Health
COVID-19: Minister Raises the Alarm Over Sustained Community Transmission
By Laide Akinboade, Abuja
The Federal Government at the weekend raised the alarm that Nigeria might have sustained community transmission of COVID -19.
Minister of Health, Dr Ehanire Osagie, revealed that out of the 3,000 people tested, there were 190 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria across 12 states and the FCT.
He said there were two fatalities and 20 cases discharged from treatment.
Giving a breakdown, he disclosed that Lagos has 98 patients, FCT 48, Osun 20, Oyo 8, Akwa Ibom 5, Edo, Kaduna and Ogun, 4 each, Bauchi 3, Enugu and Ekiti 2 each, while Rivers and Benue had 1 each”.
He added that there might be sustained community transmission because 30% of the cases have incomplete epidemiological information, while 51% were imported cases, while 19% were from contacts of known cases.
He noted that the above reason was one of the major reasons for lock down in some states.
According to him, “we are already seeing what may be indications of sustained community transmission in the sense that 30% of the cases have incomplete epidemiological information, while 51% are imported cases and 19% are contacts of known cases. We are using the small window of opportunity remaining to intensify investigations to identify cases and their sources.
“This is one of the purposes for which the lockdown of 2 States and the FCT was proclaimed by the President.
“These areas, especially Lagos as primary epicenter, but also other parts of the Federation, need to speed up their activities to detect and isolate COVID-19 patients. I shall do everything to support this process. During and following the lockdown, we expect to see an increase in cases, as a measure of improvement in case finding. If social distancing and other measures are adhered to, the incidence of positives cases can be better controlled”.
On how many people tested so far he said, “We have tested nearly 3,000 samples so far in Nigeria, and are working to scale up our capacity in a targeted approach.
“Here in Nigeria, we have recorded 10 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, so that cumulatively, as of the 3rd of April, we have 190 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria across 12 states and the FCT, 2 fatalities and 20 cases discharged from treatment. Lagos has 98 patients, FCT 48, Osun 20, Oyo 8, Akwa Ibom 5, Edo, Kaduna and Ogun, 4 each, Bauchi 3, Enugu and Ekiti 2 each, while Rivers and Benue have 1 each”.
Ehanire said while the global number of COVID-19 cases has crossed the one million mark, just 3 months after the outbreak was first reported in Wuhan, China, “It is an indication that it is a public health challenge we must not take lightly”, he stressed.
According to him Nigeria, was looking to explore potentials for local production of medical consumables such as face masks, gloves, sanitizers, and even equipment like ventilators.
” This is in view of looming global shortages of medical supplies for response, due to high demand by all countries. Clinical trials and other processes are ongoing to validate therapeutics for COVID-19 treatment”, he said.
He also commended the Chinese government for their supports in form of gifts of medical supplies and 18 man team of Chinese medical experts, including doctors, nurses and public health advisers, who will be coming to support the nation and share their experience.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman Presidential Task Force Team for Covid-19, Boss Mustapha, said all hands must be on desk to be able to address the pandemic.
“As I mentioned in my remarks yesterday, COVID-19 remains a potential danger to all of humanity and it threatens our economy and national security, it therefore, behooves us to play our part in the national response very seriously.
“The Federal Government has ramped up its synergy with the State Governments through video-conferencing communication and the platform of the Governors Forum. By these measures, a lot of gaps are being closed for uniformity of purpose.
“The PTF finds it very necessary to appeal to our Law Enforcement Agencies to deploy tact and caution in the course of enforcing the rules, even, in the face of provocation. We similarly appeal to all Nigerians to be law abiding, exercise patience and self-restraint. The message from Mr. President is that no Nigerian should on account of these rules suffer any harm or pains during this period or at any time in our national life”.
He also appealed to traders to be considerate, “To the Nigerian traders and business men and women, we appeal for resistance to the urge to hike prices of goods and commodities, during this period as our compassionate nature must prevail. This is the best time to be considerate and to show empathy for our fellow Nigerians”.
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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