Connect with us

Health

Nurses Association Decries Quackery

Published

on

The National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Bayelsa State branch yesterday decried the high rate of quackery in the state and pledged to tackle the menace.
The association, while pointing out the adverse effect on public health, said that the ugly trend was giving nursing a bad name and sought the support of stakeholders in the health sector to stamp out quackery.
The Chairman of NANNM, Mrs Sonia Andabai, who spoke on the development in an interview with newsmen source in Yenagoa, said quackery was more prevalent in the private hospitals in the State.
Andabai appealed to medical practitioners running private clinics and other professional colleagues to desist from providing apprenticeships that would produce quack nurses.
She said anyone caught would not be spared, “as the NANNM Bayelsa Council is on their trail’’.
She lamented that the ugly trend had claimed the lives of many patients, saying that “Bayelsa is one of the states where unauthorised apprenticeship for quack nurses in the private clinics is prevalent.’’
The NANNM chairman said that the Nursing and Midwifery Council was currently reviewing the law guiding nursing practice, adding that it was presently before the National Assembly to provide stiffer penalties for quacks in the nursing profession.
According to her, the draft amendment proposes imprisonment upon conviction without option of fine for quackery.
Andabai called on the state government, Federal Ministry of Health and the committee responsible for quackery to step up their surveillance roles to ensure that quackery was eliminated.
“I want to appeal to those running clinics to stop training quack nurses because, soon we will come after them.
“You see in a clinic, you have only one or two qualified nurses and the rest are quacks because they cannot pay the qualified nurses.
“I want to also beg my fellow professional colleagues to desist from training quack nurses. Why is it that those who open the clinic protect their professions and do not train quacks of their own profession?
 ”If quackery is good for nurses, it should also be good for pharmacy and medicine.
“I am very bitter about the issue of quackery. It is very high in Bayelsa, I want to also say that Bayelsa is one of the states that are turning out the highest number of apprenticeship for quack nurses in the hospitals and clinics.
“They should please desist from it. And any other nurse that knows that she is responsible wherever she is should desist because if we get them they would be brought to book,” she warned.
Andabai called for improvement in the welfare of nurses, saying that certain cadres of nurses were not being paid their teaching allowances and appealed for the reinstatement of the teaching allowances for teaching nurses at every cadre.
She also appealed to the Head of Service of Bayelsa to implement the Call Duty Allowance of all nurses that was adjusted since 2014.
She said that Bayelsa was the only state amongst South-South that was yet to pay call duty allowance approved for nurses.

Continue Reading

Health

‘How Micro RNA Research Won Nobel Prize’

Published

on

Two United States scientists who unraveled the human micro RNA have won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2024.
Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun won the coveted  prize for their work on microRNA as their discoveries help explain how complex life emerged on earth and how the human body is made up of a wide variety of different tissues.
MicroRNAs influence how genes – the instructions for life – are controlled inside organisms, including humans.
Every cell in the human body contains the same raw genetic information, locked in our DNA.
However, despite starting with the identical genetic information, the cells of the human body are wildly different in form and function.
The electrical impulses of nerve cells are distinct from the rhythmic beating of heart cells. The metabolic powerhouse that is a liver cell is distinct to a kidney cell, which filters urea out of the blood.
The light-sensing abilities of cells in the retina are different in skillset to white blood cells that produce antibodies to fight infection.
So much variety can arise from the same starting material because of gene expression.
The US scientists were the first to discover microRNAs and how they exerted control on how genes are expressed differently in different tissues.
The medicine and physiology prize winners are selected by the Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute.
They said: “Their groundbreaking discovery revealed a completely new principle of gene regulation that turned out to be essential for multicellular organisms, including humans.
“It is now known that the human genome codes for over 1,000 microRNAs.”

Continue Reading

Health

WHO Begins Regulation On Antibiotic Waste

Published

on

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has begun acting to curb effects of antibiotic pollution.
The new guidance on wastewater and solid waste management for antibiotic manufacturing sheds light on this important but neglected challenge ahead of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) High-Level Meeting on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) taking place on 26 September 2024.
The emergence and spread of AMR caused by antibiotic pollution could undermine the effectiveness of antibiotics globally, including the medicines produced at the manufacturing sites responsible for the pollution.
Despite high antibiotic pollution levels being widely documented, the issue is largely unregulated and quality assurance criteria typically do not address environmental emissions. In addition, once distributed, there is a lack of information provided to consumers on how to dispose of antibiotics when they are not used, for example, when they expire or when a course is finished but there is still antibiotic left over.
“Pharmaceutical waste from antibiotic manufacturing can facilitate the emergence of new drug-resistant bacteria, which can spread globally and threaten our health. Controlling pollution from antibiotic production contributes to keeping these life-saving medicines effective for everyone,” said Dr Yukiko Nakatani, WHO Assistant Director-General for AMR ad interim.
Globally, there is a lack of accessible information on the environmental damage caused by manufacturing of medicines.

 

“The guidance provides an independent and impartial scientific basis for regulators, procurers, inspectors, and industry themselves to include robust antibiotic pollution control in their standards,” said Dr Maria Neira, Director, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health, WHO. “Critically, the strong focus on transparency will equip buyers, investors and the general public to make decisions that account for manufacturers’ efforts to control antibiotic pollution.”

Continue Reading

Health

Kebbi Harmonises Doctors’ Salaries To Curb Brain Drain

Published

on

In a concerted effort to curb brain drain, the Kebbi State Government has harmonised medical doctors’ salaries to be at par with their colleagues in the federal government’s tertiary health facilities.
Kebbi State Commissioner for Health, Musa Inusa-Isma’il, disclosed this at the handing over of ambulances to the state-owned health facilities at the Ministry of Health in Birnin Kebbi yesterday.
Inusa Isma’il, according to a statement by Ahmed Idris, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, said the essence of the harmonisation was to retain the existing medical doctors and attract more to the services of the state.
According to him, the doctors across the state had already started enjoying the new salaries from August 2024.
He said the release of the vehicles was in fulfilment of Governor Nasir Idris’ promise to uplift health care services in the state.
“His Excellency said I should inform you, the beneficiaries of this gesture, that the vehicle should be strictly used for the intended purpose. It should not be used for anything else.
“If there is no referral case, each of the vehicles must be parked at the hospital by 6 pm. The governor said you should warn your drivers against reckless driving as well as violating the instructions.
“We should also do everything possible to reciprocate the gesture by working according to the terms and conditions attached,” he advised.
The benefiting health facilities included Sir Yahaya Memorial Hospital, Birnin Kebbi; State Teaching Hospital, Kalgo; General Hospital, Argungu; General Hospital, Yauri; General Hospital, Zuru; and General Hospital, Bunza.

 

 

In his speech, the permanent secretary of the ministry, Dr Shehu Koko, recalled that the ambulances were handed over to the ministry last Friday by the governor for the onward handover to the benefiting hospitals.
He observed that the ambulances would go a long way in improving the referral system in the state, adding that delays in reaching the secondary and tertiary facilities would be eliminated.
The permanent secretary attributed the high rate of maternal mortality in the country to delays in getting to the health facilities for proper medical care.
“We believe with the provision of these ambulances, part of the gaps we have in our referral system will be addressed, whereby patients who require secondary healthcare could be easily transported to secondary and tertiary health centres, where they can get such help,” he said.
In a goodwill message, Commissioner for Information and Culture Alhaji Yakubu Ahmed expressed gratitude to the governor for the support he has given to the ministry to excel.
While advising the beneficiaries to use the vehicles judiciously, the commissioner advised that services and maintenance of the vehicles must be prompt to derive the maximum benefits from the vehicles.
The commissioner also highlighted some achievements recorded by the government in the last year, including beautification of the state capital, completion of a multimillion-naira ultramodern state secretariat, road construction, construction and renovation of classrooms and upgrading of some health facilities, among others.

Continue Reading

Trending