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All African Countries Capable of Diagnosing Mpox – WHO

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As Mpox continues to devastate countries, especially in Africa, the WHO Africa Region says African countries are capable of diagnosing Mpox, thereby making for early detection.

Dr Abdou Gueye, Regional Emergency Director, World Health Organisation Africa Region (WHO AFRO), made the assertion in a virtual interview in Lagos.

Providing updates on WHO’s field efforts since the declaration of the mpox outbreak, Gueye said that WHO had been working effectively and collaborating with all entities to stem the public health emergency.

The Africa CDC declared Mpox a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security on Aug. 13.

On its heels, on Aug. 14, the WHO Director-General declared the resurgence of mpox to be a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), requiring a coordinated international response.

This was necessitated by the advice given by the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR or Regulations) Emergency Committee regarding the upsurge of mpox 2024, during its first meeting held on Aug. 14.

It had noted that the ongoing upsurge of mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a growing number of countries in Africa, constituted a PHEIC under the provisions of the International Health Regulations.

Also, given the detection and rapid spread of a new clade of mpox in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, its detection in neighbouring countries that had not previously reported mpox, and the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond.

Gueye emphasised the importance of early detection, robust health systems, and community engagement.

He said that some of WHO’s efforts included supporting diagnostic capabilities, treatment guidelines, and community engagement across African countries.

“All the African countries are capable of diagnosing mpox. Thanks to our work and collaboration with all the entities.

“We checked with all our countries. 45 countries out of the 47 were able to do the diagnostic and the genomic sequencing, and we were able to support the two additional countries.

“We also worked with the countries to develop guidelines on the treatment and the care about mpox, and also, we provided some reagents.

“ The treatment of mpox is very rare, but as soon as it is possible, we try to make it available to the African country

“In the framework of the Public Health Emergency of International Concern, we have raised the advocacy for all partners that are capable of donating or contributing to supporting countries, and are put in touch with countries that need it,’’ he added.

According to Gueye, WHO is also working to make sure that all manufacturers that can produce vaccine, diagnostic and therapeutic are being put in touch with those who can fund it.

This will enable enough production for Africa, particularly also for low and middle-income countries.

He said close collaboration was also ongoing with researchers, all to stop Mpox.

“We are working in close collaboration with researchers to make sure that all the vaccines, therapeutic and diagnostic that are in the pipeline will be accelerated.

“This is in order to diversify the possibility and the tools to fight against the disease,” he said

Giving an insight into the current outbreak, he explains Mpox to be a viral disease, previously known as monkeypox.

According to him, it traditionally existed in West and Central Africa, with two viruses that are slightly different.

“The one in West Africa was called the clade two, and the one in Central Africa was called the clade one in 2022.

“An outbreak occurred, and the virus went beyond the traditional border and went through to some countries where it was never seen before.

“It affected some particular communities, mainly men who have sex with men.

“And the outbreak was addressed by the international community, but also by the affected community, and it was controlled.

“What happened in 2024 is there is a new outbreak with a new strain that is different to the one that existed before, that usually was seen in DR Congo, but has a little mutation.

“That made it more contagious, but also more serious, because the mortality rate increased.’’

He said that the outbreak was localised initially in North Kivu and South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, spreading in Congo first but also in neighbouring countries, including Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya.

According to him, when the outbreak reached that level, the WHO D-G called for an emergency committee to advise him, and the emergency committee advised to raise the highest alert possible in public health.

“We say the public health emergency of international concern, which means to make sure that the international community will be mobilised.

“Also, the mobilisation will be coordinated in order to stop the outbreak before it becomes more difficult to control.’’

Report says that the multi-country outbreak of Mpox has led to 116 countries and territories in all WHO regions reporting 99,176 confirmed cases and 208 deaths between May 2022 and June 2024.

The latest global mpox rapid risk assessment at the beginning of August 2024, showed that mpox risk in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighbouring countries is high.

In Nigeria and other countries of West, Central and East Africa where mpox is endemic, it is moderate.

However, individual-level risk is largely dependent on individual factors such as exposure risk and immune status, regardless of geographic area, epidemiological context, biological sex, gender identity or sexual orientation. (NAN)

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Imo, Abia Residents Advocate Measures to Address Healthcare Challenges 

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Many residents of Imo and Abia, who are worried by the dangers militating against efficient healthcare delivery in the country, have advocated stringent government measures to deal with the phenomenon.

The people spoke in separate interviews in Owerri and Umuahia.

They said that the prevalence of expired and adulterated drugs, wrong laboratory test results, obsolete equipment as well as wrong diagnoses and prescriptions by medical personnel pose serious impediment to access to efficient healthcare services.

In Owerri, the Imo capital, a pharmacist, Mr Joseph Ezeh, urged  government and regulatory authorities to step up efforts to curb the activities of quacks in the sector.

Ezeh said that most cases of wrong diagnoses and prescriptions could be traced to the activities of non-professionals, mainly patent medicine dealers “who deceive gullible patients”.

He called for the adoption of appropriate measures to checkmate quackery and its attendant implications in the healthcare system.

A former Chairman of the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN), Mr Peter Nseabasi, called for more investment in the health sector, especially in terms of equipment and staff welfare and retraining.

Nseabasi said that more investment in the sector would help to address the challenges of wrong diagnoses and their consequences.

A nursing student, Onyinyechi Ifeanyi, said that some medical professionals delegate a lot of responsibilities to student doctors and nurses, leaving patients to the mercy of trainees.

Ifeanyi called for better incentives and welfare for health personnel in order to attract more professionals to the sector.

She said it would encourage division of labour and enhance efficiency.

However, a Medical Doctor at the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, blamed the rot in the health sector on long years of neglect by successive governments.

The doctor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the rot had led to the loss of passion for the job among the doctors, nurses, and other health workers.

He said that the poor remuneration for health workers and the economic situation in the country had negatively changed the disposition of health workers toward their job.

According to him, many doctors at FMC have their own private hospitals or clinics where they consult outside their main job.

He argued that the development made some doctors to lose focus and in some cases, “in their hurry to move on to their next job, they make mistakes.

“Sometimes, patients are referred to private clinics, where they are given exorbitant bills,” the medical practitioner said.

He also said that the problem had persisted “because patients often failed to make formal complaints to the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria about their ugly experiences in hospitals”.

A civil servant, Nwakego Ndu, narrated how she was told that she had “bilateral tumours” on both ovaries and booked for immediate surgery by her doctor.

“I was diagnosed with tumours on both my ovaries by my doctor when I went to complain of sudden severe pain on my waist.

“Although he didn’t tell me it was cancer, his sense of urgency implied that I would die if I didn’t have the surgery, immediately.

“My family insisted I get a second opinion, and it turned out I had fibroid and not tumour,” Ndu said.

She said that the experience eroded her trust in the medical profession.

“I want people to know that they have the right to question their diagnosis and seek a second opinion.

“It could make the difference between life and death,” she said.

Also, an oncology patient, Mrs Ifunanya Eze, said that when she was first presented with her symptoms, which included dark-colour urine and white stool, she was advised to do a “water therapy” for two weeks.

According to her, muscle relaxants and pain killers were also prescribed without any tests to determine the reasons for her constant pain.

“It was when I became jaundiced that my doctor reluctantly sent me for a scan after berating me for reading up my symptoms on Google.

“I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and his first reaction was to book me for surgery in his clinic.

“But my current doctors told me that I would have died, if I had gone ahead with the surgery,”  she said.

In Abia, the Executive Secretary, State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Kalu Kalu, said that government had taken decisive steps to prevent cases of wrong diagnoses in Primary Healthcare Centers (PHCs) in the state.

Kalu said that the measures being implemented would focus on improving medical accuracy and service delivery in PHCs.

He said the problem of wrong diagnoses could be tackled through a holistic approach, including solving manpower, equipment, and infrastructure issues.

He said that continuous training and retraining of medical personnel play a vital role in  ensuring proper patient history-taking, accurate investigations, and precise diagnoses.

“There should be regular training of health workers to keep them up-to-date on best practices and enhance their skills,” Kalu said.

He further said that Abia’s 2025 budget provided for continuous training of medical staff, a practice that began last year with several capacity-building programmes for frontline health workers.

He also revealed that Abia Government had approved the recruitment of new health workers to strengthen manpower in hospitals and PHCs.

He said that government was reconstructing health centers in the 17 Local Government Areas and would be equipping them with modern medical tools to enhance service delivery.

“The government is not just focused on building health centers but also equipping them with the necessary tools to provide quality healthcare.

“We are committed to ensuring that residents of Abia have easy access to quality healthcare.

“This is in line with the vision of Gov Alex Otti to improve the state’s healthcare system,” he said.

Kalu also said that government’s comprehensive strategy would significantly reduce cases of misdiagnosis, improve patient treatment outcomes, and strengthen the overall healthcare sector in the state.

A former President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, Dr Emeka Orji, said the rising cases of wrong diagnosis could worsen without urgent intervention in healthcare training, infrastructure, and manpower.

Orji, a Consultant Orthopedic Surgeon, said that inadequate history-taking, faulty diagnostic equipment, unreliable laboratory results, and overworked medical personnel, remain major causes of misdiagnosis.

He said that the overwhelming workload faced by doctors due to the severe shortage of medical personnel in Nigeria needed to be addressed.

Orji said that Nigeria operates far below the World Health Organisation’s recommended doctor-to-patient ratio of 1:600, pointing out that the country operates at a shocking ratio of 1:10,000.

“When a doctor who is supposed to attend to 600 people is catering to 10,000, mistakes are inevitable.

“This workload, combined with inadequate training and poor working conditions, contributes significantly to wrong diagnoses,” he said.

He further criticised the Federal Government’s recent directive for medical schools to double their student intake without increasing infrastructure and faculty.

Orji said that this could lead to the  churning out of poorly trained doctors  by medical colleges and would consequently lead to increase in medical errors.

He also stressed the need for improved quality control in laboratories to ensure accurate test results.

He said that expired or poor-quality reagents, faulty machines, and lack of strict monitoring often lead to unreliable lab reports.

He said: “This development has forced many physicians to rely more on clinical judgment than laboratory findings.

“That is why tertiary hospitals insist on conducting tests in their own labs, since they do not fully trust external facilities.”

Orji called for urgent government action to stop brain drain in the medical sector, improved healthcare infrastructure, and enforcement of quality control in medical diagnostics.

Also, a mother of three, Mrs Obunwa Ulonna, said that she experienced wrong diagnosis when she had her first child.

Ulonna urged  government at all levels to take decisive steps to ensure that medical errors are  minimised to safeguard the health of patients.

A Laboratory Scientist, Mrs Ugochi Chukwuneke, said caution in a patient’s clinical examination and diagnosis could curb some cases of misdiagnosis in the nation’s health sector.

Chukwuneke, who works at the Miraculous Medical Laboratories, Umuahia, admitted that there were usually cases where some patients’ clinical test results could be misplaced by some health personnel.

According to her, when patients visit their laboratory, they ensure the patients names are written on specimen collection bottles before collecting their samples, to avert such errors.

“If you interchange their names at the reception, anything you are doing inside is nonsense because you are likely to give the patient wrong result,” she said.

Chukwuneke, who shared her experiences, said that other factors might also contribute to wrong diagnosis.

She said: “I had done a test where a man was screened as HIV positive somewhere, but I ran a similar test and discovered he was negative.

“I asked him to go to Federal Medical Centre for a confirmatory test because other ailments like tuberculosis or hypertitis might interfer to give a false positive HIV result.

“He did the confirmatory test and was happy eventually.”

Also, an Umuahia-based laboratory technician and microbiologist, Mrs Ojingwa Anya, expressed concern about the rot in the healthcare sector, saying that it has caused much havoc to society.

Anya, who was saddened by the menace of expired drugs and other negligence in the sector, urged the regulatory authorities to intensify efforts in the fight against the unwholesome practices in order to save lives.

“We in the healthcare sector need to be very careful in whatever we do to avoid sending people to untimely grave.

“Fresh medical graduates need to be tutored by the older and experienced ones; they need to be properly guided,” she said. (NAN)

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FG Prioritises Cancer Prevention, Maternal Health in 2025 Budget

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The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to health education and prevention strategies, with a strong focus on cancer prevention and maternal health in its 2025 budget.

The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq  Salako, made this known during a meeting on Thursday in Abuja, with a delegation from the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), led by its Executive Vice-President for Infectious Diseases, Dr David Ripin.

Salako highlighted the heavy burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including cancer, hypertension, and diabetes, stressing that early detection and prevention would be a major focus of the ministry’s budget next year.

“This year in our budget, we are focusing a lot of attention on cancer. A lot of that funding will go into prevention at both primary and secondary levels, including screening and population prevention,” he said.

The minister also disclosed that the government had inaugurated the Maternal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative to tackle high maternal deaths, particularly in high-burden local government areas.

According to him, introducing low-cost technologies like ultrasound scans in maternal care will help drive more women to seek antenatal care, ultimately reducing mortality rates.

He commended CHAI for its partnership, emphasising that collaborations would enhance healthcare outcomes for Nigerians.

Dr Olufunke Fasawe, CHAI’s Country Director, detailed the organisation’s contributions to improving healthcare access in Nigeria.

She revealed that CHAI has supported over 20 cancer treatment centres across the country.

“The organisation worked with the Federal Ministry of Health to cut the cost of chemotherapy by 50 per cent to improve affordability.

“HPV screening for cervical cancer has been expanded, with over 57,000 women screened so far.

“CHAI successfully reduced the price of HPV test kits from 20 dollars to seven dollars, making screening more accessible to women,” she highlighted. (NAN)

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Suspected Cholera Outbreak kills 9 in Rivers

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The Rivers government has announced the death of nine individuals following a suspected cholera outbreak in Andoni and Akuku-Toru Local Government Areas.

Dr Ada Oreh, the state Commissioner for Health, confirmed the development on Thursday in Port Harcourt.

She said that three deaths occurred in Andoni, while six others were recorded in Akuku-Toru, with 41 suspected cases currently under monitoring across the two areas.

“We urge the public not to panic, as the state government has already implemented measures to contain this outbreak,” Oreh said.

The commissioner noted that health officials were conducting tests to determine definitively whether the deaths were caused by cholera.

She, however, said: “The symptoms observed align with the surveillance case definition for the disease.

“The ministry is also investigating a suspected outbreak of acute watery diarrhoea caused by cholera in the Isiodun community in Andoni LGA.

“The symptoms analysed are consistent with cholera.”

According to Oreh, the bacteria responsible for cholera thrives in environments lacking access to safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, and hygienic conditions.

She said that the bacteria could be transmitted through the consumption of contaminated water or food and contact with infected surfaces.

“Rivers is particularly prone to outbreaks of acute watery diarrhoea and cholera during the dry seasons.

“This poses significant public health challenges due to the high morbidity and mortality rates associated with such outbreaks.

“The ministry, in collaboration with its partners and the authorities in Andoni LGA, has activated emergency response measures.

“Our rapid response team has also been deployed to the affected areas to enhance disease surveillance, strengthen case detection in health facilities, and supply essential supplies to the communities,” Oreh stated.

Oreh said the response team had distributed oral rehydration solutions, intravenous fluids, and vital medicines to health centres in the affected areas.

She advised residents to practice frequent hand washing with soap and clean water, particularly before eating and after using the toilet.

Oreh also urged them to drink only boiled or chorine-treated water to ensure safety. (NAN)

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