health

Over 14 Million Nigerians Have Received First Dose of COVID-19 Vaccines- FG

Published

2 years ago

January 26, 2022

Admin

The federal government has put the total number of eligible persons that have so far received COVID-19 vaccines in the country at 14,093,873.

It also said 5,252,406 eligible Nigerians have so far been fully vaccinated, while 416,980 Nigerians have received their booster dose, in line with the recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Speaking to journalists in Abuja, at the first media briefing on the progress being made in terms of COVID-19 vaccination campaign, the Executive Director of the National Primary HealthCare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib said the rate of vaccination has increased from 100,000 per day as of December 2021, to 200,000 this month.

He said the sensitisation campaign on the COVID-19 vaccination exercise was yielding results in various centres across the country.

“Our record as of today, Tuesday January 25th 2022 shows that 14,093,873 eligible persons have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Nigeria while 5,252,406 eligible Nigerians have been fully vaccinated.

“However, as one would expect, these results are not evenly distributed across the states of the Federation. Our deep dive into state performances reveals that Nasarawa, Jigawa, FCT, Ogun and Kwara have remained the top 5 performing states on COVID-19 vaccine uptake,” he said.

Shuaib said Jigawa and Lagos have each vaccinated about 1.5million eligible Nigerians with the first dose, while the FCT, Nasarawa, Lagos and Delta are presently leading on second dose administration with more than 10 per cent of eligible populations in each of the states already vaccinated.

Shuaib further spoke on the spread of COVID-19 variants, saying the reason for their emergence was due to the large proportion of the eligible population who have not yet been vaccinated.

He said vaccination rate in many parts of the world had given the virus time to mutate and fight back.

Shuaib used the opportunity to notify the public that the current phase of COVID-19 mass vaccination would integrate the campaign with childhood immunisation and other public healthcare services (PHC).

“What this simply means is that alongside the COVID-19 vaccines, childhood vaccines will also be available at COVID-19 vaccination sites. Consequently, parents or guardians with children aged zero to 23 months are urged to take them along to the vaccination sites.

“The childhood vaccines protect against polio, whooping cough, measles, yellow fever, tetanus, tuberculosis, and other childhood preventable diseases. This is to ensure that while we are trying so hard to control the transmission of COVID-19, we do not neglect other PHC services or even have outbreaks of childhood vaccine preventable diseases on our hands,” he said.

health

Oyo Gov’t Closes Six Health Facilities Over Quackery

Published

2 months ago

February 15, 2024

JRan

The Oyo State Government, has shut six health facilities across the state over quackery.

The six health facilities sealed committed various offenses, including recruitment of unqualified personnel to provide medical services and engage in illicit practices.

Speaking during an inspection and monitoring exercise held within the Ibadan metropolis, the State Antiquackery Task Force Committee Chairman, Dr. Adekunle Aremu said the team carried out the operation as part of the government’s efforts towards protecting the health and well-being of residents.

Dr. Aremu said the Oyo State government would not tolerate any form of quackery or substandard practice in the health sector.

He added that anyone found culpable would face the full wrath of the law.

He urged the public to report any suspicious or illegal activity in any health facility to the Ministry of Health or the nearest security agency.

He also advised the public to patronize only accredited and registered health facilities in the state, adding that they must ensure only qualified personnel attend to them.

He appealed to health workers to abide by the ethics and standard of their profession.

The Chairman also urged residents to cooperate with the government in its quest to provide quality and affordable health care to the people.

He said: “The goals remain clear, Oyo State government is dedicated to upholding rigorous standards and prioritizing the health and safety of every resident.

“The government ensures that healthcare services consistently meet the highest benchmarks for quality and safety, so citizens can trust their well-being”.

Among the facilities sealed were the New Jobi Memorial Hospital; Omolara Clinic & Maternity Home Iped Amazing Grace Medical Clinic; Emiloju Clinic and Maternity Centre Ogbere and Safeway Clinic, Gbaremu; Emilagba clinic and Maternity Centre, Ibadan.

health

Bleaching cream abusers liable to cancer, NAFDAC warns

Published

1 year ago

March 27, 2023

Titilayo Olamide

Opeoluwa Awodugba

The National Agency For Food And Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised the alarm over the increasing abuse of bleaching creams in the country saying users face the risk of cancer

NAFDAC raised the concern during the launch of the Southsouth zonal media sensitisation workshop on the dangers of bleaching creams and regulatory control on Monday in Port Harcourt.

The Director-General of the agency, Prof. Moji Adeyeye, noted that people who continue to use bleaching creams and other related cosmetic products faced the risk of becoming susceptible to cancer.

Prof. Adeyeye who was represented by the Director of Chemical Evaluation and Research, Dr. Leonard Omokpariola,

added that abusers could also cause damage to their vital body organs, skin irritation and allergy, skin burn and rashes, wrinkles, premature aging and prolonged healing of wounds.

She recalled how the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, acting on the resolution of the senate, had written to the agency, stressing the need to take stringent regulatory action to stem the dangerous tide of rampant and pervasive cases of Nigerians using bleaching creams.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) report says that nearly 77 percent of Nigerian women use skin-lightening products regularly.

health

Over 90 percent of health facilities practising sharp, unsafe blood transfusion – Agency

Published

2 years ago

August 18, 2022

Admin

Health facilities in the country have been given a 30-day ultimatum by the National Blood Service Commission (NBSC) to register their blood bank facilities with the commission or face sanctions.

Dr Omale Amedu, the acting Director-General of the agency, gave the ultimatum on Wednesday, in Abuja, while briefing newsmen on the implementation of the NBSC blood service regulatory policies all over the country.

According to him, unregistered blood bank services posed serious health risk to Nigerians.

He said over 90 percent of health facilities in Nigeria were still practising ‘sharp’ and unsafe blood transfusion practices, exposing people to HIV, hepatitis, syphilis and others.
He explained that appropriate regulation and coordination of safe and quality blood and blood products would be ensured, adding that all those involved in the blood business were expected to register with the commission.

According to him, “No blood shall be transfused anywhere in Nigeria without the NBSC seal of accreditation.”

Amedu explained that anyone receiving blood or blood product transfusion in any Nigerian health facility must ask to see the NBSC seal, stressing, “without it, do not accept, it is not safe.

The acting acting Director-General stated that rigorous processes were involved to provide safe and quality blood and blood products, in terms of donor selection, technical aspects of the collection, storage, appropriate testing technology, cold-chain system, distribution and client protection, as well as disposal of waste products.