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Mrs Hanifa Hamza, the Kwara Coordinator, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), has assured Nigerians of enough vaccines against COVID-19 pandemic.
Hamza stated this on Wednesday at a stakeholders’ training organised by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), National Agency for the Control of AIDs (NACA) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), in Ilorin.
The programme was organised to scale up awareness campaign on why more Nigerians have to get vaccinated as the virus was still in existence.
Hamza spoke on the topic: “Preventive Measures: Overview of COVID-19 vaccination in Nigeria”.
The NPHCDA coordinator explained that the virus was real and still around, adding that since many people are not tested, it is difficult to say it has gone.
”We need to know our status as well as protect ourselves,” she said.
According to her, I am a survivor of COVID-19 infection, hence the need for Nigerians to adequately protect themselves through test and vaccination.
She reiterated that the vaccine was available in medical centres and not harmful, and advised participants to spread the news and not the virus.
Hamza stated that the agency has the mandate to help Kwara Government to vaccinate 70 per cent of her population between August and October, adding that this will ensure adequate protection and stronger immunity.
“COVID-19 transmission is crazy.
Please don’t relax, it has come to stay like catarr or malaria; take precautions, don’t joke with your hands sanitiser, vitamin C and eat balanced diet regularly, use your nose and booster dose,” she advised.
Mrs Jessica Akinrongbe, the Senior Emergency Response Officer, NCDC Abuja, noted that Nigerians, especially men below age 60, have to take precautionary measures and prepare to attack the viral infection.
In her paper presentation entitled: “Overview of COVID-19 Epidemiology”, Akinrongbe stated that COVID-19 is airborne disease and it is difficult to control.
According to her, men are highly prone to contact the virus than women, and that other people who have one ailment such as diabetes, pneumonia and the likes are also vulnerable.
She said that people have to get tested routinely and not until when they become sick before going for test.
Akinrongbe reaffirmed that COVID-19 still persist even though not as severe as before, and urged people to protect themselves against virus and prepare to maintain good health.
NewsSourceCredit: NAN
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said that Kaduna and Oyo states have joined Lagos, the FCT, and Rivers states to top the five states with the highest cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in the country.
The Director-General, NCDC, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at the Ministerial bi-weekly meeting on the update of COVID-19 response and development in the country’s health sector.
The News Agency of Nigeria, reports that the details are also on the NCDC website, which rolled out the breakdown of infections.
It shows that Lagos state has continued to maintain the first position with a huge gap in the country, with about 102, 877, the FCT coming behind with 29, 075, Rivers state follows with about 17, 680, Kaduna with over 11,467 and Oyo State with about 10, 327, since the beginning of the pandemic in the country.
Adetifa said that from the Aug. 13 to 15, the country reported 144 additional confirmed cases.
According to him, 144 new cases were reported from nine States- Lagos (101), Abia (13), Akwa Ibom (10), the FCT (9), Kano (5), Kaduna (3), Bauchi (1), Ekiti (1) and Plateau (1)
He said that since the beginning of the pandemic in the country in February 2020, there has been over 5,441,162 samples tested, 262,748 confirmed cases, 256,518 discharged cases with 3,147 deaths.
He said that a multi-sectoral national emergency operations centre (EOC), activated at Level 2, continued to coordinate the national response activities across the country.
According to the NCDC boss , in 2021 the country had a high burden of cases compared to this year and in weeks past, some states have recorded increase in their confirmed cases.
“Thankfully, we are at a phase in the pandemic where we can utilise COVID-19 vaccines to ensure reduction in the occurrences of severe infectious diseases and hospitalisations.
“We have this, alongside other tools in our toolkit: wearing of facemasks, proper hand hygiene, proper respiratory hygiene – coughing into tissue – therapeutics to lessen symptom severity and testing,” he said.
The NCDC boss disclosed that the agency was engaging with other partners to review the implementation roadmap for enhancing COVID-19 rapid tests and self-testing.
“Work continues as usual with our teams liaising with states for disease surveillance reports, contact tracing and other activities to prevent and respond to COVID-19,” he said.
Addressing the misunderstanding regarding the wearing of facemasks in the country, he said that it was encouraged, particularly indoors and especially rooms that were not well-ventilated.
According to him, as part of surveillance efforts, “we are training community volunteers on active case search and contact tracing as well as carrying out monitoring and supervision of healthcare activities across health facilities,” he explained.
Adetifa said that globally, the COVID-19 pandemic was still exerting its effects.
“An example is that in the Phillippines, students are only now returning to school after two years.
“ Current global epidemiological trends, cases and deaths must be interpreted with care since many countries have varying COVID-19 testing strategies, in turn leading to lower number of tests and thus, cases detected.
“In the US, COVID-19 boosters targeting the omicron BA.
5 subvariant are being developed and due to be available in the coming weeks.
“We continue to hear of various prominent individuals contracting COVID-19 including the US President Joe Biden, his wife, and recently, Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida,” he explained.
The NCDC boss said that SARS-CoV-2 is still present inspite of desires and many actions to return to normalcy worldwide, with many countries easing restrictions to increase economic activity.
NewsSourceCredit: NAN
A Virologist, Prof. Oyewale Tomori, has called for more consistency in the way information, data and updates on COVID-19 pandemic were being provided to the general public.
Tomori, also the Chairman of Biovaccines Nigeria Ltd., made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Lagos.
He reacted to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) report of an additional 144 new COVID-19 cases from Aug. 14 to Aug. 15, where Lagos State was ahead of other states with 101new cases.
He said there has not been adequate breaking down of information on how or where the surge in the COVID-19 new cases were actually coming from; whether it was from people coming into the country or it was being spread among perdond living within the country.
The virologist noted that those were some of the issues and updates that needed to addresed.
According to him, up-to-date information on the COVID-19 situations will pave the way for easy assessment, analysis and predictions concerning the disease at any point in time.
“For some time now, I have observed that there is no longer consistency in the way and manner in which updates and about Covid-19 are being provided for public consumption.
“The NCDC that initially provides information and updates about Covid-19 on daily basis, no longer do so.
“The centre now comes out to give updates on the disease on weekly basis.
“It is not supposed to be that way.
Information and updates on the condition is still supposed to be provided every day because in other countries, update is still on daily basis.
“This is because up-to-date information will make it easy for proper assessment, analysis, monitoring and predictions about the pandemic,” Tomori said.
Tomori urged the NCDC to intensify efforts to ensure wider information to greater percentage of the populace, because not everybody could access its website or Twitter handle.
The virologist called on the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 to rise to its mandates and deploy necessary strategic measures to contain the pandemic because it was still very much present in the country.
According to him, there is also no longer information concerning the operations of the Taskforce.
Tomori said: “The major mandate of the taskforce is to coordinate and oversee Nigeria’s multi-sectoral inter-governmental efforts to contain the spread and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.
“But unfortunately, we no longer hear anything about its operations.
Even the designated diagnostic laboratories seems not to be functioning.
“We seem to have abandoned all the precautionary measures of COVID-19; people no longer wear the facemasks – if they see you wearing the facemask, they look at you indifferently.
“And if people are no more observing the precautionary measures with the impression that COVID-19 is gone, then, it will catch-up on us unaware.
“Personally, I never removed my facemask in a gathering; even when they say remove facemasks for group photographs, I don’t remove mine because it doesn’t take more than a second for a person to contract the infection.
”
Contributing, another virologist, Dr Everest Okeakpu, identified “vaccination” as key in efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19 pandemic.
Okeakpu, also the Chief Operating Officer, Biovaccines Nigeria Ltd., decried that many Nigerians particularly those in the informal sector, had not been vaccinated for COVID-19.
According to him, the surge in the reported new cases of COVID-19 is not a surprise because the Nigerian society has completely abandoned all the precautionary measures to the disease.
“Vaccination is the first step to preventing the contraction of the infection.
“If you are vaccinated and at least obey the preventive measures , your chances of contracting the COVID-19 infection will be very low,” Okeakpu said.
He emphasised the need for people to always complete the dosage of the vaccine accordingly – first dose, second dose and the booster dose respectively, saying that would make the vaccine more effective.
NewsSourceCredit: NAN
As the country continues to record more cases of COVID-19 , experts urge the government to intensify efforts on research for local remedies .
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the number of COVID-19 cases in the country had been on the rise since July 2022.
Prof. Babatunde Salako, Director-General of the Nigerian Institute Of Medical Research ( NIMR), who spoke to NAN on this development said that continuous research on local remedies and surveillance should be of top priority.
“We have done all that should be done, what we need is more campaign against vaccine hesitancy and get more people vaccinated in the country,” he said.
He urged Nigerians to continue to adhere to all precautionary measures given by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to curb the spread of the virus.
Also, Prof. James Damen, the National President, Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN), said many Nigerians no longer observed the basic safety precautions given by the NCDC.
“People are no longer observing the basic COVID-19 precautions in place and that is why we are seeing this increase.
“People should stick to these guidelines and the government also should not relent in educating the public on it,” he said.
Damen noted that some of the molecular laboratories provided by the government in institutions were not functioning well.
“The government has tried to provide molecular laboratories to institutions across the country but some are not functioning well because they are headed by pathologists which is not their area of expertise.
“Laboratories are supposed to be headed by lab scientists and we know Labouratory play key roles in terms of surveillance during pandemic or epidemic.
“We expect the government to do the needful,” he said.
He added that more funds should be committed to fund research that would reduced the country’s dependence on foreign items.
“I think the government should take the issue of vaccine production , testing tools within the country into consideration because we have the expertise here in the country,” Damen said.
NewsSourceCredit: NAN
Local remedies, sensitisation, precautionary measures panacea to COVID-19 spread in Nigeria
By Lilian Okoro and Kemi Akintokun, News Agency of Nigeria
As the country continues to record more cases of COVID-19, experts emphasise the need for effective and lasting measures to curtail further spread of the virus in Nigeria.
Some of the measures include intensifying efforts on research for local remedies, renewed and sustained sensitisation as well as adherence to measures.
Coronaviruses are a group of related viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds.
In humans, coronaviruses cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to fatal.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that on Dec. 31, 2019, the first reported known infections from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) were recorded in Wuhan, China, though the original source of viral transmission to humans remains unclear.
It was on Feb. 11, 2020, that the World Health Organisation (WHO) officially issued the names COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 as the name of the new virus coronaviruses detected in Wuhan.
According to it, this name is chosen because the virus is genetically related to the coronavirus responsible for the SARS outbreak of 2003. While related, the two viruses are different.
In Nigeria, the first case of the virus emerged on Feb. 28, 2020 and the cases increased rapidly within six months to 47,743 cases with 979 deaths as of Aug. 12, 2020.
It steadily increased and a lockdown was eventually put in place alongside other measures to curb the spread of the virus.
When the attendant economic consequences of the lockdown in the country became unbearable, the government was compelled to announce a phased and gradual easing of the lockdown in the FCT, Lagos and Ogun states from May 5, 2020.
The cases continue to fluctuate with the different waves of COVID-19.
However, lately, the number of COVID-19 cases in the country have been on the rise since July 2022.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) also reports of an additional 144 new COVID-19 cases from Aug. 14 to 15, 2022 where Lagos State is ahead of other states with 101 cases.
A Virologist, Prof. Oyewale Tomori, called for more consistency in the way information, data and updates on COVID-19 pandemic are being provided to the general public in Nigeria.
Tomori, also the Chairman, Biovaccines Nigeria Ltd., tells NAN that there has not been adequate breakdown information on how or where the surge in the COVID-19 new cases are actually coming from; whether it is from people coming into the country or it is being spread among people who live in the country.
According to him, up-to-date information on the COVID-19 situations will pave the way for easy assessment, analysis and predictions concerning the disease at any point in time.
“For some time now, I have observed that there is no longer consistency in the way and manner in which updates and about Covid-19 are being provided for public consumption.
“The NCDC that initially provides information and updates about Covid-19 on daily basis, no longer do so.
“The Centre now comes out to give updates on the disease on weekly basis – it is not supposed to be that way.
“ Information and updates on the condition is still supposed to be provided every day because in other countries, update is still on daily basis.
”This is because up-to-date information will make it easy for proper assessment, analysis, monitoring and predictions about the pandemic,” Tomori says.
Tomori urges the NCDC to intensify efforts to ensure wider information to greater percentage of the populace, because not everybody has access to its website or Twitter handle.
The virologist also calls on the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 to rise up to its mandates and deploy necessary strategic measures to contain the pandemic because it is still very much present in the country.
According to him, there is no longer information concerning the operations of the Taskforce.
He said, ”The major mandate of the taskforce is to coordinate and oversee Nigeria’s multi-sectoral inter-governmental efforts to contain the spread and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.
“But unfortunately, we no longer hear anything about its operations.
Even the designated diagnostic laboratories seems not to be functioning.
“We seem to have abandoned all the precautionary measures of Covid-19; people no longer wear the facemasks – if they see you wearing the facemask, they look at you indifferently.
“And if people are no more observing the precautionary measures given the impression that COVID-19 is gone, then, it will catch-up on us unaware.
“Personally, I never removed my facemask in a gathering; even when they say remove facemasks for group photographs, I don’t remove mine because it doesn’t take more than a second for a person to contract the infection.
”
Contributing, another virologist, Dr Everest Okeakpu, identifies “vaccination” as key in efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
Okeakpu, also the Chief Operating Officer, Biovaccines Nigeria Ltd., decries that many Nigerians particularly those in the informal sector, has not been vaccinated for COVID-19.
According to him, the surge in the reported new cases of COVID-19 does not come as a surprise because the Nigerian society has completely abandoned all the precautionary measures to the disease.
“Vaccination is the first step to preventing the contraction of the infection.
“If you are vaccinated and at least obey the preventive measures – your chances of contracting the COVID-19 infection will be very low,” Okeakpu said.
He emphasises the need for people to always complete the dosage of the vaccine accordingly – first dose, second dose and the booster dose respectively, saying that would make the vaccine more effective.
Prof. Babatunde Salako, Director-General of the Nigerian Institute Of Medical Research ( NIMR), tells NAN that among measures to curtail and stop the spread of COVID-19 is the need for research and development of indigenous solutions.
He emphasises that continuous research on local remedies and surveillance should be of top priority.
“We have done all that should be done, what we need is more campaign against vaccine hesitancy and get more people vaccinated in the country’’.
Salako urges Nigerians to continue observing adhere to all precautionary measures given by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to curb the spread of the virus.
Also, Prof. James Damen, the National President, Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN), says many Nigerians no longer observe the basic safety precautions given by the NCDC.
“People are no longer observing the basic COVID-19 precautions in place and that is why we are seeing this increase.
“People should stick to these guidelines and the government also should not relent in educating the public on it.
’’
Damen notes that some of the molecular laboratories provided by the government in institutions are not functioning well.
”The government have tried to provide molecular laboratories to institutions across the country but some are not functioning well because they are headed by pathologists which is not their area of expertise.
”Laboratories are supposed to be headed by lab scientists and we know Labouratory play key roles in terms of surveillance during pandemic or epidemic.
“We expect the government to do the needful,” he said.
He adds that more funds should be committed to fund research that would reduced the country’s dependence on foreign items.
”I think the government should take the issue of vaccine production , testing tools within the country into consideration because we have the expertise here in the country,” Damen says.
Indeed, the emergence of COVID-19 came with changes that give cause for people to readjust their outlooks and lifestyles to avoid the extreme consequences of the disease.
So, while the end of the virus still appears uncertain, especially with the dynamics, people have to live their lives.
Hence, in order to live this healthy “COVID-19 Free” life that experts advocate, among other strategies, there is need to develop local remedies, accelerate and scale-up integrated COVID-19 vaccination.
Adherence to the COVID-19 guidelines for their safety as well as increased and sustained sensitisation are also important for a ”COVID-free” lifestyle among residents and people of Nigeria.
(NANFeatures)
***If used, please credit the authors and the News Agency of Nigeria .
NewsSourceCredit: NAN
Local remedies, sustained sensitisation, precautionary measures panacea to COVID-19 spread in Nigeria
Local remedies, sustained sensitisation, precautionary measures panacea to COVID-19 spread in Nigeria
By Lilian Okoro and Kemi Akintokun, News Agency of Nigeria
As the country continues to record more cases of COVID-19, experts emphasise the need for effective and lasting measures to curtail further spread of the virus in Nigeria.
Some of the measures include intensifying efforts on research for local remedies, renewed and sustained sensitisation as well as adherence to measures.
Coronaviruses are a group of related viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds.
In humans, coronaviruses cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to fatal.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that on Dec. 31, 2019, the first reported known infections from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) were recorded in Wuhan, China, though the original source of viral transmission to humans remains unclear.
It was on Feb. 11, 2020, that the World Health Organisation (WHO) officially issued the names COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 as the name of the new virus coronaviruses detected in Wuhan.
According to it, this name is chosen because the virus is genetically related to the coronavirus responsible for the SARS outbreak of 2003. While related, the two viruses are different.
In Nigeria, the first case of the virus emerged on Feb. 28, 2020 and the cases increased rapidly within six months to 47,743 cases with 979 deaths as of Aug. 12, 2020.
It steadily increased and a lockdown was eventually put in place alongside other measures to curb the spread of the virus.
When the attendant economic consequences of the lockdown in the country became unbearable, the government was compelled to announce a phased and gradual easing of the lockdown in the FCT, Lagos and Ogun states from May 5, 2020.
The cases continue to fluctuate with the different waves of COVID-19.
However, lately, the number of COVID-19 cases in the country have been on the rise since July 2022.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) also reports of an additional 144 new COVID-19 cases from Aug. 14 to 15, 2022 where Lagos State is ahead of other states with 101 cases.
A Virologist, Prof. Oyewale Tomori, called for more consistency in the way information, data and updates on COVID-19 pandemic are being provided to the general public in Nigeria.
Tomori, also the Chairman, Biovaccines Nigeria Ltd., tells NAN that there has not been adequate breakdown information on how or where the surge in the COVID-19 new cases are actually coming from; whether it is from people coming into the country or it is being spread among people who live in the country.
According to him, up-to-date information on the COVID-19 situations will pave the way for easy assessment, analysis and predictions concerning the disease at any point in time.
“For some time now, I have observed that there is no longer consistency in the way and manner in which updates and about Covid-19 are being provided for public consumption.
“The NCDC that initially provides information and updates about Covid-19 on daily basis, no longer do so.
“The Centre now comes out to give updates on the disease on weekly basis – it is not supposed to be that way.
“ Information and updates on the condition is still supposed to be provided every day because in other countries, update is still on daily basis.
”This is because up-to-date information will make it easy for proper assessment, analysis, monitoring and predictions about the pandemic,” Tomori says.
Tomori urges the NCDC to intensify efforts to ensure wider information to greater percentage of the populace, because not everybody has access to its website or Twitter handle.
The virologist also calls on the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 to rise up to its mandates and deploy necessary strategic measures to contain the pandemic because it is still very much present in the country.
According to him, there is no longer information concerning the operations of the Taskforce.
He said, ”The major mandate of the taskforce is to coordinate and oversee Nigeria’s multi-sectoral inter-governmental efforts to contain the spread and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.
“But unfortunately, we no longer hear anything about its operations.
Even the designated diagnostic laboratories seems not to be functioning.
“We seem to have abandoned all the precautionary measures of Covid-19; people no longer wear the facemasks – if they see you wearing the facemask, they look at you indifferently.
“And if people are no more observing the precautionary measures given the impression that COVID-19 is gone, then, it will catch-up on us unaware.
“Personally, I never removed my facemask in a gathering; even when they say remove facemasks for group photographs, I don’t remove mine because it doesn’t take more than a second for a person to contract the infection.
”
Contributing, another virologist, Dr Everest Okeakpu, identifies “vaccination” as key in efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
Okeakpu, also the Chief Operating Officer, Biovaccines Nigeria Ltd., decries that many Nigerians particularly those in the informal sector, has not been vaccinated for COVID-19.
According to him, the surge in the reported new cases of COVID-19 does not come as a surprise because the Nigerian society has completely abandoned all the precautionary measures to the disease.
“Vaccination is the first step to preventing the contraction of the infection.
“If you are vaccinated and at least obey the preventive measures – your chances of contracting the COVID-19 infection will be very low,” Okeakpu said.
He emphasises the need for people to always complete the dosage of the vaccine accordingly – first dose, second dose and the booster dose respectively, saying that would make the vaccine more effective.
Prof. Babatunde Salako, Director-General of the Nigerian Institute Of Medical Research ( NIMR), tells NAN that among measures to curtail and stop the spread of COVID-19 is the need for research and development of indigenous solutions.
He emphasises that continuous research on local remedies and surveillance should be of top priority.
“We have done all that should be done, what we need is more campaign against vaccine hesitancy and get more people vaccinated in the country’’.
Salako urges Nigerians to continue observing adhere to all precautionary measures given by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to curb the spread of the virus.
Also, Prof. James Damen, the National President, Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN), says many Nigerians no longer observe the basic safety precautions given by the NCDC.
“People are no longer observing the basic COVID-19 precautions in place and that is why we are seeing this increase.
“People should stick to these guidelines and the government also should not relent in educating the public on it.
’’
Damen notes that some of the molecular laboratories provided by the government in institutions are not functioning well.
”The government have tried to provide molecular laboratories to institutions across the country but some are not functioning well because they are headed by pathologists which is not their area of expertise.
”Laboratories are supposed to be headed by lab scientists and we know Labouratory play key roles in terms of surveillance during pandemic or epidemic.
“We expect the government to do the needful,” he said.
He adds that more funds should be committed to fund research that would reduced the country’s dependence on foreign items.
”I think the government should take the issue of vaccine production , testing tools within the country into consideration because we have the expertise here in the country,” Damen says.
Indeed, the emergence of COVID-19 came with changes that give cause for people to readjust their outlooks and lifestyles to avoid the extreme consequences of the disease.
So, while the end of the virus still appears uncertain, especially with the dynamics, people have to live their lives.
Hence, in order to live this healthy “COVID-19 Free” life that experts advocate, among other strategies, there is need to develop local remedies, accelerate and scale-up integrated COVID-19 vaccination.
Adherence to the COVID-19 guidelines for their safety as well as increased and sustained sensitisation are also important for a ”COVID-free” lifestyle among residents and people of Nigeria.
(NANFeatures)
***If used, please credit the authors and the News Agency of Nigeria .
NewsSourceCredit: NAN
The United States of America Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (USCDC), has sent a delegation to Nigeria to learn capacity building for global health security.
The American team will also understudy Nigeria’s disease detection, preparedness and response.
The Director of Global Health Advocacy, United Nations Foundation, Mr Brian Massa, led the delegation to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), National Reference Laboratory (NRL), on Friday in Abuja,
According to Massa, the delegation was on a learning visit to Nigeria.
“We are here at the NRL to learn about the great work that the Nigerian government is doing with capacity building for global health security, disease detection, preparedness and response.
“Nigeria is in line with the IHR core capacities required to detect, assess, notify and respond to public health risks and emergencies.
”This is as stipulated in Articles five and 13, and Annex one, of the Regulations,” he said.
Massa said that the delegation observed the laboratory diagnostic facilities, and discussed the importance of resilient health systems.
He added that the integration and data-sharing of country-wide disease detection, and the country’s response to the current Monkeypox outbreak were also studied.
“This visit will further develop the roster of congressional staffers who work on global health policy.
”It will help them to understand how bilateral Global Health Security investments in the country have strengthened global health security and pandemic preparedness,” he said.
According to him, it is s a great partnership between the Nigerian government and the United States government.
“The USCDC has provided very generous and important support on collaboration with the NCDC to provide training, technical capacity building and to be able to detect diseases early.
“Through partnerships with the NCDC, the USCDC is improving the quality of critical public health services in the country,” he said.
According to the Director-General, NCDC, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, the NRL in Abuja is the organisation’s focal laboratory.
Adetifa said that the laboratory provides High-Quality Public Health Laboratory Services, coordinates laboratory-based surveillance and provides oversight to state public health laboratories.
He said that the American government, through the USCDC and implementing partners had supported the agency with laboratory equipment, consumables, reagents and technical support.
“Over the last several years, the American Congress, supported by the UN Foundation, had organised congressional learning trips to observe global health.
”The Congress also organised trips to UN peacekeeping, humanitarian, and development operations across the globe, highlighting the US- UN partnership in the field,” he said.
The NCDC boss said that the US delegation included staffers and principal aides of US senators and members of the House of Congress with a task in health services, global health or health security.
“So they are here on behalf of their principals, because within their principals’ offices, they handle health-related or global health issues.
“Visits like this provide us with an opportunity to lay out areas that we may require support, either directly by what we say or indirectly by what they see,” he said.
Adetifa, however, said that questions about the country’s preparedness for a future pandemic were difficult to answer while highlighting lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think the question about whether people are prepared for pandemics or not is a difficult one to answer.
“We had a ranking of countries that were supposedly in a better place to deal with pandemics, but COVID-19 came and showed us that the ranking was irrelevant.
“However, the message I take away from the ranking is that it shows the importance of having resilient health systems.
” So, after everybody was confronted by COVID-19, we all sort of collapsed.
But, then, we can see how systems are recovering,” he said.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) representative, Dr Kofi Boateng, said that there have been significant improvements in the country’s laboratories which is a critical area of health security.
Boating said that the country could detect, assess, report, and respond to public health events, which is the core capability of IHR.
He, however, said that as the COVID-19 pandemic had shown, investing in preparedness is much cheaper and more effective than funding responses.
He pledged WHO’s continuous support to the country.
According to him, ”investment in preparation must be founded on continuous community engagement, coordination between sectors, and sensitive and flexible surveillance and response systems.
”
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that US has been a longstanding global health security leader.
In 2014, the US helped launch Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), to strengthen the world’s ability to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats.
Now, more than 70 countries, international organisations, NGOs and private sector entities, were united in strengthening global health security.
They have a target of strengthening country capacities by 2024 for 100 countries in at least five specific technical areas.
GHSA emphasises the importance of efforts to build national capacity to prepare for biological catastrophes.
These include human and animal health, agriculture, security, defence, law enforcement, development assistance, foreign affairs, and finance.
In 2018, GHSA members renewed the
the initial five-year phase of action (2014-2019) for a second five-year phase (2019-2024), known as “GHSA 2024.”
GHSA 2024 works to accelerate the implementation of and compliance with the IHR (2005), a legally binding instrument adopted by 196 countries, including the 194 World WHO member’states.
It is meant to strengthen country-level capabilities needed to prevent, detect, and respond to health emergencies.
The United States is fully dedicated to assisting countries around the world to improve health security capacities and meet the 2024 target.
It uses the globally- endorsed IHR Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (MEF) and the Joint External Evaluation (JEE).
NewsSourceCredit: NAN
Mr Silas Nwoha, the Editor-in-Chief (EIC) of the News Agency of Nigeria, has enjoined public health agencies to engage journalists in trust building. Nwoha said this on Thursday in Abuja, when representatives of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and partners paid him an advocacy visit. The visit was to chart ways through which the centre could conduct needs assessment to identify the priorities and training needs of journalists across the country. According to the EIC, to restore trust, channels of communication between public health agencies and journalism in the country, like those established and maintained globally, must become more widespread. “Such networks will be used to educate public health agencies about journalism ethics, and journalists about clinical terminology and health care ethics. “Just as clinicians are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of patients’ information, so journalists are obliged to protect their sources from harm or stigma and to engage in unbiased reporting,” he said. Mr Chukwuemeka Oguanuo – Media Relations Lead, NCDC, said that the country’s public health institute was undertaking an initiative to strengthen the capacity of journalists through integration into public health emergency preparedness and response. “The NCDC is the country’s national public health institute, with the mandate to lead the prevention, detection and response to the outbreak of infectious disease and public health emergencies in Nigeria. “The role of communication in attaining this mandate is critical as indicated by the 2017 World Health Organization (WHO) Joint External Evaluation (JEE) report 5.1,” he said. Oguanuo said that the COVID-19 pandemic showed the importance of communication for a successful response and also exposed stringent challenges to effective communication. “The COVID-19 pandemic has also informed us that effective communication required a whole-of-society response, with the media playing a critical role in advocacy. “It is the media that can amplify key messages from NCDC to create awareness and on preventive measures for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. “However, their impact has been stymied by poor capacity for science communication, unprecedented level of misinformation and disinformation about the disease and understanding some non-pharmaceutical recommendations,” he said. He said that considering their reach and level of trust, the role of journalists in tackling the issue with the COVID-19 response and other public health events could not be underestimated. “To this end, the NCDC is leading a collaboration with Breakthrough Action, Nigeria (BA-N) and African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET). “This is to establish the media preparedness against current and future outbreaks in three programme areas. “The areas are Epidemiology, Infodemic Management and Behaviour Change Communication (EIS),” he said. Dr Patrick Nguku, AFENET Regional Coordinator, said the training programme was built on the UNESCO Media Development Indicators (MDIs). Nguku, who was represented by Mr Oliver Iorkase, Communication Specialist, AFENET, said the idea was to equip journalists with technical and practical knowledge that would enhance their understanding of basic epidemiology. He added that the training would also mitigate general scientific reporting, decipher right and wrong scientific data, publication, research, among others. “It is aimed at utilising journalists to focus the spotlight on field epidemiology and accentuate its criticality and essentialness to a wider spectrum of decision-makers and development partners,” he said. Dr Umar -Farouk Olayinka, Deputy Project Director Risk Communication, BA-N, said as part of the development of the training programme, a national media NEEDS assessment would be conducted in the coming weeks. Olayinka, who was represented by Mr Eze Eze, Communication Specialist, BA-N, said that the project was specifically tailored to build the capacity of journalists in print and electronic media. She explained that the training would be on basic epidemiology and scientific reporting, infodemic management and behaviour change communication. She said that a network of trained journalists would be incorporated into the mainstream of outbreak response in the country. Meanwhile, Hajia Hadiza Aliyu, Head of Health Desk, NAN, said that Journalists remained integral to health communication and should be integrated into the nation’s response to present and future pandemics. She also called on all relevant agencies to recognise the strength of the media, adding that good journalists strived to be allies in control of disease outbreak. NewsSourceCredit: NAN
NCDC confirms additional 13 new cases of Lassa The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), has confirmed 13 additional new cases of Lassa fever in seven days from five states,which were; Ondo, Edo, Kogi, Ebonyi and Imo.
The NCDC in its epidemiological report made available to the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday, said that, since the beginning of 2022, 70 per cent of infections had come from three states: Ondo (31 per cent), Edo (26 per cent), and Bauchi (13 per cent).
NAN reports that Lassa fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic illness caused by the Lassa virus.
People usually become infected with the Lassa virus through exposure to food or household items contaminated with urine or faeces of infected rats – present in several West African countries where the disease is endemic.
The virus could also be spread through infected bodily fluids.
The public health agency said that the country had recorded 165 deaths in 17 states.
The agency said,” In week 31 (Aug. 1 to 7), the number of new confirmed cases increased from 10 in week 30, 2022 to 13 cases.
These were reported from Ondo, Edo, Kogi, Ebonyi and Imo states.
“Cumulatively from week 1 to week 31, 2022, 165 deaths have been reported with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 18.8 per cent which is lower than the CFR for the same period in 2021 (23.1 per cent).
“In total for 2022, 25 States have recorded at least one confirmed case across 100 Local Government Areas.
“Of all confirmed cases, 70 per cent are from Ondo (31 per cent), Edo (26 per cent), and Bauchi (13 per cent) States,”.
The NCDC stated that the predominant age group affected were 21-30 years (Range.
zero to 90 years, Median Age: 30 years.
It said that the male-to-female ratio for confirmed cases was 1:0.8.
“The number of suspected cases has increased compared to that reported for the same period in 2021.
“No new Healthcare worker affected in the reporting week 31,” it said.
The NCDC, however, said that the National Lassa fever multi-partner, multi-sectoral Technical Working Group (TWG) had continued to coordinate the response activities at all levels.
NAN recalled that the number of suspected cases had increased compared to that reported for the same period in 2021.
Meanwhile, the agency did not state if there were any new Healthcare workers affected in reporting week 31.
Lassa fever was first discovered in Nigeria when two missionary nurses became ill with the virus in 1969. Its name is derived from the village of Lassa, where it was first documented.
Lassa fever is a viral infection carried by the multimammate rat Mastomys natalensis (M.
natalensis).
This is one of the most common rodents in equatorial Africa, found across much of sub-Saharan Africa.
Lassa fever mainly occurs in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and Nigeria.
However, the Mastomys rat is common in neighbouring countries, so these areas are also at risk.
Once a Mastomys rat is infected with the virus, it can excrete trusted sources of the virus in its faeces and urine, potentially for the rest of its life.
As a result, the virus can spread easily, especially as the rats breed rapidly and can inhabit human homes.
The most common method of transmission is by consuming or inhaling rat urine or faeces.
It can also be spread through cuts and open sores.
The rats live in and around human habitation, and they often come into contact with foodstuffs.
Sometimes people eat the rats, and the disease can be spread during their preparation.
Person-to-person contact is possible via blood, tissue, secretions or excretions, but not through touch.
Sharing needles may spread the virus, and there are some reports of sexual transmission.
Lassa fever can also be passed between patients and staff at poorly equipped hospitals where sterilisation and protective clothing are not standard.
Meanwhile, a new vaccine shows promise to fight the Lassa virus.
Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch have achieved success with a new vaccine developed to fight Lassa Virus, a pathogen that causes Lassa fever.
Lassa fever is lethal in humans and nonhuman primates with a mortality rate as high as 70 per cent in hospitalized cases.
As many as 500,000 people are infected each year in West Africa.
Lassa fever may also induce serious long-lasting effects in survivors.
As many as one-third of those infected suffer hearing loss or other neurological complications.
The study, “A recombinant VSV-vectored vaccine rapidly protects nonhuman primates against heterologous lethal Lassa fever,” was published July 19 in Cell Reports.
NewsSourceCredit: NAN
Akwa Ibom is driving Nigeria’s latest COVID-19 surge as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirms 517 additional infections between Aug. 6 and Aug.11, 2022.
The NCDC made this known via its official website on Thursday.
It said that out of the 517 additional infections recorded, Akwa Ibom reported 293 cases, while Lagos state recorded 101.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that this is the highest case count in the month of August.
It overturned the previous record of 496 infections reported between July 28 and Aug. 1; and 412 infections reported between Aug. 2 and Aug. 5.
The NCDC said that the 517 cases, which were recorded in 13 states and the Federal Capital Territory, have raised the total number of infections to 262,402.
According to it, the FCT has 13 cases of the virus, Ekiti has 11, Delta and Kano reports nine each, Bayelsa has seven and Kaduna records six cases.
Others include Oyo- five, Abia- three, Kwara- two, Nasarawa -two and Plateau- two while five states – Cross River, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, and Sokoto reported zero cases.
The agency, however, said that 525 persons had been discharged in the last five days after recovering from the virus, thus bringing the total number of discharged persons to 256,006.
It said that the death toll from the COVID-19 disease in the country stayed at 3,147 with no additional deaths reported on Thursday.
The NCDC stated that the report included a backlog of 258 cases in Akwa Ibom from July 3.
It added that the states of Cross River, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, and Sokoto recorded zeros case.
It urged Nigerians to take practical steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“Let us all take responsibility to prevent the spread of the disease and limit the risk of infection among all ages.
“Get vaccinated, wear a mask, wash your hands frequently, coughb or sneeze into your elbow and report when sick,” it said.
NAN reports that the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) says no fewer than 28,120,290 of total eligible persons targeted for COVID-19 vaccination in the country are fully vaccinated.
The NPHCDA said that about 11,848,002 of the total eligible persons targeted for COVID-19 vaccination, were partially vaccinated.
Meanwhile, In the last five days, Yobe state moved up the ladder from 20th position to 18th and currently at 14 percent coverage of full vaccination.
The NPHCDA said that Enugu state was the best performing state in the South-East Zone based on fully vaccinated performance, having reached 17 per cent coverage.
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NewsSourceCredit: NAN
