The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, says it has concluded plans to train health workers on effective service delivery to address acute malnutrition in Adamawa State.

UNICEF Country Representative, Christian Munduate told newsmen shortly after inspecting Yelwa primary health facility in Yola on Monday.

Munduate, who did not disclose the number of the participants, said “the online training exercise was designed for workers of the Adamawa Primary Healthcare Development Agency ADPHCDA.”

She said the plan started in December 2022, to ensure capacity building for the health workers.

“When the innovation begin, we will see how it will be develop and what will be further supported for us to do it as well.

“Because it is very important we can have analytic approach, integrated services as we are talking about nutrition.

“For us, the child comes first and one of the first thing to give a child is the opportunity to live healthy,” Munduate said.

The Country representative noted that malnutrition was a threat to the lives of children.

She urged the media organisations in Nigeria to also promote nutrition and exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months.

The UNICEF official added that mothers needed nothing than to drink water and eat well to produce necessary milk to enable them to breastfeed their children effectively.

NAN/ Mercy Chukwudiebere

An interventional Cardiologist, Dr Abraham Ariyo, has advised Nigerians to embrace healthy diets to reduce the burden of cardiovascular diseases, CVD.

Ariyo, Director, Heart Masters Cardiology in Dallas, Texas, United States, gave the advice on Tuesday in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.

According to the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH ), CVD is a significant public health concern responsible for 11% of over two million non-communicable disease deaths in Nigeria annually.

It said that CVD was also responsible for a high burden of morbidity and disability, noting that most people with CVDs were not aware until catastrophes like stroke, heart attack or death occur.

Ariyo noted that Nigerians rarely have heart attacks in the past due to traditional meals that was consumed and active lifestyle.

He, however, said that “consumption of processed and cholesterol filled foods by Nigerians, especially in the urban areas was driving CVDs in the country.”

“Many persons in the western countries have realised the problem and are moving away from such kind of food to vegetarian, fresh food and less cholesterol laden food.

“Nigerians are moving to where the western countries were, with their high consumption of fast foods like pizzas, hamburgers, and many cholesterol-filled foods,” the Health expert said.

Rise of unexplained death

Ariyo noted that the rise in sudden and unexplained deaths in Nigeria might be due to undetected cardiovascular diseases.

According to him, “staying healthy is a personal responsibility and each individual should embrace to live a long and healthy life.”

Ariyo said it was critical for the public to acquire basic life support training skills, stressing that “it saves lives as it takes care of critical medical emergencies such as cardiac arrest management.”

Without immediate and appropriate attention, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victims can lose their lives, while cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) provides temporary assistance. In critical situations like these, it’s crucial to act swiftly and confidently. Seeking proper CPR training from reputable sources, such as websites like “https://cprcertificationnow.com,” can empower individuals to respond effectively in emergencies and potentially save lives. Additionally, having access to a defibrillator can further enhance the chances of survival during sudden cardiac arrest.

“Defibrillators are devices that send an electric pulse or shock to the heart to restore a normal heartbeat, “he said.

Ariyo said ideally a defibrillator should be available in public places to address emergency situations, thus appealed to governments, NGOs and philanthropists to provide toward saving lives of Nigerians.

He noted that each year, American-based, Nigerian-born, team of heart specialists, which include interventional cardiologists, electrophysiologists, nurses and cardiac device companies from the US visit Nigeria for a week of marathon cardiovascular care.

Ariyo said that these visits made some medical practitioners return to Nigeria to practice and set up hospitals that perform up-to-date and complete cardiovascular care.

“This is the right step in the right direction with indigenous people starting to take non-governmental initiatives to increase health care capacity in Nigeria’s private sector,” he said.

Ariyo expressed optimism that collaboration among critical stakeholders would bring solution to the numerous challenges affecting the healthcare sector of Nigeria.

Ariyo, is also the President, North America U.S. chapter of Ibadan College of Medicine Alumni Association (ICOMAA).

NAN/ Mercy Chukwudiebere

Nigeria’s Anti-narcotic Agency, the National Drugs Laws Enforcement Agency NDLEA has challenged traditional rulers, religious and community leaders to champion the campaign against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking in their domains.

The Chief Executive National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Retired Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa threw the challenge at the ground-breaking ceremony of the Agency’s Area Command office in Igumale, Ado local government area and Otukpo in Benue State North Central Nigeria.

Speaking at the two palaces of Chief Joseph Oche Ikor and Ochi’Idoma of Idoma land, Agabaidu Odogbo Obagaji John, Marwa urged them to see the siting of an NDLEA office in his domain as a call to support ongoing efforts to eliminate access to illicit drugs wreaking havocs in families and communities.

In their responses, the monarchs and other community leaders who spoke at the different ceremonies promised to support NDLEA to succeed in its given task.

They assured Marwa that “they would work with NDLEA to rid their domains of illicit drugs.”

Marwa commissioned a 20-kilometre road facilitated by the member representing Ado-Ogbadigbo-Okpokwu Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives and who is the Chairman, House Committee on Narcotic Drugs, Mr. Francis Ottah Agbo.

He said, “both developments are signs of the importance of this community and local government to Nigeria’s welfare and also a testament that communities in this corner of the country are not left out of the dividends of democracy by its leaders.”

Marwa commended Mr. Agbo for his passion and commitment to the effort in making Nigeria a drug-free country.

Mercy Chukwudiebere

The Kaduna State government says neonatal and infant mortality rate has reduced in the state.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr Amina Mohammed-Baloni said neonatal mortality rate dropped from 63 per 1,000 live births in 2018 to 47 per 1,000 births in 2021.

She made the declaration while addressing the 12th Kaduna State Council on Health meeting in Kaduna on Tuesday.

Mohammed-Baloni also said that “Under-five mortality rate dropped from 187 per 1,000 births in 2018 to 127 per 1,000 births in 2021.”

“The Under-five mortality rate for Kaduna State at 127 per 1,000 births in 2021 was the lowest in the Northwest geopolitical zone,” she said

The Commissioner noted that the rate was, however, slightly higher than the national average rate of 102 per 1,000 births.

Mohammed-Baloni said; “There was a general improvement in most of the reproductive, maternal and child indicators and Kaduna State performed better than all the states in the Northwest zone in Under-five mortality rate.

“Percentage of one-year-olds who had received three doses of the combined diphtheria, tetanus toxoid and pertussis vaccine (Penta3) in Kaduna State improved from 26.5 per cent in 2017 to 60 per cent in 2021.

“Kaduna State was recognised as the most improved state in the Northwest zone in immunisation against diphtheria, tetanus toxoid and pertussis (Penta-3) in 2021.”

The National Bureau of Statistics conducted a Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) in 2021 as part of the Global MICS Programme where it rated immunisation coverage in states of the federation and the FCT.

The Commissioner explained that council members would approve various strategies to facilitate the attainment of the state’s goal of ensuring that residents have access to quality and affordable healthcare without financial catastrophes.

Mohammed-Baloni also told the meeting that the health system assessment in the state showed that there were still concerns about service delivery, medicines and vaccines and health financing

“The inventory assessment and the workforce productivity assessment all revealed gaps in the availability of modern equipment and human resource productivity.

“These have guided the development of the 2022 and the 2023 annual operation and sector implementation plans and will also guide the development of the third strategic health development plan,’’ she said.

Mohammed-Baloni stressed that the state government established the Health Management Authority to ease the burden of payment for health services in the state.

She said; “The state earmarked 1 per cent of its Consolidated Revenue Fund to cater to vulnerable population and so far, 496,752 residents have been enrolled into the scheme.

“The state has also been allocating above 15 per cent of its budget to health since 2017 in line with the 2001 Abuja declaration with an average of 67 per cent budget performance over the last six years.’’ 

Mohammed-Baloni urged health sector actors and managers to critically reflect on how to re-strategise, and re-focus to achieve universal health coverage in the state.

The Kaduna State Council on Health has the responsibility to guide and advise government on matters relating to health.

It meets annually to review the sector’s performance, identify challenges and proffer corrective actions that would ensure provision of quality healthcare services.

The theme for the 12th meeting is: Health system strengthening: Key to achieving universal health coverage in Kaduna State.

NAN/ Mercy Chukwudiebere