Health
“90% EMTCT Possible In Rivers”
The target of eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS EMTCT in Rivers State by 90 percent can be made possible, but it will require the commitment of all stakeholders.
A medical epidemiologist and lead consultant for the Rivers State Strategic Plan Project, Dr Urang Joseph, stated this in an exclusive interview recently at a four-day State Strategic Plan (SSP) workshop in Port \harcourt.
According to him, achieve the targeted 90 percent EMTCT, every pregnant woman diagnosed to be HIV positive will have to be on anti-retroviral.
To achieve this however, he said government would have to promulgate relevant laws to compel positive pregnant women to access ARV, and everybody should see it as a prority to convince such positive pregnant women to access Antenatal Care (ANC).
“If government is able to promulgate laws, and we are able to convince all our pregnant mothers to deliver in hospital and do focus ANC, obviously we will be able to cover it, he said.
On measures put in place to track HIV positive mothers so they could deliver in health facilities, Dr Joseph explained that some measures are in place, but plagued by challenges.
One of such challenges according to him is the unwillingness by the women to regularly access ANC up to the point of delivery.
According to him, only 50 percent of such women access ANC, with the remaining 50 percent opting for churches and traditional birth attendant (TBA).
Out of the 50 percent that manage to come for ANC, we still lose at least 30 percent, he said.
This, he continued, is also caused by the attitude of health workers, who sometimes are not friendly.
Beyond this, he continued, fund is required to enhance follow-up, ‘because the health workers should not be expected to use their money to buy recharge cards to enable them call the women who abstain from accessing ANC.
The overall thing is to encourage people to have health seeking behaviour. Once we have this, every other aspect will naturally fall into place”, he concluded.
Also speaking, the monitoring and Evaluation officer for RIVSACA, Dr Isaiah K Mac-Moses stated that without the development of SSP, there will be no HIV implementation for the state.
According to him, between 2017 to 2021, it is expected that mother- to-child transmission of HIV will be eliminated.
“The SSP is seen as the Bible of the State. It is not for RIVSACA alone, but for the entire state which will guide the response in the next five years, from 2017 to 2021”, he said.
Dr Mac-Moses, however, urged participants to put in their best in order to ensure elimination of HIV/AIDS in Rivers State.
Sogbeba Dokubo
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.