Health
FG Imports Morphine, Pain Killer
The Federal Government has ordered for a consignment of Morphine, a pain killer, following the high number of people dying of pains.
The government last imported the drug in 2010.
An estimated 177,000 patients are said to need the strong pain killers to stay alive.
According to the Director, Global Access to Pain Relief Initiative (GAPRI), Dr. Meg O’Brien, the Federal Ministry of Health is collaborating with the body to make essential pain medicines available in Nigeria. The government, she added, last week initiated an emergency procurement of morphine powder to be dispensed in the country.
She said the ministry signed the agreement with GAPRI to provide for the implementation of strategic interventions for the government.
The funding for the project, she said, was provided by Foundation Philanthropic, saying “GAPRI will provide technical support to assist with the procurement of morphine, its distribution, and scale-up of pain treatment services. We are hopeful that this important step forward by Nigeria, which is home to one in five Africans, signals the coming of a new era in government responses to the crisis of untreated pain.”
She said GAPRI is a point programme of the American Cancer Society and the Union for Intemational Cancer Control (UIIC) to make access to essential pain medicines universal by 2020. “GAPRI is working with the Federal Government and local non-governmental organisations in Uganda and Kenya to improve the supply of these medicines and support strategic advocacy efforts for this important global health issue”, she added.
Health Minister, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, said, “After extensive internal consultation, the ministry is pleased to announce new steps to make essential pain medicines available to Nigerians who need them.”
According to him, the National Cancer Control Programme of the Federal Ministry of Health has been leading national consultations on pain relief, including workshops on morphine production and control during the last two annual international Cancer Week conferences.
He said the civil society has added to the discussions, with support from the Cente for Palliative Care, Nigeria, the Hospice and Palliative Care Association of Nigeria, the African Palliative Care Association and Hospice Africa Uganda. The output of these consultations was a comprehensive set of recommendations to move country, Chukwu added.
He said the availability of these essential medicines had been limited in recent years. But the Federal Ministry of Health, in collaboration with National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), was making a bold plan of action to reverse the situation.
He said the Food and Drug Services Department of the ministry has initiated an emergency procurement of 25 kg of morphine powder to be dispensed to health facilities from the Central Medical Stores.
This, he said, will be carried out with technical support from the GAPRI and financial support from Foundation Philanthropia, saying “the Ministry of Health is adding a full-time consultant to the Food and Drug Services Department to assist the director in making these drugs available to patients who need them while preventing their misuse.
“The Ministry of Health is also undertaking three-year collaboration with the Global Access to Pain Relief Initiative to assist the government with improving the supply of these medicines and their availability for patients.”
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.