Health
Board Assures On MDGs Target
The Rivers State Primary Health Care Management Board has reiterated its commitment to raise the consciousness of the people concerning their health in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
Speaking during an orientation meeting on Home Based Care strategies for integrated maternal/newborn and child health with Health personnel in the L.G.A’s yesterday in Port Harcourt, the Executive Secretary of the Rivers State Primary Health Care Management Board Dr. Claribel Abam noted that the programme would help the people to access information concerning their health.
She reminded the officers to note that the task ahead of them is enormous and as such they should take every responsibility given them seriously adding that they should ensure that the information gathered from those working in the fields is factual.
Dr. Abam called on the health personnel to join hands to see to the success of the Home Based Care in order to make Rivers State a model in Primary Health Care delivery not only in the country but the world at large.
However, she noted that the cover of the Health Vanguards (those responsible for going round people’s houses) is the health centre stressing the need to carry out adequate supervision and advised that they should work as a team and always reporting to their various cover points.
The health centers which she referred to as the link should be kept abreast with goings-on in various households explaining that the Medical Officer and other Health Personnel in each health facility ought to be in the know of all the data statistics and medical information of each household in their areas.
Earlier, the Home Based Care Desk Officer at the Board Mr. Asiton-a Ibama who gave a detailed presentation of HBC activities as implemented in Oyigbo and Etche Local Government Areas enumerated some of the challenges of the programme which include; inadequate community Health workers, lack of adequate incentives for field workers and lack of incentives to procure and transport data generation instruments from the base to the health facilities.
Medical Officers of Health in Rivers State have been urged to put in place a good supervisory mechanism that would enhance productivity and check absenteeism of health staff in their Local Government Areas.
The Executive Secretary of the Rivers State Primary Health Care Management Board Dr. Claribel Abam gave the advice last Friday during a technical meeting of Medical Officers of Health ( M.O.Hs) and Management of the Board.
Dr. Abam stressed the need for the Doctors who are in charge of health facilities in the 23 Local Government Areas to work hard and carry out scrutiny of jobs done by health workers in their L.G.As and also punish erring health staff.
She further advised them to encourage Health facilities under them to generate enough funds through the free medical scheme of the state Government in order to be able to run themselves.
In his presentation at the meeting, the representative of World Health Organisation Dr. Richard Koko advised M.O.H’s to always take firm control and improve on routine immunization in the state, pointing out that it is one of the major reasons the Board was established.
Dr. Koko noted that routine immunization would help check the outbreak of diseases like measles in some areas of the state as reported recently.
In tackling measles outbreak, the WHO representative gave an elaborate talk on laid down procedures, some of which are that health practitioners should first of all notify relevant authorities of such outbreaks , manage/access appropriately the risks of large outbreak and also the capacity to implement a possible campaign.
He urged them as professionals to always protect themselves against diseases by taking vaccines themselves.
Highlight of the meeting was the special presentation of reports on Primary Health Care activities in Andoni and Abua Odual Local Government Areas detailing challenges and recommendations to the Board by the Medical Officers of Health of the above mentioned Local Government Areas.
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.