Health
World Leaders Commit to Reduce Antimicrobial Resistance Deaths by 10% by 2030.
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Global leaders have pledged to reduce by 10 per cent deaths associated with bacterial Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) annually by 10 per cent through 2030.
WHO said on Thursday in a statement that the global leaders approved a political declaration at the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).
It said declaration also calls for sustainable national financing and 100 million dollars in catalytic funding, to help achieve a target of at least 60 per cent of countries having funded national action plans on AMR by 2030.
The UN said that the global leaders are Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), known as the Quadripartite.
“This goal is to be reached through, for example, diversifying funding sources and securing more contributors to the Antimicrobial Resistance Multi-Partner Trust Fund.
” The Quadripartite applauds countries for recognising the need for global, regional and national efforts to address AMR through a One Health approach, which recognizes that the health of people, animals, plants
“Also,the wider environment, including ecosystems, are closely linked and interdependent,” it said.
According to the statement, the gobal champions involved with the meeting include Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados, AMR survivors, civil society and stakeholder organisations from around the world.
It said that AMR occured when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to medicines, leading to infections becoming difficult or impossible to treat, increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.
It said that on human health, the declaration sets a more ambitious target that at least 70 per cent of antibiotics used for human health globally should belong to the WHO Access group antibiotics with relatively minimal side effects and lower potential to cause AMR.
It includes targets around Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), such as 100 per cent of countries having basic water, sanitation, hygiene and waste management services in all health care facilities.
It also includes 90 per cent of countries meeting all WHO’s minimum requirements for IPC programmes by 2030,”
” There are also commitments on investments to facilitate equitable access to and appropriate use of antimicrobials, as well as on reporting surveillance data on antimicrobial use and AMR across sectors,” it said.
On agriculture and animal health, the world leaders pledged meaningfully reduce in the quantity of antimicrobials used globally in the agri-food systems by prioritising and funding the implementation of measures to prevent and control infections
This is to be achieved in the context of the WOAH list of priority diseases and FAO’s RENOFARM initiative, as well as preventive strategies, including animal vaccination strategies, good husbandry practices, biosecurity, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).
On the environment, the declaration underscores the need to prevent and address the discharge of antimicrobials into the environment.
It also calls for increased research and knowledge on the environmental dimensions of AMR and for catalyzing actions to address key sources of antimicrobial pollution.
Acknowledging that AMR is a complex problem, the declaration recognised the need for a multisectoral response combining human, agricultural, animal, and environmental sector-specific interventions,” it said.
Mr QU Dongyu., FAO Director-Genera said that the intersectoral challenge of AMR demanded a One Health systems approach that unites human, animal, plant, and environmental health, backed by robust and accountable global AMR governance.
According to. Dongyu, sustainable, diversified financing is essential to support the setting of clear priorities and measurable targets that drive decisive action while recognising national and regional contexts.
“We must ensure universal access to medicines, treatments, and diagnostics, especially in developing countries and in all sectors, while promoting preventive measures and investing in research, innovation, capacity building, and bold awareness initiatives.
“Our health depends on safe, nutritious food, and food security hinges on healthy, sustainable, resilient, and inclusive agrifood systems.
“For nearly 79 years, FAO has been steadfast in its mission to secure safe, nutritious food for all. We fully support this declaration and remain committed to a multisectoral, multi-stakeholder approach to eliminate AMR risks in agrifood systems,” he said.
Ms Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP said that evidence was mounting that the environment played a significant role in the development, spread and transmission of AMR, including transmission between humans, and animals to humans.
According to Andersen, why if we’re to reduce the burden of AMR and its risks, the environment must be part of the solution.
“Today’s declaration recognises this need, and UNEP will continue to be at the forefront of efforts to reduce the burden of AMR on societies and tackle the triple planetary crisis,” she said.
Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General said that in the century since Alexander Fleming stumbled across penicillin in a laboratory in London, antibiotics have become a mainstay of medicine, transforming once-deadly infections into treatable and curable conditions.
Ghebreyesus said that antimicrobial resistance threatens to unwind that progress, making it without question one of the most pressing health challenges of the time.
“Today’s declaration includes vital commitments that, if translated into action, will help to track AMR, slow it down, expand access to antimicrobial medicines like antibiotics and spur the development of new ones,” he said.
Dr Emmanuelle Soubeyran.WOAH Director- General said that antimicrobials help animals and humans live longer and healthier lives, but many of these life-saving drugs are dangerously losing their efficacy, which has devastating impacts not only on human health, but also on livestock and the economy at large,
“Urgent action is needed and we welcome the numerous commitments made by countries through this political declaration.
“The prioritisation of preventative measures against infectious diseases in animals is of paramount importance.
” WOAH will continue to assist countries by developing standards and guidelines, assessing policy frameworks for antimicrobial prescription.
”WOAH will also support the implementation of commitment and vaccination programmes on priority diseases that can help reduce the need for antimicrobials, among other measures,” Soubeyran said.(NAN)
Health
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)
Health
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)
Health
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)