Health
HIV: Nigeria To Focus On Mother-To-Child Transmission
Director General, National Agency for the Control of AIDS, Prof. John Idoko, says the country will focus on Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV.
Idoko said this in Abuja on Monday during a media briefing to commemorate the 2011 World AIDS Day (WAD), with the theme “Getting to Zero”.
“The country’s focus of the WAD 2011 is on elimination of MTCT of HIV in line with the national target of achieving 90 per cent coverage for PMTCT, for pregnant women detailed in the National Strategic Plan 2010-2015.
“The significance of this focus is hinged on the availability of technology for HIV positive parents to have HIV free children and the possibility of using pregnant women to generate an interest in HIV testing in their households. ’’
Idoko said the effort would enable the country to have comprehensive post-delivery care for HIV positive mothers and their babies.
He said there would be an integration of the PMTCT with other related services such as malaria, tuberculosis, maternal and child health, family planning and availability of comprehensive HIV services in communities through primary health care centres.
Idoko said the country’s prevalence rate of HIV had reduced from 4.6 per cent to 4.1 per cent, according to the 2010 sentinel survey.
He said that although there was a reduction in HIV prevalence in the country, he was alarmed at the high rate in some of the states, which was still of concern to national HIV response.
The director general said there has been a significant scale up of prevention, treatment, care and support.
“Currently in Nigeria, there are 446 anti-retroviral treatment sites, 675 PMTCT sites, 1046 HIV Counselling and Testing sites, while the assessment of new treatment and counselling sites was on-going, with plans to provide access to 20,000 patients in the next two years.
Idoko said the renovation of 900 Primary Health Care Centres (PHCs) as a component of the Global Fund Round Eight grant implementation had commenced.
He said the ministry of health and the agency were exploring ways to support local manufacturers of HIV test kits.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that NACA has begun consultations with the National Health Research Ethics Committee (NHREC) of the Federal Ministry of Health to enable it secure lincense for the establishment of an HIV and AIDS Research Ethics committee.
Idoko said the major challenge in the fight against HIV and AIDS still remained over dependence on donor support faced by the agency.
For vaccine production, he said, the country was still behind, noting that Nigeria was the first to develop a vaccine plan.
Idoko lamented that the country needed capacity building and funding to forge ahead in vaccine production.
He said, however, that the country had updated and reviewed its plan.
In his speech, Mr Edward Ogenyi, National Coordinator, Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN), said that care for people living with the virus was a great challenge to the network.
He tasked the Federal Government to ensure that the bill to fight discrimination against people living with HIV and AIDS was passed.
Ogenyi said: “ it is only when a cure is found that the country will say HIV and AIDS is finished”. (NAN)
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.