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Tag: Health Minister

  • COVID-19: Buhari receives briefings from Health Minister, NCDC DG [Photos]

    COVID-19: Buhari receives briefings from Health Minister, NCDC DG [Photos]

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday received briefing by Health Minister Dr. Osagie Ehanire and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Director-General Chikwe Ihekweazu, on the latest development on Coronavirus and the ‘strange’ disease in Kano.

    Ehanire told reporters that the meeting was on the position of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 Control.

    The President’s meeting with the minister and the NCDC director-general came less than 24 hours to the expiration of the 14-day extension to a lockdown in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Lagos and Ogun states to contain the pandemic.

    Ehanire said the PTF presented to the President its advice and recommendations on way forward as regard the ongoing fight against the spread of the deadly virus.

    “We also brought the overall summary of position of the Presidential Task Force which as you know comprises of not only the health minister but other ministries.

    “We have aggregated the opinions that we have, weighing the health and the socio-economic factors and everything, to present our own opinion and recommendations to Mr President.’’

    Ehanire said the nation was winning the fight against the pandemic as all relevant health institutions had agreed to work together to achieve the desired goal of defeating the novel Coronavirus.

    He said: “The fight is going on very well. As I said, all countries have continued with the struggle against Coronavirus, using the strategies that they have developed for their own countries.

    “We have developed a strong strategy as we are working with other experts groups like the NCDC and relevant health organisations. So, we are also working with the states and the governors.’’

    On Kano’s strange disease,” which has killed many people, the minister said his ministry had been communicating with relevant agencies, including the Kano State Government with a view to addressing the health problem.

    Ihekweazu advised Nigerians against wasting their meagre resources on the procurement of what he described as uncertified Rapid Diagnostic Test Kits.

    He said: “We will continue to build up our testing strategies. At the moment 14 testing centres have been activated across the country.

    “We want to bring the test closer to every state. Everybody is working very hard to solve this problem.

    “I can see that some people are already procuring Rapid Diagnostic Test Kits. They don’t work as far as we know.

    “So, I will really recommend that we all stick to the National Strategy, build on it, support its expansion and together we will get on top of the pandemic.’’

  • Coronavirus: President sacks Health minister for imposing total lockdown

    Coronavirus: President sacks Health minister for imposing total lockdown

    Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has sacked his health minister after clashing with him over how to fight the new coronavirus.

    Few global leaders have done more than Bolsonaro to downplay the global pandemic, which has killed nearly 2,000 Brazilians.

    He has called the virus “a little flu” and criticized state governors for imposing the shutdowns supported by health experts and the popular outgoing minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta.

    In televised remarks met with pot-banging protests in major cities, Bolsonaro said Mandetta did not fully appreciate the need to protect Brazilian jobs and called again for a resumption of economic activity.

    “We need to return to normal, not as fast as possible, but we need to start having some flexibility,” said the president, adding that the government cannot afford to keep up emergency aid to the poor for much longer.

    While Bolsonaro sharply criticized the shutdowns, the Health Ministry under Mandetta provided guidance supportive of the social distancing measures.

    Mandetta’s daily briefings had also contradicted Bolsonaro’s praise for unproven drugs.

    Incoming minister Nelson Teich, asked at a joint news conference about the ministry’s position now that he was in charge, said there will not be any “sudden changes” in policy.

    However, he added: “There is a complete alignment between me and the president.”

    Teich, who founded an oncology group sold to United Healthcare in 2015, lacks the political experience of his predecessor, a former lawmaker who had begun to upstage the president.

    The Health Ministry’s response to the epidemic was rated “good” or “great” by 76% of Brazilians surveyed by pollster Datafolha this month. Just 33% of those surveyed gave Bolsonaro the same ratings.

    In his parting comments to colleagues at the ministry, Mandetta called for a smooth transition and warned that Brazil is still far from the peak of the coronavirus outbreak

  • TRENDING: Health Minister falls asleep, snores while on live interview (Video)

    TRENDING: Health Minister falls asleep, snores while on live interview (Video)

    Dr. Elton, the Sudanese minister of health, was caught snoring while on a live television interview.

    The minister while undergoing an interview via a live video call from the programme were he was supposed to answer questions concerning the coronavirus crisis, was seen in the video sleeping and thereafter snoring

    The host unaware of the situation proceeded to ask him the question before she realized he was taking a nap on the live show

    The female host called on his name severally before he could wake up and respond

    He was asked questions concerning his dedication towards work. Although he has apologized and blamed the unusual encounter on fatigue

  • COVID-19: Health Minister reveals number of tests done, says 70 percent of those who tested positive are males

    COVID-19: Health Minister reveals number of tests done, says 70 percent of those who tested positive are males

    The Minster of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, has said that till date, over 2,000 persons have been tested for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

    Ehanire, who made this known on Wednesday at the Presidential Task Force Briefing on COVID-19 in Abuja, said that of the total number of people who tested positive for COVID-19, 70 percent of them are males.

    According to him, “As of now, over 2000 persons have been tested. We are expanding our diagnostic capacity to test across the country. This is expected to improve turnaround time and enhance timely access to testing.

    “About 70 percent of those who have tested positive are males. The age range is between 30 and 60 years. However, we must note that both men and women of all ages can be affected

    “As of today, the 1st of April 2020, we have recorded 151 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria. 82 are in Lagos, 28 in FCT, 8 in Oyo, 14 in Osun, 4 each in Ogun and Edo, 3 in Kaduna, 2 each in Bauchi, Ekiti and Enugu and 1 each in Benue, and Rivers States.

    “Some vehicles were intercepted trying to enter Nigeria from Benin Republic, with over 100 Nigerians onboard, heading for Osun State. It is said that they were coming from Ivory Coast or Ghana, I am not quite sure.
    “It is among this group that we have 12 immediate new entrants, that is, imported cases which added to the 139 we have. Therefore, we have 151 cases of coronavirus in Nigeria.

    “It shows the importance of importation and also border closure. In this case, they are our citizens and they are knocking at the door of our borders and they have to be let in. But if they were not our citizens, definitely, we will have a problem having to handle infected persons of other nationalities.

    “Till date, nine (9) persons have been discharged and two deaths recorded from COVID-19 in Nigeria. These were cases with severe underlying illnesses aggravated by their COVID-19 infection.

    “Between last week and this week, two new laboratories have been added to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) network of molecular laboratories for COVID-19. These are Virology Laboratory of University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State and Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki (FETHA), Ebonyi State.

    “With this addition, we have increased our daily testing capacity from five hundred to one thousand. Hopefully, by next week, it is expected that this will be significantly increased.

    “From what we know, the incubation period for COVID-19 is generally 2-14 days, that is, the time it takes for an infected person to show symptoms. Therefore, we are using the window of opportunity presented by the lockdown in the FCT, Lagos and Ogun States to promptly detect, isolate and effectively treat cases.

    “It is important to emphasize that there are no Rapid Diagnostic Tests available that have been validated by the World Health Organization, (WHO), because they often give unreliable results.

    “Unless you have been tested in one of the seven molecular laboratories for COVID-19 in Nigeria, your results are most likely useless. In the absence of a vaccine, interventions such as social distancing and self-isolation have become even more important to curbing the spread of the disease”.

    He added: “With nearly 1,000 bed spaces identified in the FCT, we continue to expand the number of isolation centres and ICU units across the country for those who may have severe complications from the disease due to being immunocompromised. This includes elderly people above the age of 70 or those with critical underlying health conditions such as cancer, tuberculosis and HIV.

    “Several States have also identified and established isolation centres for treatment of mild and moderate cases. Lagos State has expanded its isolation wards and surge capacity. Yesterday, the Ogun State Governor commissioned isolation centres of over 200 bed capacity in the State.

    “I urge states to urgently prioritize identification of these within their states particularly tertiary hospitals.

    “We have also engaged hundreds of ad-hoc staff to support various areas of response and Port Health Authority staff previously stationed at the airports have been redeployed to key roads that serve at key entry and exit points”.

    The Minister explained that the national case definition for COVID-19 has been expanded to include persons with acute respiratory illness in an area of medium or high prevalence of the disease without any other explanation.

    Concerning burials of people who have died from the COVID-19, the Director-General of the NCDC, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, said: “The burial of a case of COVID-19 is not as risky as the one of Lassa and Ebola. The one of Lassa and Ebola we know that when they pass away, their body fluids are very infectious, and so we advise on an elaborate process that is culturally very difficult for any part of our country to avoid any contact with body fluids.

    “We have released advisory on burials for COVID-19, but it doesn’t have the same level of infectivity of Lassa or Ebola because it is not transmitted through body fluids, but it is a viral infection and transmitted through respiratory tract. It doesn’t die with the person. The virus survives a while. We still advise on a fairly safe burial but the risks are not as high as Lassa and Ebola”.

  • BREAKING: [COVID-19] Presidency releases video of Buhari receiving briefings from Health Minister, others

    BREAKING: [COVID-19] Presidency releases video of Buhari receiving briefings from Health Minister, others

    The Nigerian Presidency on Saturday released pictures and a 29 seconds video of President Muhammadu Buhari receiving briefings from the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire and the Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu on recent developments in the fight against the novel coronavirus [COVID-19] pandemic.

    Recall that there had been nationwide calls for the president to address Nigerians on how far he has been coordinating the fight against the pandemic that have now infected 81 persons in the country.

    To further drive their points home in demand for the president’s address, some netizens launched #WhereisBuhari on twitter which trended for over two consecutive days.

    In what seemed like a response to the doubting Thomases, the president’s Personal Assistant on New Media, Bashir Ahmed through his Twitter Handle @BashirAhmaad released the video on Saturday afternoon.

    Watch video below:

    https://twitter.com/BashirAhmaad/status/1243883991188541440?s=20

  • Coronavirus: Senate to invite Health Minister, Ehanire

    Coronavirus: Senate to invite Health Minister, Ehanire

    …Wants Customs to stop ‘illegal’ exportation of surgical face-masks

    The Senate on Thursday resolved to invite the Minister of Health, Osagie Emmanuel Ohanire, to brief the upper chamber on the preparedness of his ministry towards taking precautionary measures to stem a possible outbreak of the Coronavirus in Nigeria.

    This was even as the Senate charged the Nigerian Custom Service (NCS), to as a matter of urgency; introduce measures to stop the exportation of surgical face-masks from Nigeria to Asia and other countries affected by the dreaded Coronavirus.

    The upper chamber also urged the Nigeria Police Force, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Federal Ministry of Health, Nigerian Immigration Service and other relevant Government authorities to strengthen port health regulatory services in all entry ports across the country to check the outbreak of the virus in Nigeria.

    These formed part of resolutions adopted following consideration of a motion sponsored by Senator Ifeanyi Ubah (YPP – Anambra South) on Thursday.

    Presenting his motion, Ubah said, “Over the last three weeks, face-masks have become the most sought after commodity in Nigeria with over 100 million face-masks being unpatriotically exported to Asia using the Murtala Mohammed Airport and Port Harcourt International Airport.”

    The lawmaker disclosed that “the exportation of these face-masks have led to a surge in the market prices.”

    “As at 5th of November, 2019, stores that usually sell 1 piece of face-mask for N10 now sell it for N80, while a pack consisting of 50 pieces has now inflated from N500 to N3,000; with a carton consisting of 40 packs also inflated from N20,000 to N120,000.

    “It has now become a booming trade for illicit traders aided by airport officials in Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos and Port Harcourt International Airport to unpatriotically export face-masks to China, India and other affected countries,” Ubah lamented.

    He warned that unless something is done, Nigeria may soon be facing shortage of protective surgical face-masks, especially against the backdrop that “Nigeria is on the brink of an imminent outbreak given our massive population and frequency to travel.”

    The lawmaker further disclosed that “Chinese companies have sent their agents to scout for medical face-masks in Nigeria and other African countries”, adding that “India and other countries are mass producing the face-masks in order to curb this deadly trend.”

    He noted with concern that the World Health Organization has recorded 565 deaths with 28,276 cases of infected persons.

    “If proactive measures are not taken to checkmate borders, an imminent outbreak might occur in the same manner which an infected carrier immigrant from Liberia transferred Ebola disease to Nigeria in 2014,” Ubah warned.

    Consequently, the Senate urged the Nigerian Customs Service to impose strict penalties and heavy fines on anybody trying to export surgical face-masks within the period of the Coronavirus outbreak.

    The upper chamber also mandated the Health Ministry and other relevant agencies to launch a sensitization and awareness campaign in preventing an outbreak of the virus in Nigeria.

     

  • Coronavirus: Health Minister Ehanire inspects UATH Isolation Centre

    Coronavirus: Health Minister Ehanire inspects UATH Isolation Centre

    Dr Osagie Ehanire, Minister of Health on Tuesday inspected an Isolation Centre under construction at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH) Gwagwalada as part of the precautionary measures to prevent importation of coronavirus.

    Ehanire in a statement by the Head Media and Public Relations in the ministry, Mrs Enefaa Bob- Manuel, said the Federal Government had adopted the measure in the event that the disease is imported.

    “We must not allow it enters our country through any of the entry points.

    “ As such, if any passenger should test positive at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Abuja, he or she will need to be isolated, thus, the need to have an isolation centre at UATH,” he said

    Ehanire said there was need for a facility where diagnosis could be carried out by staff to be trained by Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Port Health Services Division of the Ministry.

    According to him, the training will equip health workers to build their capacity to treat Lassa fever so that patients will not need to travel as far as Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, in Edo.

    The minister, therefore, solicited the support of UATH to enable the health sector tackle the disease in case of its importation.

    In his response, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of UATH, Prof. Bissallah Ekele pledged his support to provide necessary facility for the centre.

    “I will not only make the yet to be completed Isolation Centre available but also to offer the newly completed Accident and Emergency department for temporary use until the completion of the Isolation centre,’’ he said

  • Global Fund: Health minister harps on 3 pillars for effective coordination

    Global Fund: Health minister harps on 3 pillars for effective coordination

    Minister of State for Health, Sen. Adeleke Mamora, has emphasised on three pillars of trust, confidence and accountability for effective coordination and delivery of Global Fund (GF) in the country.

    Mamora said this at a 3-day annual retreat of the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) for Global Fund on Friday in Abuja.

    CCM Nigeria, the custodian of GF grant, is a body of representative of Government, Bilateral and Multilateral organisation, Civil Society Organisations, Patients, Community, Private Sector and Academia.

    The mandate of CCM is to oversee the delivery of Global Fund HIV, Tuberculosis, Malaria and Resilient Sustainable Systems for Health (RSSH) grant.

    The minster told the stakeholders that if they could be trusted, inspired confidence in the process and if they demonstrated accountability in their duties, the Fund would be delivered effectively.

    “The issue is that the outcome of the delivery of the coordination will depend on the input.

    “We must be careful when we think we are making progress and we are not.

    “Why we complain about medical tourism, forgetting that in the 50s and 60s, people were coming to Nigeria for medical care.

    “So, what has happened, we need to address the issues; let us define what works for us and do it to get results,’’ he said.

    In his presentation on Tuberculosis (TB), Dr Emperor Ubochioma, Programme Management Unit Team Leader for Global Fund TB Grant, said without the GenExpert machine, TB diagnosis would be a mirage.

    Also speaking, Director -General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, emphasised the need for accountability of every Fund to encourage more global support .

    The Executive secretary of CCM Nigeria, Mr Dozie Ezechukwu, in his reaction, said the mechanism was ready to be more transparent.

    Ezechukwu said some measures had been put in place to checkmate the use of the Fund and ensure effective delivery of the grant to address the burden of the three diseases in the country.

    Similarly, other stakeholders spoke on strengthening partnership and accountability to achieve results in the implementation of Global Fund grant for the three diseases.

    Even though some level of progress had been made in the control and treatment of the diseases, huge gap does exist, especially from in the country financial component to complement GF grant.

    These, according to principle recipients and sub-recipients of GF grant in Nigeria, had rubbed off on proper implementation and tackling of the three diseases headlong.

    Some of the gaps identified included how to place all the persons with HIV on treatment, ineffectiveness of GenExpert Machines used for TB diagnosis, and identifying large number of missing TB cases.

    Others were expanding malaria prevention beyond net distribution, optimising prevention of mother to child transmission and increasing HIV testing among the population.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the meeting deliberated on the 89.1 million dollars grant request proposal for the three diseases from 2021 to 2023.

    The annual meeting is an avenue to deliberate on CCM operations for the year and grant performance, identify challenges and proffer solutions.

    The meeting also provided opportunity for the CCM to address emerging issues of importance

  • (Updated) NHIS: We’ve disbursed over N15.2bn out of N28bn-Health Minister

    (Updated) NHIS: We’ve disbursed over N15.2bn out of N28bn-Health Minister

    …N30bn stashed in CBN can’t be accessed by healthcare delivery operators-Reps C’ttee

    …only three states have received funds

    … you can’t run NHIS like a business venture-DG

    By Emman Ovuakporie

    The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire on Wednesday said that out of N28billion received to fund the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS only N15.2billion have been disbursed.

    This is just as the tripartite Committee probing the agency revealed that N30billion kept in the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has remained unaccessed by healthcare delivery operators since 2018.

    This revelation was made by the Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Insurance and Actuarial Matters, Hon Darlington Nwokocha at the on-going 2-day tripartite Committee investigative hearing on Activities of National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS.

    The three committees, Insurance and Actuarial Matters, Healthcare Services and Health Institutions are expected to unearth all the u wholesome Activities of NHIS.

    Nwokocha in his remarks said the money was”captured in the 2018 budget but has not been accessed by healthcare delivery operators till date.

    He said the investigative hearing on NHIS will “unravel the difficulties in accessing the fund under the sub heading of Basic Health Provision Fund in the CBN resulting to some states being left out.

    “We’ve also received complaints from different stakeholders across the states of the Federation on the difficulties with accessing the funds appropriated to states under the Basic Health care Provision Fund.

    Also speaking at the hearing,the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire who was represented by a Director, Dr Emmanuel Moribo who stated that so far the ministry had received N28.5bn and has disbursed N15.2bn so far.

    But he drew the flak of the panel when he said only three states Nationwide had gotten funds so far.

    This did not go down well with the lawmakers who bombarded him with questions as to why only three states out of 36 should get funds while others wait.

    Explaining, the minister state that “certain factors are considered while carrying out assessment of the states and 22states met the criteria so far.

    “We consider the per capital income, Primary Health Care Facility on ground and poverty index.

    “There are different levels of implementation in the States but so far only three states namely: Osun, Ebonyi and Abia were only states that could access the funds because they met the criteria.

    While making his presentation, the NHIS Director General, Prof M Sambo told the lawmakers that in other climes NHIS is seen as a social insurance not a business venture.

    He said in Nigeria the NHIS based on the Amended Act “operates like a business and this is not done in any part of the world.

    “And based on this it will be difficult to have a universal suffrage approach to its activities.

    “The NHIS wasn’t designed to have too much money because it was expected to operate a social insurance so running it as a business outfit it’s going to be difficult.

    Organisations present at the hearing include: NLC, NMA, JEHESU, Guild of Medical Directors, Association of Health Practitioners of Nigeria and others.

    The investigative hearing continues tomorrow (Thursday)

  • Health Minister launches Buhari’s re-election initiative

    As part of effort to ensure the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole has launched ‘Buhari Leekan Si’ (Buhari for another term) project.

    This was contained in a statement by the project’s Director of Media and Publicity, Mr Samson Owoyokun in Ibadan on Saturday.

    The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that ‘Buhari Leekan Si’ initiative, a self-funded project of the minister was to complement the party`s campaign structure.

    NAN reports that the initiative is aimed at canvassing professionals and artisans to support Buhari’s reelection bid in the six south west states with extension to some parts of Kwara and Kogi states.

    Owoyokun said the initiative is an operational political structure committed to the propagation of Buhari’s achievements in the last 44 months as a leverage for his reelection.

    It said that part of the statutory obligation of the initiative was also to encourage participation in the electoral system across all wards of the south west states.

    He said that the minister would meet professionals in all the major sectors, registered associations of artisans as well as religious and traditional leaders.

    “The aim of the meeting is to motivate and persuade them on the need to reelect the president and all other APC candidates in the listed states.

    “This will enable the president complete the restoration agenda which he kick started in 2015 across all sectors of the country including the health sector,” he said.

    He said that what the minister met in the health ministry on assumption of office in November 2015 was appalling and embarrassing, saying almost all the health indices were in the negative.

    Owoyokun said that health statistics and data generated from both non- governmental and international organizations were scary.

    According to him, “we met collapsed medical facilities. What we have as at the last quarter of 2018 is a new beginning, having revitalized all the federal teaching hospitals.

    “We ensured personnel were efficient and equipment more effective to provide functional as well as qualitative healthcare services.”

    He said that on assumption of office no single linear radiotherapy machine for cancer patients was working, adding the two machines in the National hospital and LUTH were today up and running.

    “Today, UCH and ABUTH are in the process of installing theirs. Our bid to ensure Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is gaining momentum as we have revived over 1,000 primary healthcare centres across the country.

    “This is a pointer to why our vaccination for children has improved, child and maternal mortality dropped, malaria incidences crashed and rate of communicable and non-communicable diseases have reduced drastically,” he said.