Health
Dame Amaechi Canvassses Patronage of Approved Ante-Natal Clinics
Women, in Rivers State, have been charged to attend antenatal clinics in approved hospitals to forstall maternal and infant mortality.
Wife of the state governor, Mrs Judith Amaechi, gave the charge at the opening ceremony of a capacity building programme helping babies breath, for health workers at the Bralthwaite Memonial Specialist Hospitals, (BMSH), on neonatal resuscitation during birth.
Mrs Amaechi noted that neonatal resuscitation training was pivoted in the reaching of health workers techniques that would help them in assessing newborns during critical periods at birth.
She lamented that the dearth of qualified health workers in neonatal resuscitation accounted for the alarming rate of nowborn deaths adding that pregnant women and newborn die more in the rural areas as a result of religious beliefs and ignorance.
She stated that the programme was an initiative between empowerment support initiative (ESI) the state Ministry of Health and American-based physicians for peace and stressed ESI’s readiness to partner with health institutions to address maternal and infant deaths due to traditional and other related beliefs.
She also said that ESI would organize The Helping the Baby Breath training programme in the three senatorial districts of the state to enable health workers in the rural areas avail themselves the opportunity this new initiative provides.
In his address the State Commissioner for Health, Tamunoyona Parker, revealed that six children out of every 100 die within the first week of life and expressed worry that this happens mostly with pregnant women who refused to attend antenatal or give birth to their babies in government hospitals.
He however, stated that though the statistics were alarming, the state government would ensure that no child dies at birth adding that in addition to the financial incentive women who attend antenatal and immunize their children at government healthcare facilities, government was putting in place other measures to ensure the safety of both mothers and their babies during deliveries and discouraged women from patronizing prayer houses and traditional birth attendants, saying they lack the expertise to handle crises.
Also speaking, the co-ordinator, physicians for peace and programme facilitators, Ugo Umejuru pointed out that half of the neonatal deaths occur in developing countries including Nigeria, stating that 80 percent of neonatal deaths occurred in babies born outside the hospital.
He promised that physicians for peace would provide health workers training in internally recognized newborn resuscitation methods to help babies’ death.
Tonye Nria-Dappa
Health
‘How Micro RNA Research Won Nobel Prize’
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.”
Health
WHO Begins Regulation On Antibiotic Waste
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.”
Health
Kebbi Harmonises Doctors’ Salaries To Curb Brain Drain
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.