Health
‘22,000 Suffer Blindness In Rivers’
The Rivers State government has disclosed that an estimated 22,308 persons resident in the state were blind.
Making the revelation in a state-wide broadcast to mark this year’s World Sight Day (WSD) celebration, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Sampson Parker said, of this number, 19,407 were affected with cataract and glaucoma.
Parker lamented that most of these eye problems could have been prevented if the persons affected sought early medical help and assured that the state government would embark on enlightenment campaigns to inform residents on the danger of certain habits that could affect their sights.
The commissioner hinted that government also planned to set up zonal Primary Eye Care Centres in the existing health facilities across the state to deal with the preventable and treatable causes of blindness.
He called on individuals and corporate bodies to support government’s Vision 202020, which he said includes the right to sight For All, as enshrined in the Global Initiative for Elimination of Avoidable Blindness.
He stated that WSD is celebrated every second Thursday in October with the aims of giving attention to the global issues of avoidable blindness and visual impairment.
According to him, World Health Organisation (WHO), reports revealed that 280 million people globally are visually impaired, out of which 39 million are completely blind, 246 million have moderate to severe visual impairment, while 19 million children worldwide suffer visual impairment.
Dr. Parker visited Odadiki Eye Hosptial, Port Harcourt as part of activities where he lauded the management of the hospital for their efforts in reducing blindness in the state and charged residents to regularly undertake routine eye checks to avoid problems.
He recalled the hospital’s humanitarian gestures of free eye treatment campaigns in the state, especially in the rural areas and pledged the state government’s support to partner with these campaigns.
Responding, the Director of the hospital, Mrs Adline Millaba Denni-Fiberesima, thanked the commissioner for the visit and appealed to the state government to help the hospital recover a piece of land given to them by then Military Administrator, Rtd. Gen. Anthony Ukpo, presently being occupied by unauthorised persons.
She used the opportunity to announce that the hospital plans to build a training school of international standard to help train people and curb the present challenge of dearth of optical manpower in the country.
Also speaking, an Opthalmologist in the hospital, Dr. Ugo Onyebuchi, explained that the eye is the window through which an individual accesses the environment and through which a medical doctor sees into the individual to access the person’s state of well being and stressed the need for the eye to receive adequate care.
He charged the public to embark on regular eye checks and avoid the use of salt and sugar solutions in the eye, rubbing the eye with fingers, using sharp objects to scratch the eye and use of unprescribed drugs eye prevent damage to sight.
Tonye Nria-Dappa
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.”
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.”
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.