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Tag: minister of health

  • Foreigners now seeking medical help in Nigeria – Health Minister, Alausa

    Foreigners now seeking medical help in Nigeria – Health Minister, Alausa

    Nigeria’s Minister of State for Health, Dr Tunji Alausa has posited that the nation’s healthcare was no longer in crisis.

    According to Alausa, the country’s healthcare system is attracting foreign patients, including Indians seeking medical treatments.

    He added that foreigners now seek medical attention in the country.

    Alausa made his position known while granting an interview on Arise TV on Monday.

    He claimed that with improvements in the healthcare system, the country was witnessing a reversal of the ‘japa syndrome,’ suggesting that medical personnel were returning home from abroad.

    The Minister pointed out that Nigeria had become a preferred destination for medical tourism, particularly for surgical procedures, which were more cost-effective compared to other countries.

    According to him, the proliferation of aesthetic hospitals, numbering close to 900 across Nigeria, also contributes to attracting patients seeking services such as plastic surgery.

    “Today, we have almost 900 aesthetic hospitals around Nigeria. People are coming to get plastic surgery,’’ he said.

    He noted that the administration’s commitment to prioritizing public health led to positive changes in the healthcare sector.

    “We have a President now that believes a healthy nation is the core to harnessing our biggest asset, which is our human capital,” Alausa said.

    He added that the government allocated dedicated funds and initiated collaborations to enhance primary healthcare services and expand health insurance coverage.

  • Cryptic pregnancy: Reps invites Ministers of Health and women affairs

    Cryptic pregnancy: Reps invites Ministers of Health and women affairs

    The House of Representatives has resolved to invite the Ministers of Health as well as Women Affairs for the purpose of investigating the fraudulent trend of ‘cryptic pregnancies’ in the country.

    The resolution was sequel to a unanimous adoption of a motion by Rep. Ikenna Elezieanya (PDP-Imo) at plenary on Thursday.

    Moving the motion, Elezieanya said there was a trend that had pervaded the Nigerian space where women were falsely pronounced pregnant by persons who impersonated as doctors and nurses.

    The lawmaker said that the practice was commonly referred to as ‘cryptic pregnancy’ among those who practised it.

    According to him, many Nigerian families are lured and fall victims to the fraudulent activity in the quest to have children.

    According to him, women who indulge in the fraud are injected with hormones of pregnancy and while they parade themselves as being pregnant, no pregnancy is detected through ultrasound scan.

    “These scammers inject women with hormones to boost a pregnancy sign which have adverse effects on the adrenal gland and eventually lead to kidney failure.

    “Women are sometimes sedated and operated on or given an episiotomy and thereafter the scammers bring arranged babies,” he said.

    He said many desperate women who went through the process ended up in perpetual sorrow due to the adverse effects of the drugs which damaged their reproductive organs.

    The lawmaker said some women had died due to the underlying ailments in the process.

    Elezieanya said that the core mandate of government was to protect the lives and property of its citizens.

    He said government should carry out public enlightenment campaign from the grassroots on the danger and consequences of “cryptic pregnancies.”

    The house urged the two ministries to commence campaigns at the grassroots to achieve the desired results.

    The green chambers also urged the Federal Government to adopt monitoring and evaluation mechanisms on the consequences of the pregnancy scam which could lead to health challenges and eventual loss of life.

    Ruling, the Deputy Speaker of the house, Ahmed Wase, mandated the Committees on Healthcare Services as well as Women Affairs to investigate the matter and report back for further legislative actions.

  • BREAKING: Minister of Health replaced over COVID-19 vaccine feud

    BREAKING: Minister of Health replaced over COVID-19 vaccine feud

    For the third time since the start of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the Czech Republic is getting a new health minister, the current minister announced on Wednesday.

    Jan Blatny announced that he had been recalled and that it had been a political decision by Prime Minister Andrej Babis.

    The decision is likely based on the fact that Blatny and Babis did not see eye to eye on the Russian made Sputnik V vaccine.

    Blatny had wanted to wait for European Union (EU) authorities to decide on it.

    Blatny will be replaced by Petr Arenberger, who is in charge of the University Hospital Prague-Vinohrady.

    Arenberger had said in a newspaper interview that he was open to using the vaccine.

    According to the opposition, Blatny is simply being used as a scapegoat for mistakes made by Babis’ government.

    The Czech Republic is due to hold parliamentary elections in six months.

    Since the start of the pandemic, there have been more than 1.5 million confirmed Coronavirus cases and more than 27,325 virus-related deaths in the country.

    Currently, almost 300 people per 100,000 residents were infected within seven days.

  • Nigeria’s former minister of health, Babatunde Osotimehin for burial July 21

    Nigeria’s former minister of health, Babatunde Osotimehin for burial July 21

    Former Minister of Health and Executive Director of United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin who died on 4th of June would be buried in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital on Friday, July 21.

    This was contained in a statement issued by the family and made available to TheNewsGuru.com. According to the statement, the final funeral service the Under-Secretary-General of the UN, would take place at All Souls Church, Ibadan by 11:00am.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Osotimehin, who also served as the pioneer Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, died in New York on Sunday, June 4 at the age of 68.

    Other events slated for the funeral include the Babatunde Osotimehin lecture to be held in London by the UNFPA, during the world Family Planning Summit.

    There will also be a Service of Songs by NACA scheduled for Abuja.

    The United Nations System in Nigeria will host a memorial service on July 14, 2017, at UN House, Abuja.

    Meanwhile, the UNFPA has condoled with Nigeria over Osotimehin’s death, saying the world has lost one of the strongest voices for women and young people.

    The UN agency in a statement on Saturday, said Osotimehin would be remembered for his years of service to Nigeria and humanity as a whole.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports Osotimehin served as Nigeria’s Minister of Health from December 2008 – March 2010 during the administration of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. He was later appointed .

    He was later appointed the Executive Director of the UNFPA. A position he held till death came calling on June 4.

  • Health Minister blames unwanted pregnancies on user-failure of contraceptives

    Health Minister blames unwanted pregnancies on user-failure of contraceptives

    The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, on Wednesday, said that most unwanted pregnancies did not originate from contraceptive failure but user-failure of contraceptives.

    Adewole, also a Gynaecologist, was reacting to complaints about the rate of contraceptive failure, alleged to have led to a high rate of unwanted pregnancies in the country.

    He said that for everyone, there was an appropriate method of application.
    According to him, there are different methods of using contraceptives: the use of hormone medications, intrauterine contraceptive devices, barrier contraception, periods of abstaining from sex, and sterilization.

    “Contraceptive-failure, if you use it well, rarely fails. Very rarely will an unwanted pregnancy come from contraceptive failure, it comes from user-failure.

    “And let me also say clearly that there is one that is good for you. The truth of the matter is that we need to examine you to make sure that your blood pressure is normal,’’ he said.
    Adewole added, “If it is abnormal, there are certain family planning methods I will not recommend for you.

    “If there is a uterine fibroid there, I will not want to give you Intrauterine Copper Device (IUCD), because your menses will be heavy.

    “If a woman is obese, I won’t give her implants because some of the implants will fail.
    “So, for each person, there is a right one and once we give you the right one, you are okay and taken care of,” he said.

    Adewole said there was the need to promote family planning in the country to reduce maternal and newborn deaths and the spread of diseases to a significant percentage.

    This would reduce unwanted pregnancies and abortions, he said.
    The minister noted that the use of contraceptives would also help in child-spacing, as well as to improve on the health of women and children.