Health
US-Based Company Plans Establishment of Pharmaceutical, Allied Industries In Kogi
From Joseph Amedu, Lokoja
A United States-based billion dollar company, SIVAD group, has hinted of plants to establish world class pharmaceutical, agricultural and other allied industries in the confluence state.
The arrangement, which has reached advanced stage is to commence operation in couple of weeks.
The group’s President/Chief Executive Officer, Mr Lenzie Davis gave the hint when he paid a courtesy visit on Kogi state Governor, Yahaya Bello at the Government House, Lokoja over the weekend.
He told Bello that the incorporation of Kogi State into the company’s investment plan was as a result of its strategic location, security architecture and other factors
He noted that the company was in Africa some 30 years back and expressed optimism that this period would be different owing to the energy, relationships and what he has been told about the governor’s leadership acumen.
“We are here to understudy how we could really help Kogi State and by extension Nigeria develop its health, agriculture, technology sectors and as far as with developing vaccines, other type of medicine,” he stated.
Davis added that the company also has a sickle cell rapid test, which he believed would be able to help monitor some of the sickle cell patients, help save lives, offer more education on how to prevent the disease.
He added that aside its plan in the pharmaceuticals industry, SIVAD in the area of agriculture, would help develop new technologies for growing food, which could make Nigeria the leader in shipping food and other products throughout Africa.
“The goal is to work closely with some of the key people here, so as to put together a solid plan of execution based on some of our findings and which of our plans to prioritize,” he added.
The governor in his remarks noted that Kogi state was on the part of development as it continued to witness business interests from internationals stressing that his administration met the state in shambles and had made conspicuous effort to reverse the trend.
He pointed out that Nigeria remained the trigger point for Africa and Kogi state sits confidently in the centre of the nation’s geography hence the state was where things must happen before reflecting in other part of the country.
The governor noted that the state was opened to any investor while he admonished them to feel at home as many of the state officials were on ground to guide them on modes of operation. He added that the government would ensure that their personnel, investments and every other things were adequately secured.
He promised to give them the necessary cooperation, to ensure that they invested safely in a bid to further encourage other investors into the state adding that his government was doing its best in the health, education, agriculture by putting in place the needed infrastructures.
Governor Bello advised that despite their interest in profit-making, they should ensure that they give their host communities a sense of ownership, adding that they would be a nexus between the state government and the united state business community.
Hundreds of millions of children and adolescents around the world face daily violence in their homes, schools, and elsewhere which could have lifelong consequences.The World Health Organisation (WHO) said this on Thursday.The violence includes being hit by family members, being bullied at school, as well as physical, emotional, and sexual violence, WHO said.
In most cases, violence occurs behind closed doors. More than half of those aged two to 17 or more than a billion minors in total experience violence each year according to the WHO. In three out of five children and adolescents, it is physical violence at home, with one in five girls and one in seven boys experiencing sexual violence.Between a quarter and half of minors are affected by bullying according to the information provided.Only half of the children reportedly talk about their experiences of violence and less than 10 per cent receive help.Lifelong consequences could include depression and anxiety disorders, or tobacco and drug use.As a result, many children do not reach their learning potential in school.Against the backdrop of being highly preventable, violence remains a horrific day-to-day reality for millions of children around the world leaving scars that span generations,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director general.The UN’s first conference on violence against children opened in Bogota, Columbia on Thursday.At the two-day conference, more than 100 countries pledged to find ways to better support overwhelmed parents and introduce school programmes against bullying and for healthy social behaviour.They also pledged to raise the minimum age for marriage.Some countries wish to generally ban children from being hit at school or home. (dpa/NAN)
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has listed 17 bacteria, viruses and parasites that regularly cause disease as top priorities for new vaccine development.WHO, in a study published on Tuesday, reconfirmed long-standing priorities for vaccine research and development (R&D), including for HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis – three diseases that collectively take nearly 2.
5 million lives yearly. The study is the first global effort to systematically prioritise endemic pathogens based on their regional and global health impact. Attention is also given to pathogens such as Group A streptococcus, which causes severe infections and contributes to 280,000 deaths from rheumatic heart disease, mainly in lower-income countries.Another new priority is Klebsiella pneumoniae — a bacteria that was associated with 790,000 deaths in 2019 and is responsible for 40 per cent of neonatal deaths due to blood infection (sepsis) in low-income countries.The new study supports the goal of ensuring that everyone, everywhere, can benefit from vaccines that protect against serious diseases.It aims to shift the focus in vaccine development away from commercial returns towards regional and global health needs, WHO’s Dr Mateusz Hasso-Agopsowicz, who works in vaccine research, said in a statement.He explained that in the past, vaccine R&D typically was influenced by profitability.“As a result, diseases that severely affect low-income regions received little attention.“We hope this represents a critical shift where we want to change the focus from commercial perspective profitability of new vaccines towards the actual health burden so that the new vaccine research and development is driven by health burden and not just commercial opportunities,” he said.To carry out the study, WHO asked international and regional experts what they think is important when prioritising pathogens for vaccines R&D.Criteria included deaths, disease and socioeconomic impact, or antimicrobial resistance.“We had asked experts that have expertise in pathogen epidemiology, clinicians, paediatricians, vaccine experts from all of the WHO regions, to ensure that the list and the results that we produce really reflect the needs of diverse populations worldwide,” Hasso-Agopsowicz said.Analysis of those preferences, combined with regional data for each pathogen, resulted in the top 10 priority pathogens for each of WHO’s six regions globally.The regional lists were then consolidated to form the global list, resulting in the 17 priority endemic pathogens for which new vaccines are urgently needed.To advance vaccine R&D, WHO has categorised each pathogen based on the stage of vaccine development and the technical challenges involved in creating effective vaccines.Hasso-Agopsowicz said the study is expected to guide future vaccine R&D investments, including funders, researchers and vaccine developers, and also policymakers as they “can decide whether to introduce these vaccines into immunisation programmes.” (NAN)
The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan,has suspended the strike it embarked on Oct. 25.The workers resumed work on Friday morning.The seven-day nationwide warning industrial action embarked upon by the unions was to press home their demands ofadjustment of Consolidated Health Salary Structure as was done with the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure sinceJan.
2, 2014 and implementation of consultant cadre for pharmacists in federal health institutions. Others are upward review in the retirement age from 60 to 65 years for health workers and 70 years for consultants, andpayment of outstanding salaries of JOHESU members in professional regulatory councils.The UCH JOHESU Chairman, Mr Oladayo Olabampe, said that the strike was suspended as directed by the national body.He explained that “the suspension followed an MoU signed between JOHESU national leadership and Federal Government.“The Federal Government asked for a maximum of six weeks counting from Oct. 31, to meet our demands.“Based on the MoU signed, the JOHESU National Executive Council met and resolved that the strike be suspended on Fridaynationwide.”According to him, JOHESU UCH is obeying the order, and workers have resumed work.Olabampe said that if the demands were not met after the six weeks, they would embark on an indefinite strike. (NAN)
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