Health
HIV/AIDS: FG Restates Commitment To 2030 Elimination Deadline
The Federal Government
has reiterated its commitment in strengthening the health sector towards achieving the global goal of eliminating HIV/AIDS by the year 2030.
The health minister, Dr. Osagie Enahire who stated this at a news conference to mark the 2015 World AIDS Day with the theme “Getting to Zero: Ending HIV/AIDS by 2030”, recently, said that the theme was aimed at zero new Hiv infection, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths maintaining that any increase in HIV/AIDS new cases would impact negatively on the health and economy of the nation.
While revealing that about 3.4million Nigerians living with HIV as at the end of the 2014 out of the 36.9 million persons living with the virus globally. Enahire maintain that tackling the root causes of vulnerability remained the sure way to achieving the goals.
“People are vulnerable to getting infected if they are poor and lack information and education that will keep them away from it. More so, some factors that were responsible for government to take HIV/AIDS case seriously were the fact that there was preventive vaccine and its cost of management and control were enormous,” he said.
The Minister explained that Nigeria was currently treating no fewer than 800,000 people living with the virus with the Anti Retroviral (ARV) drug and that the federal ministry of health in 2014 conducted two important surveys to collect data of infected persons.
Enahire revealed that the 2014 surveys showed a decline in HIV cases among pregnant women who attend antenatal clinics to 3.0 percent compared to 4.1 percent in 2010 adding that there was also a decline among youths from 6.0 percent in 2001 to 2.9 percent in 2014, attributing it to government’s intervention.
He therefore stressed the need for collaboration among stakeholders in the pursuit of preventing and eradicating HIV particularly among adolescents and youths, mother-to-child transmission as well as accessibility to care and treatment to aid the country achieve the 2030 deadline.
Also speaking, the Regional Director for Africa, World Health Organisation (WHO) Dr Rebecca Moeti noted that sub-Saharan Africa was the most affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic with nearly 26 million people living with the virus while 8000,000 HIV deaths occurred in 2014.
Moeti said however, that there was a defining moment in the HIV/AIDS response as a result of remarkable progress in the level of prevention, treatment and care for those living with the virus in Africa adding that the region had achieved the millennium development goal six of halting and reversing HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Commending African governments and partners for their significant financial investments in the HIV/AIDS response, the director said “we still have to fill major gaps in the response, stigma, discrimination and punitive laws persisting in our region”.
She continued, “children, young people, adolescents and key populations are still left behind. Only 43 per cent of people needing anti-retroviral treatments have access, while only 52 per cent of people living with HIV know their status. The target is to ensure that in the next five years, 90 per cent of people living with HIV know their status and 90 per cent of people diagnosed with HIV are offered the ARV therapy and moreso, 90 per cent of people living with HIV/AIDS on treatment achieve viral load suspension. With these, Nigeria and indeed, the African region will achieve the aim of ending AIDS by 2030”.
Lady Godknows Ogbulu
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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