Experts from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, have affirmed the efficacy of a new antimalarial formulation, Amatem Softgel, in the treatment of malaria in the country.
Speaking on the findings of a comparative study conducted on the bioavailability, efficacy and toxicity of Amatem Forte Softgel and a known brand of Artemether-Lumefantrine tablet formulation by a group of renowned researchers from LASUTH, Dr Omoniyi Yemitan , one of the researchers noted that “Amatem Softgel was found to be more bioavailable in the bloodstream than the tablet formulation of Artemether-Lumefantrine. The implication of this is that Amatem Softgel has a faster onset of action and more efficacious than tablets formulation”.
He further disclosed that the toxicity study of Amatem Softgel did not reveal any major side effects of the drug on patients.
L-R: Dr Matthew Ashikeni, chairman, Abuja Zone, Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN); Pharm Ike Sunday; Dr (Mrs) Chimah Uzor, DHQ, Abuja; Col. R.S Omoge, DSS representative; Okuobeya David, commandant, FRSC Clinic, Defence Headquarters Medical Centre, Asokoro, Abuja; General Manager/COO, Elbe Pharma, Shiva Kumar; Pharm. Mrs Beauty Okolopo, director, Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja; and Pharm. Yusuf Alhassan.
Stakeholders present at the product launch, held at the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja recently, expressed the need to accommodate such innovative, patient-friendly therapy in the essential drug formulary and to make it easily accessible in all the three tiers of the healthcare delivery system in Nigeria, adding that this would help to protect the populace from the malaria scourge.
At the official unveiling and seminar on preventing treatment failure with Artemether-Lumefantrine, participants commended Elbe Pharma Nigeria limited for bridging the gap in the treatment of malaria, noting that the soft gel is the first of its kind in the country.
The seminar, which was well-attended by medical experts and other policymakers in the health sector, was held at the Reiz Continental Hotel, Abuja.
Dignitaries at the launch included: Executive Secretary of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Professor Usman Yusuf, represented by Pharm Yusuf Alhassan; Executive Secretary of Health, Federal Capital Authority, Abuja, Engr U. G. Jibrin, represented by Dr Matthew Ashikeni; Col. R.S Omoge; Dr (Mrs) Chimah Uzor DHQ, Abuja; representatives of Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), National Association of Patent and Proprietary Medicines Dealers (NAPPMED); and the host, GM/COO, Elbe Pharma, Shiva Kumar.
Mr Kumar, in his address, noted that malaria is one of the diseases that have significantly reduced human resources, with an estimated 100 million cases and over 300,000 deaths per year in Nigeria.
“Over time, the disease has resisted treatment, especially the tablet form. Two years ago, Elbe Pharma Nigeria’s quest to find a superior, more acceptable antimalarial, led to the introduction of a research-based formulation – Amatem forte softgel,” he said.
Kumar also emphasised the import of having a product with a unique advantage to enhance the fight against malaria, saying: “The new brand in softgel dosage form helps in reducing the resistance and associated treatment failures and at the same time protects the efficacy of this all-important WHO recommended first-line antimalarial therapy, as there are no new alternatives coming up in the near future”.
He added that the novel drug therapy is quite different from that of the tablet form, which makes it very affordable, considering the therapeutic benefits and cure success rate derived from the formulation.
Synonymous with its political meaning, which is protection from being judged or condemned by the law, immunity in medical terms is a way defence system that averts diseases. In any condition where our immune system fails or is dysfunctional, even the most ordinary activity, such as of brushing our teeth would introduce enough bacteria that would kill us.
The immune system can be compared to a group of soldiers dedicated to protecting the host (the human body) against invaders (bacteria and viruses) to maintain a balance (healthy living). Over time, this can become burdensome on these soldiers and cause their efficiency to weaken.
Pharm. Ayodeji Oni
White blood cells in the body are responsible for providing this defence, as about between 4000 – 11000 cells is the normal value to maintain to ensure an optimum immune function.
Diseases can be cured using drugs, surgery, radiation, physiotherapy and quite a few others, but good health can only be achieved by maintaining a properly functional immune system. The aging process is known to be slowed down immensely in those with healthy immunity. A weakened immunity is an easy access to all sorts of illnesses. Some trigger signs that show this include:
Fatigue
Repeated infections
Inflammations
Allergic reactions
Slow wound healing
Chronic diarrhoea
Boosting the immune system
The immune system can only perform as it should, if cared for properly. This means getting all the right nutrients in recommended proportions (balanced diet) and providing the right environment for it to thrive. For example, exposure to toxic chemicals, household cleaners, pesticides and herbicides, or radiation greatly affects one’s immunity. Stress also affects immunity by producing more free radicals that cause harm.
Remedies for an improved immunity include:
Probiotics; Cultured organisms to increase the number of good bacteria in the digestive tract, including Sacchromyces bordadii, Lactobacillus acidophilus.
Vitamins – C, D and E.
Herbal supplements, such as Garlic, Echinacea, Astraguls and Kelp.
Mushroom extracts, such as Maitake extract, Reishi extract and Shitake extract.
The 2018 edition of World Pharmacists Day, with the theme, “Pharmacists: Your Medicine Experts”, has once again highlighted the increasing need for pharmacists in Nigeria to be given the opportunity to make valuable contributions to optimum medicine management to improve patients’ care and healthcare delivery, as it is the trend globally.
Although the World Pharmacists Day was first celebrated in 2009, the annual event, which is marked every 25 September, has now become a veritable means of highlighting pharmacists’ expanding role in improving patients’care globally.
Official banner by the FIP
However, while the rest of the world seems to have begun to embrace the annual message of the World Pharmacists’ Day by giving pharmacists more responsibilities in medicine management, the case with Nigeria remains worrying, as pharmacists in the country are significantly restricted by the practice environment and failure of government to implement necessary polices that will make their impacts fully felt by the citizenry.
It is our view that safe, effective and rational use of medicines is a fundamental part of healthcare delivery and, in fact, without medicine, there can be no healthcare. Therefore, having pharmacists who are medicine experts as esteemed members of the healthcare team and utilising their skills and knowledge to get better healthcare outcomes for patients must form a key part of our healthcare policies, programmes and operations.
Apparently, a major reason this idea has not taken root in Nigeria can be traced to the perennial inter-professional rivalry in the health sector and the unfounded fear that pharmacists want to subvert the work of other healthcare professionals. This wrong notion should be discarded, as the multidisciplinary nature of healthcare now requires all health professionals to work together, deploying their knowledge and expertise to serve the patient.
To this end, there is an urgent need for more enlightenment of both the general public and all healthcare professionals on the global trend of healthcare and how pharmacists are helping patients and other members of the healthcare team to ensure that the right medicine is provided, in the most suitable formulation, at the right dose, and used in the right way. This laudable objective should not be sacrificed on the altar of petty rivalry, as the ultimate losers will be the patient and the healthcare system.
The Nigerian government must therefore be bold enough to approve the consultancy cadre for pharmacists, as it is the norm in other developed climes, to ensure that pharmacists, especially in hospitals, are professionally covered to make vital contributions to improve the outcomes of medicine management in the nation’s healthcare system.
This nation cannot continue to pay lip service to global best practice, especially when such practice is helping other nations to provide better care for patients. Nigeria must embrace pharmacists as medicine experts and encourage them to deploy their proficiencies as healthcare practitioners to move our healthcare delivery to the next level.
When this is done, citizens will learn to perceive and handle medicines more wisely, safely and effectively. This, ultimately, will help in combating the menace of drug abuse and misuse currently bedevilling the country.
This is an Invitation to all to watch Live the upcoming PSN presidential debate being organised by Pharmanews Limited in collaboration with Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) and De-crew media studio the official media partner of PSN Oluyole 2018. This momentous event which will be attended by all the presidential candidates and graced by a good number of pharmacists is billed to hold on 12 October, 2018 at PSN House, Anthony, Lagos, by 12.noon.
The event will be streamed live on PSN Oluyole 2018 on Facebook and YouTube
As Pharmacy Plus, Reckitt, Sylken, others win in other categories
In recognition of his selfless service to humanity and growth of pharmacy practice in Nigeria, Pharm. Deji Osinoiki, managing director of Deyo Pharmacy, has bagged the 2018 edition of Pharmalliance Retail Pharmacy Legend Award.
The award ceremony, which was part of the 10th edition of The Panel, an annual retail pharmacy business summit organised by Pharmalliance, was held at Classique Event Centre, Lagos on 16 August, 2018.
L-R: Pharm. Deji Osinoiki, managing director of Deyo Pharmacy and his wife, receiving the prestigious award from Pharm. Jimi Agbaje, a Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN).
According to Pharm. Adeshina Opanubi, convener of The Panel, Osinoiki remains a beacon of hope for young pharmacists, given his achievements and influence in the last 25 years.
The revered pharmacist is a one-time national chairman of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) and chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT) of the same association. Interestingly his wife, Pharm. Yomi Osinoiki, and his two children are also registered pharmacists.
Osinoiki, who described the award as a thing of joy, was full of accolades for the organisers.
“I want to specially thank the Pharmaalliance team, especially Shina (Opanubi), whom I have known from his teenage years.
“He used to come to my pharmacy any time he returned from school. Of course, that was shortly before he joined Pfizer. You have all done well,” he remarked.
L-R: Pharm. Jimi Agbaje, a Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN); Pharm. Adeshina Opanubi, convener of The Panel; and Kareem Waris Olamilekan, artist, unveiling the portrait of the keynote speaker, Hakeem Belo-Osagie to the audience, while Hakeem Belo-Osagie looks on
Another notable awardee at the two-day summit was Pharm. Wale Oladigbolu, chairman, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Rivers chapter. He clinched the Pharmalliance Leadership Award.
Similarly, Pharmacy Plus, Sylken, Biofem, New Heights, Reckitt Benckiser and Business School Netherlands all won the Brand Endorsement Award category for their continual support of the initiative since inception.
Keynote speaker of the event, Hakeem Belo-Osagie, former chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA) and chairman, Etisalat Nigeria, shared his experience in the world of image branding and investment in Africa.
At the end of his presentation, he was presented with a portrait of himself, amidst a standing ovation. The ovation got much louder when the audience was informed that the portrait had been sketched in less than 30 minutes to its official presentation by Kareem Waris Olamilekan, the now famous 11-year-old Nigerian artist who sketched and presented a self-portrait to Emmanuel Macron, president of France.
In attendance at the event were Pharm. Ike Onyechi, managing director of Alpha Pharmacy; Pharm. Bukky George, chief executive officer of the Health Plus Group & CasaBella Beauty World; Pharm. Jimi Agbaje, a Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN); Pharm. Ibrahim Babashehu Ahmed, director, planning, research and statistics, Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN); and Pharm. Ismail Adebayo, immediate past national chairman of Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN).
Pharmalliance is an informal network of retail pharmacies that access a common pool of shared resources. These resources include financial services, legal services, insurance services and business development services.
According to the organisers, Pharmalliance is for retail pharmacies registered by the PCN. It is an alliance of pharmacy businesses and non-pharmacy professionals.
– As Academy decorates Akinkugbe, TY Danjuma for pharmacy exploit
To heighten the interest of government and the general public in scientific research, the Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy (NAPharm) has officially launched its proposed Olu Akinkugbe Research and Innovation Centre (OARIC).
The unveiling, which took place during the Academy’s investiture, lecture and luncheon at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, on 12 September 2018, had several pharmacists, professors, technocrats, industrialists and government functionaries in attendance.
L-R: Gen. TY Danjuma making a pledge; Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, president, NAPharm; Chief Oludolapo Akinkugbe, recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award and his wife, Janet; and Senator Daisy Danjuma.
According to Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, president, NAPharm, OARIC is a vehicle that the Academy created to give enduring impact to research and development in Nigeria’s pharmaceutical space, adding that it had received generous support and blessings.
In his words: “As I stated a year ago during the induction of five distinguished pharmacists into the Academy, NAPharm owes a debt to the society. We owe a duty to help unravel better, safer, more convenient and more affordable medicines and treatment regimens for diseases that affect mankind.
“It is for this reason that research is central to our operations. We want to complement local and international efforts that support scientific research and related activities.”
Adelusi-Adeluyi also remarked that he envisaged that the new Centre would help to provide tangible support for pharmaceutical research.
L-R: Pharm. Ahmed Yakasai, president, PSN; Sir Ifeanyi Atueyi, NAPharm vice president (South); Chief Oludolapo Akinkugbe, recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award and Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, president, Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy.
He added that the details and methodology of such support are being painstakingly deliberated upon and would be announced in few months when OARIC is fully commissioned.
Conferring a Lifetime Achievement Award and Honorary Fellowship on the duo of Chief Oludolapo Akinkugbe, the OARIC patron; and General Theophilus Danjuma, chairman, May & Baker Plc, Adelusi-Adeluyi noted that the honour was a token of the Academy’s appreciation of the recipients’ individual contributions to Pharmacy.
In attendance at the event were Pharm. Ahmed Yakasai, president, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN); Sir Ifeanyi Atueyi, vice president (South), NAPharm; Pharm Jimi Agbaje, managing director, JayKay Pharmacy; Pharm Ike Onyechi, treasurer, NAPharm; Pharm. Nnamdi Okafor, managing director, May & Baker Plc; and Prof. Mbang Femi-Oyewo, former dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU).
Others were Prof. Kemi Odukoya, former dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos (UNILAG); Prof. Oladipo Akinkugbe, professor of medicine; Oba Otudeko, distinguished industrialist and chairman of First Bank Plc; and Senator Daisy Danjuma, wife of the honorary fellowship recipient, among others.
Chief Oludolapo Ibukun Akinkugbe is a veteran pharmacist of high repute. Aside from being the oldest former president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) alive, he is also the founding director of Palm Chemist and was the pioneer general secretary of the defunct Nigerian Union of Pharmacists (NUP) in the 1950s. Born in Ondo Town, on 5 December, 1928, Akinkugbe’s father was a renowned druggist who qualified as a pharmacist in 1919.
Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma retired as Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff at the dawn of the Second Republic. He was a former minister of defence during the regime of President Olusegun Obasanjo. His long association with Pharmacy, through his engagement with one of Nigeria’s oldest multinational pharmaceutical manufacturers, May & Baker, has made him popular in pharmacy circles.
There is need for diligence in your business or profession. God has promised to prosper and bless the work of your hands. But the business can suffer or even collapse for various reasons. Therefore, there must be continuous analysis of whatever business you do and projection of future possibilities.
Today, business and employment opportunities can change quickly and drastically. Businesses and jobs are usually lost as a result of consumer trends, stealing and fraud, economic depression, neglect and slothfulness, new technology, natural disasters and death of the owners, in particular.
Pharm. Ifeanyi Atueyi
God expects wisdom and diligence to be applied in our businesses. “Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit, serving the Lord” (Romans 12:11). Slothfulness is a sinful nature of man. Some successful businessmen have rested on their oars and watched their flourishing businesses decline and phase out. Are you operating your business to be better than the previous year?
“I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nestles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man” (Proverbs 24:30-34).
You are commanded to be diligent to know the state of your flocks, and look well to your herds (Proverbs 27:23). Knowing the condition of the flocks and herds directly applies to those in animal husbandry. Those who do the business of animals are expected to know those with diseases, as well as checking any losses from theft, wild animals or even death. They should provide adequate grazing areas and water and ensure the hired shepherds are committed to taking care of the animals.
Indolent shepherds may lose their jobs while the hardworking ones will be encouraged and rewarded. Herdsmen in Nigeria are notorious for consistently killing fellow humans and destroying their property and farmlands, ostensibly to acquire grazing fields for their animals. To them the lives of their animals are more valuable than those of people. Of course, this is not the type of diligence commanded by God, who created man in His own image.
You must know the condition of your business – your stock (liquid and solid) or fixed assets, banking and interest rates, human capital, machines and equipment, clients, consumers, competitors, impact of technology and Internet, changing lifestyles and fashions, government taxes and regulations, seasonal variations affecting demands and so on.
Do you know that the location of a business is a major factor to certain types of businesses? You need to know the present threats to your prosperity. Careful consideration of the statistics and information will enable you project into the future to manage growth and challenges. This is strategic planning.
As a worker, you will need further training to be up to date. Are you making deliberate efforts to make yourself more valuable and marketable? Can your employer do without your services? Are your present skills still in demand or do you need to sharpen them? How do you see yourself in the next five to ten years? You must continually check yourself to ensure you remain relevant and productive and, if possible, indispensable.
Diligence in business implies asking probing questions to intelligently forecast its future. What are its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats? No person, even your business consultants, can tell you exactly what will happen in the future; but it is desirable to face the future with courage and hope and then trust the only One Who controls the future. He has the future in His hands and declares the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10a).
Therefore, make your plans for the future and commit them to the Lord. “Commit your works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established” (Proverbs 16:3). Without Him all the efforts to build your business may be in vain. “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep a city, the watchmen waketh but in vain” (Psalm 127:1).
Do not overwork yourself and ruin your health. Rest, sleep and enjoy your life. “It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so He giveth his beloved sleep” (Psalm 127:2).
The traditional ruler of Iju-Ishaga, His Royal Highness, Oba Abass Ajibade, the Olu of Ishaga, and his counterpart from Ifako-Ijaiye kingdom, His Royal Highness, Oba Taofeek Fatusi Obawole, the Onifako of Ifako Kingdom, and several residents of both communities have lauded the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), Lagos State Branch, for their roles in disease prevention and management.
Speaking at the event organised to commemorate the “World Pharmacy Day 2018”, held at the Ifako-Ijaiye Mini Stadium, Ifako, the Onifako of Ifako Kingdom, Oba Taofeek Fatusi Obawole, who was one of the royal fathers for the event noted that community pharmacists are making invaluable contributions to effective medication use, adding that their roles and contributions in healthcare delivery cannot be overemphasised.
Pharm. (Mrs) Abiola Paul Ozieh, delivering her speech at the event.
The monarch, however, bemoaned the alarming rate of drug abuse and misuse in the country, describing it as a threat to national development. “Dangerous drugs like codeine, tramadol, and others are being used as stimulants by a large number of our youths, and if care is not taken and nothing is done to put an end to these anomalies, we may have to bear the burden later,” he said.
Also speaking, the Olu of Ishaga, Oba Abass Ajibade, commended the ACPN for its unrelenting efforts at bringing healthcare services closer to the people at the grassroots, saying the role and contributions of community pharmacists in healthcare delivery are very important.
Fielding questions from journalists at the event, chairman, ACPN, Lagos State, Pharm. Olabanji Benedict Obideyi, noted that the theme of the event “Pharmacists: Your Medicines Experts, was chosen to reflect the important role of community pharmacists in the society, adding that globally, community pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare professionals, noting that the role of pharmacists has evolved from that of providers of medicines to that of providers of care.
Cross section of participants at this year’s World Pharmacists Day, held at the Ifako Mini Stadium, Ifako-Ijaiye, Lagos State.
Explaining the vital role of community pharmacists further, Obideyi noted that in line with the theme of the global event, “Pharmacists: Your Medicines Experts”, he assured the populace of their selfless services including medicine information, patient counselling, drug information and medication review, as well as enlightenment.
The highpoint of the event was the free counselling and screening of people at the event on health conditions like, blood sugar, blood pressure, breast cancer, cervical cancer, prostate cancer, dental check, and tuberculosis.
Dignitaries at the event included Apostle Oloruntoba Oke, executive chairman, Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government; Pharm. (Mrs) Olubukola Oyetunde, head of the department, Clinical Pharmacy, University of Lagos; Pharm. (Mrs) Kemi Adeyeye, managing director, Boluke Pharmacy; Pharm. (Mrs) Ojuolape Okulaja, managing director, Pero Pharmacy; ACP Aruse J.O, Area Commander, Area G Police Command, represented by, ACP Balogun Sanusi; Pharm. Olufemi Ojuoko, Ifako-Ijaiye General Hospital; High Chief Omitola Jacob Ademosu, Baale, Egbatedo Panada; Pharm. Anthony Bola Oyawole; Pharm. (Dr) Lolu Ojo, and Pharm. Abiola Paul-Ozieh, immediate past chairman, ACPN, Lagos State, among others.
As Nigerians join the rest of the world to celebrate World Pharmacists Day 2018, the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) has charged pharmacists to seize the opportunity to make meaningful impact on patients’ health, through different health advocacies for improved patients’ outcomes.
The World Pharmacists Day established in 2009 by the FIP Council in Istanbul, Turkey, set aside 25 September for the annual World Pharmacists Day, in which pharmacists across the globe are expected to carry out activities tailored towards advancing healthcare in their societies.
Official banner by the FIP
Speaking on the theme of the 2018 commemoration of the day, “Pharmacists: Your medicines experts”, the FIP President Dr Carmen Peña, stated that this year’s focus is on the extensive expertise that pharmacists have and put to use every day to ensure better patient health. “This expertise is applied through science and research, through educating the next generation, and through transforming patient needs into services”.
According to him: “The theme of World Pharmacists Day emphasises that pharmacists are a trusted source of knowledge and advice, not only for patients but for other healthcare professionals. For every patient who walks into a pharmacy, pharmacists ensure that the right medicine is provided at the right dose and in the most suitable formulation.
“We work with other healthcare professionals to ensure that every individual receives optimal treatment. Moreover, as one of the most accessible health care professionals globally, pharmacists use their learning to protect health and prevent illness”.
For optimal usage of the day, the FIP has invited all pharmacists to actively participate in the commemoration on social media by creating profile pictures for their social media accounts using the official FIP Twibbon, as shown on the website: https://www.fip.org/worldpharmacistsday
The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Adewale Oke, has decried the low number of trained rheumatologists to treat musculoskeletal diseases in Nigeria.
Mr Oke, a professor, made the assertion at the West African Rheumatology Conference organised by the Nigerian Society of Rheumatology (NSR) in LASUTH, Ikeja on Monday.
A group of Nigerian doctors
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the three-day conference is themed: “Rheumatology in West Africa; the journey so far’’.
“This is another challenge that I think we must improve on; that is, the significant low number of rheumatologist available.
“Close to 30 years after my studies, we probably have about 30 or 40 rheumatologists, I think that is a significantly low number of rheumatologists for our growing 200 million populations.
“If we have only 40 rheumatologists trained, I think that is an abysmally low number, I want to implore all of us in this gathering, let us continue to fashion a way of increasing this number.
“I encourage us to continue to increase the awareness of rheumatology as a discipline such that we can also increase the number of rheumatologist that is available for our people,’’ he said.
Mr Oke, was represented by Ibrahim Mustapha, Director of Clinical services and training.
Femi Adelowo, professor and consultant rheumatologist in LASUTH, said in his presentation that rheumatology in Africa had expanded.
“Rheumatology in West Africa has expanded, it scavenges every other specialty and there are more than 200 cases that come under rheumatology.
“So the theme for this particular conference is apt because it talks about HIV disease which affects us most in West Africa,’’ Mr Adelowo said.
He expressed the hope that the over 40 trained rheumatologists would expand the specialty and ensure they closed the gaps in the knowledge of rheumatology.
Marie Doualla, professor of Internal Medicine and Rheumatology, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Cameroon, said there was the need to work on the poor availability of Rheumatologists in Africa.
“Shortage of rheumatologist is even more acute in Cameroon because for a population of 20 million of inhabitants, we have only 11 rheumatologists.
“In Nigeria, I heard that there are about 42 rheumatologists, for 200 million inhabitants, so the shortage is certain in the African settings and I think we have to do something about it.
“This will make the cure of musculoskeletal diseases more difficult and not readily accessible for patients,’’ Doualla said.
A consultant physician from the Ministry of Health, Lagos, Rasheeda Oba, said the only way people can know about rheumatology as a specialty was through awareness programme.
“Rheumatology is a fairly new and developing specialty in Nigeria and in the West African sub region.
“Compared rheumatology to most other specialties in medicine, you find out rheumatology is just coming up; we still have very few specialists.
“But the thing about it is that we want the world to know more about it and that is the reason we have this conference,’’ Mr Oba said.
NAN reports that participants at the event are trainees, residents, Dermatologists, Orthopedists, Paediatricians and General Practitioners.
The President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) Pharm. Ahmed I Yakasai, has listed some of the factors responsible for disharmony and rivalry in the Nigerian healthcare sector to include: Establishment of the office of Chief Medical Adviser “Surgeon General” to the president; Creation of a national healthcare commission; Matters arising from Teaching Hospital Act; Opposition to appointment of other health professionals as directors in Federal Health Institutions; Establishment of Postgraduate colleges for other health professionals, and the obvious bias against health professionals other than doctors especially in the reflected areas.
Pharm. Ahmed I Yakasai, PSN president, presenting his keynote address at the conference.
Pharm. Yakasai, who presented a paper at the just concluded Annual Scientific Conference and Exposition of the Nigerian Association of Pharmacists and Pharmaceutical Scientists in the Americas (NAPPSA) titled: “Synergy among Healthcare Practitioners: Advocacy to Respective Agencies for Collaborative Practice in Nigeria”, emphasised the place of synergy in a successful healthcare delivery system.
According to him: “Synergy among healthcare practitioners is a must and not an option in achieving optimum safe quality care for the patients. When healthcare practitioners with different complimentary skills cooperate, come together and work hand in hand in the interest of the patients they always achieve better results for the patients.
L-R: Dr Francis Faduyile,NMA president;Pharm. Ahmed I Yakasai, PSN president, displaying his award plaque at the conference, while Dr Leo Egbujiobi, NAPPSA president; and Dr Teresa Pounds, member of NAPPSA board, applaud him.
“The outcomes achieved due to synergy among the healthcare practitioners is far better than when each healthcare practitioner works in isolation. That is synergy. Even drugs work better when they work synergistically which one drug increases the other’s effectiveness. For example; Effect on the same cellular system by two different antibiotics like a penicillins damage the cell wall of gram positive bacteria and improve the penetrations of aminoglycosides”.
Pharm. Ahmed I Yakasai(3rd from left) in a group photograph with Pharm. Deji Oshinoiki, his wife, and other participants at the conference.
Comparing recent development in the healthcare industry to what obtains in the past, he said there is an obvious change in healthcare delivery nowadays due to influx of knowledge on the parts of patients and practitioners, which keeps the scope of healthcare expanding by the day.
“ In the past, as it relates to the care process, healthcare practitioners were primarily nurses, pharmacists and doctors. Now the term healthcare practitioner encompasses a wide range of other people including other professionals. Not only has the number of medical subspecialties significantly increased over the last century (from 14 in 1927 to 103 in 2000), but the number of non-medical care practitioners has also increased. Patients too have to a certain extent become ‘practitioners’ in their own healthcare.
Prof. Toyin Tofade, dean, Howard University College of Pharmacy, presenting her keynote address on Incorporation of Interprofessional Education in the US PharmD Curriculum.
“Moreover, not only do current practitioners role need to be specified relative to the new care processes and operating systems, but entirely new roles (perhaps system architecture for example) need to be developed and reimbursed”, he stated.
Dr Francis Faduyile, NMA president and Pharm. Ahmed I Yakasai, displaying his award plaque, at the conference.
The PSN President, however did not fail to mention the merits of synergy in the healthcare sector. Some of the benefits of collaboration among healthcare practitioners he mentioned are: promotion of patient-centred care, enhancement of better communication, comprehensive patient care, better coordination of patient treatment plans, and it empowers team members.
In a related development, in recognition of his advocacy and tenacity for Pharmacy Practice in Nigeria, Pharm. Yakasai received the NAPPSA Distinguished Service Award, on Saturday, 22 September 2018, at Embassy Suites-Concord Hotel, Concord, North Carolina, USA
The Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Sanni Aliyu, says no fewer than 1.1million persons living with HIV/AIDS are currently on treatment in Nigeria.
He said this at a briefing to recount the activities of the Nigeria AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) on Thursday in Abeokuta.
Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Sanni Aliyu
Mr Aliyu, who said 17,000 persons and 800 pregnant women were currently receiving treatment for HIV in Ogun, noted that only the survey could ascertain the baseline.
“What we’re not certain of is the gap that currently exists. Out of those 17, 000 on treatment, what proportion are we currently having? Is it more than a 100, 000 or less than 50, 000.
“We’re not sure of those figures; which is why we’re doing the survey.
“The survey will give us more precise estimate of the HIV prevalence in Ogun. It’ll allow us to do more effective advocacy and seek for resources that can be used judiciously.
“We’ll also be able to identify the hot-spots and target them,” he said.
He explained further that the survey which began nationally in June would last for a six month period in each zone, just as it would last four weeks in each state visited.
According to Mr Aliyu, the NAIIS is the largest single country HIV survey ever done in the world, “and just like science, if you’re sampling, the more people you sample, the more accurate you get.
“This is why we’re putting in resources to define the epidemic more clearly,” the director general said.
He said the survey in Ogun had been successful; 90 per cent of the enumerated areas had been covered in three weeks.
He, however, attributed the success to the hard work from his team, commitment from state government, community leaders and religious institutions.
“We started three weeks ago and we’ve covered 20 local government areas and 112 enumeration areas which represent 90 per cent of the total enumeration areas.
“We have just one week to finish with Ogun and move to Ondo.
“Three out of every four households we visited have accepted to be part of the survey, which made it easy for us,” Mr Aliyu said.
The NACA boss advised sexually active and non-sexual active persons alike to endeavour to know their status.
He, however, said the total results of the survey would be available by June 2019.
Earlier in an address, the Ogun commissioner for health, Babatunde Ipaye, commended the team for working tirelessly to achieve the desired goal.
Mr Ipaye, who was represented by Nofiu Aigoro, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, thanked the director-general for making the state to benefit from the survey.
He said the current administration was committed to the health of its citizenry, pledging to provide total support to the agency.
As the Pharmaceutical Industry landscape is hotting up towards the upcoming presidential elections, billed to hold at the 91st Annual Conference of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, tagged “Oluyole 2018”, the office of the PSN President is being contended for among four highly spirited aspirants, which are: Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa; Dr Lolu Ojo; Pharm. Anthony Oyawole and Dr Otakho Daniel Orumwense.
As a pilot poll to the main election based on social acceptance among our readers, we would like you to vote your candidate here. Please note that voting ends at 12noon on 28 October, 2018.
[totalpoll id=”14842″]
Please we will like to STATE HERE that this ONLINE POLL is NOT A SUBSTITUTE for the upcoming PSN Presidential Election in anyway.
The Maternal and New Child Health (MNCH2), a UK-DFID funded programme, has claimed that Nigeria loses about 700 Nigerian children daily as a result of different preventable health challenges.
Ashiru Hamza, the Advocacy and Accountability Advisor of the organisation, disclosed this while presenting the evidence at an Editorial Roundtable meeting in Kaduna on Thursday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that MNCH2 organised the meeting in order to step up media coverage on health related issues aimed at sustaining the MNCH2 intervention in the six northern states of Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Jigawa, Yobe and Zamfara as the programme is exiting its five years intervention by May 2019.
Nigerian School Children
According to him, the country accounted for 10 per cent annual maternal death globally based on a survey conducted in Nigeria in 2016.
He said: “The under-5 mortality in the northern parts of the country is also much higher than the national rate which is 265 and 120, respectively.’’
He noted that women and under-5 children suffered treatable complications in pregnancy and childbirth such as injury, infection and disability.
He further said several studies conducted in the country indicated a drop in maternal mortality in Southwest and South East by 165 and 286, respectively, while the situation had remained as high as 1,549 and 1,026 in the North East and North West, respectively.
This, Hamza said, was also caused by lack of accountability and transparency where a substantial proportion of health funds do not reach the end user with the consequences of children who lost their mothers 10 times likely to die prematurely.
The Deputy Team Leader (Results) of MNCH2 Nigeria, Dauda Suleman, had earlier urged the participants to influence concern from policy makers to improve the healthcare indices.
The meeting was attended by public and private media executives; representative of Palladium, Ibrahim Dala; and a representation from Nigerian Health Watch.
In recent years, the fight against malaria has become much easier for primary healthcare providers in developing countries – unlike the days of old when lack of adequate diagnostic equipment (mainly due to financial constraints) was an agonising challenge. And you don’t need to look too far to know what has changed. It’s all in the Urine Malaria Test (UMT) kit, the ground-breaking device developed by Dr Eddy Agbo.
Agbo is a Nigerian-born biomedical scientist and the founder of Fyodor Biotechnologies, based in USA. His revolutionary medical device, which can be used to test if a patient has malaria within 25 minutes, has attracted both local and international attention because of the enormous impact it is making in healthcare systems around the world.
Dr Eddy Agbo
Background to breakthrough
Malaria, the most deadly parasitic disease in the world affects more than 40 per cent of the world’s total population, especially people living in areas where the parasite is endemic. According to the World Malaria Report, released by WHO, in 2017, 90 per cent of malaria cases in 2016 occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa. That same year, there was an estimated 216 million malaria cases and an estimated 445,000 of malaria deaths globally.
Aside from the high mortality rate, malaria has also had a devastating effect on productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa. The disease costs the region up to $12 billion in trade, foreign investment and tourism.
Early diagnosis and treatment of malaria reduces disease transmission and prevents deaths. The WHO recommends that all suspected malaria cases be confirmed, using either microscopy or rapid diagnostic test before treatment is administered. However, this recommendation remains unattainable in primary care facilities in rural areas in many developing countries where poor health infrastructures limit the use of the standard microscopy testing. In urban areas where adequate health facilities are available, many people are reluctant to go for testing because of the cost implication of going to the hospital and getting laboratory tests, or the inconvenience of waiting for many hours at public hospitals to get affordable care.
This is why the UMT device has proved to be a game-changer, as it enables people to easily, affordably and conveniently diagnose themselves at home before commencing treatment.
How it Works
The Fyodor UMT kit is a rapid diagnostic device that uses dipstick technology, just like the manual pregnancy test kit. It carries out an in vitro test of malaria parasite in a simple one-step procedure with no need for blood samples, reagents or complex equipment. The UMT detects proteins the malaria parasite sheds in the urine of a patient with Malaria fever.
Inventor’s profile
Dr Agbo grew up in a small village called Mbu in southeast Nigeria. He studied Veterinary Medicine at the University of Ibadan, where he obtained his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree. He holds a Master of Science in Biotechnology from Wageningen University and a PhD in Molecular Genetics from Utrecht University, both in the Netherlands. He also has a Graduate Certificate in “Leadership and Management in the Life Sciences” from Johns Hopkins University Business School, USA.
The erudite scientist has held university positions at Utrecht University, Wageningen University and Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands, where he did biomedical research for many years. Agbo moved to the USA to work for the Johns Hopkins University. He was a Research Fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He left John Hopkins to work for Cangen Biotechnologies, a cancer therapeutics and diagnostics, in Baltimore. There he worked has a senior director for research and preclinical development and as a chief technical lead researcher.
Agbo is currently the Chairman/CEO of Fyodor Biotechnologies Corp USA and Fyodor Biotechnologies Nigeria Ltd., a firm he founded in 2008. Since its establishment, the firm has produced ground-breaking healthcare solutions, including the popular Urine Malaria Test kit.
Awards and recognitions
Dr Agbo has won numerous awards, including the “Outstanding Innovator of the Year” award from the US Corporate Council on Africa, and the “Innovation Award” from the Private Health Sector Alliance of Nigeria, among others. He has been a guest speaker at various forums, including the White House/US Department of State Bio-economy Conference, Washington DC; World Healthcare Congress; Corporate Council on Africa; US-Africa Private Sector Health Conference, Nigeria Business Summit, among others.
He served as a member of Maryland Life Sciences Advisory Board that oversees a $1.3B fund established by the state to advance biotechnology, appointed by Governor Martin O’Malley of the State of Maryland USA.
In 2015, the UMT kit won the inaugural Health Innovation Challenge Awards in Nigeria, backed by the Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria (PHN). The award comes with a grant of $100,000 and support from backers, including Bill Gates, Aliko Dangote, and former Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan.
Dr Agbo’s ingenuity and innovative solution is a major milestone in the war against malaria and has transformed the way healthcare systems in developing countries combat the disease. Indeed, the extraordinary impact of the UMT kit shows that Africans are in the best position to address their current and future challenges if they look inwards to develop innovative solutions to their problems.
Eminent medical practitioners including Dr A. B. Awesu, consultant psychiatrist, Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos; Dr Tajudeen Abiola, consultant psychiatrist, Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Kaduna, and Dr Ibrahim Oreagba, associate professor of Pharmacology, Therapeutics and Toxicology, University of Lagos, have condemned the high rate of drug abuse among young adults in Nigeria, saying the menace has now become a serious health and social issue rendering its users unproductive and dangerous.
Speaking at a workshop on ‘Addiction Prevention’, organised by the Islamic Medical Association of Nigeria (IMAN), Lagos State Chapter, in collaboration with Nigerian Green Crescent Health Development Initiative (GHI), at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi (NOHI) Lagos, recently, Dr Oreagba, described addiction as an act of surrendering or enslaving oneself to something, such as drug or any activity.
Dr Ibrahim Oreagba delivering his keynote address
According to the don, drug addiction is a major destroyer of the youth, as it kills more than automobile accident, gun accident, and all other forms of accidents combined. He added that over 60 percent of Nigerian youths, especially in the south-west, consumed various forms of illicit drugs; a development he said had made them irresponsible to themselves and the society.
Oreagba, a member of the GHI, and national vice president, IMAN, noted that some of the factors that predispose so many youths to drug abuse and addiction include: peer pressure, curiosity, ignorance, academic induced frustration, lack of parental care, indiscipline, lack of significant relationship with caring adult, lack of mutual attachment and nurture by parents and caregivers, among many others.
A cross section of participants at the awareness campaign.
While speaking on a topic:“Preventive Treatment in Drug Addiction”, Dr A. B. Awesu, stated that drug abuse and addiction cut across the society, the rich or the poor, the villagers or the city dwellers, the males or the females, the young or the old, saying for its effective prevention, it must involve the different sections of the society.
He urged parents to be good role models to their children, as well as establish and maintain good communication with them early, on the danger of drug abuse and addiction, saying dysfunctional family can lead to drug abuse.
In his submission, Dr Tajudeen Abiola identified high availability of drugs in the communities, poverty, high population density, and lack of knowledge on what to do by parents and teachers as some of the major reasons for maladaptive use of addictive substances and activities in the country.
“Addiction is dangerous as it robs one of ability to recognise one’s problem, thereby forcing the family to take action against the addict like sending him to jail or forceful rehab. This could also cause a huge burden on the family and circle of friends, because of fear that the addict is getting harm or hurt,” he said.
The consultant psychiatrist therefore called on the Federal Government to implement policies that would keep the adolescent safe from drugs, while urging other organisations to partner IMAN, in order to organise more seminars and workshops to enlighten youths on the consequences of drug abuse and addiction.
Earlier in his welcome address, the chairman, IMAN, Lagos State Chapter, and chief medical director, National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos, Dr Mustapha Alimi, noted that the issue of illicit drugs use had reached an alarming proportion in the country, adding that this is why such intervention by IMAN is apt, which rates the health of Nigerians a priceless treasure, by providing healthcare services for the sick and instituting interventions that both prevent the onset of illness and promote wellness.
Other dignitaries at the awareness campaign include: Pharm. (Mrs) Sadia Modupe-Ore, deputy director, Pharmacy, NOHI; Pharm. Usman Sikiru Olatunji, Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, UNILAG; Dr Abdulahi Lawal, deputy president, IMAN, Lagos State; Mrs Shekinat Abdulfatai, financial secretary, IMAN, Lagos State; Pharm. Afusat Adeshina, among others.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that some 1.3 billion people are at risk of developing TB during their lifetime.
According to WHO, countries are not doing enough to end tuberculosis (TB) by 2030 in spite of global efforts that averted about 54 million TB deaths since 2000.
WHO, at the release of the latest Global Tuberculosis Report, said TB is “the world’s deadliest infectious disease”, noting, however, that fewer people fell ill and died from tuberculosis in 2017.
Globally, an estimated 10 million people developed TB in 2017 while the number of new cases is falling by two per cent per year.
The deadly disease, which usually infects the lungs and is transmitted through the air, remains one of the top 10 causes of worldwide deaths, and is the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent, above HIV/AIDS.
The WHO report provided an overview of status of the epidemic and the challenges and opportunities countries face in responding to it.
Overall, TB deaths have decreased over the past year, and in 2017, there were 1.6 million deaths – including among 300,000 HIV-positive people.
Of the 10 million people who fell ill with TB in 2017, only 6.4 million were officially recorded by national reporting systems, leaving 3.6 million people undiagnosed or detected but not reported.
According to WHO, 10 countries accounted for 80 per cent of this gap, with India, Indonesia and Nigeria topping the list.
Treatment coverage lags behind at 64 per cent and must increase to at least 90 per cent by 2025 to meet the TB targets.
To urgently improve detection, diagnosis and treatment rates, WHO, the Stop TB Partnership and the Global Fund launched the new initiative in 2018, Find. Treat. All. #EndTB.
The initiative set the target of providing quality care to 40 million people with TB from 2018 to 2022.
The WHO’s Report called for an unprecedented mobilisation of national and international commitments.
It urged political leaders gathering next week for the first-ever ‘United Nations High-level Meeting on TB’ to take decisive action, building on recent moves by the leaders of India, the Russian Federation, Rwanda, and South Africa.
“We have never seen such high-level political attention and understanding of what the world needs to do to end TB and drug-resistant TB.
“We must capitalise on this new momentum and act together to end this terrible disease,” said Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general.
While under-reporting and under-diagnosis are mentioned as major challenges in the fight against TB, the most urgent stumbling block is funding.
In 2018, investments in TB prevention and care in low- and middle-income countries fell $3.5 billion short, and without an increase, the funding gap would rise to over $6 billion by 2022.
Teresa Kasaeva, director of the WHO’s Global TB Programme, said: “It is unacceptable that millions lose their lives, and many more suffer daily from this preventable and curable disease.
“We need to join forces to root out this disease that has a devastating social and economic impact on those who are ‘left behind’, whose human rights and dignity are limited, and those who struggle to access care. The time for action is now,” he said.
The dividends of the remarkable stakeholders meeting, organised by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for producers and distributors of cosmetics, agrochemicals and veterinary products, will linger longer in the minds of the participants, as the agency has promised among other things, to bring them respite from multiple registrations, imposed on the marketers by sister agencies.
Speaking at the one-day interactive session themed: “A Date with the Director General, NAFDAC”, held at the NECA House, Ikeja, on 17 September, 2018, NAFDAC DG, Prof. Moji Adeyeye, said she is already in discussion with the Director General of other agencies like the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA); Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), to see how to bring an end to the issue of multiple product registrations, which is belabouring stakeholders.
Mr Julius Olanipekun; Mr Mamud Talid, representative of Pest Control Association of Nigeria; NAFDAC DG, Prof. Moji Adeyeye; Mr John Nwabueze, representative of Cosmetics Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, and a representative of veterinary medicine dealers at the interactive session.
Prof. Adeyeye, who heeded the general lamentation of stakeholders in eradicating several registrations of a product, explained that this is not in favour of ease of doing business policy in Nigeria, as it is hitting hard on marketers.
According to her:”We are working on it right now, as we are already talking with the Director General of SON, CPC, and NESREA. We have to come to an agreement, as it is the stakeholders that are at the losing end, because of many regulations and fees imposed on them. We are also talking about it at the vice presidency level, in terms of ease of doing business, and creating an environment, conducive for businesses”.
The NAFDAC DG, also pledged to look into the issue of police harassment on agrochemicals dealers, as the agrochemicals distributors complained bitterly about unnecessary threats and distraction of their members by the Police, as they go about their legal businesses in the society.
Cross section of participants at the programme.
While announcing some laudable initiatives of the agency to support micro scale businesses, Prof. Adeyeye noted that NAFDAC has scaled down some of her processes for the micro scale cosmetics manufacturers without compromising standards and put in place policies that will drive growth in cosmetics MSME sectors in line with ease of doing business.
She however emphasised the decision of the agency to allow micro entrepreneurs in the cosmetics industry to use their personal kitchens to produce certain products, but with a caveat that untidy and shared kitchens will not be permitted for use.
Her word: “The boldest move made so far by the Agency is consent for use of personal kitchens to manufacture certain classes of cosmetics products under micro scale. Albeit, may I state clearly that kitchens shared by families will not be allowed neither will individual kitchens that are kept untidy”.
While appealing to the stakeholders to adhere to the rules and regulations of NAFDAC during product registration, she highlighted the generally observed lapses to include: untimely renewals of listing certificates, incomplete documentations e.g inadequate stock cards & utilization records, safety data sheets without chemical compositions, illegible attachments to the portal, noncompliance to good warehousing practice, etc.
On minimisation of pesticides residues on exported agricultural produce, she said the agency is setting up policies in terms of exportation of agro products, which will ensure that exporters bring their products to NAFDAC first for testing, in order to save the nation from further national embarrassment due to products containing high pesticides residues.
Mr Mamud Talid, representative of Pest Control Association of Nigeria, implored the NAFDAC DG to look into the formation of Pesticide Bill as it is done in other climes, as well as pleaded with the agency to make the intended increase in tariff reasonable enough to their level.
Mr John Nwabueze, who spoke on behalf of Cosmetics Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, stressed the need for NAFDAC to reduce faking of cosmetics in the country, as well as scale up penalty for fakers.
Nwabueze, also pleaded with the agency to put in place policies that will encourage exportation of cosmetics, which will enhance rapid growth of the industry.
-As UNILAG Celebrates African Traditional Medicine Day
Eminent traditional medicine practitioners in the country, including Rev.Fr Anselm Adodo, the director of Pax Herbal Clinic and Research Laboratories and Prof. Maurice Iwu, chairman, Bio-Resources Development Group (BDG), have described criticisms against the efficacy, validity and efficiency of herbal medicines as fictitious and unfounded, saying orthodox method of treatment is not the only valid healthcare approach, as there are other ways of obtaining healthcare that are equally valid.
Dignitaries at the 2018 African Traditional Medicine Day, organised by the Model Herbal Clinic,UNILAG, in a group photograph, shortly after the programme.
The experts made this submission at the commemoration of the 2018 African Traditional Medicine (ATM) Day, organised by the Model Herbal Clinic, Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos (UNILAG), at the Old Great Hall, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Idi-Araba, recently.
Addressing participants at the event, Fr Adodo noted that the history of herbal medicine is the same as history of medicine generally, and that it is quite unfortunate that ‘some chemically –minded persons’ are criticizing natural medicines today, forgetting that medicine is one, and it has the same function, which is to provide healing.
Rev. Fr Anselm Adodo, delivering his keynote address at the programme.
The experts made this submission at the commemoration of the 2018 African Traditional Medicine (ATM) Day, organised by the Model Herbal Clinic, Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos (UNILAG), at the Old Great Hall, College of Medicine, Uniersity of Lagos, Idi-Araba, recently.
Addressing participants at the event, F Adodo noted that the history of herbal medicine is the same as history of medicine generally, and that it is quite unfortunate that ‘some chemically –minded persons’ are criticizing natural medicines today, forgetting that medicine is one, and it has the same function, which is to provide healing.
Speaking further, the Ewu Monk said the criticisms about the dosage, lack of scientific proof of efficacy, lack of standardization and safety, as well as lack of objectivity levelled against herbal medicine “can only come from the chemically-minded observers, who have not sat down to study the background and culture in which herbal medicines have grown”, saying in order to properly respond to the criticisms, it is important that one understands that herbs are used as food, supplement, as well as drug.
According to him, the disapproval for lack of precise dosage only applies when dealing with chemicals or synthesized plant extracts, as precise dosage is important when dealing with such substances, in order to avoid overdosing. “However, when herbs are used as food or as a supplement, precise dosage does not really apply, as the body simply takes the number of nutrients it needs and the rest are excreted, so it is wrong to impose a ‘chemical mentality’ on the use of herbs generally,” he said.
“It is not disputable that western medicine was derived from herbal medicine, and that orthodox medicine cannot exist without herbal medicine, so it is high time people stopped capitalising on few errors from traditional medicine practitioners to condemn the practice entirely.
“We have seen cases of orthodox practitioners giving wrong medications, and this does not in any way translate to the condemnation of the healthcare givers. So why do people derive pleasure in running down the traditional medicine practice, once there is any mistake from any of the practitioners?”.
In his goodwill message, Prof. Maurice Iwu, who described the theme of the programme, “Effective and Safe Use of Herbs” , as apt reiterated the need to recognise herbal practitioners, as well as train them to produce refined herbal medicines, saying it is important that the research aspect of our traditional medicine be developed, adding that it is imperative that we cultivate our medicinal plants and do it in such a way that the world will benefit from what we are doing.
Iwu, a former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), who was represented by Mrs Georgina Idoko, further noted the importance of incorporating some aspects of African Traditional Medicine into modern clinical practice, as done in China, India and other countries, as this will greatly enhance healthcare delivery in Nigeria.
Other dignitaries at the event included :Maj. Gen Olasehinde Ishola Williams, executive secretary, Pan-African Group (PANAFSTRAG), who was represented by Mrs Arinola Bello; Pharm. Moshood Lawal, director, Food and Drug Services, Federal Ministry of Health; Prof. Bolajoko Aina, dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, UNILAG, who was represented by Dr Chukwuemeka Azubuike, sub-dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, UNILAG; Dr (Mrs) A. A Sowemimo, acting head of department, Pharmacognosy, UNILAG; Pharm. (Mrs) A. A. Adegun, chairman, Local Organising Committee, among others.
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, (SERAP) has sent a Freedom of Information request to the Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, urging him to “urgently provide information about details of actual spending of allocations to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, (LUTH) Idi Araba and other 20 federal teaching hospitals and 20 federal medical centres across the country, for the period covering 2010 to 2017.”
Lagos University Teaching Hospital Logo
In the letter dated September 14 and signed by SERAP deputy director Timothy Adewale, the organisation said: “Despite huge budgetary allocations, many of the teaching hospitals and medical centres under the direct control of your ministry have been left to fall apart and health care facilities in many of these hospitals lack even the most basic of amenities. Ordinary Nigerians have derived appallingly little benefit from all of the allocations, in terms of access to basic healthcare, showing a failure to respect and ensure the right to health and human dignity in the country.”
According to the organisation, “We need a ‘paradigm shift’ and little short of a ‘healthcare revolution’ in the country to end decades of mismanagement, corruption and neglect in the health sector and to improve access of millions of Nigerians to adequate healthcare and treatment. The status quo is simply unacceptable. Ensuring transparency in the spending of allocations to LUTH and other teaching hospitals and medical centres would contribute hugely to charting a way forward in this regard.”
The FOI request read in part: “As trustee of public funds, your ministry has a legal duty to render account on the specific details of spending of capital allocations to LUTH and other teaching hospitals and medical centres under the direct control of the ministry to the beneficiaries (Nigerians) of the trust, if and when called upon to do so. Any failure or refusal to render account will also be clearly inconsistent with the attitude of a government that has repeatedly expressed commitment to the fight against corruption, and to transparency and accountability.”
“As a key agency of government, the Ministry of Health has a sacred duty to ensure that the country’s allocations to the health sector are used solely to achieve adequate access to healthcare services for all Nigerians and residents. This implies providing strong leadership in the efforts to curb public sector corruption, mismanagement and neglect, and to honour Freedom of Information requests on the spending of allocations to LUTH and other teaching hospitals and medical centres across the country.”
“The disclosure of the information requested will give SERAP and the general public a true picture on how the allocations to LUTH and other teaching hospitals and medical centres have been spent to improve medical facilities and infrastructure in these hospitals and medical centres and to facilitate enjoyment of the right to basic healthcare by all Nigerians, especially the socially and economically vulnerable sectors of the population.”
“SERAP notes approved capital allocations since 2010 to your ministry as follows: N49.99 billion for 2010; N33.53 billion for 2011; N57.01 billion for 2012; N60.08 billion for 2013; N49.52 billion for 2014; N22.68 billion for 2015; N22.65 billion for 2016; and N55.61 billion for 2017.”
“According to our information and latest research, despite approved capital allocations of trillions of naira over the years to LUTH and other teaching hospitals and medical centres under the direct control of the Ministry of Health, these hospitals have been left to crumble and wither away and Nigerians have suffered greatly from the decay of these vital public services.”
“Millions of Nigerian children are believed to die each year before the age of five, and most of those children lose their lives to diseases that are easily preventable or treatable at low cost. Nigeria is third highest in infant mortality rate in the world.”
“Healthcare services in the country remain extremely poor. Nigeria is rated 187th out of 191 countries in terms of health care delivery. One-third of more than 700 health facilities in the country have been destroyed because of many years of corruption, mismanagement and neglect, and that about 3.7 million people are in need of healthcare assistance.”
“By virtue of Section 1 (1) of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2011, SERAP is entitled as of right to request for or gain access to information, including information on details of spending of allocations to LUTH and other teaching hospitals and medical centres in the country under the direct control of your Ministry, and the said information is in the custody or possession of any public official, agency or institution.”
“By virtue of Section 4 (a) of the FOI Act when a person makes a request for information from a public official, institution or agency, the public official, institution or urgency to whom the application is directed is under a binding legal obligation to provide the applicant with the information requested for, except as otherwise provided by the Act, within 7 days after the application is received.”
“By Sections 2(3)(d)(V) & (4) of the FOI Act, there is a binding legal duty to ensure that documents containing information relating to spending of allocations to LUTH and other teaching hospitals and medical centres under the direct control of your Ministry is widely disseminated and made readily available to members of the public through various means.”
“The information being requested does not come within the purview of the types of information exempted from disclosure by the provisions of the FOI Act. The information requested for, apart from not being exempted from disclosure under the FOI Act, bothers on an issue of access to healthcare, development, good governance, transparency and accountability.”
“SERAP therefore requests you to provide detailed information on the spending of allocations to LUTH and other teaching hospitals and medical centres under the direct control of your Ministry, for periods covering 2010 to 2017.”
It would be recalled that SERAP last week launched its latest report titled: Failing Healthcare: How Federal Hospitals are letting Down the Poor and Making Healthcare a Privilege rather than a Right.
The report among others alleged that, “At LUTH, even bed sheets are in short supply. Patients use their wrapper for bed sheets sometimes. And when they use LUTH bed sheets, they are usually old and torn most of the time. Toilets in LUTH are centres of disease distribution. You can be sure to get urinary tract infections and the like. I am referring to the toilets in different wards.”
Chief Oludolapo Akinkugbe, renowned pharmacist and General Theophilus Danjuma, chairman, May & Baker Plc and former minister of defence were recently honoured by the Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy (NAPharm) with Lifetime Achievement Award and Honorary Fellowship respectively.
The colourful investiture, academy lecture and luncheon which took place at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos on September 12, 2018 had Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, president, Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy; Pharm. Ahmed Yakasai, president, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN); Sir Ifeanyi Atueyi, NAPharm vice president (South); Pharm. Jimi Agbaje, managing director, JayKay Pharmacy and Pharm. Ike Onyechi, treasurer, NAPharm.
L-R: A larger than life portrait of General Theophilus Danjuma, being presented to the philanthropist as a souvenir by the academy.
Others were Pharm. Nnamdi Okafor, managing director, May & Baker Plc; Prof. Mbang Femi-Oyewo, former dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU); Prof. Kemi Odukoya, former dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos (UNILAG); Prof. Oladipo Akinkugbe, professor of medicine and Oba Otudeko, distinguished industrialist and chairman of First Bank Plc and Senator Daisy Danjuma, wife of the honorary fellowship recipient among others.
Aside from presenting two giant portraits of the recipients, the Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy also used the occasion to unveil the Olu Akinkugbe Research and Innovation Centre (OARIC) to the public.
A larger than life portrait of Chief Oludolapo Akinkugbe on display at the event.
The research centre scheduled to be officially opened in four months time received a resounding applause from the audience. The ovation got louder when the two elder statesmen hugged shortly after the ageless philanthropist, Danjuma, pledged N10 million to the cause of the institute.
Chief Oludolapo Ibukun Akinkugbe, is a veteran pharmacist of high repute. He is also the founding director of Palm Chemist and was a pioneer general secretary of the defunct Nigerian Union of Pharmacists (NUP) in the 1950s. Born in Ondo Town, on 5th December, 1928, Akinkugbe’s father was a renowned druggist who qualified as a pharmacist in 1919.
Chief Oludolapo Ibukun Akinkugbe is a veteran pharmacist of high repute. A pioneer general secretary of the defunct Nigerian Union of Pharmacists (NUP) in the 1950s, the 90-year-old Chief Akinkugbe is the founding director of Palm Chemists.
In this video clip, Chief Akinkugbe talks about his foray into pharmacy practice, early challenges pioneer pharmacists faced, expectation of the society and areas that still crave attention in the profession. Enjoy it…
A grand reception was held by the Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy (NAPharm) in honour of Chief Oludolapo Akinkugbe and General Theophilus Danjuma, who were conferred with the academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award and Honorary Fellowship respectively at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos on 12 September, 2018.
Below are photographs taken at the event:
L-R: Pharm. Jimi Agbaje, managing director, JayKay Pharmacy; Pharm. Ike Onyechi, managing director, Alpha Pharmacy; Pharm. Nnamdi Okafor, managing director, May & Baker Plc and Sir Ifeanyi Atueyi, NAPharm vice president (South).L-R: Pharm. Bola Oyawole, Fellow of the academy; Pharm. Ade Popoola, managing director, Reals Pharmaceutical; Pharm. John Nwaiwu, managing director, JB Pharma and Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, former managing director, Neimeth International.L-R: Pharm. Lolu Ojo, managing director, Merit Healthcare; Prof. U. Mendie, lecturer, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos (UNILAG) and Pharm Lere Baale, director, Business School Netherlands.L-R: Pharm. (Dr) Margaret Ibru; Prof. Mbang Femi-Oyewo, former dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) and Prof. Kemi Odukoya, former dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lagos (UNILAG).L-R: Prof. Oladipo Akinkugbe, professor of medicine and Oba Otudeko, distinguished industrialist and chairman of First Bank PlcL-R: General Theophilus Danjuma, former minister of defence and his wife, Senator Daisy Danjuma arriving at the event.L-R: Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, president, NAPharm officially presenting General Theophilus Danjuma with his honorary fellowship award, while Sir Ifeanyi Atueyi, NAPharm vice president (South) looks on.L-R: A larger than life portrait of General Theophilus Danjuma was also presented to the philanthropist as a souvenir by the academy.Prof. Ernest Izevbigie, professor of growth biology/biochemistry, Benson Idahosa University receiving an award plaque from Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, president, NAPharm.A cross section of Fellows at the academy investiture and lecture.A larger than life portrait of Chief Oludolapo Akinkugbe on display.L-R: Pharm. Ahmed Yakasai, president, PSN; Sir Ifeanyi Atueyi, NAPharm vice president (South); Chief Oludolapo Akinkugbe, recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award and Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, president, Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy.
Getting enough rest can help you to effectively cope with stress. When we are burdened with thoughts and worry, they have adverse effects on our bodies. Taking time to absolutely do nothing and rest our minds can have wonderful health benefits. It is during this time of rest that we are free to recuperate, recharge, meditate and contemplate.
There is a story of a man who once challenged his friend to an all-day wood chopping contest. His friend accepted the challenge and the contest began. The challenger worked very hard, stopping only for a brief lunch break. His friend, on the other hand, had a leisurely lunch and took several breaks during the day.
At the end of the day, the challenger was surprised and annoyed to find that his friend had chopped substantially more wood than he had.
“I don’t get it,” he said. “Every time I checked, you were taking a rest, yet you chopped more wood than I did.”
“But you didn’t notice,” said the winning woodsman, “that I was sharpening my axe when I sat down to rest.”
The story highlights both the necessity and the significance of rest. Don’t feel guilty to take a rest any time you need it. If you need a rest, you deserve it.
Relaxation or engaging in a refreshing activity is a must, if you want to be productive in your work. God rested after the creation processes. Genesis 2:2 says, “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made” (NKJV).
Rest is Universal
Do you know that God wants even animals and the land to rest, like human beings? Exodus 23:10-12 says, “Six years you shall sow your land and gather its produce, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow… Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest…”
Every wise farmer understands the principle of crop rotation. It helps the soil to be replenished. From the above biblical injunction, it was discovered that the soil from the fields that were not left uncultivated every seventh year yielded less nutritional solids than the ones that were left fallow the seventh year.
In Mark 6:3031, Jesus demonstrated the principle of rest after work. After the disciples had narrated to Him the successful ministration they had, Jesus simply told them, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” Following this incident, I regard rest as a reward for accomplishing a task. For example, whenever I complete writing an article as planned, I congratulate and reward myself with a good refreshing break. I get out of my office, stretch my body, take some water, walk around the premises, talk to people and breathe fresh air.
Rest is Healthy
This principle of rest after an activity is an important one for our health. Rest is crucial to the health of the body. Sleep is an absolute and undeniable necessity of life. As our energy level goes down and wastes accumulate, we experience fatigue and a desire for rest. During rest, energy is restored, and the waste buildup is diminished.
Rest and sleep are dependent on our ability to relax. The person who is tense is not relaxing, and therefore cannot really rest. Fatigue is protective, in that it serves to make us aware of our need for rest. As fatigue increases, efficiency and performance decrease. Other factors like overeating, lack of exercise, stress, stale air, and not drinking enough water can produce fatigue.
Rest or relaxation slows the heart rate, reduces blood pressure, and slows the rate of breathing, which reduces the need for oxygen, increases blood flow to the muscles and decreases muscle tension. Rest or relaxation results in more energy, better sleep, increased concentration, greater efficiency, better problem-solving abilities, less headaches and pain.
We all need a rest or break from the routine of our major activities. When you are sick or diseased, your body is giving signs that it is time to rest from work. It is also trying to tell you to rest from foods that are difficult to digest. Stop drinking coffee and eating foods that are high in sugar and caffeine, which may help you to keep on working. Coffee, kola nuts and cigarettes provide artificial stimulation, but without recuperation. The underlying fatigue persists.
Rest is Inescapable
Serious fatigue can manifest as general breakdown of the body. Some time ago, a friend returned from Vienna, Austria, for the burial of his mother and had a very hectic time with his people, whom he had not seen for about fifteen years. Throughout the period at home, he was involved in one activity or another, and did not have enough rest or sleep. He fed poorly and even had bouts of malaria attack.
By the time he returned to Lagos, on his way back to Vienna, he had lost some weight and looked haggard. He took a night flight, to resume work the following morning. Two days after, he phoned me from a hospital, where he was on admission. Diagnosis: excessive fatigue.
Rest is so important to life that the vital organs are designed with built-in rest periods. The heart rests between each beat, and the lungs between each breath. The stomach rests between meals. The central nervous system is recharged during sleep.
Rest Means Quality Sleep
Rest and relaxation cannot take the place of sleep. Human beings are designed to be awake during the day and asleep at night. Wakefulness and sleepiness are normally controlled by enzymes and hormone systems within the body.
The “internal clocks” can be adjusted forward or backward. They may be also be ignored, but not without negative consequences. Besides giving us the night for regular sleep, the Creator programmed human beings and animals to rest completely every seventh day.
Studies have shown that we need seven to nine hours of sleep per night, to maintain good health. Going to bed early (before 10.00 pm) is conducive to health. It has been found out that one hour of sleep before midnight is worth two after midnight.
Getting enough rest can help you to effectively cope with stress. When we are burdened with thoughs and worry, they have adverse effects on our bodies. Taking time to absolutely do nothing and rest our minds can have wonderful health benefits. It is during this time of rest that we are free to recuperate, recharge, meditate and contemplate.
There are many things that cause us to lose our rest – anxieties, troubles, insecurity, businesses, greed, covetousness, fear of the unknown etc. This is why Jesus says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
The Lagos State Government on Thursday said it had strengthened its disease surveillance, detection and response systems to prevent the outbreak of Monkey pox in the state. The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, made this known in an interview.
Monkeypox patients
He spoke against the background of the two confirmed cases of Monkey pox in patients with recent travel history from Nigeria now receiving medical attention in the United Kingdom (UK).
“There is no report of Monkey pox in Lagos, in the past where there were cases like that; most of the cases were imported to the state.
“So with our disease surveillance systems in place, we are in a better position to track and detect any viral diseases if they do occur. “This will involve all the local governments, investigative data and if we see any abnormal trend, then we start investigating,” Idris said.
According to him, the National Centre for Disease Control denied any case of Monkey pox in the country. The commissioner said the assertion that the people had travel history from Nigeria did not necessarily mean that the diseases were contacted in Nigeria. He urged the Federal Government to put in place processes that would properly, and most importantly, prevent the outbreak of the virus.
He stressed the need to sensitise the public on the measures for prevention and control of the disease should it happen. Idris said: “One of the best ways to do it is to have a better and proper surveillance system that can track all these diseases, apart from public enlightenment to ensure that it does not happen.
“If we adopt the right environmental control, good personal behaviour, then a lot of these things will not happen,” he added. The commissioner urged Nigerians to prevent direct and steady contact with infected animals, humans or contaminated materials. Monkey pox is a virus that is spread primarily from animals to humans, with symptoms such as fever, headache, body pain, malaise, lymphadenopathy (enlargement of glands), sore throat and the typical generalised vesicular rash.
1 concentration in plasma changes with alterations in the amount of thyroxine-binding globulin in plasma
2 concentration is used as the main diagnostic marker for hypothyroidism
3 act as antibodies to thyroglobulin
A 1, 2, 3
B 1, 2 only
C 2, 3 only
D 1 only
E 3 only
-821 million people now hungry and over 150 million children stunted, putting hunger eradication goal at risk
New evidence continues to signal that the number of hungry people in the world is growing, reaching 821 million in 2017 or one in every nine people, according to “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018” released on Tuesday. Limited progress is also being made in addressing the multiple forms of malnutrition, ranging from child stunting to adult obesity, putting the health of hundreds of millions of people at risk.
Hunger has been on the rise over the past three years, returning to levels from a decade ago. This reversal in progress sends a clear warning that more must be done and urgently if the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger is to be achieved by 2030.
Hungry children queueing up for food in northern Nigeria
The situation is worsening in South America and most regions of Africa, while the decreasing trend in undernourishment that characterised Asia seems to be slowing down significantly.
The annual UN report found that climate variability affecting rainfall patterns and agricultural seasons, and climate extremes such as droughts and floods, are among the key drivers behind the rise in hunger, together with conflict and economic slowdowns.
“The alarming signs of increasing food insecurity and high levels of different forms of malnutrition are a clear warning that there is considerable work to be done to make sure we ‘leave no one behind’ on the road towards achieving the SDG goals on food security and improved nutrition,” the heads of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and WHO warned in their joint foreword to the report.
“If we are to achieve a world without hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030, it is imperative that we accelerate and scale up actions to strengthen the resilience and adaptive capacity of food systems and people’s livelihoods in response to climate variability and extremes,” the leaders said.
The impact of climate variability and extremes on hunger
Changes in climate are already undermining production of major crops such as wheat, rice and maize in tropical and temperate regions and, without building climate resilience, this is expected to worsen as temperatures increase and become more extreme.
Analysis in the report shows that the prevalence and number of undernourished people tend to be higher in countries highly exposed to climate extremes. Undernourishment is higher again when exposure to climate extremes is compounded by a high proportion of the population depending on agricultural systems that are highly sensitive to rainfall and temperature variability.
Temperature anomalies over agricultural cropping areas continued to be higher than the long-term mean throughout 2011–2016, leading to more frequent spells of extreme heat in the last five years. The nature of rainfall seasons is also changing, such as the late or early start of rainy seasons and the unequal distribution of rainfall within a season.
The harm to agricultural production contributes to shortfalls in food availability, with knock-on effects causing food price hikes and income losses that reduce people’s access to food.
Slow progress on ending all forms of malnutrition
Poor progress has been made in reducing child stunting, the report says, with nearly 151 million children aged under 5 too short for their age due to malnutrition in 2017, compared to 165 million in 2012. Globally, Africa and Asia accounted for 39% and 55% of all stunted children, respectively.
Prevalence of child wasting remains extremely high in Asia where almost 1 in 10 children under five has low weight for their height, compared to just one in 100 in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The report describes as “shameful” the fact that one in three women of reproductive age globally is affected by anaemia, which has significant health and development consequences for both women and their children. No region has shown a decline in anaemia among women of reproductive age, and the prevalence in Africa and Asia is nearly three times higher than in North America.
Rates of exclusive breastfeeding in Africa and Asia are 1.5 times higher than those in North America where only 26% of infants under 6 months receive breastmilk exclusively.
The other side of hunger: obesity on the rise
Adult obesity is worsening, and more than one in eight adults in the world is obese. The problem is most significant in North America, but Africa and Asia are also experiencing an upward trend, the report shows.
Undernutrition and obesity coexist in many countries, and can even be seen side by side in the same household. Poor access to nutritious food due to its higher cost, the stress of living with food insecurity, and physiological adaptations to food deprivation help explain why food-insecure families may have a higher risk of overweight and obesity.
Call for action
The report calls for implementing and scaling up interventions aimed at guaranteeing access to nutritious foods and breaking the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition. Policies must pay special attention to groups who are the most vulnerable to the harmful consequences of poor food access: infants, children aged under five, school-aged children, adolescent girls, and women.
At the same time, a sustainable shift must be made towards nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food systems that can provide safe and high-quality food for all.
The report also calls for greater efforts to build climate resilience through policies that promote climate change adaptation and mitigation, and disaster risk reduction.
A new report by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has revealed the “humanitarian crisis, manifestations of corruption and mismanagement at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, (LUTH) Idi Araba and how unhygienic conditions, severe shortages of medicines and medical supplies in the hospital and two other federal government owned hospitals in Lagos make it extremely difficult for many Nigerians to obtain essential medical care.”
Apart from LUTH, the other two hospitals covered in the report “are the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi (NOHIL), and the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Metta (FMC).”
The report shows “a sharp deterioration in the quality and safety of care in these hospitals. LUTH, NOHIL and FMC do not have enough cancer treatment machines. Linear accelerator (LINAC), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and CT scan machines are not working optimally due to erratic electricity even as the hospitals do not have back-up plans.”
Lagos University Teaching Hospital
According to the report, “A LINAC costs about US$5 million and the six that the federal government procured for six teaching hospitals have packed up. The dialysis machine at LUTH is outdated and its functionality at the time of study was zilch. LUTH recently lost its accreditation to teach dentistry because all its five dental chairs had packed up and there is no functional dental engine available.”
The 53 pages report recently launched at the CITI-HEIGHT Hotels, Lagos is titled: Failing Healthcare: How Federal Hospitals are letting Down the Poor and Making Healthcare a Privilege rather than a Right.
The report, presented to the media by a professor Dejo Olowu, Dean, School of Law, American University of Nigeria discloses that “vital medical supplies such as oxygen, diagnostic machines, dental chairs, sterilising units, burns apparatuses, were in pronounced shortage. Overcrowded waiting rooms and wards were noticeable.”
The report was part of the highlights of the public hearing held by SERAP to provide forum for people to provide testimonies and submit complaints/petitions on allegations of corruption they encounter while accessing public services particularly in the health, education and water sectors.
The research for the report was conducted between April and June 2018 using semi-structured in-depth interviews as the primary instrument for data collection.
The public hearing was attended by among others the representatives of the Acting Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on corruption, civil society, lawyers, the media, Freedom of Information Unit of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the public in general.
The report reads in part: “Our researchers observed that some wards have no mosquito nets. And there is no waiting area for mothers with sick babies. There is the Gynaecology ward, at which entrance a small bench that could seat about four persons, was placed. The bench was occupied by patients’ relatives, presumably. At the end of the corridor where the neonatal ward is, there is a similar four-seater bench, fully occupied. The bench, having been occupied, a group of people were standing. At the neonatal ward, it was the same case. A waiting room for mothers whose babies are on admission was not part of the hospital’s plan. The mothers have improvised.”
“A woman lay on the bare pavement under the staircase, taking a rest. Nearby was an area where waiting mothers had carved out as waiting area. A number of women, whose babies were on admission, were seen sitting or lying down on a mat or on the pavement. With the laid mats, sacks of clothes, plates, buckets etc stacked against the wall and a woman washing clothes, it was clear that many a mother stay for days in this state.”
“Another nurse told SERAP, ‘The infant incubator or neonatal incubator is a rigid box-like enclosure in which an infant can be kept in a controlled environment for observation and care. Some of the incubators in LUTH are not working. It is either the heater is bad, or the monitoring mechanisms are not working. The incubators available in LUTH have been in use for over 15 years.’”
“A nurse, who has worked for four years in LUTH spoke to our researchers: ‘Some beds in different wards are too old to still be in use, but LUTH knows how to manage. Some of the available beds have become dilapidated. Some beds can cause accidents. They have beds from which patients can fall. It has really happened, and I’ve seen it happen. But they keep managing.’”
“Another medical staff said, ‘Even bed sheets are in short supply. Patients use their wrapper for bed sheets sometimes. And when they use LUTH bed sheets, they are usually old and torn most of the time. Toilets in LUTH are centres of disease distribution. You can be sure to get urinary tract infections and the like. I am referring to the toilets in different wards.’”
“According to a senior doctor who spoke to SERAP, ‘There is poor water supply in LUTH and water is supposed to be an essential commodity, especially in a hospital. It’s deplorable to the extent that water does not run in the taps. You are seeing LUTH’s flowers and wall paints, but it is rotten inside. I will be right to say things are not working optimally in LUTH.’”
“At all the three study sites, derelict and obsolete equipment were commonplace. Most wheelchairs in LUTH are stiff and old. They are not in optimal condition. There is a poor maintenance culture. Not even the lifts are working well. One can easily get stuck in an elevator; so it is better to use the staircases. The lift in E Block is bad to the extent that they got a man to manually operate the lift when people enter and are in transit. It doesn’t even have doors anymore.”
“LUTH has its own laboratories but the doctors there prefer to refer patients to the private laboratory because private labs are considered to be more efficient and delivered results quicker.”
“16-year-old Ngozi Eze (not the real name), who was diagnosed with stomach obstruction and was referred to LUTH for an urgent surgery to avoid complications, shared his experience with us: ‘When we got to LUTH, we were told there was no bed in the general ward. We were referred to the VIP section and they said I would have to wait for about three weeks before the surgery could be done, because such surgeries are pre-booked; this was despite that my condition was critical. At the end of the day, we had no choice but to return to a private hospital where the surgery was eventually done.’”
“Another nurse at LUTH said, ‘The facilities are overstretched. To see a specialist on clinic days you have to leave your home by 4am or 5am to be at LUTH by 6.30am to join the queue early. Even at that, there are no guarantees you will be attended to.’”
“Nurses are forced to pick and choose patients to attend to. The ideal World Health Organisation (WHO) standard is five nurses to one patient. In LUTH it’s two nurses to 30 patients. In each ward, there are about 30 patients, and there are only about four nurses for each shift. In the afternoon, there’ll be two nurses, and in the night, there’ll be two nurses.”
“People are dying in service, they are not being replaced; people are resigning, they are not being replaced; people are retiring, they are not being replaced; people are leaving for greener pasture outside Nigeria, they are not being replaced. So, it has cut down the number of professionals that ought to be rendering health care service. And this has also made the management of this hospital (LUTH) to be employing professionals on a casual basis, which is actually against the provisions of the law.”
“Another senior medical officer at LUTH said, ‘LUTH is like a dumping ground for health care in Lagos. It’s usually the extreme cases that are brought to LUTH after treatment elsewhere has failed. Even if you’re rushed in as an emergency case, it’s not guaranteed that you’ll be attended to. Sometimes they’ll tell you there are no available beds unless you can afford the VIP section. LUTH is supposed to be the last hope of the common man in terms of health care. Once you come here, you’re expected to get answers. Sometimes you get answers. But there are a whole lot of challenges. Government is not paying attention to the health sector.’”
“Another nurse said, ‘There are patients that need to be bathed in the morning with hot water because they cannot help themselves. But there will be no hot water; so, we use cold water to bath them. Is it not when there is electricity that the heater will work? That is if there is heat. And you have to bathe the patient because you’re closing for the day. So, what do you do? The generators are not working.’ Sometimes, in the night, there is no light in the wards. Nurses sometimes use torchlight to attend to patients. LUTH electricity just recently improved, still electricity supply is epileptic. It’s still bad but it was worse. Before, there was no electricity at all day and night.’”
Other testimonies gathered for the report read in part: “This is a machine designed to move breathable air into and out of the lungs, to provide breathing for a patient who is physically unable to breathe or breathing insufficiently. When a patient cannot breathe anymore because the lungs are not functioning, the ventilator is used to aid artificial breathing. It’s only available in a few hospitals. As big as LUTH is, there is none. The state of health care in LUTH is deplorable.”
“At Igbobi, no money, no treatment. Admission at Igbobi’s casualty ward is N5,000 per day. After the preliminary examination, tests and eventual diagnosis, patients must pay before they could be admitted into the appropriate ward for their conditions.”
“Patients get their syringes and needles, gloves, without it the doctor will not touch the patient. If they ask you for it and you don’t have it, they just walk away, they don’t have time. Privatization of laboratories is another ill that the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, has in common with LUTH.”
“We don’t have a therapeutic swimming pool at Igbobi. We used to have long time ago, but it is now filled up; you won’t even recognize the site of the swimming pool now when you get there. And these are the basic simple tools that increase output. No matter how skillful you are, when you don’t have tools to work with, you cannot optimize your output.”
“This study sought to analyse evidence-based information on the causes of the failure in healthcare service delivery in Nigeria, using three of the frontline institutions of public healthcare delivery, namely, LUTH, NOHIL and FMC, all located in Lagos State, the most populous state in Nigeria and its commercial nucleus. The study solely focuses on healthcare service delivery systems at LUTH, NOHIL and FMC as representative of the experiences in their counterparts across the country.”
“Increase the transparency in the execution of the budget planning process by publishing income and expenditure reports, ensuring the release of assigned budgets to the health sector and projects implemented. Information on funded projects, on renovation and reconstruction will be vital to regaining the confidence of health workers and the public.”
“The leadership in each of the hospitals need to back up their commitment to enable data collection as well as performance tracking and reporting. The board of these hospitals should live up to their responsibility by monitoring standard operating procedures and compliance in day-to-day management, administration and the delivery of services. Where there are established cases of operational failures as we found in the course of this study, there should be appropriate responses to ensure accountability.”
“The study adopted the descriptive method and content analysis to arrive at the conclusion that poor implementation of healthcare policies and programmes is the major constraint to the achievement of desired goals in public healthcare provision in Nigeria.”
“It also adopted an exploratory qualitative case study design based on analytical methods originating from both public health, legal and social science research to understand the extent to which the questions of governance, dominance, hierarchy, competencies, dichotomies, communication, interaction, resources, and dysfunction impact on the management of the Federal Government-owned hospitals in the Lagos axis.”
“Our choice of strategy was informed by the fact that case studies are in-depth investigations of a single instance of a phenomenon in its broader, real-life context. The localisation of the investigations notwithstanding, the study implicates a wide range of systemic issues affecting the whole spectrum of public health institutions in Nigeria.”
“In order to reverse this situation, therefore, the study recommends among other things that the Federal Government of Nigeria should allocate adequate resources for improving the quality of equipment and human resources in the public hospitals under its patronage.”
“Some of the core recommendations made towards improving the public healthcare sector included the following: improved procurement practices, stronger political commitment to health, increased funding, effective accountability across the board as well as elimination of corruption and bureaucratic bottlenecks in public healthcare delivery in Nigeria.”
No fewer than 200 residents of Igando community in Igando Ikotun Local Council Development Area of Lagos State have benefited from a free medical screening and awareness campaign, which was recently organised by members of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), Ikotun Zone, in commemoration of the 40th anniversary celebration of the traditional ruler of Igando, His Royal Majesty, Oba Lasisi Gbadamosi, (Oro-Otan III), on the throne.
Zonal Chairman, Ikotun ACPN, Pharm Fazazee Taofik, presenting a medicine package to the Monarch, Oba Lasisi Gbadamosi, Onigando of Igando, during the visit to the palace.
The free medical screening and awareness crusade , which took place at the Palace of the Onigando of Igando, had among the several people in attendance, community pharmacists in the zone, politicians, chiefs-in-council to the king, clerics, members of the Market Women Association, among others.
Speaking at the event, the coordinator, Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), Ikotun Zone, Pharm. Fazazee Taofik, explained that the free medical screening and awareness programme, was organised to have an impact in the community where members of the association practiced, as well as commemorating and celebrating the 40th anniversary celebration of the traditional ruler of the town, His Royal Majesty, Oba Lasisi Gbadamosi, who has spent forty years on the throne.
Speaking further, he said many people do not know the difference between pharmacists and other healthcare providers, especially the medical doctors, therefore, it is necessary for us to be here to showcase our presence to the people of this community and to tell them that there are lots of things that they are missing by not regularly patronising registered pharmacists.
A cross section of the pharmacists in a photograph with the monarch, His Royal Majesty, Oba Lasisi Gbadamosi (Middle), at the awareness campaign.
While receiving the pharmacists in his palace, Oba Onigando appreciated them for felicitating with him on his 40th anniversary on the throne of his forefathers, as well as their good gestures in bringing the health awareness advocacy to his domain, in order to enlighten his people on the dangers of drug abuse and misuse, and self-medication.
Oba Gbadamosi further expressed his delight in the free medical screening conducted for his people, adding that the exercise, if continued, would greatly help to prevent illnesses in the community and promote longer, healthier life. “The rate at which people slump and die is quite alarming, yet most times the cause of death is something minor that could have been treated if properly diagnosed earlier. So, it is good when one is aware of his or her health status and I am happy that this is happening in my community” he said.
The octogenarian monarch who ascended the throne on 3 August, 1978, at the age of forty years, disclosed that the secret of his youthfulness and physical fitness, despite his old age, was a combination of healthy diet, regular exercise, and constant medical screening, adding that he often counselled his subjects and children to follow his example.
Speaking on the campaign, the chairman, Planning Committee for the programme, Pharm. Ademola Moyosade, stressed the need for pharmacists to continue in the advocacy, saying, “it is our responsibility as one of the foremost healthcare providers in the country to provide counselling and create awareness in every setting we find ourselves against drug abuse and misuse, as well as dangers involved in drug abuse”.
Moyosade, further added that he was overwhelmed by the way people embraced the programme. “Although, the screening and awareness exercise was part of the programme to celebrate our royal father, Oba Lasisi Gbadamosi 40th anniversary on the throne, it has been impressive, with the way people are scrambling to get tested and asked questions about their health. This shows that people are in dire need of this medical screening and that they really want to know their health status.
Speaking on the topic, “Pharmacists: Your Medicine Experts”, the duo of Pharm. Olusola Jaiyeoba and Pharm. (Mrs) Bukola Folorunsho, who were both keynote speakers described a pharmacist as a “health care professional who is trained and licensed to manufacture, distribute and dispense drugs and to advise patients on the use of drug”, adding that a pharmacists possesses diversified skills and gets involved in decisions to improve the health of patients.”
According to the two keynote speakers, the general public should be on the lookout for the pharmacy emblem whenever they are patronising any pharmacy, adding that the symbol shows members of the public where quality medicines and excellent pharmaceutical care and services are provided.
The appointment, which was announced on Monday, revealed that Adigwe had the highest score in a comprehensive interview process, which had in attendance, some of the best candidates in Nigerian Pharmaceutical Research and Development.
Dr Obi Peter Adigwe
Before his appointment as the DG NIPRD, he was the Executive Secretary of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group (PMGMAN), where, according to reports he made significant contributions to the development and implementation of policy initiatives which made considerable impact on the Industry.
Adigwe, who has authored and co-authored several publications in peer review journals, pioneered Head of the Health Policy Research and Development (HPRD) Unit at the Nigerian National Assembly, where he formulated research and development strategies in Health Policy as well as developed innovative and contextual training, research and capacity building modules.
After graduating from the University of Jos, where he bagged his Bachelor of Pharmacy, Adigwe had obtained other post-graduate degrees from international institutions. He attended the University of Edinburgh, for his Master’s Degree in Global Health and Public Policy; also went to the University of Leeds, for his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Global Health and Public Policy.
However, Pharmanewsonline gathered that there are reactions to the appointment from some quarters, which are questioning the emergence of Adigwe amidst several ‘qualified’ candidates that applied for the position.
The new report compiled by World Health Organisation (WHO) experts has highlighted the dangers of physical inactivity in adults to include cardiovascular disease, several types of cancer and diabetes, falls, as well as mental health conditions.
The data published in the Lancet Global Health recently showed that more than one in four adults globally (28% or 1.4 billion people) are physically inactive. However this can be as high as one in three adults inactive in some counties.
African men engaged in physical activity
In the press statement titled: “Launch of new global estimates on levels of physical activity in adults”, the WHO disclosed” data that update 2008 estimates on levels of activity and, for the first time, reports trend analyses showing that overall, the global level of inactivity in adults remains largely unchanged since 2001”.
According to the report,” women were less active than men, with an over 8% difference at the global level (32% men vs 23%, women). High income countries are more inactive (37%) compared with middle income (26%) and low income countries (16%)”.
The statement maintained that these data show the need for all countries to increase the priority given to national and sub-national actions to provide the environments that support physical activity and increase the opportunities for people of all ages and abilities, to be active every day.
The new Global Action Plan on Physical Activity sets the target to reduce physical inactivity by 10% by 2025 and 15% by 2030.
The Federal Government of Nigeria has approved the appointment of Prof. Ahmed Ahidjo as the Chief Medical Director (CMD), University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri, Borno State.
Prof. Ahmed Ahidjo
The appointment, which took effect from 3 September, 2018 is for four-year tenure, according to a press release from the Federal Ministry of Health.
Following the development, the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole was the first to congratulate Prof. Ahidjo on his new appointment, while calling his attention to the enormity of the responsibilities of his office as well as the yearnings of the people for an effective and responsive healthcare delivery system for Nigerians.
The minister further advised the new CMD to justify the confidence reposed on him by the President, working with all stakeholders to ensure industrial harmony in the health sector.
“Show a people as one thing, only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become.” – Chimamanda Adichie
George O. Emetuche
The salesman is like a business empire
You are like a business empire that has the powers to determine its structure. You are the only one who has the right to design your vision and mission. You are in charge of the decisions about this personal enterprise. You decide who to hire or fire. Your business strategies and the ways to achieve them are in your hands. You know your strengths and weaknesses. You know the type of brand identity you want to develop and how to go about it.
You are a brand and only you have the complete information required to tell your story. Only you can tell your story the way you want it. Only you can form yourself the way you want to look. No man can design you, except with your approval. Only you can write your script the way you want it to be.
Self-discovery is key
In the journey of life, you are expected to first discover yourself. This self-discovery answers questions like: Why am I here; what is the actual purpose of my creation? Who really am I? And where do I go from here? It is only when you are able to answer these questions that you will truly know where you are going and how to get there.
You might be a very busy person working day and night, seven days in a week; but without self-discovery, your effort might be likened to the proverbial pouring of water into a basket. Self-discovery enables you to know your purpose, to know what is expected of you and to know how to achieve it.
It is this self-discovery that will make you perform better as a salesman. Sales job is a job that requires the best from the salesman. It takes your best to convince an individual who is your prospect or customer to buy your products or services. It takes your best to attract and sustain customers’ patronage.
You cannot give what you don’t have. You cannot give out the best when you have not discovered where the best comes from. You cannot give the best when you have not discovered the source of your best performance. The best is inside you, you carry the best in your uniqueness if only you believe it. Your best is driven basically by your mind and the deposit you have inside you.
In sales, your mind is a great tool
The human mind accommodates everything that will be. The mind works like a computer. It receives our thoughts, processes them and gives out action. Therefore, the mind will give you what you put in it. The way you think is the way it will become. The things you accommodate within become your world; what you believe with all your mind becomes your reality.
What you think all the time becomes your possibility. Salespeople don’t fail in real sense, salesmen only think the wrong way – which makes them to believe the wrong way, and subsequently act the wrong way. Your thoughts matter. There is a thin line between success and failure. The thin line lies in how you think, believe and act. These three make the difference.
If you believe that everything is possible, then everything becomes possible for you. If you think that everything is impossible, then it becomes that way too. If you can fix mindset, you can fix everything!
Connect with the inner you
To attain prominence in life, always go into dialogue with your mind to extract the priceless resources deposited there by your Creator. What goes on in your mind determines what you will be. The personality you carry inside has a lot to do with your performance; the more positive you are, the greater your results.
The Scripture says, ‘‘Guard your heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life.’’ All the things we need to get to the top are deposited in the inside of us. Nothing in life happens by accident; most things we achieve or fail to achieve are products of our conscious or subconscious designs.
It is an age-long adage that you can’t give what you don’t have. The best salespeople are those who have discovered themselves. They know where they are, the place they are going and how to get there. They are not controlled by vagaries of the market; rather, they are driven by their inner-wheel to overcome their environment. It is in their character to imagine success even before going to the field.
Peter Drucker says, ‘‘The best way to predict the future is to create it.’’ Successful salespeople create the future they want to see by going after their big dreams. Step out today and believe you will conquer because everything begins with you.
Please get Books by George O. Emetuche: The 25 Unbreakable Laws of Sales, The Selling Champion, The Art of Selling, The 11 Irrefutable Principles of Success and Everything is Possible, from: Pharmanews Vendors, Laterna Bookshop, Oko Awo Street, Victoria Island, Unilag Bookshop, Jumia, Vog & Word Bookshop, Osata Supermarket, Opebi, Ikeja, CSS Bookshop, Broad Street, Lagos Island, Victory Drugs, Festac, Terra Kulture Bookshop, Tiamu Salvage Crescent, Victoria Island, Bible Wonderland, Alaka, Surulere, Glendora Bookshop, Ikeja Shopping Mall, CIBN Bookshop, Banker’s House, Adeola Hopewell, Victoria Island, Jed Mega Stores, De Palms, Lekki, Hub Mart Outlets, PATABAH Bookshop, Adeniran Ogunsanya Mall, Surulere, Paressia Bookshop, Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Jumia, etc.
The forthcoming 2018 World Heart Day, slated for 29 September, presents a golden opportunity for the Nigerian government and other stakeholders in the health sector to galvanise proactive national action towards stemmming the worrisome incidence of cardiovascular disorders and its attendant catastrophes on the populace.
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), which are disorders of the heart and blood vessels, have, in recent years, been subtly but steadily spreading among Nigerians and, except some prompt and pragmatic steps, are taken to address the trend, the nation may soon be plunged into a devastating CVDs epidemic.
As it stands, it will be difficult to find any Nigerian who does not know someone who is hypertensive or has had a stroke or a heart attack. The stark implication is that millions of Nigerians are battling with these conditions. It needs to be pointed out though that the challenge posed by CVDs is not peculiar to Nigeria. As the latest figures from the World Health Organisation show, heart-related conditions are responsible for the death of 17.7 million people every year which is 31 per cent of all global deaths.
What makes the Nigerian situation particularly alarming, however, is that, with the absence of reliable national data and the fact that cardiovascular diseases were previously viewed as more of an issue in developed countries, the Nigerian government does not appear to be giving the issue the attention it deserves. The nation is concentrating so much on infectious disease control while neglecting CVDs. This is a primary reason, aside from dietary and lifestyle issues, why heart conditions continue to be a major cause of mortality in Nigeria.
A recent study conducted by WHO revealed that 46 per cent of adults in the African region countries are hypertensive. In the breakdown of the statistics, Nigeria, with its huge population, has the highest number of hypertensive adults, followed by Ghana, Seychelles, Sao Tome and Principe, and Cabo Verde. Indeed, the study specifically cites over 35 per cent adult Nigerians as battling with hypertension.
While the above report may not be conclusive, what is not in doubt is that the mortality rate from stroke, which usually occurs as a result of untreated or poorly managed hypertension, is very high. Very few people survive incidents of stroke in this clime. In fact, the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole revealed last year that 150,000 Nigerians die annually as a result of heart-related diseases like hypertension and warned that the figure was likely to increase to 23 million by 2030, if adequate measures were not taken.
The WHO is worried about the CVD challenge – and so should the Nigerian government and other relevant stakeholders. The global health body in 2016 launched “Global Hearts”, a new initiative to beat the global threat of cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks and strokes. The initiative is to protect people from CVDs and help them recover following a heart attack or stroke.
The Nigeria nation must embrace this initiative which is supporting governments to heighten efforts on CVDs prevention and control through three technical packages: tobacco control, salt reduction and strengthening of CVD management in primary health care. The initiative also aims to train health workers to better deliver tested and affordable measures to protect people from CVDs.
However, beyond this global initiative is the need to scale sup enlightenment campaigns on heart diseases, especially on the importance of lifestyle change, healthy living, regular checkups and management of the heart. Ocassions, such as World Heart Day, offer good opportunities and platforms to execute such campaigns.
The theme of the 2018 World Heart Day: “My Heart, Your Heart” is a call to a collective action by all and sundry to take heart-related issues seriously. All Nigerians must embrace this slogan and its message.
For the realisation of fundamental factors to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are access to quality health care services, safe and effective medicines and vaccines, pharmacists must be prepared to play key roles in a dynamic public healthcare system, for effective and positive health outcomes.
L-R:Prof. S.A. Okunuga, represented the Vice-Chancellor, University of Lagos, Professor Oluwatoyin T. Ogundipe; Dr (Mrs) Ajoritsedere J. Awosika, keynote speaker; Pharmanews Publisher and Chairman of the ocassion, Pharm. (Sir) Ifeanyi Atueyi; and Prof. Festus A. Ogunbona; at the annual lecture.
This was the submission of stakeholders at the Ladipo Mobolaji Abisogun-Afodu 2nd Annual Lecture in Pharmacy, held at the Old Great Hall, College of Medicine, University of Lagos (UNILAG) Idi-Araba, Lagos, on 6 September, 2018.
Dignitaries in attendance at the annual lecture were: The Vice-Chancellor, University of Lagos (UNILAG) Professor Oluwatoyin T. Ogundipe; Dr (Mrs) Ajoritsedere J. Awosika; keynote speaker and chairman, Bio-Generics’ Integrity Award for Pharmacists in Public Hospitals; Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, UNILAG, Prof. (Mrs) B. A. Aina, Head of the Da Rocha-Afodu Clan, Mama A.O. Branco; Director, office of Advancement, Oluwarotimi O.A. Shodimu, Esq.; Pharmanews Publisher and Chairman of the ocassion, Pharm. (Sir) Ifeanyi Atueyi; Dean, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, UNILAG, Prof. Olubunmi Magbagbeola; Distinguished Professor H.A.B. Coker; Prof. E. A. Ogunlana; Prof. Festus A. Ogunbona; Mrs Olaide Sasegbon, executor of the Estate; and others .
Speaking on theme of the lecture: “Enhancing the role of pharmacists in public health in the context of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”, Dr Awosika explained the responsibility of pharmacists in the healthcare delivery system, noting that as drug experts, pharmacists play key role of improving health outcomes through the responsible use of medicines and optimising effective choice and use.
Pharmanews Publisher and Chairman of the occasion Pharm. (Sir) Ifeanyi Atueyi, receiving an award plaque for chairing the function,from Mrs Olaide Sasegbon, at the programme.
She explained that pharmacy practice however took a new dimension in 1990 through the introduction of the term “Pharmaceutical Care” by Hepler and Strand, as a philosophy and standard of provision of care for patients.
Awosika, who stressed the need for Nigerian pharmacists to key into the concept of pharmaceutical care in its entirety said Nigerian pharmacists cannot be different from others around the globe, thus they must conform to the latest trend in the practice now, else they fall out of place in the profession.
According to her: “Pharmaceutical care concept has transformed the pharmacy profession to be more accountable in patient care, especially to ensure that a patient achieves positive outcomes from drug therapy. Therein lies the mutually reinforcing role of pharmacy in public health”.
Thus for pharmacists to fit successfully into public healthcare roles, she said they must acquire required skills set in public health, apply the skills accordingly, and advance needed evolution of the pharmacy profession to ensure they make critical, unique and available contributions, to healthcare delivery system in the country.
The Vice-Chancellor, University of Lagos (UNILAG) Professor Oluwatoyin T. Ogundipe, represented by Prof. S.A. Okunuga, in his opening remarks appreciated the donor, late Mrs Frederica Abimbola Omololu- Mulele for bequeathing such huge donation of the sum of N36 million for the endowment of two professorial chairs at the University of Lagos in the fields of Obstetrics/Gynaecology and Pharmacy.
He however explained that when it was clear that the total amount available for the two chairs would not be enough to sustain them in perpetuity, a decision was taken to have it changed to annual lectures to boost the two areas of study in perpetuity.
While calling on other Nigerians to emulate the good example of the donor, in supporting education and research, he said this is one of the special ways of funding education, in the face of dwindling resources for that purpose in Nigeria.
The UNILAG VC expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the executors of the Estate, for executing the donor’s Will to the later.
In his contribution, the Chairman of the occasion, Sir (Pharm.) Atueyi urged all participants to leave a worthy legacy behind, as the legacy left by Late Mrs Frederica Abimbola Omololu- Mulele, has brought them together for the occasion of the day.
He also narrated how the keynote speaker, Dr Awosika had impacted the country positively as a former National Coordinator/Chief Executive Officer of the National Programme on Immunisation, and she even assisted a lot of families then, during the economic recession that occured from 1998 to2015, of which his own family benefitted too.
The Pharmanews boss mentioned how a group of PANS national executives established an Annual Essay and Debate Competition for Pharmacy Students in his name in 2015, and he consented to the idea because it is a worthy legacy to leave behind.
Quoting from the Holy Bible in Nehemiah 5:19 which says “Remember me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people”, he asked the audience:”What do you want to be remembered for, what are you living for”?
He therefore concluded with the scriptural saying which states that “Whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not to men”.
Dr (Pharm) Albert Kelong Alkali is the immediate past national chairman of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), an umbrella body of all community pharmacists in Nigeria. In this exciting interview, shortly before the handover ceremony, Alkali in an emotion-laden voice recalls the highs and lows of his tenure. Excerpts:
Dr (Pharm) Albert Kelong Alkali
You recently handed over as ACPN national chairman, after serving for the last three years. How many of the objectives that you set for yourself and your team were achieved?
To the glory of God, I believe we were able to achieve at least 90 per cent of the objectives we set for ourselves at the beginning of my tenure. We put together a four-point agenda and we were able to achieve it.
One of the objectives I set for my tenure was the fact that I was going to engage the media, and for the past three years I did that actively and robustly. I also stated that I would be taking care of the issue of the secretariat and we have moved to a brand new secretariat, with trained staff that are on pension schemes. Our Drug Information Centre (DIC) now has a new pharmacist, while the new secretariat has given us a good image and brand as an association.
I also stated that I would engage the regulatory agencies and we have done that. Over the last three years, we have been able to engage the NAFDAC meaningfully and we are getting results. We have a technical working group that raises issues and resolves them when they arise and the relationship between ACPN and NAFDAC is quite good.
I believe that it’s been a wonderful time and we’ve done our best for the association and we are hoping that those that have taken over will build on this and do more.
What were your greatest challenges and achievements while you were in office?
My greatest challenge is the fact that we were not able to get the Council to sanitise the practice area as we would have loved. PCN has said that this is due to the fact that they need to amend the laws; this issue however still poses a big challenge. Most of our members are worried and unhappy about the situation as the practice environment is still overrun with so many patent medicine vendors, unregistered premises and the open drug market. This situation in itself does not give room for professional practice and that is the biggest challenge I had.
Another challenge we faced is the economic situation. When we were coming in as executives, we came in under the shroud of economic depression; so it limited our projects and the input that many community pharmacists were able to give to the association. We wanted to get a land in Abuja but we were unable to, due to the financial constraints and I hope the new executives will look into that. But I am happy now that we have a befitting secretariat.
Another great achievement for me is the formation of the non-profit company called CP Nexus because it has the potential to maximise our practice and increase the income of the average community pharmacist, as well as enabling them to source for grants and carry out IT infrastructure and other things.
We were also able to operationalise COPA (Community Pharmacy Action), which had been lying fallow over the years and all efforts made to implement it had yielded no fruits; but we came on board and we were able to operationalise it. Presently, we have 17 pharmacies that are called COPA pharmacies; 15 of them are at COPA 1 status, while the remaining two are at COPA 3 status.
Is there a pending project that you would have loved to carry out before leaving as the national chairman?
One of the biggest things I wanted to do involves the NHIS – National Health Insurance Scheme. The NHIS, as far as I am concerned, has the greatest potential to change community practice in Nigeria and also has the greatest potential to deliver and ensure that patients get professional care from community pharmacists.
The scheme is such that prescription comes from health facilities to community pharmacies to be refilled and then community pharmacists get to carry out other pharmaceutical services. However, this scheme has not been carrying community pharmacists along and we are in the process of forming a proposal so that we can engage the top management of the scheme in dialogue and the PSN is also interested in this.
I had begun writing and putting certain data together for the proposal to be taken for discussion, involve more of our members in it and make the scheme successful. As the scheme is right now, we cannot say that it is succeeding because the coverage is not up to ten per cent. So, that is one thing I would have loved to do but was unable to. I urge the next executive to take it serious.
Many are of the opinion that, a fellow northerner, Pharm. Ahmed Yakasai, being at the helm of affairs of the PSN, contributed greatly to the success of your tenure. What are your thoughts on this sir?
Well, what I believe is that what we have seen over the years are massive collaborations and I don’t think it is because Pharm. Yakasai is from the north. I believe that we must be able to engage the president of PSN. Pharm Olumide was there and we never had any friction, Pharm Yakasai came in and we’ve had a good relationship. If they say that we have a very good working relationship, I agree. In fact, he calls me his pharmaceutical son and I respect him very much.
We have a very good understanding of each other. He gives me advice and I take it and I make demands from him that will complement my efforts and he does it. I do not think it is because we are both from the north. We have people that are from the same area and they fight all day and achieve nothing.
What are your thoughts on the recently held ACPN elections?
The ACPN I must say is the most democratic arm of the PSN, as far as democracy is concerned. Our annual general meeting is quite open and interactive. Our National Executive Council is also quite open. We raise issues and discuss them and in situations where you see people come unopposed for a position, it is because there is an understanding. When people see that you are competent to do a job, there is no need for them to go through unnecessary hassles to oppose you; after all, we are going in for service.
We tried as much as we could to make the process as transparent and just as possible to all candidates so that, at the end of the day, the people’s choice would emerge for the association.
What is your advice to the new national chairman of the association?
I urge the new national chairman to be focused. He should pay attention and listen to advice from people. He should study the handover notes that will be given to him carefully and come up with his own programmes. There is so much to be done and we have tried our best to lay a solid foundation, so that the new chairman can take the association soaring to greater heights.
I will be there, as the immediate past chairman, to give all necessary support and make sure he succeeds. If he remains focused and is able to do what he ought to do, then we can be sure that we will see three times more than what I was able to achieve.
Red palm oil is derived from the fruit of the oil palm tree, Elaeis guineensis (Fam: Arecaceae). It is a vegetable oil extracted mainly from the pulp of the palm trees fruit.
Constituents
Palm oil is packed full with powerful phytonutrients, like beta carotenes (which account for its dark red colour), lycopene and tocotrienols. This oil contains about 17 times the amount of carotene in carrots.
Palm fruit and palm oil
Similarly, the abundant tocotrienol (a form of Vitamin E) found in red palm oil is about 40 to 60 times more potent than tocopherol (another form of Vitamin E) in terms of antioxidant properties.
Uses
Palm oil is used as a cooking oil, for frying different types of cuisines, as a tasty ingredient for different cuisines, dietary supplement, as well as making personal care and household products.
Injuries like bruises, sunburn and cuts heal faster when palm oil is applied.
Some palm species in sub-Saharan Africa are used in various ritual practices. Palms are added as a support to other powerful ingredients. For example, palm oil is used as a medium to blend and make coherent the healing mixture.
Pharmacological action/medicinal uses
Palm oil was regarded as a sacred healing oil by the ancient Egyptians because of its tremendous health benefits.
The phytonutrients in palm oil have been shown to offer considerable protection for major body organs like the brain, heart and blood vessels.
Numerous studies, like one funded by the National Institute of Health, revealed that the risk reduction of stroke associated with red palm oil was found to be as high as 50 per cent.
Tocotrienol in red palm oil fights against cancers of the breast, pancreas, liver, skin, stomach, colon and prostate by blocking and mopping up harmful free radicals and initiating apoptosis (a process that leads to a programmed death of mutated cancerous cells in the body).
Red palm oil enhances the absorption of fat-soluble vitamin in the intestines. Some studies have linked red palm oil to a decrease in the incidence of cataracts and macular degeneration, which are the leading global causes of blindness.
Individuals who have adequate regular intake of red palm oil are less likely to suffer cognitive impairments than others.
Red palm oil in the diet can help to maintain a healthy, supple skin. (tocotrienols shield the skin) from harmful ultraviolet rays. This may also explain why red palm oil has been linked to reduced risk of cancers of the skin.
Adverse effects
Consumption of large amounts may cause yellowing of the skin; topical application can cause skin to turn yellowish orange. Palm oil stains on clothes is challenging to wash off.
Economic value and potentials
Palm oil trade has been going on for thousands of years. The official cultivation of palm oil started in Africa and Asia. The origin of extracting oil from the palm plant originated in Africa and is considered to be one of the earliest traded commodities.
Palm oil is a raw material for many manufacturing activities; it helped to set up the soap, lubricant, and the edible oil industries.
Potentials
Palm oil is used in a very high proportion of household products. There is strong demand for palm oil right here in Nigeria. Small-scale farmers across the region sell their products locally.
Packaged products in any supermarket contains palm oil, so the chances are high that you have a lot of palm oil products in your house.
Since there is a strong demand for palm oil right here, small-scale farmers across the region sell their products locally.
FIP’s 78th annual World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, which commenced on 2 September and to run till 6 September, is being held in Glasgow, United Kingdom. The congress is supported by VisitScotland National Conference Bid Funding.
Some 3,014 pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists from 108 countries are in attendance.
Photographs below captured some Nigerian delegates at the conference.Wishing them best deliberations and positive outcomes.
As almost all universities in Nigeria offering Pharmacy are now expected to phase out the B.Pharm programme and replace it with the more patient-centred PharmD programme, President of the Pharmaceutical Association of Nigeria Students (PANS), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, Jesujoba Ojelabi, has called on the alumni of the institution under the aegis of the Great Ife Pharmacy Alumni Association (GIPAA) to help expedite action on it. In this interview with Pharmanews, Joba, as he is fondly called by his colleagues, also discusses pharmacy students’ experiences in OAU, being the foremost institution to offer pharmacy as a degree course in the country. Excerpts:
Has Pharmacy always been your dream course?
No. As a matter of fact, looking back now, ten years ago, I could not have predicted that I would be here. I was merely one of those kids who were strongly under pressure to study a professional course, and considering the intense competition associated with Medicine, I just switched to Pharmacy. And although on some days, the stress of the programme makes me wonder why I didn’t ask enough questions about it then. On some other days, I am glad I made that choice.
Jesujoba Ojelabi
As president of PANS, what is your assessment of pharmacy education in OAU, compared to other pharmacy schools in the country?
I am going to try very hard to be modest in answering this one. But the reality is that the Faculty of Pharmacy, OAU, is one of the best, as much as pharmacy education in Nigeria is concerned. A major reason of course is that it is the premier school of pharmacy in the country. This, by default, gives Ife Pharmacy an advantage over others.
In terms of infrastructure, we stand among the best and courtesy of the magnanimity of our alumni body, I doubt that this will change anytime soon – certainly not even with our current dean’s vision to make the faculty the best in Africa.
Indeed, the faculty is not without its flaws and the intensity of the programme, the B.Pharm programme, especially, might cause some counter opinions. But I believe this only goes to show how thorough the programme is and, although it can surely get better, what we currently have is one of the best in the country today.
What is your general view of the current state of pharmacy education in Nigeria and what do you think government can do about it?
To streamline my comments to pharmacy education alone might just be selfish. The entire educational system in the country is obviously not what it should be and the reason is not far-fetched – there is a great underfunding of education in this country.
In my little time here in Ife, I have seen things go from bad to worse in some practical labs for the mere reason that departments can no longer buy the needed facilities and it is like that almost all over the university. There can only be one way out of that: The Nigerian government needs to pay more attention to education in its fiscal policies.
What specific areas in pharmacy education in OAU do you want stakeholders, like GIPAA, to address urgently and why?
Well, since GIPAA has been mentioned, it is only courteous that I appreciate the association before making any demands of them at all. GIPAA has remained one of the standing pillars behind the Faculty of Pharmacy, OAU and, certainly, PANS-OAU cannot appreciate enough the many alumni who have always come to the rescue in our times of need, both financially and otherwise.
As regards demands based on pharmacy education, I believe the Faculty of Pharmacy, OAU, is about to cross a major milestone as it is about to join the few other schools running the PharmD programme. This process will require a curriculum review. I believe GIPAA would be doing pharmacy education a great favour by contributing ideas, based on current realities in practice, to this process. Some of the members of GIPAA are practising pharmacists and are therefore the closest to these current realities in pharmacy practice in Nigeria. This puts them in a good position to contribute to what the Nigerian PharmD curriculum should look like.
The first Great Ife Pharmacy Alumni Conference and Reunion was recently held in this faculty. What can you say about the conference and what impact did it have on PANS-OAU?
The conference, being the first of its kind, is a welcome development. Conferences are definitely very important in academic environments and it’s interesting that it took the premier school of pharmacy this long to have one. But it is surely a welcome development. Our students were exposed to oral and poster presentations and actually got to appreciate a scientific exhibition.
The conference also featured an alumni reunion which brought back a number of alumni to the faculty. This in itself is a privilege. Students could tap into the wealth of experience of these alumni and have some form of mind preparation for the realities beyond school.
I must appreciate the initiative of the current dean, Professor Wilson Erhun, and every other brain behind the conference. Personally, I look forward to more of it, both as a student and, hopefully soon enough, as an alumnus.
Who are your role models in pharmacy practice and why?
I have quite a number. There is Pharmacist Victor Afolabi, of Wellness; Sir Atueyi, of Pharmanews; Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi; Professor Wilson Erhun, and a host of others. I appreciate men that break new frontiers, creating new paths for others to follow. Some areas of practice in the pharmacy profession can be stereotypical and it takes a creative mind to break out of these stereotypes.
The names mentioned are major pioneers in what they do, even though it still stands in the scope of pharmacy practice – Sir Atueyi with the media and health journalism; Victor Afolabi with health insurance; Prince Adelusi-Adeluyi has a number of “firsts” in the profession; and Professor Erhun was the first professor of pharmacy administration in West Africa. So, you see where I’m coming from.
When you graduate from pharmacy school, which area of practice would you consider and why?
Well, I think I’m still in the streamlining process. Nothing is cast in stone yet. But I have a strong feeling it won’t be hospital for me. As mentioned earlier, I believe in exploring new fronts. But if I have to choose from what is already on ground, I’d strongly consider health journalism, community practice or public health. The first because of my personal skillset and the latter two because I feel they are closest to society.
Where do you see PANS- OAU by the time you are leaving office as president?
I see PANS at the next level – exploring novel heights. Interestingly, that picture is already taking form. My team and I are already committing to a number of infrastructural and personal development programmes to contribute our quota to the association and the PANSites that brought us in. We are currently in the funds generation phase and, hopefully, with adequate support, these projects should come to completion soon enough.
