Health
UPTH Begins Medical Awareness Radio Programmes
The management of University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital UPTH, says the hospital has commenced medical awareness radio programmes with the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, FRCN, ( Radio Nigeria) on its health-care service delivery to the masses.
The management said, during the radio programmes, all departments of the hospital where specialists in all fields are expected to give useful medical information to the public for necessary proactive and needful interventions.
The Chief Medical Director of UPTH, Prof Henry Arinze Ugboma disclosed this to The Tide shortly after its 2019 Thanksgiving and End of the Year Programme held at the hospital auditorium on Monday.
The UPTH Thanksgiving Service which has its Theme, “Cerebrating Gods Faithfulness and Fruitfulness”, was garced by the management and staff of the hospital chaired by the CMD.
Prof Ugboma said since assumption of office, there has been a strong synergy among the board,hospital management and the entire staff of the hospital.
He said UPTH under his watch had recorded a great deal of achievement in areas of staff welfare, employment, training and conference sponsorships.
Others, he said include, promotion of deserving staff, expansion of facilities and the commencement of work at all abandoned projects
The Director said the UPTH Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, has improved, due to the introduction of computerized payments system three months ago.
He also said the hospital had recorded great deal of improvement on out. Patients monthly clinic attendance from 780 to 15,000, monthly admission from 500 to 900 patients, surgeries also rose from 400 to 900.
Other areas of achievement, include, Accidents and Emergency monthly attendance rose from 450 to 1,500.
Prof Ugboma said as parts of its achievement, the hospital has acquired C – ARM, CT Scan and other critical equipment that are specialty relevant as it have reflected in all the clinical and non clinical departments.
He lamented that UPTH have staff deficits in many clinical department and management has begin the necessary consultations to undertake the necessary remediation while management remains committed to the growth of the hospital.n
The Medical Director appeal to the staff to always reciprocate the gestures of the management by committing themselves meritoriously to the task of quality health care service delivery for the well being of then patients
On funding, he said, the hospital is faced with paucity of funds due to many projects confronting them, making efforts to sustain quality and regular power supply and ensuring safety of staff and facilities.
Earlier, the Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee CMAC UPTH, Prof Princewill Stanley said the Thanksgiving service and the End of year were aimed at thanking God for all his mercies to the hospital.
“Having gone through almost 365 days in 2019 in a very busy tertiary institution, we have every reason to say thank you our Father and our God., he said.
“We have come to celebrate celestial joy and excitement this season brings to us, looking back two years ago when the challenges of sustaining health care in this facility became a great source of worry , today when the faithfulness of God has appeared upon us chasing away the gloom of the past, it is not by might nor by power, but by the mercies of God that we have regained out strength as a five star tertiary institution” Stanley said.
Highlights of the occasion was the cutting of cake which was graced by the Chairman, Board of management, UPTH, Alhaji Murkta Anka and the entire management and staff of the hospital
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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