Lexy Blog

…World Bank’s commitment to Nigeria for polio totals $195 million in 9 years Alexander Chiejina The Global Polio Eradication (GPEI)-led by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Rotary International, the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) was launched in 1988 when the World Health Assembly adopted a resolution to eradicate polio. At that time, more than 350,000 children were paralyzed by polio annually as the disease was endemic in more than 250 countries. Sixteen years down the road since Nigeria started serious activities towards achieving the initiative in 1996, the country remains one of four countries globally-along with Pakistan, India and Afghanistan-where polio is still a major health risk. The GPEI report released last week revealed two new cases (Wild polio Virus-WPV1 and WPV3) from Jigawa and Kano respectively bringing the total number of cases for 2012 to 54 as against 62 cases in 2011. The most recent...

…set to address short supply of water in slums. Worried over the recent outbreak of cholera in certain parts of the country and rising water table levels in the State, the Lagos State government is set to address inadequate water supply to many slum areas in Lagos including Orile-Iganmu and Agege with a view to preventing possible cholera outbreak. In lieu of this, Lagosians have been advised not only to ensure that all drinking water available to them are properly boiled but to ensure full personal hygiene and report possible case of cholera to a nearby government -owned health facility. Briefing journalists in Lagos, Jide Idris, Commissioner of Health, Lagos State admonished Lagosians to make personal hygiene practices their utmost priority in order to prevent cholera infection, a disease caused by a bacterium Vibrio cholerae . While noting that the presence of slums in Lagos is an obstacle to tackling cholera, the commissioner noted  that recently,...

…As FG targets N4trn for health sector Up until late 1980’s, remarkable progress had been made in the development of Primary Health  Care (PHC) at the Local Government Areas (LGAs) largely responsible for healthcare at this level, with support from the state ministries of health and within the overall national health policy. This move was born out of the fact that people, especially in the rural areas, needed to access affordable medicare in a system that delivers quality, integrated services with the participation of all stakeholders in the health sector. The result of this placed Nigeria in the front row of countries across the globe advanced the process of equitably improving the health and quality of life of their people through primary health care. In order to capitalise on these achievements, the National Primary Health care Development Agency (NPHCDA) was established following the recommendation of a high level WHO review team through D...

 ..as the globe marks ‘World Pneumonia Day’ There is no gain saying that Nigeria is the economic powerhouse of the West African region. Despite been one of the wealthiest country on the African continent, its health indices is a course of major concern to health experts in view of the fact that about a million children under the age of 5 die annually from preventable childhood deaths which include pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, malnutrition and neonatal problems in the country. With latest statistics which suggest that an estimated 56 million episodes of lung infections among Nigerian children annually, the 2008 estimates reveal that about 177,000 children under the age of five die of pneumonia in the country with this figure been the highest in Africa and second highest overall in the world. Even as Nigeria lies within the Pneumococcal Meningitis belt of Africa where mortality in children and adults has remained high despite availability of antibiotics for treatment, ...

Nigeria aims to become an industrialized country in the next decade. This is attainable given the right mix of policies and strategies for trade and industrial promotion, writes ALEXANDER CHIEJINA. Since becoming independent in 1960, achieving economic development through rapid industrialization has remained a major challenge for Nigeria. How to achieve rapid economic development has also remained a primary focus of successive administrations in the country. Different economic development policies (with each having a bearing on the industrial sector) were adopted ranging from Import Substitution Strategy (ISS) of 1961 through indigenization to the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP). It however seemed as though none of these policies provided sufficient answers to challenges of the nation’s industries. With industrialization seen as an increase in the share of manufacturing in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and occupation of economically active population, this has bec...

Insincerity, poor funds administration, unclear motives of key NGO personnel leaves little to cheer in Nigeria Alexander Chiejina More strategic use of antiretroviral HIV medications can significantly reduce the transmission of the virus according to World Health Organization (WHO) proposals that will be presented at the XIX International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC on Sunday. According to Margaret Chan, Director-General, WHO, “every year, more than a million more people in low- and middle- income countries start taking antiretroviral drugs “But for every person who starts treatment, another two are newly infected.” While further scale-up and strategic use of the medicines could radically change this trend, Chan noted that there have evidences that the same medicines used to save lives and keep people healthy can also stop people from transmitting the virus, thereby reduce the chance such individuals pass it to another person. In 2011, a large multi-cou...

Following complaints about poor handling of medical facilities in the country, the Federal Government yesterday in Abuja issued a deadline for the phasing-out of conventional syringes. Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said from October 1, 2012, all Federal Government-owned health institutions would no longer use conventional syringes for injection of patients. Chukwu, who issued this deadline at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the government and the Rivers State Government for the bulk purchase of auto-disable syringes, said migration from conventional to auto-disable syringes was in line with the national health policy, adding that this was affirmed by the highest decision making body on health in this country, the National Council on Health (NCH). According to Chukwu, "It is important for us to move away from conventional syringes to auto-disable syringes as a strategy to reduce transmission of infections particularly infections suc...