Lexy Blog

 There is no gain saying that the nation’s healthcare sector since independence has been plagued with the challenge of achieving the delivery of quality healthcare to the majority of its populace. These are evident in the state of inadequate infrastructure and lack of basic amenities some healthcare institutions in the country are confronted with. Though several governments in the past and present have carried out one form of refurbishment of facilities at these health institutions, some existing health services are either not affordable or inaccessible to the vulnerable group especially the poor and people living in rural and underdeveloped area. This can be reflected in the nation’s health induces which shows that Nigeria has one of the worst maternal, newborn and child mortality statistics in the world with an estimated 52,900 Nigerian women and 250,000 newborn dying annually from causes that are largely preventable if appropriate interventions are made availab

Enrico Liggeri, country manager, Pfizer Specialties, Nigeria and East Africa Region (NEAR)  Enrico Liggeri, country manager, Pfizer Specialties, Nigeria and East Africa Region (NEAR), in this interview with Alexander Chiejina speaks on the devastating effects of pneumococcal disease remains a major challenge affecting Nigerian children and what Pfizer Specialties is doing to  reduce child mortality and pneumonia in the country What is your assessment of nation’s healthcare system? The Nigerian healthcare system is a daunting task confronting everyone. Certainly, I do respect the people who are trying to cope with such task. I am particularly referring to the fact that Nigeria is the most populous country in West Africa; about 150 to 160 million people. And this population is said to be growing because Nigeria has one of the highest fertility rates in the planet. Recently, I ran into some World Bank estimates that by the year 2020 when we a

…as IHMS unveils Mega Health Insurance Plan L-R; Jide Rotimi-Fadipe, Principal Manager, Finance and Admin; Chidi Ukandu, Chief Operating Officer and Wole Olomojobi, Chief Marketing Officer, all of International Health Management Services (IHMS), during the launch of the IHMS Mega Health Insurance Plan, at Lagos recently. Over the years, the healthcare needs of Nigerians have been on a steady rise, leading to a situation whereby government-financed health services depend largely on out-of-pocket payment by patients. For some Nigerians who could not afford out-of-pocket payment at hospitals are left with an option of patronizing quacks and roadside drug vendors for medicare.    Even in states where healthcare is free for the elderly, pregnant women and children under-five, many complain not having enough money for transport and other logistics. To address this, the Federal Government set up the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) under Act 35 with the sole aim of ameliorating t

   As Nigeria joined the rest of the world to celebrate this year World Breastfeeding Week, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and stakeholders in the health sector has called on the benefits of breastfeeding (considered as the healthiest and most reliable nutrition for babies’ survival) to be broadcast beyond clinics and delivery rooms to the public at large.   The UN body also tasked young people in developing and wealthier countries to understand the importance of breastfeeding long before they become parents.   In a statement to mark this year’s Breastfeeding week tagged “Talk to Me: Breastfeeding a 3D Experience,” Anthony Lake, UNICEF Executive Director, disclosed that breast milk remained a high impact intervention for ensuring the survival, adequate growth and development of the child.   While noting that breastfeeding has been directly linked to reducing the death toll of children under five years of age, Lake revealed that scientific evidence show that breastfeeding c

…key to halting non-communicable diseases  With tobacco use said to be one of the biggest contributors to non-communicable disease epidemic (such as heart disease, stroke, cancers, etc) and estimated to kill eight million people annually by 2030, reports by the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed that more than one billion people in 19 countries are now covered by laws requiring large, graphic health warnings on packages of tobacco. This development, which was part of WHO’s third periodic report on global tobacco epidemic, further revealed that Mexico, Peru and the United States of America (USA) have become the latest countries to require the large, graphic warnings, which is proven to motivate people to stop using tobacco and reduce the appeal for people not yet addicted to it. Even as graphic health warning, that is among the six demand-reduction measures recommended by the global health body to inform people on the dangers of tobacco use, health experts an

…As Bill Gates spends $750 million to tackle polio A child been immunised with polio vaccine  Ever since the launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988, spearheaded by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Rotary International, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), the thrust behind the initiative was to interrupt transmission of Wild Polio Virus (WPV) as soon as possible; achieve certification of global polio eradication, contribute to health systems development, strengthen routine immunisation and surveillance for communicable diseases in a systematic way. With the falling cases of polio globally by over 99 percent in 2010, only four countries across the globe remained polio-endemic (Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria). Sadly, the plan to stop the transmission of polio by the end of 2012 has become a major doubt, despite billions of dollars spent over the past decade to eradica

L-R: Stephen Sobhani,Director of Private Sector Engagement at the United Nations Foundation, Bukola Saraki, Former Governor of Kwara State, Toyin Saraki, Founder, The WellBeing Foundation and Tony Elumelu, Founder, Tony Elumelu Foundation at the presentation of the "Every Woman, Every Child Nigeria Intitative Stakeholders Engagement" held in Lagos recently When one considers the fact that Nigeria is touted as the giant of Africa, the average national maternal mortality ratio at 1,100 deaths per 100,000 live births, and the lifetime risk of maternal death at 1 in 18 have become damning, if not thought-provoking as revealed by the United Nations (UN). When viewed in global terms, the burden of maternal death is brought into stark reality: approximately 1 in every 9 maternal deaths occurs in Nigeria alone. The women, who survive pregnancy and childbirth, may face compromised health even as studies suggest that between 100,000 to 1 million Nigerian women