Health

Challenges Before The NPHCDA

Published

12 years ago

January 4, 2012

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) was set up in 1992 to extend healthcare delivery services to the rural areas, a role it took over from the Federal Ministry of Health.

The Agency plans to solve more than 70 percent of the nation’s health care problem by collaborating with the rest of the health system. It also draws upon as much resources as it can from within and outside the country.

Since 1999 the NPHCDA has built 200 health centres in wards throughout the 36 states and Abuja. Each of the 200 health centres is equipped with facilities for the implementation of a community-based PHC work plan.

In addition, one million treated insecticide bed nets have been distributed to pregnant/nursing mothers nationwide as part of the move to achieve the goals of Roll Back Malaria in the country.

These activities have consequently advanced the progress of improving the health and quality of lives of the people.

Primary healthcare agency has made some progress in polio reduction as it has also trained traditional birth attendants and midwives, through the Midwifery Service Scheme.

A year ago, the agency carried out a nationwide integrated measles campaign to forestall epidemic in the country.

Dr Mohammed Pate, former Executive Director of the agency describes the exercise as an “injection that needed more qualified health workers to deliver”.

Pate also says: “There is a nationwide integrated measles campaign so that we don’t have measles epidemic in 2011.

“I don’t want to be in a position whereby we are reacting to an epidemic, we should be preventing this epidemic from happening.”

He says that the micro planning will be done with the states, adding that the campaign which will begin soon, will be in two phases.

“January is for the Northern states while February is for the Southern states,” he said.

In 2011, the agency also immunised 50 million children against polio and 13 million against measles.

The integrated vaccination campaign began in late January of 2011, distributing measles vaccines to the northern states and oral polio vaccine nationwide.

The second phase in February of the same year included measles vaccine for children under five years in the 17 southern states and oral polio vaccines nationwide.

In 2010, the country recorded only 11 cases of polio virus compared to 338 cases in 2009 but in 2011, 44 cases were recorded.

Dr Emmanuel Abamida, former Acting Executive Director, explains that the immunisation campaigns organised by the agency were interrupted by numerous political situations and events going on in the country between 2010 and 2011.

He says within the two years, the country witnessed voter registration and elections which he said, largely accounted for the low turnout of children for the immunisation exercises as their parents were also engaged in the electoral processes.

“Many of those responsible for ensuring that children were immunised ran to where the electoral processes were conducted, which made the turnout and quality of the polio campaign to be very low.

“ Unfortunately, we did all our immunisation exercises on Saturdays, which were also the days of elections”.

“It was hard to convince people to take their children for immunisation rather than go for voting or the electoral processes which they were interested in”.

Abanida notes that although some setbacks were observed, the agency is quickly engaging all the governors to buy into the immunisation campaign.

In an effort to address the poor Maternal and Child Health (MCH) outcomes and get Nigeria on the track towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5, on maternal and child health, the Federal Government introduced the Midwifery Service Scheme (MSS).

In 2010, the Federal Government trained 2,488 midwives in life-saving skills and integrated management of childhood illness and a year later, the number trained increased to 4,000 qualified midwives.

The MSS was scaled up to cover 1,000 rural Primary Healthcare Centres in 36 States and FCT while 1,000 community health workers were enrolled in the scheme. The rural facilities were organised with 250 general hospitals providing back-up referral support.According to data, the number of babies born nationwide under the MSS rose to 42,000 in 2010 from 27,000 in 2009, indicating that the measure will undoubtedly reduce maternal mortality rate and improve basic services.

Data were collected from 652 facilities across the 36 states and FCT, covering a population of 10.7 million, from July 2009 to December, 2010.

“Women receiving two doses of tetanus toxic during antenatal care in 2009 were 96,000, while in 2010, the figure was 110,000, representing 30 per cent increase.

“For those attending family planning clinics in 2009 were 24,000 women while in 2010, the figure had risen to 55,000.’’

However, it has been observed that lack of resources has hindered further recruitment of midwives by the agency.

Dr Ado Mohammed, the new Executive Director of the agency, promises to evolve strategies to ensure all priority activities are implemented within the limit of funding.

“Under my administration, NPHCDA will continue to build on achievements of its seven goals and vision of making Nigerians healthier by intensifying the fight against wild polio virus as a national priority”.

According to him, NPHCDA will expand and sustain the midwifery service scheme and reinforce the concept of primary health care under one roof to improve access to quality health care delivery.

He reassures both local and international partners of his commitment to continue to work closely with them to achieve the aims and objectives of the agency.

He also promises transparency and accountability for meeting the agency’s national objectives in line with the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Observers say although the agency has recorded a modest achievements, the litmus test is meeting with the set targets of the Millennium Development Goals in maternal and child health as the country inches towards 2015.

Ofili writes for News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Francis Ofili

Health

RSG Plans Fresh Training For TBAs

Published

2 weeks ago

April 10, 2024

The Tide

Plans are in the works by the authorities in the Rivers State Ministry of Health to conduct training for Traditional Birth Attendants(TBAs) in the State.
State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Adaeze Oreh gave the hint while chatting with newsmen recently in Port Harcourt.
She said the training has become crucial to school the TBAs on methods and measures to complement in maternal health care.
In her words,” We are aware of of their roles, but we need to be confident that they can still play that role, especially the skills set needed to complement what government is doing.’’
Dr. Oreh explained that maternal and child care has evolved, hence, the TBAs need to be schooled,” we want them to scale up their skills, especially on high risk pregnancies.”
She continued, “ We want to make sure that our system mops up those high risk pregnancies, because we know that many of them carry out clandestine activities they are not helping us.”
Assuring of improved manpower in the State health sector, Dr. Oreh said the Governor Siminalayi Fubara administration has embarked on fresh recruitment exercise for health workers to meet current challenges.
She assured that once the recruitment exercise is completed, the various health centres and hospitals will be staffed with qualified manpower to provide efficient health services in the State.

Kevin Nengia

Health

Viral Hepatitis Claims 3,500 Lives Daily -WHO

Published

2 weeks ago

April 10, 2024

The Tide

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has raised an alarm on viral hepatitis infection that claims 3,500 lives each day.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) 2024 Global Hepatitis Report, the number of lives lost due to the viral hepatitis is increasing.
The disease is the second leading infectious cause of death globally — with 1.3 million deaths per year, the same as tuberculosis, a top infectious killer.
The report, released at the World Hepatitis Summit revealed that despite better tools for diagnosis and treatment, and decreasing product prices, testing and treatment coverage rates have stalled.
It, however, said, reaching the WHO elimination goal by 2030 is still achievable, if swift actions are taken now.
New data from 187 countries show that the estimated number of deaths from viral hepatitis increased from 1.1 million in 2019 to 1.3 million in 2022. Of these, 83percent were caused by hepatitis B, and 17percent by hepatitis C. Every day, there are 3,500 people dying globally due to hepatitis B and C infections.
“This report paints a troubling picture: despite progress globally in preventing hepatitis infections, deaths are rising because far too few people with hepatitis are being diagnosed and treated,” said WHO’s Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
He added, “WHO is committed to supporting countries to use all the tools at their disposal – at access prices – to save lives and turn this trend around.”
Updated WHO estimates indicate that 254 million people lived with hepatitis B and 50 million with hepatitis C in 2022. Half the burden of chronic hepatitis B and C infections is among people 30–54 years old, with 12percent among children under 18 years of age. Men account for 58percent of all cases.
New incidence estimates indicate a slight decrease compared to 2019, but the overall incidence of viral hepatitis remains high.
In 2022, there were 2.2 million new infections, down from 2.5 million in 2019.
These include 1.2 million new hepatitis B infections and nearly one million new hepatitis C infections. More than 6,000 people are getting newly infected with viral hepatitis each day.
The revised estimates are derived from enhanced data from national prevalence surveys. They also indicate that prevention measures such as immunisation and safe injections, along with the expansion of hepatitis C treatment, have contributed to reducing the incidence.

Health

How Dates Boost Fertility -Research

Published

2 weeks ago

April 10, 2024

The Tide

Now, researchers in a study, suggest that date palm is an arsenal to fight infertility in couples. They found that 1-month consumption of date palm has a positive impact on the sexual function of infertile couples.
The study to investigate the effect of date palms on the sexual function of infertile couples was in the 2022 edition of the BMC Research Notes.
In a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial conducted on infertile women and their husbands who were referred to infertility clinics in Iran in 2019, researchers found sexual function in females (arousal, orgasm, lubrication, pain during intercourse, satisfaction) in the intervention group was significantly increased compared to females in the control group that had no date palm.
Infertility and infertility management affects different dimensions of a couple’s life. Sexual dysfunctions can appear in both partners and might provoke problems in every stage of sexual response. Infertility negatively affects the sexuality of infertile couples.
Numerous studies show that infertile women have lower sexual function than fertile women. Sexual satisfaction is strongly affected by the consequences of infertility such as reduced self-esteem, feelings of depression and anxiety, and failed sexual relationships.
The intervention group was given a palm date capsule and the control group was given a placebo. The starch powder was applied to prepare the placebo capsules.
Also, all areas of male sexual function (erectile function, orgasmic function, sexual desire, intercourse satisfaction and overall satisfaction) significantly increased in the intervention group compared to the control group.
Infertility is not only a medical problem but also affects all personal dimensions and social life of most infertile individuals. Infertile couples are more prone to psychological problems (anxiety, depression, and stress), which may result in marital distress, social dysfunction (stigma, social exclusion, and feelings of failure), and reduced quality of life.
Infertility and infertility management affects different dimensions of a couple’s life. Sexual dysfunctions can appear in both partners and might provoke problems in every stage of sexual response. Infertility negatively affects the sexuality of infertile couples.
Numerous studies show that infertile women have lower sexual function than fertile women. Sexual satisfaction is strongly affected by the consequences of infertility such as reduced self-esteem, feelings of depression and anxiety, and failed sexual relationships.
Dates palm is known to have come from what is now Iraq. In Nigeria, dry and soft date fruits are sold out for consumption. However, in the northern part, they are added to the locally brewed alcoholic beverage to help reduce the intoxicating power.
Dates are a good source of energy and vitamins and important elements such as phosphorus, iron, potassium and a significant amount of calcium. It is also rich in phenolic compounds possessing free radical scavenging and antioxidant activity.
Since ancient times, the date palm has been used in Greece, China and Egypt to treat infertility and increase sexual desire and fertility in females. There are few studies on the effect of date palms on male and female sexual function in human beings.
Besides, studies have shown that the various parts of its plant are widely used in traditional medicine for the treatment of various disorders which include memory disturbances, fever, inflammation, paralysis, loss of consciousness and nervous disorder.
Culled from Tribune online.

The researchers suggested that the improvement in male and female sexual function can be due to active ingredients and increased levels of sex hormones following the consumption of date palms since studies indicated that increasing sex hormones are effective in sexual function.

They, however, recommended more studies with a longer duration on the use of date palms on sex hormone levels in infertile couples.

Previously, a study revealed that using date palms in postmenopausal women for 1 month had a positive and significant impact on sexual desire and arousal. Another suggested that using date palms had a positive impact on orgasm, satisfaction and lubrication in women and also reduced pain during intercourse in women.

In the laboratory, administering date palms to male rats and measuring their sexual behaviours, researchers showed that sexual behaviour parameters (number of ejaculations, number of intercourse) increased compared to the control group.