TheNewsGuru

Tag: Health Minister

  • Suspension: NHIS boss sues health minister, AGF, agency

    The Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Prof. Usman Yusuf, has sued the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), and the NHIS over his suspension by the governing council of the board.

    In the suit with the number, FHC/ABJ/CS/1220/2018 filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja, Yusuf asked the court to rule among others that the governing council of the NHIS had no powers under the provisions of the NHIS Act to suspend him from office.

    Yusuf instituted the suit through his lawyer, Uchechukwu Obi (SAN), on Monday.

    The embattled NHIS boss asked the court to state that the council had no powers under sections 6 and 7 of the Act to discipline him or to investigate allegations made against him as they purported to do by their internal memorandum on October 19, 2018.

    The suit asked the court to declare that “only the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and no other, upon the recommendation of the minister of health can discipline, investigate, suspend or remove him from office.”

    The plaintiff prayed the court to set aside his purported suspension from the NHIS by the board of the agency was null and void.

    He asked the court to determine if the minister could suspend him without the express approval of the President.

    The NHIS boss had been under investigation for several allegations of fraud.

    He was among others accused of perpetrating fraud to the tune of N919m and was suspended by the minister of health in July last year.

    However, he was controversially reinstated by President Muhammadu Buhari in February 2019 but was again suspended by the governing council of the NHIS on October 19.

    Yusuf has, however, been supported by the Presidency and has continued to resume at work sparking a series of protests by unionists.

     

  • FEC directs health minister to standby against Ebola

    FEC directs health minister to standby against Ebola

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday directed the Federal Ministry of Health to step up surveillance team against the deadly Ebola virus.

    The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole briefed State House correspondents at the end of FEC meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    According to him, the Council ordered steps to be taken to keep the Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from coming to Nigeria.

    He said that part of the new measures to be taken is screening passengers coming into the country.

    “We want to assure Nigerians that the government is determined to keep the country safe.” he said.

  • Only careless doctors contact lass fever while treating patients – Health Minister

    Only careless doctors contact lass fever while treating patients – Health Minister

    The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has said the refusal of medical doctors to take necessary precaution while treating patients infected with lassa fever is responsible for the spread of the deadly disease among the doctors themselves.

    The Minister, who stated this in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State on Saturday when he paid a courtesy call on Governor David Umahi, described the recent outbreak in the state, which killed four health workers, as unfortunate.

    According to the Minister, most doctors treat the deadly disease as if it “is any other ordinary disease” and thus fail to wear protective medical apparels while treating patients.

    “What is worrisome is that when doctors and healthcare workers become infected then the country is in danger because every person that will go and meet that doctor or nurse is at risk.

    ”I want to say that up till today no health care worker has contacted Lassa at Irrua Specialist Hospital, Edo state because if you take precaution, wear gloves before you take blood, wear gloves before you operate, you can’t catch Lassa fever.

    “Lassa fever requires close contact between the blood of an infected person and healthcare workers looking after him. Once you wear gloves, wear protective gown, you can’t have Lassa fever. But what we have discovered is that doctors and nurses treat Lassa as if it is just ordinary flu or malaria, but it is not,” the minister said.

    He blamed the delay to fully equip the Virology Centre Abakaliki, which was built and handed over to the federal government, on outbreak of other deadly diseases across the country.

    “It quite unfortunate that you handed the centre over to us but because of a few other things we could not respond immediately with the operationalisation of the lab”.

    “As we moved to operationalise the lab we had other challenges, we had monkey pox, we had meningitis and it appeared as if in trying to prioritise we thought lassa has calmed down a bit, we decided to quickly address these diseases and also the yellow fever outbreak”, he added.

    Responding, Mr.Umahi, represented by his deputy, Kelechi Igwe, said 16 cases have been recorded in the state.

    “Nine cases have been confirmed, six are suspected cases, one is a probable index case. Eight of them are at the Virology Centre Abakaliki while one is in Irrua Specialist Hospital, Edo state.”

    He noted that three of the confirmed cases have been successfully treated and discharged.

     

  • 10,000 Nigerians die of cancer annually – Health Minister

    The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, on Friday in Abuja said 10,000 people die annually due to agony and lack of basic equipment for treatment of cancer.

    Adewole said at the inauguration of the National Hospital’s Radiotherapy Centre with new Multilleave Lenear Accelerator for cancer treatment.

    He attributed the number of deaths to lack of necessarily equipment and resources to attend to cancer patients.

    The minister who described cancer as a worldwide disease that kill more people than the combination of Tuberculosis, infectious diseases and HIV, decried the lack of resources to cushion the effect of cancer.

    He said: “Base on the review of International Atomic Energy Agencies of all countries conducted in 2013 only South Africa and Egypt have the capability of treating cancer,” and described the situation as worrisome.

    Speaking on the inaugurated facility, Adewole commended the Wife of the Vice President, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo, for her passion in addressing the plight of cancer patients,

    He emphasised that such passion had made it a reality for the centre to be operational and described it as a measure toward alleviating the plight of patients.

    Nothing the presence of one Multilleave Lenear Accelerator machine at the facility at the moment, he assured of increasing it to two in order to forestall challenges of patients in the event of breakdown of one.

    The minister pledged the Federal Government’s commitment to upgrade other seven cancer centres next year in order to minimise the burden of cancer and associated death rates in the country.

    “What is important is that the machine has been put to work and upgraded and it is an opportunity for linking those network, treatment modalities that are new.

    “Anybody coming to this centre will get the right treatment. With the right complaint, we will minimise our treatment damages to neighbouring organs so that we can be more precise with respect to treatment that we offer.

    “We are making moves to have two new machines that can treat people and also pledge to complete this centre to become the first of its kind in Nigeria,’’ Adewole said.

    Adewole who noted the standard practice of one machine to one million people, emphasised that considering the population of the country, Nigeria required 200 of such machines across the seven cancer centres in the country.

    According to him, if such machines are in place they will adequately meet the challenges of the populace with regard to cancer care.

    Earlier, Dr Jafaru Momoh, the Chief Medical Director of National Hospital, said the radiotherapy unit which included women, men and children was first inaugurated in 2000.

    Momoh said it has been operational till February this year when it finally broke down due to overstretched among others.

    He noted that the new centre had facility for one CT Simulator and two Radiotherapy Bunkers.

    According to him, one multileave LINAC was procured in 2013 but was not installed until recently due to paucity of funds to procure the necessary CT simulators and accessories for the installation and inauguration.

    “The new LINAC is the first of its kind in Nigeria, staff of relevant departments have been trained on its use.

    “Additional support will be needed to complete the entire complex and provide the necessary equipment and relevant manpower to run it as a centre of excellence for cancer care,’’he said.

    Osinbajo, while inaugurating the facility, lauded the efforts of the hospital’s management for making the facility a reality.

    She described the death of 10,000 people to cancer as unimaginable and assured the hospital of the federal government’s support in making everything available to ensure quality service delivery in the facility.

    “I looked forward to a day that the cure of cancer stand but I am happy that though the resources are limited but we are making steps, stride in the right direction.

    “I see hope with the machine here and all other things to go. My appeal is for us to love Nigeria and for us to love Nigerians.

    “I pray for us to respond to love Nigeria and respond to love Nigerians and the result will be a beloveth Nigeria.

    “By risen of this building I see patients that are helped, loved ones of patients that are happy that we have a facility that they can use to help their loved ones out of sickness ,’’ she said.

     

    NAN

     

  • Monkey Pox: Reps summon Health Minister over spread of disease

    The House of Representatives has summoned the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, to explain the measures taken by the Federal Government to tackle the outbreak and spread of the Monkey pox, aside containing other viruses.

    The invitation followed a motion moved by Rep. Diri Douye (Bayelsa-PDP) under matters of privilege.

    Moving the motion, Douye expressed concern over the spread of the disease to other states in spite of concerted efforts by the Bayelsa State Government since its outbreak in Yenagoa.

    He expressed worry that the outbreak of the disease was terrifying citizens since the first case was diagnosed involving an 11-year-old male patient on Sept. 22.

    Douye said that 14 suspected cases were now at different stages of recovery, with 55 close contacts identified and being monitored as at Oct. 7.

    The lawmaker urged the lower chamber to call on the Federal Government to provide funds and logistics to the state government to reach out to water-logged communities being threatened by the disease.

    He further urged the House to commend Gov. Seriake Dickson for paying attention to the welfare of monkey pox patients.

    The motion was unanimously adopted by members when it was put to a voice vote by the Speaker, Mr Yakubu Dogara.

    Dogara, however, referred the matter to the House Committee on Health to investigate and report back within two weeks for further legislative action.

     

  • Fraud: Health Minister approves suspension of NHIS secretary indefinitely

    The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole has approved the indefinite suspension of the Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, Prof. Usman Yusuf as panel submits report indicting him (Yusuf).

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Yusuf has been on three months suspension since July 6, based on the directive of the minister, to allow for fair and uninterrupted investigation of the various allegations levied against him.

    However, in a letter addressed to the embattled NHIS chief on October 5, ‎the minister stated that the committee that investigated Yusuf had submitted its report. He said the report has been forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari for consideration and further action.

    The minister noted that the committee found Mr. Yusuf “culpable in many areas” of his performance.

    “I am further extending your suspension from office pending the decision of” President Buhari, the minister said.

    Yusuf, a professor of Pediatrics, who took over the management of the insurance scheme in 2016, was suspended from office due to the allegations of fraud, misappropriation and nepotism which was alleged against him.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that his suspension had generated controversies with the House of Representatives asking that he be reinstated.

    Yusuf had also replied the minister that he would not obey the suspension, saying the minister had no powers to suspend him.

    Apart from the Executive Secretary, eight other top management staff of the agency were also suspended over corruption allegations.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the agency has since been headed by Attahiru Ibrahim in acting capacity.

     

  • NHIS: Reps threaten to arrest Health Minister over refusal to appear before it

    NHIS: Reps threaten to arrest Health Minister over refusal to appear before it

    The House of Representatives has threatened to issue a warrant of arrest against Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole over his refusal to appear before them to clear suspicions on the suspension of the Executive Secretary of National Insurance Health Scheme (NHIS), Usman Yusuf.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the lawmakers also said there would be no consideration of budget of the NHIS henceforth.

    Chairman of the House Committee on Health Services, Chike Okafor, disclosed this after a closed door meeting with members of the committee.

    The committee is currently investigating the issue and had demanded that the minister appeared before it.

    Okafor said the minister had rather declined the call through a letter, saying: “The House resolution was communicated to the Health Minister and if you look through our proceedings, you will see that we were expecting the minister to come tomorrow (today) to give us an update on the crisis rocking the NHIS.

    “But incidentally, I got a letter from him about an hour ago, saying he will not be available to appear before this committee. He gave a couple of reasons, which I would still relate to the committee when we dissolve into an executive session.

    “Suffice it to say that the reasons are not acceptable to me. I was going to direct that we send a letter back to him as he claimed in his letter that he has engagements that will take him out of Abuja or that he is already out of Abuja.”

  • Teenage Pregnancy: Conduct virginity test on girls below 16 years – Health Minister orders doctors

    Teenage Pregnancy: Conduct virginity test on girls below 16 years – Health Minister orders doctors

    The Russian Health Minister, Vladimir Shuldyakov, has ordered that virginity test be performed on all underage girls in the country.

    The order instructs doctors to check the “integrity of the hymen” and look for signs of damage.

    According to Mail Online, the directive which was given through the Russian Investigative Committee (RIC) was to gain evidence of sexual activity in girls under the age of 16.

    But the order has sparked public outcry from gynaecologists and politicians alike who believe the checks will dissuade young girls from seeing the doctor when they need to.

    However, the health minister – Vladimir Shuldyakov – maintains that doctors must follow the order and “inform police about all cases when virginity was lost as well as about cases of pregnancies and abortions involving girls under 16 years old.”

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the order comes just months after domestic violence was partially decriminalized in the country, where women’s rights remain lacking.

  • Meningitis outbreak: Reps summons Health Minister

    Meningitis outbreak: Reps summons Health Minister

    The House of Representatives on Thursday resolved to investigate Federal Government’s handling of the recent outbreak of Meningitis in parts of the country.

    It has mandated its Committee on Healthcare Services to invite the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, to brief it on the ministry’s efforts combating the scourge.

    The resolution followed the adoption of a motion entitled “Urgent Need to Curb the Scourge of Meningitis in Nigeria’’ sponsored by Rep. Johnson Oghuma (Edo-APC).

    The committee was also mandated to ensure there was no scarcity of the vaccine to treat patients and report back to the house within two weeks.

    Moving the motion earlier, Oghuma had expressed sadness with the developing, saying that the disease was ravaging parts of the country unchecked.

    He said that the scourge had so far killed no fewer than 230 persons, with numerous others hospitalized.

    The lawmaker condoled with families of victims of the disease and said that the extent of the spread of the scourge would have been minimized if adequate proactive measures were taken.

    Oghuma said “the outbreak being an annual phenomenon, the Federal Ministry of Health ought to have been proactive to anticipate and put in plans to address it.

    “This ravaging scourge of meningitis may not be over unless measures are taken to curb the spread,’’ he added.

     

     

    NAN