Tag: WHO

Seven in 10 deaths caused by non-communicable diseases – WHO

About seven in ten deaths annually are caused by Non Communicable Diseases, NCD, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.

The international health agency in a press statement issued on Friday said more than 15 million people between the ages of 30 and 70 die from NCDs annually.

Examples of diseases in these category are: heart and lung diseases, cancer, and diabetes. The major contributing agents of these diseases are tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diets, and physical inactivity.

According to the WHO, half of the premature deaths from NCDs occur in low and lower-middle income countries and more people are increasingly affected.

According to the Nigerian federal ministry health, more Nigerians are now living with NCD and urgent attention needs to be taken on how to reduce their prevalence, especially diabetes.

About 415 million people have diabetes and more than 14 million of them live in sub-Saharan Africa. By 2040, these figures are expected to double. According to the International Diabetes Foundation, as at 2015, there were more than1.56 million cases of diabetes in Nigeria.

To address the problem of NCDs, the WHO is announcing a new high level commission comprising of heads of states and ministers, leaders in health and development and entrepreneurs.

Many lives can be saved from NCDs through early diagnosis and improved access to quality and affordable treatment, as well as steps to reduce the main risk factors, said the agency.

To address the issue, the WHO has constituted an Independent Global Commission on NCDs co-chaired by the Uruguay President, Tabaré Vázquez; President Maithripala Sirisena of Sri Lanka; President Sauli Niinistö of Finland; Veronika Skvortsova, Minister of Healthcare of the Russian Federation; and Sania Nishtar, former federal minister of Pakistan.

The commission is expected to propose bold and innovative solutions to accelerate prevention and control of non-communicable diseases.

Mr. Vázquez said NCDs are the world’s leading avoidable killers but the world is not doing enough to prevent and control them.

“We have to ask ourselves if we want to condemn future generations from dying too young, and living lives of ill health and lost opportunity. The answer clearly is ‘no’. But, there is so much we can do to safeguard and care for people, from protecting everyone from tobacco, harmful use of alcohol, and unhealthy foods and sugary drinks, to giving people the health services they need to stop NCDs in their tracks,” he said.

February 17, 2018
140m babies born annually – WHO

Worldwide, an estimated 140 million births take place every year and most of these occur without complications for women and their babies, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.

Nothemba Simelela, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Family, Women, Children and Adolescents, stated this while issuing new guidelines on global care standards throughout labour and immediately after childbirth.

The WHO official said the new guidelines aimed at reducing the use of needless and potentially harmful routine clinical and medical interventions.

Simelela said: “We want women to give birth in a safe environment with skilled birth attendants in well-equipped facilities.

“However, the increasing medicalisation of normal childbirth processes are undermining a woman’s own capability to give birth and negatively impacting her birth experience”.

Worldwide, an estimated 140 million births take place every year and most of these occur without complications for women and their babies.

However, according to WHO, over the past 20 years, health practitioners have increased the use of interventions that were previously only used to avoid risks or treat complications, such as oxytocin infusion to speed up labour or caesarean sections.

Studies show that a substantial proportion of healthy pregnant women undergo at least one clinical intervention during labour and birth.

“If labour is progressing normally, and the woman and her baby are in good condition, they do not need to receive additional interventions to accelerate labour,” Simelela added.

Based on 56 evidence-based recommendations, the new guidelines include having a companion of choice during labour and childbirth.

It also include ensuring respectful care and good communication between women and health providers and maintaining privacy and confidentiality.

It further allowed women to make decisions about their pain management, labour and birth positions and natural urge to push, among others.

It recognised that every labour and childbirth is unique and that the duration of the active first stage of labour varies from one woman to another.

The UN agency also noted that with more women giving birth in health facilities with skilled health professionals and timely referrals, they deserved better quality of care.

Estimates show that about 830 women die from pregnancy- or childbirth-related complications around the world every day – the majority of which can be prevented with high-quality care.

“Achieving the best possible physical, emotional, and psychological outcomes for the woman and her baby requires a model of care in which health systems empower all women to access care that focuses on the mother and child,” WHO underscored.

February 16, 2018
Africa on verge of eradicating polio – WHO

Africa is on the verge of eradicating polio if the current momentum is sustained through improved surveillance, vaccination and public awareness, a WHO official said on Tuesday.

WHO Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti said the majority of African countries are likely to be declared polio free by 2019 if they step up prevention of and treatment interventions for the disease.

“The African region had made tremendous progress towards polio eradication, from accounting for almost half of the global polio burden with 128 cases in 2012, to four cases in 2016,” Moeti said in a statement released in Nairobi.

She warned that complacency may trigger new infections in remote corners of the African continent where surveillance is weak.

Africa witnessed a recurrence of polio in 2016 when four cases were recorded in northern Nigeria, where the risks of an outbreak are higher due to insecurity and unregulated cross-border movement.

Moeti noted that timely response that included vaccination of children coupled with public education on improved hygiene options averted deaths in northern Nigeria and a large swathe of Lake Chad basin.

“In an example of best practice, political and community leaders were engaged to ensure the success of the largest ever polio campaign in Africa.

“Over 190,000 polio vaccinators simultaneously immunized more than 116 million children under five in 13 countries in a coordinated effort in west and central Africa,” said Moeti.

She noted that African countries that are prone to polio outbreaks are yet to put in place globally recognised surveillance measures while insecurity and poverty could worsen their vulnerability to the disease.

Moeti said: “as a region, our surveillance efforts are presently not meeting the mark. A number of countries have sub-optimal surveillance in both secure and insecure areas.

“They should recommit to strengthen surveillance urgently.”

In January, African leaders endorsed a comprehensive pact to promote immunization against debilitating diseases like polio.

Moeti said the international community will rally behind African-led interventions aimed at eradicating polio by 2019.

Xinhua/NAN

October 24, 2017
Nigeria accounts for third highest infant mortality rate in the world – WHO

The United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF, has said Nigeria accounts for the third highest infant mortality rate in the world.

This was revealed in a new report by UNICEF.

According to the report, five countries accounted for half of all new-born deaths last year, with Nigeria third in the list. These are India (24 per cent), Pakistan (10 per cent), Nigeria (9 per cent), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (4 per cent) and Ethiopia (3 per cent). Most new-born deaths occurred in two regions: Southern Asia (39 per cent) and sub-Saharan Africa (38 per cent).

The report showed that 15,000 children died globally before their fifth birthday in 2016, with 46 per cent of the deaths (7.000) occurring in the first 28 days of life.

The World Health Organisation issued a press statement on Thursday on the new study titled: Levels and Trends in Child Mortality 2017.

The study reveals that although the number of children dying before the age of five is at a new low – 5.6 million in 2016 compared to nearly 9.9 million in 2000 – the proportion of under-five deaths in the new-born period has increased from 41 per cent to 46 per cent during the same period.

The UNICEF Chief of Health, Stefan Peterson, said though the lives of 50 million children under-five have been saved since 2000 through increased level of commitment by governments and development partners to tackle preventable child deaths, more still needs to be done to stop babies from dying the day they are born, or days after their birth.

“We have the knowledge and technologies that are required – we just need to take them where they are most needed.”

According to the report released by UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the World Bank and the Population Division of UNDESA, which make up the Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (IGME), at current trends, 60 million children will die before their fifth birthday between 2017 and 2030, half of them new-borns, .

The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, had earlier this year described the high mortality rate of under-five in the country as unacceptable.

He said the government has however made significant progress in reducing the rate of newborn deaths in the country as it has declined from 201/1000 live births to 128/1000 live births in 2013.

Every single day, Nigeria loses about 2,300 under-five-year-olds and 145 women of childbearing age, making the country the second largest contributor to under-five and maternal mortality rate in the world.

The latest report notes that many lives can be saved if global inequities are reduced.

If all countries achieved the average mortality of high-income countries, 87 percent of under-five deaths could have been averted and almost 5 million lives could have been saved in 2016.

Tim Evans, Senior Director of Health Nutrition and Population at the World Bank Group said it is unconscionable that in 2017, pregnancy and childbirth are still life-threatening conditions for women, and that 7,000 new-borns die daily.

“The best measure of success for Universal Health Coverage is that every mother should not only be able to access healthcare easily but that it should be quality, affordable care that will ensure a healthy and productive life for her children and family.

“We are committed to scaling up our financing to support country demand in this area, including through innovative mechanisms like the Global Financing Facility (GFF)”, he said.

October 21, 2017
World Mental Health Day: Pay more attention to your mental wellbeing, WHO warns

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday in Abuja urged employers globally to treat mental health illnesses with the same urgency and seriousness as physical illnesses.

Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, gave the advice in a message to mark the 2017 World Mental Health Day celebrated annually on Oct.10.

Moeti said that mental health was often neglected as a key aspect of employees’ health, adding that an estimated 10 percent of the employed population globally had taken time off work because of depression.

She urged employers to be change agents by modifying risk factors for stress in the workplace, create an organisational climate that promotes wellbeing, creativity and facilitate care for those who need it.

Moeti also urged employees to take steps to learn the signs and symptoms of a mental health problem and engage in prevention including talking about it.

“The relationship between workplace stress and poor mental health is well established but mental health is often neglected as a key aspect of employee health.

“Globally, an estimated 10 percent of the employed population has taken time off work for depression, and an average of 36 work days are lost when a worker gets depressed.

“Symptoms such as difficulties in concentrating and making decisions cause significant impairment in productivity at work.

“At least 50 percent of people with depression do not receive treatment. In the African region, lack of information, stigma and cultural issues are significant barriers that prevent people from seeking help.

“Although equal opportunity laws for people with disability in the workplace exist in many countries, mental illness is associated with the greatest disadvantage in terms of employment rates.

“Social acceptance of people with mental health illnesses has not improved much in the last 20 years,” Moeti said.

Moeti called for individual and collective efforts toward addressing the causes and consequences of work-related stress.

She recommended mental health friendly workplace programmes and practices that promote employees’ wellness and work-life balance.

Moeti reiterated the critical impact of mental health problems on economic development, saying that productivity losses from absenteeism was substantial and appeared to be increasing.

According to Moeti, work-related stress costs global society billions of dollars annually in direct and indirect costs.

“There is a strong economic case to tackle not only employer stigma but also to invest in mental health promotion, prevention and treatment programmes in the workplace.

“Treating anxiety, depression and other mental health disorders is an affordable, cost-effective way to promote wellbeing and prosperity.

“Up to 80 percent of those treated improve usually within four to six weeks; depression is preventable and treatable if diagnosed early.

“World Mental Health Day is an opportunity to start conversations about mental health in the workplace to promote best practice, decrease negative attitudes and empower individuals.

“Since most working people spend over 60 percent of their wake hours at work, mental health at work is the heart of daily social interactions,” she said.

Moeti said that mental health was one of WHO priorities and urged countries to promote mental health in the workplace and build broad coalitions to promote best practice.

She also urged countries to decrease negative attitudes and empower individuals to promote good mental health for all.

Moeti said that workplace wellbeing was key to ensuring a healthy and sustainable workforce, which was essential for a healthier, more productive and prosperous African Region.

TheNewsGuru.com reports that every year on Oct. 10, the world commemorates World Mental Health Day to draw attention to the importance of mental health.

This year’s world mental health day is celebrated with the theme: “Mental Health in the Workplace”.

October 10, 2017
Nigeria lost $15bn of its GDP to road accidents in 2015 – WHO

Nigeria lost a total of $15billion (about three percent) of its Gross Domestic Products to road accidents in 2015, the World Health Organisation, WHO, Global Road Safety report has said.

Disclosing this at the just concluded “Establishment, Management and Operations of Truck Transit Parks”, British former Secretary for Transport and Aviation, Dr. Paul Clark said that Truck Parks can help in reducing accidents, giving an economic boost to the country and saving lives and life changing injuries.

Clark also said that loss of cargoes during transit is an economic loss directly to the owners, but also to the economy as a whole.

He explained that transport observers have pointed out that millions of Naira every year is lost through pilfering and attack on drivers where lorries are parked in unsecured locations.

According to him, the situation is further s compounded by the wrong type of Lorries carrying cargoes, often with no latches thereby leading to containers falling off causing deaths and injuries.

He opined that such actions should be considered illegal by law enforcement agencies.

He said “Millions of Naira lost during transit whether by accident and/or lack of inadequate insurance policies or parked in unsecured locations can be reduced significantly by the provision of safe and secure parking locations especially helping to avoid armed robberies that are also a constant threat to the haulage industry.

“According to the report, it was estimated that, ‘not less than 15,000 job opportunities will be created across 8 States’.

It Transit Truck park facilities project are properly implemented, it would easily create more than 25,000 jobs.

“If more States key in, the extrapolated figures for employment will be significantly larger.

“Therefore, the economic case for the implementation of this project cannot be over emphasised.

“But this initiative extends beyond Nigeria’s borders. This is not an isolated project in itself solving Nigeria road transport and truckers problems.

“It is part of the African Union strategic agenda on trade facilitation within regions and an important element of ECOWAS priority project to fast track inter and intraregional trade through the free movement of people, goods, services and capital.

It is worth noting that of the proposed 8Trans African Highways crisscrossing the African continent, 5 of them is linked with Nigeria”.

The Trans African Highways, TAH2 includes Algiers-Kano-Lagos, TAH3 is the Tripoli-Ndjamina by Nigeria and the TAH5 is the Dakar-Kano by Nigeria and TAH7 runs across 15 African countries.

July 14, 2017
FG launches Tobacco Free Nigeria campaign

The Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) has today launched Tobacco Free Nigeria to campaign against the indiscriminate use of tobacco in the country.

The Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, in his remarks at the launch that held at the Nicon Luxury Abuja, said “Tobacco is the only drug that if taken accordingly like a doctor’s prescription, kills over 50%” of people who would follow the prescription.

Recently, TheNewsGuru reports World Health Organization (WHO) releasing scary Tobacco smoking statistics worldwide. TNG also reported that data presented by The Tobacco Atlas shows Nigeria was doing virtually nothing to curtail Tobacco smoking in the country.

“We need start speaking out to educate our people that smoking kills,” Health Minister Adewole said at the launch of the Tobacco Free Nigeria that was trending on social media with the hashtag #ClearTheAir.

Smoking in public places — playgrounds, public parks, stadia, restaurants, public transport, plaza, child care facilities, educational facilities, etc — is prohibited by law, but evidently, the law has not been effective.

“Since health is paramount because health is wealth, government will continue to prevent tobacco use for the benefit of all,” said Dr. Evelyn Ngige, Director, Public Health, FMOH.

Serah Makka, Country Director of ONE Campaign laud the effort saying the #TobaccoFreeNigeria #ClearTheAir campaign is a worthy initiative, and that all Nigerians should embrace it.

At the launch, outgoing curator of Abuja Global Shapers, Saadatu Falila Hamu; Timi Ebi Dakolo, and Mr. Eazi were appointed goodwill ambassador for the #TobaccoFreeNigeria #ClearTheAir campaign.

Also present at the #TobaccoFreeNigeria event were the Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, and the Director General of Bureau of Public Reforms, Dr. Joe Abah.

June 15, 2017
Africa not able to meet blood needs despite voluntary donation – WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says Africa still falls short of meeting its blood needs in spite of increase in the number of donors in the region.

Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, made this known in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday to mark the “World Blood Donor Day 2017”, celebrated annually on June 14.

She said the 2016 report on the status of blood safety and availability in the region revealed that the number of blood donations between 2013 and 2016 increased from 3.9 million units to 4.5 million units.

Moeti, however, added that in spite of the progress, the region could only meet 50 per cent of its annual blood needs.

She said that the report further revealed that collecting blood from voluntary, unpaid and regular blood donors was safer, more effective and efficient than family replacement donations.

The regional director commended voluntary blood donors and encouraged them to “continue giving this valuable gift regularly to ensure sufficient blood stock before emergencies occur.”

She pledged the support of WHO to blood donor associations, Non-Governmental Organisations and those working to make safe blood available in healthcare facilities.

Moeti said the WHO regional office for Africa would continue to support appropriate initiatives aimed at ensuring that safe, life-saving blood and blood products were available for all, particularly in emergencies.

She noted that “as we commemorate World Blood Donor Day, I urge countries and stakeholders involved in blood donations to support and strengthen advocacy for voluntary, unpaid blood donations to maintain supply of safe blood.

“This will allow national blood transfusion services to respond in time to the increase in blood demand, especially during emergencies.

“There are major gaps in some countries and sub-regions, including policy implementation rate, coordination of blood services and legislation.

“Africa is unable to meet its blood needs and the proportion of blood units collected from family replacement donors is high.

“Five countries are still not screening all units of blood for major transfusion, transmitting infections such as hepatitis C and syphilis.

“This is due to the lack of essential reagents and consumables for blood safety and lack of quality management systems in several blood services in the region.”

Moeti said everybody could play a role in emergency situations by giving blood, adding that blood transfusion was an essential component of emergency healthcare.

She noted that the theme for this year’s celebration is “What can you do? Give blood. Give now. Give often”.

According to her, the theme raises awareness for voluntary, regular blood donation to maintain sufficient stock of blood and blood products in blood transfusion services.

She explained that the choice of the theme was particularly significant for the region, which was most affected by crises and outbreaks such as the Ebola virus disease, road traffic accidents, armed conflicts, natural or man-made disasters.

The regional director said such emergencies increased the demand for blood transfusion and made its delivery challenging.

She said many victims of crises die because of lack of blood and blood products, noting that they also risked infection when transfused with unsafe blood.

Moeti said the serious humanitarian crises facing the region in recent decades revealed inadequacies of national health systems in most countries to manage health emergencies.

She said this included inadequacies in timely availability, security and accessibility of blood.

NAN

June 14, 2017
Our objective is to empower the consumer – Danbatta

Professor Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says Management of the Commission declared 2017 as Year of the Nigerian Telecom Consumer to deepen stakeholder engagement in order to enhance the quality of consumer experience, and to empower the consumer through information and education.

“It is consistent with our recognition of the importance of the Consumer in the telecom industry,” Danbatta emphasized yesterday in Niger state as Suleja hosts NCC Consumer Conversation.

The Consumer Conversation is a programme in the framework of the Year of the Nigerian Telecom Consumer campaigns essentially implemented by the Commission’s Department of Zonal Operations.

The Campaigns’ strategic initiatives focus on consumer activation of the Do-Not-Disturb Code 2442 to stop unsolicited SMS from operators.

In this instance, Danbatta explained that “a telecom consumer who does not wish to receive unsolicited messages from his service provider should simply text STOP to the short code 2442”.

He advised that “Where a consumer wishes to receive promotional messages on specific issues, the Consumer should send HELP to 2442 to choose his preference(s) from the options available”.

Other initiatives include consumers’ utilization of the NCC Toll Free Line 622 to report complaints relating to any unresolved issues which they had earlier reported to their service providers.

The EVC explained that the Commission also designed the Campaigns to create conversations around its activities, particularly its efforts to continually improve the Quality of Service (QoS); and to educate consumers and all stakeholders about Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) radiation.

“The Nigerian Communications Commission has repeatedly stated the position of studies on EMF, including those conducted under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO).

“None of the studies has clearly established a correlation between the type and levels of radiation in telecoms operation (especially telecom masts) and human health,” the NCC boss stated.

He expressed NCC’s gratitude to the consumers and other participants for their presence and resourceful contributions to the success of the Conversation.

Danbatta was represented by NCC’s Head of Zonal Operations, Helen Obi at the event.

June 9, 2017
7 million deaths, but Nigeria is doing nothing to curtail Tobacco smoking

Data presented by The Tobacco Atlas has shown Nigeria is doing virtually nothing to curtail Tobacco smoking in the country.

According to the data available on The Tobacco Atlas website, the country has done practically nothing in the years under review to warn Nigerians about the dangers of Tobacco smoking in media campaigns.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a comprehensive scary data on Tobacco and its environmental impact worldwide reported by TheNewsGuru.

A figment of that report shows that while 3,642,900 men, 660,800, women, 303,300 boys and 67,000 girls still smoke cigarettes each day in Nigeria, 1,789,300 people currently use smokeless tobacco, and according to The Tobacco Atlas, it’s a sign of an ongoing and dire public health threat.

It also reported that 207 men and 130 women are being killed by tobacco every week in Nigeria, and 7 million death per annum worldwide, necessitating action from policymakers.

But the current policy adopted by Nigeria is nothing to write home about.

Analysis of current Tobacco policy in Nigeria:

Tobacco control policy is an excellent investment in the health of a country’s population, and according to the WHO, for less than ₦15 per person per year, Nigeria will be able to pay for the four ‘best buys’ in tobacco control policy, which is raising tobacco excise taxes, enforcing a comprehensive national smoke-free law and a ban on tobacco advertising and promotion, and mandating large graphic warning labels appear on tobacco product packaging.

This small investment, the WHO said will reap enormous dividends in health and prosperity as far as Tobacco and its impact is concerned.

May 31, 2017