Lexy Blog

… as Massey Street Children Hospital receives a boost from GT Bank Survival no doubt is the most fundamental law of nature. Indeed where issues of life are concerned, only the fittest can survive. But as a country currently ranked sixth in the world for child mortality, Nigeria has nothing to cheer by way of child survival. Nigerians know too well that hunger and poverty are birds of the same feather. But Nigerians are confused about which comes first. They wonder if they have to be alive in order to survive, or whether they must survive in order to be alive. Even the children have been compelled to ask what their lot is. According to the State of the World’s Children 2008, although the annual number of deaths among children under age five is on the decline, Nigeria is yet to record a stable or improved rate of child mortality over the last decade – meaning the country is not on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals 5 target for child s

…as Lagoon Hospitals launch Joint Pain School No doubt, untreated orthopaedic and joint pains including people suffering from sickle cell are quite real and a global challenge several people are confronted with. However, it has been observed globally and in Nigeria that pain is under reported; when reported, it (pain) is untreated, when treated it is under estimated. It is against this background that health experts believe that untreated/ undertreated acute pain is very disabling and can lead to abuse of pain killers which often overdosed can result to the death of the individual. Hence, in a bid to sensitise healthcare providers, and the Nigerian populace on the burden and challenges of pain management, Lagoon Hospitals, a subsidiary of Hygeia Group, recently launched a Patient Education Forum-The Joint Pain School. Making this known to BusinessDay at the launch, Folashade Laoye, Hygeia Group Managing Director revealed that the Joint Pain S

Next ...As world marks ‘Malaria Day’, April 25 Next week Monday, April 25, Nigeria will join the rest of the world to celebrate “World Malaria Day”; a day set aside to recognise the global effort aimed at providing effective control of malaria. It is an opportunity for countries in the affected regions to learn from one another’s experiences and support their efforts; for new donors to join a global partnership against malaria; for research and academic institutions to flag their scientific advances to both experts and general public and for international partners, companies and foundations to showcase their efforts and reflect on how to scale up what has worked. The debilitating fever, caused by the parasite Plasmodium species that mosquitoes inject into the human blood stream, has led to death if untreated, with Africa seeing the majority of the world’s

The first Africa Regional Ministerial Consultation on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) ended in the Congolese capital recently with the adoption of the Brazzaville Declaration on NCDs. The conference which had in attendance health ministers from various countries in the African continent, called for urgent action by various stakeholders to address major NCDs and priority conditions which represent “a significant challenge” to people in the African region: cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer and chronic respiratory diseases, diseases of blood disorder (in particular sickle cell disease), mental health, violence and injuries. Highlights of the Declaration include commitment by the Ministers to strengthen and standardize national health systems to generate disaggregated data on NCDs, their risk factors and determinants and monitor their magnitude, trends, and impact ; use all appropriate means including information and communication technologies to promote, intensify and increase

It is sad that many Nigerians cannot afford going to hospitals. They rather patronise quacks and roadside drug vendors. 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 introduced the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). Health insurance is a social security system that guarantees the provision of needed health services to persons on the payment of token contributions at regular intervals. However, in a bid to provide quality healthcare to Nigerians from all works of life, a health management organisation (HMO) International Health Management Services (IHMS) has concluded plans to roll out a new retail health plan. The new retail plan, which is targeted at raising the bar of the health insurance industry in Nigeria, is aimed at providing a value driven benefit at an appreciable premium would ensure that quality providers

…as about five million people die annually from smoke related deaths globally Even as tobacco smoking is a universal phenomenon, various countries have in the past sought for ways on how to curb public smoking in view of the public health hazards which second-hand smokers are exposed to following the inhalation of tobacco fumes. With no nation having to benefit economically from smoking, the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention describes tobacco use as "the single most important preventable risk to human health in developed countries and an important cause of premature death worldwide”. To further reinforce this view, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that about 1.3 billion people across the globe are currently smoking with most of them in the developing countries. Sadly, with tobacco said to kill close to five million people annually worldwide with over 70 percent occurring in developing countries including Nigeria, the need to preserve the he

…Engages health workers in capacity building programme In view of the prevailing lack of societal awareness about Autism disorders in Nigeria and non existence of training facilities for affected children, Guaranty Trust Bank has tasked government at all levels to show greater commitment in creating awareness on Autism by creating inclusive schools for affected children and integration centres for adults as well as come up with a legislation which will protect the rights and provide support for people with developmental disabilities. Making this known at the Autism Spectrum Disorders Seminar organised by the bank in Lagos recently, Titi Osuntoki, executive director, GTBank, said Autism, which is a pervasive developmental disorder characterised by the presence of impaired social interaction and communication, is one of the numerous disorders which is often wrongly diagnosed due to lack of awareness on the disease even among health professionals. Osuntoki stat

Experts want more awareness on nutrition In recent times, malnutrition has been identified to constitute a global “silent emergency”, killing millions annually and sapping the economic vitality of nations. With statistics by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) which revealed that nearly 12 million children under the age of five (over 4 million of them in sub-Saharan Africa alone) die annually; malnutrition has been fingered to be responsible for 55 percent of these deaths. However, with about 43 million people worldwide suffering from varying degrees of brain damage due to iodine deficiency, about 226 million children are reported to be stunted (shorter than they should be for their age),and every third child is underweight, while two out of five are stunted in sub-Saharan Africa. Giving the daunting reality associated with malnutrition in children as well as rising cases of diet-related health conditions such as malnutrition, obesity, diabetes, etc in