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Showing posts from May, 2011

Alex Stories: Medical missions to the rescue in Nigeria’s health...

Alex Stories: Medical missions to the rescue in Nigeria’s health... : "..Offers affordable care to people in the grassroots The sustainability and viability of a nation’s ..."

Medical missions to the rescue in Nigeria’s healthcare

..Offers affordable care to people in the grassroots The sustainability and viability of a nation’s economic and social growth depend largely on vibrant healthcare sector of that nation. However, no nation can maintain a steady economic growth in the absence of an adequate healthcare system.  Over the years, providing adequate health care to Nigerians has remained a daunting challenge previous administrations in the past have devised several means to address. While infant mortality has dropped to single digits per thousand births in countries with adequate and efficient healthcare systems, mortality indices in Nigeria is close to 100 per thousand. As improving Nigeria’s life expectancy is still seen as a tall dream, unsatisfactory and inadequate access to essential drugs and other healthcare services, has painted the nation in bad light. Individuals who throng primary healthcare centres, which is the entry point into the nation’s health service

Alex Stories: UN drafts plan to improve maternal and child healt...

Alex Stories: UN drafts plan to improve maternal and child healt... : "… Task countries to scale up effective actions to combat nutrition problems The United Nations World..."

UN drafts plan to improve maternal and child health through better nutrition

… Task countries to scale up effective actions to combat nutrition problems The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) has drafted a plan committing member states and development partners to implement priority nutrition interventions and policies on health care, education and agriculture to improve the health of mothers and children. The measures, which was included in a WHO report entitled “Maternal, infant and young child nutrition: implementation plan,” at the just concluded 64th World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland outlined priorities to confront child under-nutrition, low birth weight, growing rates of child overweight, both maternal under-nutrition and overweight, and the consequences of vitamin and mineral deficiencies for mothers and children. Sadly, recent figures from the global health body reveal that more than 100 million children under the age of five were underweight in 2010, and at least 170 million were stu

Alex Stories: Improving healthcare standards key in medical inte...

Alex Stories: Improving healthcare standards key in medical inte... : "…as Lagoon Hospitals bags JCI accreditation in quality healthcare The safety of patients that throng..."

Improving healthcare standards key in medical intervention

…as Lagoon Hospitals bags JCI accreditation in quality healthcare The safety of patients that throng healthcare institutions for medicare is an issue which affects health systems in both developed and developing countries. The reason is simple. Health personnel can unintentionally harm patients when they take inappropriate decisions, a situation which results in patient disability, additional healthcare expenditure and deaths. In a bid to stem this tide, the Joint Commissions International (JCI) focuses on improving the safety of patients through quantifiable benchmarks and certifications for patient care, driving positive changes that get noticed by clinical staff, patients and management. Taking the driver’s seat on patient safety and management, Lagoon Hospitals has earned accreditation from JCI, which has been working with health care organisations, ministries of health and global organisations in over 80 countries since 1994. The commissi

Alex Stories: Bumpy Road to a cashless economy

Alex Stories: Bumpy Road to a cashless economy : "In a bid to fast track the transition from a cash to cashless economy, the Central Bank of Nigeria (C..."

Bumpy Road to a cashless economy

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In a bid to fast track the transition from a cash to cashless economy, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently announced a new policy on cash withdrawal limits which may have a profound effect on banking operations. Ikechukwu Eze and Alexander Chiejina x-ray this development and the challenges which may bog it down Kelechi Anaeke, Director, Kelly Computers owns a shop at the popular ‘Computer Village’ located at Ikeja, Lagos. Anaeke deals in all kinds of computer accessories, and supplies laptops as well as other telecommunication gadgets to clients from within and outside the state. His business is worth over a million naira, and is essentially cash-based. Like him, Rose Okoh, a baker, owns a shop at Oshodi, Lagos. Her business is worth several thousands of naira. But unlike Okafor who maintains a personal savings account with one of the banks at Ikeja, Okoh did not have any account until last month when a bank marketer convinced her on the