Health
Lassa Fever: Ministry Intensifies LGAs Campaigns
As part of efforts to
eradicate Lassa fever in Rivers State, the Rivers State Ministry of Health through the Primary Health Care Management Board (PHCMB), has intensified its local governments’ sensitization campaigns with the aim of ensuring that those at the rural areas are properly educated on the preventive measures of the disease.
Speaking at the sensitization campaign at Oyigbo Okrika and Ogu/Bolo local government areas, Monday, the Permanent Secretary, PHCMB, Dr Agiriye Harry, noted that with the settings and terrains of most of the rural areas, the people may not have adequate knowledge of the ravaging disease and stressed the need for the campaign in order for them not to fall victims of the disease.
Harry who urged the people of the areas to take the sensitization lectures seriously said such act would place them on the ladder of personal hygiene and consciousness of disease thereby keeping them away from every wave of disease including the Lassa fever.
He said “the aim of this sensitization programme is to make sure that all of you at the rural areas are equipped with the proper knowledge and education on how to prevent this disease and so it is important that you all take the lectures seriously and the message home to others that are not present here”.
While urging the people to avoid self-medication, the Permanent Secretary stressed the need for them to report any lassa fever related symptom to the nearest health facility. He further called on healthcare givers to refer case of persistent high fever that proves resistant to proper malaria treatement by calling the lassa fever emergency numbers for further medical attention.
Delivering his lectures on the origin, mode of transmission, prevention and treatment of the disease, the Director, Disease Control Services PHCMB, Dr Roland Obed-Whyte urged the people to exibit and maintain proper personal hygiene and environmental sanity in order to prevent the spread of the disease.
“Some of us do eat rats. This rodent is the carrier of the lassa fever virus and so we need to stop eating rats so that we don’t contact the disease. We also need to put our foods and food stuffs in well covered containers that cannot be assessed by rats. We also need to keep our bodies and environment clean. By these, we will be able to curtail the disease and its spread.”
Responding, the care Taker Chairmen of the local government areas in their separate speeches lauded the state government for the apt response by sending health experts to educate them on the control measures of the lassa fever disease and promised to take the message to every nook and cranny of their various LGAs.
It would be noted that the state Ministry of Health through the Primary Health Care Management Board is poised to cover the 23 LGAs of the state within the shortest possible time as to keep every citizen and resident of the state abreast of the knowledge and preventive measures of the ravaging Heamorrhagic fever.
Lady Godknows Ogbulu
Head of Department of Environmental Health and Safety, Abuja Environmental Protection Board, Mr Ajueyitsi Simeon, Assistant Director, Public and Environmental Safety, Mrs Kate Ogbonna, Higher Environmental Health Officer, Mrs Rachael Omenta, and Inspector of Schools in FCT, Mr James Akaito, at the Lassa Fever sensitisation meeting in Abuja last Friday.
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.