Health
Nigeria At 52: Assessing Health Sector
Health, they say, is
wealth and
being in good health is the centre of all human endeavours. Being in good
health is not just the absence of illness, but it entails holistic
harmony-spiritual, social, economic etc., which is primarily the responsibility
of the individual.
However, government owes it as a duty to its citizens to
ensure that affordable, accessible, adequate and sustainable healthcare
services are provided to promote good health.
In doing this,
government must carefully and strategically plan the healthcare delivery system
in the nation.
The bedrock of strategic healthcare delivery and planning is
anchored on Primary Health Care (PHC), no wonder on September 12, 1978, 134
countries met at a conference in Alma Ata, Russia, under the auspices of World
Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and formulated
the PHC concept.
According to WHO, PHC
is an essential component of healthcare, which is based on practical
scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology, made
universally accessible to individuals and families in the communities through
their full participation and at a cost which the country can afford to maintain
at every stage of their development in the spirit of self-reliance and self
determination.
Nigeria launched the National Primary Health care during the
Babangida led administration in 1988, 28 years after Nigeria became a nation
and 10 years after it was first launched.
Primary Health Care is the first level contact of the
individual and community in the national healthcare, which brings healthcare as
close as possible to the people.
The Rivers State government
in its determination to make this a reality, did not only adopt it, but
pushed it farther by undertaking to
build 160 primary Health Centres in 160 communities of the state of this number
110 have been completed and handed over to the Rivers State Primary Healthcare
Management Board (PHCMB), according to the chairman of the Board, Professor,
Urial Etawo.
Professor Etawo stated that in addition to the 110 health
centres delivered to the Board, 200 existing health facilities being managed by
the local government councils were taken over by the state government, some of
which he said, would be upgraded to model health centres while others would be
model led into health posts for use during immunisation campaigns.
The Rivers State government went beyond the PHC scheme and
introduced free medical care scheme for children between zero to six years and
adults of 60-years and above in the first instance which presently has been
modified to Universal Free Medical Care
Scheme, open to all bona fide residents of the state. Under the scheme,
only those who can show evidence of voters
registration card and payment of social responsibility tax are eligible
to register and benefit.
Additionally, the RSPHCMB has introduced Home Based Care
(HBC) still under the Primary Health Care scheme, in which every family in the
community would be visited by a healthcare provider.
According to the chairman of the PHCMB, the advantage of HBC
is that diseases in the family can easily be identified and immunisation would
be 100 percent.
He noted that the over 300 primary health centres spread
across the state would be the focal points for the exchange of visits, adding
that, “each health centre will be in charge of 10 villages while everyone in
those 10 villages would be registered” and a record of new birth and deaths,
kept though this would require heavy funding, he observed.
If what the chairman, Rivers State Primary Health Care
Management Board, Prof. Etawo has said is anything to go by, one can say that
the health sector, since Nigeria’s Independence, 52 years ago has remarkably
improved.
In the past, the local communities never had health centres
or General Hospitals. At best what they had were sick bays and dispensaries and
the difficult cases would have to make long distances to get to a general
hospital to receive medical attention.
According to the Director, Public Health, Rivers State
Ministry of Health, Akuro Okujagu, “I don’t know what we had 52 years back, but
today, you can see the remarkable improvement. For instance, in the primary
health sector, you can see the number of facilities have increased, quality of
healthcare delivery and personnel has also improved.”
Dr Okujagu admitted that no one ever thought 30 years ago
that Rivers State would have a teaching hospital, which is now presently
located at Alakahia.
He observed that the progress might be slow but the
healthcare services are certainly better than what they were, 52 years ago.
He said: “statistically, the number though may not be too
encouraging, we are on the way forward, the health indices are getting better,
though they may not be too good but they’re certainly on the better side.”
If the health sector has improved so tremendously, why then
the exodus to India for medical attention?
Dr Okujagu said “it is just a Nigerian factor, not that most
of those cases they take to India cannot be handled here.”
He commended Nigerian medical personnel practicing outside
the shores of the country, saying “if you go to other countries where Nigerian
doctors or nurses are working, they make their mark, they’re highly respected
and most of them graduated from Nigerian medical schools.”
He expressed the hope that someday, “we will get to the
situation where no one would border to go to India.”
To further improve Nigeria’s health sector, Dr. Okujagu
said, training and retaining of healthcare providers is pivotal, adding that
since the infrastructures are now in place, modern equipment and yearly upgrade
would do the sector a lot of good.
The chairman, Rivers State Chapter of the National
Association of Perioperative Nurse of Nigeria (NAPON), Mrs Bridget Ogbannaya
also agreed that training is important if the health sector must further
improve.
On his part, Director, Environmental Health and Safety,
Rivers State Ministry of Environment, Dr Napoleon Isha Ewule feels that proper
policy implementation would place the country’s health sector at par with their
international counterpart.
For Consultant Surgeon, University of Port Harcourt Teaching
Hospital and Senior lecturer, University of Port Harcourt, Rollins Jamabo,
there has been tremendous changes over the years, particularly in the surgical
treatment of patients.
“In the past, we had only a surgeon, a nurse with or without
anesthetist with very few instruments and sutures to operate on a patient and
also we had reuseable gloves, needles and syringes and these were boiled and
reboild and re sterilised for reuse.
“Nowadays, we have disposable gloves, syringes, needles and
in fact the needles are now directly attached to the sutures such that at the
end of the usage of the sutures, they are disposed.
Furthermore, he said surgeries have been changed too, in the
past open surgery was the only way to operate on a patient but now, endoscope,
which applies minimal access is being used and “surgery was used in the
treatment of peptic ulcer but now drugs can do the job.”
Dr Jamabo regretted that the mass movement of Nigerians to
India was not orchestrated by the lack of expertise in Nigeria but that doctors
in India were offering as much as 10 per cent cost if they would refer patients
to them.
In his words, “the annoying thing about this India
expedition is that they are now paying other surrogates, if you send me one
patient, we’ll send you 10 per cent of the cost or they tell you clear cut
N150,000 is yours.
“So now, whether you want to go India or not, they’ll tell
you it’s better you go to India or better the India doctor will ring you,” he
said.
Unfortunately, he said the prognosis in India is not
encouraging at all and prays that the ‘expedition’ as he calls it, will end
soon.
He suggests increased funding, provision of equipment, drugs
and manpower as the way forward to further improve the sector.
Tonye Nria-Dappa
Health
Taraba Confirms Lassa Fever Outbreak
The authorities in Taraba State Ministry of Health yesterday confirmed the outbreak of Lassa Fever in the State.
Making the confirmation in an interview, State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Gbangsheya Buma disclosed that out of the nine suspected cases that were recorded last Friday, eight turned out positive for the viral haemorrhagic fever.
Buma stated that the state Ministry of Health is closely monitoring the situation in collaboration with the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, NCDC, and the Federal Medical Center, Jalingo, FMC, authorities to contain the spread of the disease.
“It is not a surprising thing, this is the season, and we have made preparations, though the outbreak may be overwhelming.
“I just received support from NCDC; they have sent some people here to provide technical support with the aim of stopping the progress of the disease.
“We are actually on top of it. We have provided support as a state to the FMC to provide free treatment to patients of Lassa fever,” he said.
Acting Head of Clinical Services at FMC Jalingo, Joseph Kuni, provided further insight on the outbreak, revealing that the center currently has ten patients in its isolation ward, with some awaiting test results.
Kuni said, “From January to February, the center had recorded 19 deaths from the isolation center.
“From January to February, we sent 105 samples, and 60 of them came out positive for Lassa Fever while 39 came out negative. The remaining ones are still being awaited.”
He explained that due to a fire outbreak that affected the modular laboratory last year, the center cannot perform tests locally, so they send samples to Bauchi or Abuja for testing.
Additionally, Kuni confirmed that one medical doctor from the hospital was affected but has since been treated and discharged.
Kuni emphasised the need for more assistance considering the alarming number of cases, particularly from the central part of the state.
Warning that Lassa Fever is endemic in Nigeria, Kuni said with sporadic outbreaks occurring primarily during the dry season, and it is transmitted to humans through contact with contaminated food or household items.
Health
Experts Warn On Excess Consumption Of Sweetened Beverages
Drinking two litres or more per week of artificially sweetened beverages — the equivalent of a medium-sized fast-food diet soda a day — raises the risk of an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation by 20 percent when compared to people who drank none, a new study found.
Known as A-fib, atrial fibrillation is an irregular heartbeat often described by many people who have it as a “quiver,” “flutter” or “flip-flop” of the heart in the chest.
Drinking a similar number of added-sugar beverages raised the risk of the condition by 10 percent, while drinking about four ounces of pure, unsweetened juices, such as orange or vegetable juice, was associated with an 8 percent lower risk of atrial fibrillation, the study found.
“This is the first study to report an association between no- and low-calorie sweeteners and also sugar-sweetened beverages and increased risk of atrial fibrillation,” said Penny Kris-Etherton, a professor emeritus of nutritional sciences at the Pennsylvania State University, in a statement. She was not involved in the new study.
While the study could only show an association between sweetened drinks and A-fib, the relationship remained after accounting for any genetic susceptibility to the condition. A 2017 study found people with European ancestry had about a 22 percent risk of inheriting the condition.
This heart condition may affect one in four women after menopause, the study further reveals”We still need more research on these beverages to confirm these findings and to fully understand all the health consequences on heart disease and other health conditions,” Kris-Etherton said.
“In the meantime, water is the best choice, and, based on this study, no- and low-calorie sweetened beverages should be limited or avoided,” she added.
Atrial fibrillation is dangerous and on the rise and is the leading cause of stroke in the United States. In addition, strokes connected to A-fib tend to be “more severe than strokes with other underlying causes,” according to the united states centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
Atrial fibrillation can also lead to blood clots, heart failure and “can increase the risk for heart attack, for dementia, for kidney disease. All of those things are likely long term risks,” Dr. Gregory Marcus, Professor of Medicine at University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine and associate chief of cardiology for research at UCSF Health, told The Tide’s in an interview.
Health
Ogun Seals College’s Nursing Department Over Illegal Operations
The Nursing Department of the Harvarde College of Science Business and Management Studies in Abeokuta has been shut.
The department was sealed yesterday for operating without accreditation from the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN).
The enforcement team comprised officials of enforcement team of the Ogun Ministry of Health and members of the State Nursing and Midwifery Committee (SNMC).
Speaking during the enforcement exercise, the Permanent Secretary, Ogun Ministry of Health, Dr Kayode Oladehinde, said that the private institution had been offering a degree programme in Nursing Sciences.
He added that this had been going on for about six years without accreditation from the regulatory body.
Oladehinde, represented by the Acting Director of Nursing Services, Mrs Serifat Aminu, said that such unauthorised programme contributed to quackery in nursing and posed a threat to public health.
According to him, the nursing department of the institution will remain sealed until fully accredited.
He described a degree in Nursing obtained from Harvarde College and similar institutions without NMCN accreditation as worthless, stating that graduates would be unable to obtain a valid license to practice in Nigeria and other parts of the world.
“We have discovered that many institutions, including Harvarde College, offer nursing degrees to unsuspecting students.
“Our mission is to clamp down on such institutions because they end up producing quacks in the nursing profession.
“This is dangerous for society. Unfortunately, most students are unaware that their time is being wasted,” he said.
The permanent secretary advised parents and candidates desiring to pursue nursing or related programmes to conduct due diligence by checking the NMCN website for a list of accredited institutions, saying the regulatory body updated the list yearly.
He warned parents to be cautious of institutions making false claims, assuring that the Ogun government would continue to work diligently against quackery in both the education and practice of the nursing profession in the state.
Responding, a 300-level student, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed shock at the institution’s lack of accreditation, regretting the amount of money her parents had spent on the
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