining of headache and fever, and they were taking self-medication.
“When the problem persisted, the matter was reported to us at the local government council and we swiftly swung into action and sent doctors and medical personnel to find out the problem.
“After diagnosing the patients the case was found to be meningitis and the people affected were immediately rushed to Comprehensive Basic Health Centre Taura for necessary action.
“Before then, seven persons out of the patient who complained of headache and fever died at home while two later died at the hospital.
“We don’t know where those people got the figure that 40 people died in Majia; that is very unfortunate, can they come and show us where those people were buried?
“Right from the time we received the report of the outbreak of the ailment we have been up and doing, the state government also came to our rescue in addressing the problem completely.
“My appeal to people is that they should always try to find facts before spreading any information in the interest of progress and peaceful coexistence among people,’’ the chairman said.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Abba Zakar, confirmed that the situation was under control.
Zakar also confirmed that nine patients died of the disease and not 40 as reported earlier. (NAN)
AIS/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

Untimely deaths: MD tasks doctors, health workers on patient safety

Untimely deaths: MD tasks doctors, health workers on patient safety
NAN-HG-2
Patients
By Awayi Kuje
Keffi (Nasarawa State), Jan. 31, 2018 (NAN) Dr Joshua Giyan, the Medical Director, Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Keffi, Nasarawa State, has tasked doctors and other health workers to ensure patients safety to avoid untimely deaths.
Giyan gave the task while presenting a paper on: ““Patient Safety, Every Patient Counts”, at the three-day Patient Safety Conference organised by the centre in Keffi, Keffi Local Government Area, of the state.
He urged doctors and healthcare workers to always develop patients’ safety culture by avoiding mistakes or errors while discharging their duties.
“Lots of patients have been affected in the country over negligence on the part of the medical and health workers,’’ said the medical director.
Giyan also advised them to always respect and protect the rights of patients in order to improve on their health status.
“The right of the patients also need to be protected at all the time in order to avoid untimely deaths, because patients are kings in every health sector,
“and a healthy person can become a patient one day, but that is not our prayers.
“The management had done its best in infrastructure, and personnel development, among others, and all that will not matter if safety of patients is not improved or is not taken in to cognisance.
“That is why we are giving it a very strong thought and with the help of Global Health to ensure that the staff are really motivated on patient safety,” he said.
Giyan expressed optmism that after the programme, the FMC staff would be motivated to be able to identify of the loopholes of patients safety that they have been missing in the past.
The medical director restated his commitment to continue to key in to positive health programmes and policies that have direct bearing on the lives of patients and staff of the centre and Nigeria at large.
The Dean, Rova College of HealthCare Executives, Abuja, Mr Emmanuel Abolo, said that the conference would lay a foundation on the need for health workers to respect patients’ safety while discharging their duties.
He added that there is now overwhelming evidence that significant numbers of patients are harmed from their healthcare either resulting in permanent injury, increased Length of Stay (LOS) in hospital and even death.
The dean charged healthcare service practitioners to always take the safety of patients as topmost priority.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop was organised for the centre’s doctors and other health workers. (NAN)
AKW/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

Community leader attributes maternal deaths to lack of amenities

Community leader attributes maternal deaths to lack of amenities
NAN-HG-3
Deaths
By Mustapha Sumaila
Abuja, Dec. 19, 2017 (NAN) Chief Danjuma Gajere, the Etsu of Gbaupe Community, a suburb in Kuje Area Council of FCT, on Tuesday attributed high maternal deaths in the area to lack of functional health centre, access road and other basic social amenities.
Gajere told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview that women in the community often die while giving birth at home.
He explained that sometime, when they have complications during delivery and in attempt to rush them to the hospital, they die on the way because of the bad road that link the community with the town.
According to him, the women in the community are willing to go to the hospital or health centre for antenatal or other health care services if such is made available.
The Village Head lamented that the area had no any source of drinking water since the stream used by the community was polluted.
He added that the people in the village had cultivated an unhealthy habit of defecating in the stream and around it hence polluted the only source of drinking water in the area.
“We now fetch water to drink and for other domestic usage from the houses of few individuals who sunk boreholes in the community,” he said.
Gajere said that his village, which residents were mostly farmers, had not less than 6,000 population and should not be neglected.
He therefore appealed to the FCT administration to intervene and provide basic amenities and infrastructure for his people to have decent lives.
An indigene of the community who gave her name as Mrs Esther Ezekiel also appealed to the government to provide a health facility to the area, pointing out that a big settlement like Gbaupe is supposed to have functional health centre.
Ezekiel told NAN that two out of three of her children were delivered at home with one in the hospital, adding that she carried pregnancy of twins in the past, but one died in her stomach while she was on labour.
“The only baby I had in the hospital was with assistant of a neighbour of mine who took me in her car to a hospital in Lugbe where I delivered.
“I am not happy with the way this village is cut off of development and I am appealing to the government to help us,’’ she said.
NAN also reports that the community has no electricity, no telecommunication network as well as secondary school.
NAN also observed that the only health care facility seen in the village was donated by SAM Empowerment Foundation, and when visited no health worker was seen as at the centre.
The Kuje Area Council was yet to react to the plight of the Gbaube community just as NAN was told by some officials that the chairman of the council was out of town. (NAN)
MS/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

Unsafe abortions killing women, damaging wombs in Nigeria – Gynaecologist

NAN-HG-3

Blessing Odega

Abortions

Jos, Aug. 9, 2017 (NAN) Dr. Godwin Akaba, a Gynaecologist with the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, has described as “alarming”, the rate of deaths caused by unsafe abortions in the country.

Akaba told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Jos that many lives were lost on a daily basis to crude abortions, and described the trend as “scary”.

The expert said that many of those who survived often suffer acute complications such as Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID), which could lead to secondary infertility, systemic infection and ectopic pregnancies.

“Some women even remain maimed for life by the instruments used to procure the abortion,” he said.

Akaba, who quoted a report from a survey conducted by Guttmacher, a U.S.-based research institute, lamented that 40 per cent of women, who undergo unsafe abortion in Nigeria, experience severe complications.

He explained that the complications around the pelvic, if left untreated or poorly treated, could lead to the blockage of the Fallopian tube resulting into infertility.

“When the infection spreads through the Fallopian tubes and ovaries, PID may develop; that could lead to chronic pelvic pain, bilateral tubal occlusion due to scars formed around the uterus, and secondary infertility,” he explained.

He defined secondary infertility as failure to conceive again, after an established pregnancy.

“Based on research, 20 to 30 per cent of unsafe abortion procedures result in reproductive tract infections which lead to secondary infertility.

“Unless the tubes are unblocked via surgery, the chances of conception are very slim because the Fallopian tube serves as a passage for the ovum (egg cell) from the ovary to the uterus, where it meets with the sperm for fertilization.

“Tubal blockage is what essentially leads to infertility; even if it does not lead to the complete blockage of the Fallopian tube, it could make the endometrium (the lining of the uterus were the fetus stays) very hostile and predispose the woman to recurrent miscarriage,” he said.

He defined PID as an infection of the female reproductive organ, ascending from the outer urinary tract into the inner urinary tract.

“This occurs when infection spreads upwards through the genital tract, causing damage to the Fallopian tubes and ovaries,” he said.

According to him, PID is one of the most serious complications of unsafe abortions and sexually transmitted disease in women.

He said that it could also lead to ectopic pregnancy where a fetus grows outside the womb and, if not detected early, could lead to the death of the mother.

Akaba attributed the alarming rates of unsafe abortion to Nigeria’s restrictive laws which prohibited induced abortion, except when the life of the mother was in danger.

“The situation has forced many women to patronize quacks which has often proved to be dangerous,” he said. (NAN)

UBO/ETS

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Edited by Ephraims Sheyin

Foreign

521 migrants die in Mediterranean sea in 9 weeks – IOM

521 migrants die in Mediterranean sea in 9 weeks – IOM

NAN-H-49

Campaign

By Isaac Aregbesola

Abuja, March 10, 2017 (NAN) The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) says 521 migrants, mainly from Nigeria and other West African countries, died while crossing the Mediterranean sea and desert to Italy between January and first of week of March.

The organisation in a statement on Friday said it would host an online press conference on March 15 to commence aggressive awareness campaign to discourage people from embarking on such journey.

The organization, which expressed worry over dangerous adventures by migrants from the region, explained that the figure was 50 more compared to the same period in 2016.

IOM added that other countries involved in the dangerous journey include Ivory Coast, Guinea, Senegal and Gambia.

“Some 521 migrants died or disappeared in the Mediterranean from the start of the year up to March 5, 2017, compared to 471 in the same period last year.

“ Some 19,348 migrants and refugees have arrived by sea in Europe, more than 80 per cent of them in Italy (15,760) and the rest in Spain (1,000) and Greece (2,624).

“In the first 65 days of 2016, the figures were much higher with 138,524 arrivals, 129,423 of them in Greece,” IOM said.

According to IOM, the great majority of the deaths from Jan. 1 to March 1 were on the central Mediterranean route from North Africa to Italy, a total of 477.

“Some of the migrants who make it to Europe and share their ordeal with the IOM reveal that their journey was far more dangerous than expected.

“Many are unaware of the dangers and risks of migrating with the assistance of smugglers, not only at sea or in the desert, but also in transit countries like Libya,” IOM stated.

It stated that most migrants, when recalling the life-threatening risks along their journey, are often tend not to share their experience with peers who are still back home.

It stated as part of efforts to save others who are unaware of the risk in the adventure, IOM was embarking on sensitisation campaign to inform migrants from the susceptible countries.

It stated that the campaign, tagged “The Aware Migrants Campaign’’, aimed to inform migrants from those countries about the dangers of migrating irregularly across the Sahara desert, Libya and the Mediterranean Sea.

It said that the campaign would focus on 15 countries mostly in West Africa plus Tunisia and Egypt.

It added that the campaign was launched in the target countries of transit and origin in Africa with social media, TV and radio spots.

It stated that Flavio Di Giacomo and Shiraz Jerbi, IOM Coordination Office for the Mediterranean – the UN Migration Agency would host an online press conference on the campaign. (NAN)

IAA/MST

Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

General news

Masaba, controversial Islamic preacher, dies in Bida

NAN-H-60

Masaba

By Aminu Ahmed Garko

Minna, Jan. 28, 2017( NAN) Alhaji Mohammed Masaba, the controversial Islamic preacher and super polygamist, who married 86 wives, is dead.

He was aged 93.

His Personal Assistant, Alhaji Mutairu Bello, who confirmed Masaba’s death, said that the preacher died in his residence in Bida, Niger State, on Saturday, after a brief illness.

“From Allah we come, to Him we shall all return; we announce the death of Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar Bello Masaba this afternoon. He was aged 93, and died after a brief illness,” Bello told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in a telephone interview.

Bello told NAN that his boss would be buried at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Jan 29.

He said that the preacher had a premonition of his death and prepared for it.

“Baba (Masaba), told us that his time was up; he personally told me that he had completed his divine assignment and was ready to meet his creator.

“He also told us to remain dedicated to the cause of Islam and urged us never to deviate from his teachings on righteousness, piety and total submission to the will of Allah.

“He warned us to shun adultery but said that we should marry our women because it is ‘Hallal’ (right), before Allah,” Bello said.

Masaba came to limelight in mid-2008 when it was reported that he was married to 86 wives contrary to Islamic law which provides that a man can only marry a maximum of four wives.

At a meeting at the palace of Etsu of Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, Masaba was ordered to divorce 82 of the wives, a directive which  he rejected as he  insisted that he did not violate any Islamic law.

The Etsu of Nupe later gave Masaba 48 hours to leave the Nupe Kingdom, saying that his safety could not be guaranteed

However, the cleric refused to leave and sued the Emirate for violating his fundamental human rights.

Masaba was arrested in Oct. 2008 and arraigned before a Shariah court. Before his trial commenced,  the police said that they did not find anything incriminating when they searched his house.

He was, however, detained in the prison on the orders of the Sharia’h court.

The court later transferred the case to a Chief Magistrate’s Court in Minna after declaring that it lacked jurisdiction to try him.

A Federal High Court in Abuja in Nov. 2008 ordered Masaba’s release from prison and asked the Inspector general of Police to ensure the protection of his fundamental human rights.

Masaba was said to have fathered 180 children. He claimed that he never pursued any of his wives. On the contrary, he said, they sought him out due to his reputation as a healer

Many of his wives were much younger than he was, and a few were younger than some of his elder children.

In several interviews with  media outlets, some of the wives claimed that he was a good husband who met all their needs. (NAN)
AAG/ETS/YAZ
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Edited by Ephraims Sheyin/Yusuf Zango