Health
Dental Association, Oyo Govt. Task Nigerians On Preventing Oral Diseases
Nigerian Dental Association (NDA) has urged Nigerians to take care of their oral health so as to reduce the burden of oral diseases.
NDA Chairman, Oyo State chapter, Dr Fechi Nkwocha, stated this at an event organised at St. Michael’s Primary School, Yemetu, Ibadan on Monday to commemorate the 2023 World Oral Health Day.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was organised in collaboration with Oyo State Ministry of Health.
NAN also reports that the theme of this year’s World Oral Health Day is “Be proud of your mouth for a lifetime of smile.”
According to Nkwocha, the theme focuses on the importance of oral health at all stages of life.
“The standard of the World Dental Federation (FDI) is that children should possess 20 baby teeth (milk teeth) to be considered healthy, while healthy adults should have a total of 32 permanent teeth and zero tooth decay.
“Seniors must have a total of 20 natural teeth at the end of their lives to be considered healthy.
“To achieve this feat of optimal oral health for all, all hands must be on deck.
“Individuals, parents, teachers, caregivers, health care providers, policy makers, government and non-governmental organisations must collaborate to produce a healthy and productive population,” she said.
Nkwocha said that the burden of oral diseases, such as gum disease (gingivitis, bleeding gums), dental caries (tooth decay) and periodontitis had been high in Nigeria, leading to loss of teeth.
According to her, this is due to poor awareness of good oral health practices and the wrong perception of oral disease as having no serious consequence on general health.
“We want to remind our citizens that oral diseases have been known to cause severe disability and death.
“Oral diseases have been implicated in heart diseases, poor insulin and glucose control in patients with diabetes, low birth weight in pregnant women, to mention but a few.
“Treatment of advanced dental diseases are costly and time-consuming but thankfully, many of these oral diseases are preventable and easily treated in early stages with good oral health practices,” she said.
The NDA chairman decried limited access to oral health care facilities and services to Nigerians.
“With an estimated population of about 218 million as at 2022, Nigeria has an estimated dentist-to-population ratio of 1:54000, but worse in rural areas.
“This is a far cry from the recommended ratio of one dentist to 5,000 people, hence another reason for the poor oral health profile,” she said.
In his address, Oyo State Commissioner for Health, Dr Bode Ladipo, said that the celebration was an opportunity to create awareness on the importance of oral health.
Ladipo, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Olusoji Adeyanju, said that it was aimed at letting the public know that most oral health conditions were largely preventable and could be treated in their early stages without the associated morbidities.
“The WHO Global Oral Health Status Report (2022) estimated that oral diseases affect close to 3.5 billion people worldwide, with three out of four people affected in middle-income countries.
“This has made oral health a focus in the free health mission carried out across the 33 local government areas of the state on quarterly basis by the present administration’’.
“Free services are provided during this medical outreach and members of the community should take advantage of this quarterly activity,” he said.
Representative of the pupils of St. Michael’s Primary School and IMG Primary School, Taiwo Salami, appreciated kind gestures of the organisers of the free oral health programme.
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.