Health
HIV/AIDS: Institute Seeks Increased FG’s Funding
The Institute of Human Vi
rology (IHVN) has called for an increased Federal Government investment in the fight against HIV/AIDS in order to move from being a donor recipient nation.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Institute, Mr Patrick Dakum, made the call while speaking with newsmen at a forum in Abuja, last Sunday.
He said that if the government could provide adequate funding to combat the disease, donor countries would only need to give complementary and technical assistance.
“ Given the burden of the disease and the current support that is there, the level of government support is still within the region of 20-30 per cent so far of the total funding currently being provided for the fight against HIV.
“ And from the donor perspective and implementing partner perspective we definitely want to see increased commitment and funding by government.
“ In the last government we were informed of a plan called the presidents comprehensive response plan which was supposed to provide close to about $500 million from the government but I am not too sure that money was made available,” Dakum stated.
He said that the U.S. government had begun a process called “country ownership“, adding that there was need for Nigeria to take more responsibility in terms of providing funds to agencies responsible for the control of the virus.
According to Dakum, there is currently enough manpower to take charge of the implementation of various programmes.
He, however, noted that lack of financing was a major challenge.
“What is key for us now is adequate and effective funding. I say adequate the amount must be right and effective it must be used in the right place because you can have a budget but the budget is not used for what the needs are.
“Different states have different needs. You have states where the infrastructure is ok they probably need to take responsibility for lab support take responsibility for drugs.
“For some other states especially where you have high disease burden it is a combination of everything. The government must play its role in ensuring prevention services are ongoing they must also partner with donor agencies in taking responsibility for the care of the patients.
“ Then second of course is community involvement, a government cannot do it alone, it’s a partnership. Community involvement in terms of prevention and care is very crucial to an AIDS free generation.“
The CEO said that the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) was currently working with the implementing partners to provide equipments and properly monitor the disease in two states.
He said the development would enable relevant agencies monitor the effectiveness of the plan in order to transmit same to more states.
Dakum reiterated the institutes resolve to continue to provide support to both public and private sector hospitals in Nigeria in accordance with the framework of the Nigerian health sector plan strategic plan.
He observed that the support the institute received was largely from the global fund and that the funds enabled the institute to procure equipment, anti-retroviral drugs, training and technical support of its staff.
He said: “With the global fund, as principal recipients we have received about $11 million and we are looking forward to what the new funding mechanism for the global fund will provide in terms of funding.
“The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) was provided with funding from the US government to provide a laboratory that can be a quality check whenever there is an outbreak of any disease.
“The building is almost ready and the institute of Virology charged with the responsibility of providing equipments, capacity and training for the laboratory personnel has done so as the equipments are already available.
“This equipments cost about a $1 million and this fund was provided by the US government through the NCDC.“
Dakum, however, said that the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS (PEPFA) had been providing funding to the institute, adding that in 2010 it received $3.8 million grant, which lasted four years.
According to Dakum, there is currently enough manpower to take charge of the implementation of various programmes but lack of financing has been a major challenge.
“What is key for us now is adequate and effective funding. I say adequate the amount must be right and effective and must be used in the right place because you can have a budget but the budget is not used for what the needs are.
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.