Health
Rotary Donates Water Toilet Facilities To Elekahia
Rotary club of Port
Harcourt has constructed a water sanitation project and six room toilet facilities at the Elekehia community market, in Port Harcourt city local government area.
Speaking during the commissioning and formal handover of the project at the Elekahia Market recently, the District Governor of Rotary District 9140, Charles Onianwa, commended the Rotary club of Port Harcourt for carrying out the project to alleviate the plight of the traders.
The district governor who was represented by Rotarian Sam Mba said the projects were in line with the objectives of Rotary international which is centred on humanitarian services.
In his remark, the President of the Rotary Club of Port Harcourt, Rotarian Chidi Ikeji said the project was intended to provide convenience to the traders and promote good sanitation habits among them.
He said the Rotary club of Port Harcourt had earlier engaged in other community development services, such as the medical outreach programmes, in Oroworokwo and other parts of Port Harcourt and pledged the commitment of the Club to humanitarian engagements.
Receiving the facilities on behalf of the traders, the Women Leader, Amaeli women council in Elekahia Mrs Mary Amadi, thanked the Rotary club of Port Harcourt for the project which included a 7KVA Generator to power the facilities.
She said drinking water and toilet facilities had been major challenges of the traders noting that the construction of water and toilet facilities put smiles on the faces of the traders.
Also speaking, the Paramount Ruler of Elekahia Community, Chief Anthony Akarolo, thanked Rotary Club of Port Harcourt for the projects and advised the traders to make judicious use of them.
Also, the Rotary Club of Port Harcourt, District, 9140, Nigeria, has trained nurses a one-day workshop, covering the 23 local government areas of Rivers State.
Speaking, the President of the club, Rotarian, Chidi Ikeji said the workshop, tagged, Maternal and child Health, wa designed to train nurses on the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of the Human Immuno Virus (HIV), and the effective ways of administering immunisation. Ikeji said, the programmes was part of the club’s community service project.
In his paper, titled, HIV/AIDS: prevention of mother to child transmission, Dr Golden Owhonda said it was needful to train nurses at this time, “because studies have shown that Nigerians’ access to PMTCT was still at its lowest. There is therefore need to create access to the service and the service is a simple intervention that is very effective”.
He stated that, the service was a hospital-based service adding that more nurses need to be trained for more access to service.
“If we are able to create heavy access, we would be able to interrupt the virus and achieve elimination especially as it concerns the transmission of the virus from mother to the unborn child,” he said.
In her paper, the Director, Immunization, Rivers State Primary Health Care Management Board, Dr Wilson C, said immunication was one of the most cost-effective healthcare interventions. A proven tool for controlling and eliminating life threatening infectious, diseases while preventing and estimated 2.5 million deaths”.
She charged the nurse to diligent in the administration of vaccines.
Tonye Nria Dappa/Taneh Beemene
Health
RSG Plans Fresh Training For TBAs
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
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
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.
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