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Traditional ruler urges FG to increase budget allocation for health, education

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Traditional ruler urges FG to increase budget allocation for health, education

Traditional ruler urges FG to increase budget allocation for health, education

The Obi of Onitsha, Nnaemeka Achebe, has urged the Federal Government to increase the budget allocation to health and education .

Achebe made the call on Tuesday in Abuja, at the first Bi-Annual Reproductive Maternal Newborn Child Adolescent and Elderly Health plus Nutrition (RMNCAEH+N) multi-stakeholder partnership coordination platform.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the RMNCAEH+N, which was launched in October 2020, is  a multi-stakeholder partnership coordination platform which would harmonise the health interventions of the government and health partners to reduce wastage and channel funds to get the desired result to achieve Universal Health Care Coverage.

The platform brings together a wider cross-sector of partners and traditional leaders to address the gaps in achieving effective overall coordination of RMNCAEH+N issues by harnessing the relative strengths of individual players to leverage resources, reduce duplication and induce speed towards maximized health outcomes.

Represented by the Emir of Shonga, Dr Haliru Yahaya, Achebe said it was wrong that the National Assembly commands a higher budget than education and health sectors.

“The programme must flow down to the states and Local Government Areas for implementation synergy, cooperation and Partnership,” he said.

Implementation of the RMNCAEH+N, he said, is key to success.

“There must be a sense of urgency; the human capital document took four years to develop and the set targets cannot now be achieved within the set time frame due to delays.

“Funding is also very critical for success,” he added.

Contributing, the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III, urged the federal government and its partners to remain committed to improving the health and well-being of Nigerians, especially vulnerable populations.

The Sultan, who was represented by the Chairman of the Northern Traditional Leaders Committee on Primary Health Care Delivery (NTLC), and Emir of Argungu, Alhaji Samaila Mera pledged the continuous support of Traditional and Religious leaders towards the achievement of UHC in the country.

Earlier, the Minister of State, Health, Sen. Olorunnimbe Mamora said that as part of the RMNCAEH+N commitments, the government was working to ensure the availability of family planning commodities and services, by launching the FP2030 commitment.

Mamora, who was represented by the Director of Family Health Department, FMOH, Dr Salma Kolo, said the commitment is aimed at increasing domestic funding and sustainable financing through earmarking of one per cent health budgets, at federal and state levels.

“We are optimistic that Nigeria will attain its vision with a strategy that allows eligible citizens, including adolescents, young people, and vulnerable populations, to make informed choices and get equitable, affordable access to quality FP and participation in national development.

“This is the goal of the FP2030 commitment,” he explained.

Dr Walter Kazadi Mulombo, WHO Country Representative, assured Nigeria of WHO’s continual support meets the target of UHC.

Mulombo, who was represented by Dr Martin Chabi, Medical Officer, Maternal and Child Health UHC, Life Course Chaster, WHO said that the meeting was a great opportunity to improve the health of women, children and adolescents via transformative multi-sectoral action.

According to him, this will also accelerate coverage of interventions, reduce gender and equity gaps, and improve the quality of services.

Speaking, Prof Emmanuel Lufadeju, National Coordinator of Rotary Maternal and Child Health Project in Nigeria, said that the organisation is supporting the ministry on RMNCAEH+N.

Lufadeju said that RMNCAEH+N was a coordinating platform for stakeholders to have coordination and concentration activities and efforts so that there were no repetitions in its activities.

“So far, through the Department of Family Health, ministry of health, coordination has been very effective in terms of data collection, advocacy, technical support, and it is still growing.

”This is to review what has been achieved so far in the last two years, what we have to do differently and how we can move forward.

“Rotary is a major supporter of the FMOH, especially the Department of Family Health, on issues of maternal and child health in Nigeria.

“We expect to increase contraceptive prevalence rate from the present 15 per cent to above 30 per cent in the next five years,” he explained.

He said that the organisation expects of the organisation to drastically reduce maternal mortality in the country.

“ Maternal mortality, which is at the moment 512 women dying out of 100,000 live births. We have been doing a lot of work in terms of advocacy, and capacity building in the country in terms of supply of equipment and facilities,” he added.

NAN reports that this is the fourth meeting since the launch of the platform, was structured for a critical performance appraisal, to articulate lessons learnt, identify challenges, and define its focus for the next six months.

The meeting addressed thematic areas that support progress toward reducing mortality indices in the RMNCEAH+N programme. 

Traditional ruler urges FG to increase budget allocation for health, education

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World Kedney Day: CMD Extols Borno Govt for Supporting UMTH’s Kedney Centre

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World Kedney Day: CMD Extols Borno Govt for Supporting UMTH’s Kedney Centre

By: Babagana Wakil

The Chief Medical Director of the University of Maiduguri teaching hospital, Professor Ahmed Ahidjo has reiterated the hospital’s commitment to the treatment of Kidney and other related diseases.

The hospital boss , made the disclosure yesterday while addressing members of the hospital Kidney Center as part of activities to mark the year 2024 World Kidney Day.

According to the Chief Executive, the hospital has remained a reference point among hospitals attending to such cases in Nigeria, while emphasizing that the role of the Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum can not be overemphasized.

According to him, the state government have been responsive and committed to activities related to kidney research and development, part of which recently, the government kickstarted the process that targeted about 50 million Naira to fund and assist research process in the Centre.

He admonished members of the Kidney unit to continously demonstrate high sense of professionalism and expertise when dealing with patients while emphasizing that in UMTH, patients remains the king.

On his part, the Director of the Kidney Centre, Professor Ibrahim Ummate, called on the general public to prioritize their health, as he noted that kidney disease is fast growing

According to him, about 18 percent of Borno population is presumed to be suffering from Kidney disease, while advising that people should endeavor to always drink water, eat healthy, exercise and always go for checkup of atleast 3 to 6 months intervals.

World Kedney Day: CMD Extols Borno Govt for Supporting UMTH’s Kedney Centre

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US, in 2023 Commits $600 million to Health in Nigeria

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US, in 2023 Commits $600 million to Health in Nigeria

By: Michael Mike

The United States has committed $20 billion into various health programmes in Africa, it said on Wednesday.

A released by the United States Embassy in Nigeria also revealed that: “In 2023 alone, the United States invested over $600 million in health assistance in Nigeria,” with U.S. partnerships on health in Nigeria saving millions of lives, strengthened health systems, and better prepared Nigeria and the region for current and future health security threats.

The release stated that: “The following are the facts about U.S. government partnership with Nigeria for health now and in the future: Preventing Malaria: Malaria threatens more than half the world’s population and claims the life of a child every minute, and the United States, together with our global partners, has helped save more than 11.7 million lives and prevented 2 billion malaria infections globally.

“Malaria is a leading cause of death in Nigeria, but malaria deaths in Nigeria have fallen by 55 percent since 2000. To advance Nigeria’s national. strategy to counter malaria, since 2011, the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) has taken steps to prevent illness and death by providing: Nearly 83 million insecticide-treated bed nets; 22 million malaria preventive treatments in pregnancy; 164 million fast acting malaria medicines; Insecticide to spray 121,000 homes; Over 102 million rapid diagnostic tests for malaria.

“Ending HIV: About 39 million people live with HIV globally, including an estimated 2 million in Nigeria. The United States and Nigeria are focused on ending HIV as a public health threat by 2030. The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has expanded HIV treatment and reduced HIV transmissions, saving more than 25 million lives in more than 50 partner countries over the past two decades and giving over 1.6 million Nigerians access to antiretroviral therapy. In Nigeria, PEPFAR has invested a total of more than $8.3 billion in the national HIV response.

“In 2023, PEPFAR resources supported:
Over 12 million people with HIV counseling and testing services; More than 2 million pregnant women with HIV counseling and testing services to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV; More than 1.8 million people living with HIV with TB/HIV services; More than 1.5 million orphans and vulnerable children with care and
support services

“Delivering Vaccines: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States helped Nigeria vaccinate 70 percent of its eligible populations. The U.S. government supports Nigeria to control, eliminate, and eradicate other vaccine-preventable diseases as well. Through technical expertise and programmatic support, the United States collaborates with international and local partners to strengthen immunization systems and expand routine vaccine delivery.

“In the course of these efforts, the U.S. government has: Donated 44 million doses of COVID vaccine; Supported vaccination of 2,145,063 children for polio in security-compromised areas, helping Nigeria become certified free of wild poliovirus in 2020; Supported introduction of four new vaccines for children, including
rotavirus, IPV2, measles, and HPV.

“Advancing Global Health Security: The COVID-19 pandemic, as well as Ebola, mpox, and other outbreaks in the country and region, has shown the devastating impacts of infectious disease on health, economies, and societies. Together, the United States and Nigeria are working to strengthen health security capacities. Several U.S. government agencies partner with the Nigerian government to prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from emerging public health threats. Through these collaborations, we are protecting the health of Nigerians, Americans, and people across the globe. Key activities in Nigeria include: Establishing a Public Health Emergency Management Program that has trained 55 national and subnational emergency managers who have responded to seven priority outbreaks; Enhancing Nigeria’s national disease surveillance systems, by training more than 800 epidemiologists and scientists to promote global best practices; Developing Nigeria’s laboratory diagnostics to test for Ebola, mpox, yellow fever, measles, Lassa fever, cholera, and cerebrospinal meningitis, thus strengthening Nigeria’s ability to quickly detect and respond to outbreaks.”

US, in 2023 Commits $600 million to Health in Nigeria

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Lassa Fever: FG Launches National Deratisation Exercise

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Lassa Fever: FG Launches National Deratisation Exercise

By: Michael Mike

The Hon Minister of State for Environment Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako has launched the National Deratization framework exercise to prevent and control the spread of Lassa fever in the Country.

The Minister who was respresented by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Environment, Mahmud Kambari while briefing the Press in Abuja stated that ‘I stand to provide an update on the recent outbreak of Lassa Fever reported by 44 Army Referral Hospital in Kaduna State and subsequent spread of the disease in the state ‘.

He said the meeting with the State Emergency Response Team (SERT), has provided the etiological pattern of the disease. 12 suspected cases was recorded with 6 mortality, 2 additional cases originated from another facility in Barau Dikko Hospital , while 92 persons are under surveillance as contact person, adding that the team has visited the affected facility (44 Army Referral Hospital) on 25th of February 2024 which gathered information as follows:

The general hygiene and cleanliness of the hospital was assessed as well as measures put in place to prevent the spread of the disease through disinfection and decontamination were both deemed effective and found adequate.

The team further confirmed the efficacy of the treatment by using an ITP machine and use of sodium hydrochloride in correct proportion and formulation to ensure safety of the facility.

The team recommended that the facility be deratized to reduce the population of the disease carrying vector, specifically rats.

He noted that our’s in the Environment Sector is to provide solution, make the environment safe and unconducive for the vector to grow because it is responsible for the disease.

The Registrar, Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON), Dr. Yakubu Baba Muhammad reiterated that the Minister’s directives on all the facilities whether public or private should undergo derating exercise for examples hotels, markets, restaurants and recreation centres after which they will be issued Derating Exemption Certificate by EHCON.

Dr. Yakubu disclosed that the ministry has directed the Council to embark on massive capacity building to update the knowledge of the practioners on the new innovations, new approaches to control and address the disease.

He added that component of health education, promotion and creation of awareness in the communities also plays an important role.

“At the community level, the issue of waste management cannot be over emphasized. At this time and period, reminant food should not be exposed while our food stuff and stores should be rats proof. In the character of rats once there is no food, rats vacates the house”. He added

He further emphasized that another approach to combat the spread of this disease is by getting to the grassroot, its a collective responsibility as government is doing their job, citizens should do their parts.

He also said farmers using roads for drying farm products should be discouraged from doing so because this gives rats to come and urinate, defecate; passing feaces that contains the virus that causes disease and contamination of the food.

Yakubu warned that our communities should reduce or stop taking bush meat, saying is not healthy for now because the virus has residual effect even after the death of the animal.

Lassa Fever: FG Launches National Deratisation Exercise

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