Connect with us
The Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) has expressed commitment to support traditional medicine practitioners in the country.
The Minister of State for Health, Mr Joseph Ekumankama, said this at the commemoration of the 2022 African Traditional Medicine day on Wednesday in Abuja.
Ekumankama said that traditional medicine played a major role in people’s life and national development but its innovation was still low or remained on individuals.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the theme of this year’s celebration is “Two decades of African traditional medicine day: Progress towards achieving universal health coverage in Africa”.
Ekumankama said the theme called for taking stock of achievements in the sector since the inception of the annual remembrance of ATM Day from 2001-2020 and the impact on the healthcare delivery system.
“Indeed, Nigeria and other African countries have delivered on key policies and programmes, aimed at promoting and developing various forms of TCAM practices and products within the region,” he said.
The minister said that the progress recorded so far was critical to achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
According to him, about 80 per cent of the population, especially those residing in rural communities, patronise TCAM services as their main source of health care.
He said that the availability, accessibility, affordability and acceptability of TCAM made it popular among communities.
“Achieving UHC requires multiple approaches which include the primary health care approach, life course approach, and both are critical.
“A primary health care approach focuses on organising and strengthening the health system so that people can access services based on their needs and preferences, at the earliest, and in their everyday environments,” he said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) Representative, Dr Francis Ukwuije, Health Economist, said that Nigeria was one of the African countries that reported improvement in the availability, affordability, accessibility and safety of traditional nedicine practices.
Ukwuije said that the country produced and was involved in the large-scale cultivation of medicinal plants and producing traditional medicine locally.
He said this was according to the progress report on the implementation of traditional medicine strategy in Africa.
“There were submissions from Nigeria to the regional expert committee for products developed as therapeutics for COVID-19, the submissions are still under review,” he said.
He called on governments to continue to strengthen collaboration between science, technology and innovation institutions such as NIPRD, NIMR; traditional health practitioners and the private sector.
He said that such collaboration would fast-track research and development, and local manufacturing of traditional medicine-based therapeutics for the health and well-being of Africa’s people.
He, however, said that WHO would continue to provide technical assistance to Nigeria to ensure local manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals and traditional medicine-based therapeutics.
On the role of traditional medicine in treatment of COVID-19, Zainab Sharif, Director and Head of Department Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines (TCAM), said COVID-19 called for the need to exploit the African treasures by looking inward for local solutions.
Sharif said the pandemic had harnessed awareness of the values of traditional medicine, investing in research to produce home-grown solutions and well-being of the Continent.
“TMPs submissions of 59 herbal products for the management of COVID-19-related symptoms have led to the listing of some herbal products.
Pharmaceutical companies in Western countries are looking forward to Africa for APIs.
“COVID-19 herbal medicines such as Madagascan COVID-19 herbal mixture has been reportedly used in the management of patients with related symptoms and is currently under the third phase of clinical trial.
“Trials in 12 Member States, including South Africa, Nigeria, and Congo are currently ongoing.
TMPs have played a significant role in prevention measures in most communities in Africa,” she said.
NewsSourceCredit: NAN
Following an on-site assessment by a team of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO), the National Influenza Laboratory of the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) has been recognized as a National Influenza Center (NIC) of the World Health Organization (WHO).
and joined the WHO global influenza surveillance network.
The on-site assessment was conducted by a WHO team consisting of the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) lead, a technical specialist from the WHO Regional Office for Africa, and a laboratory coordinator.
of the WHO Country Office in Ethiopia.
The Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) was founded in 1952 as a worldwide network to protect people from the threat of influenza through effective collaboration and sharing of viruses, data, and benefits based on in the commitment of the Member States to a global public health model.
To date, including the National Influenza Center of Ethiopia, 155 institutions in 125 countries are recognized by WHO as part of the GISRS.
These GISRS member centers collect samples in their country, perform primary virus isolation and preliminary antigenic characterization, and send freshly isolated strains to WHO regional collaborating centers for genetic and antigenic analysis.
The assessment mission recognized the National Influenza Center as a full member of the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) after assessing its status against the WHO NIC terms of reference using a standardized assessment tool.
The recommendations of the evaluation will help the country to further strengthen the center by identifying, prioritizing and undertaking capacity development activities, including training.
It will also be helpful in promoting funds, supplies, and other resources to meet the needs of the National Influenza Center.
National influenza centers in the WHO Africa Region play a key role in influenza surveillance at the national level and participate in regional and global surveillance through the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System by contribute to the implementation of the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework (PIP) and International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005.
Since 2016, the WHO Regional Office for Africa has been supporting the strengthening of influenza surveillance in various countries of the region.
Ethiopia has benefited from this support and has established sentinel sites in the country for epidemiological and virological surveillance of influenza.
The National Influenza Laboratory, which is a Biosafety Level 2 (BSL 2) facility, was established in 2008 with the primary purpose of serving as a virology laboratory for influenza and other respiratory viruses, and was designated exclusively as an influenza center of EPHI in 2018 The laboratory was the first national laboratory to process COVID-19 samples during the early days of the pandemic and continues to provide the service alongside other national and regional laboratories.
The laboratory has been contributing to the regional influenza network and GISRS by sharing clinical samples with the WHO Collaborating Center for Influenza Surveillance, Epidemiology and Control in Atlanta.
The laboratory has also regularly participated in the WHO GISRS External Quality Assurance Project on the detection of influenza viruses and SARS-CoV-2 by PCR, recording good performance.
The laboratory continues to produce and share regular reports on influenza surveillance data for WHO, which are published in the bi-weekly influenza update.
The team recommended that Ethiopia continue to contribute to regional and global influenza surveillance by enhancing its participation in the GISRS by increasing the submission of positive influenza samples to a WHO collaborating center for the selection of influenza vaccine candidates four times.
per year, to continue regular reporting of influenza surveillance data.
to WHO and maintain participation in the annual WHO SIGRS external quality assurance programme.
WHO and the WHO Collaborating Centers for Influenza are committed to continuing to provide technical advice, assistance, influenza reagents and training to the National Influenza Center.
More than 200 health workers have been trained with the goal of improving real-time detection and prompt response to disease outbreaks and other health emergencies.
With the support of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Ministry of Health has trained health workers in the use of the Early Warning, Warning and Response System (EWARS) in more than 20 counties in South Sudan.
to optimize its use to support surveillance, alert management.
, outbreak response and management and laboratory data.
EWARS is a web-based system designed to improve the detection of disease outbreaks in emergency situations.
In 2017, the EWARS project was implemented in all 80 counties of South Sudan and the second phase of implementation further decentralized data collection and alert management down to the health facility level from 2019 to early 2020.
“With With this training, I am able to successfully identify and generate alerts in the system, verify alerts, investigate triggered alerts, and send verification and/or investigation results to the EWARS system,” said Makuil Michael Magok, Mayendit County, Unity State Enforcement Officer .
South Sudan is experiencing multiple disease outbreaks and flooding, increasing the risk of infectious disease transmission and other health conditions such as severe malnutrition.
Dr John Rumunu, Director General of Preventive Health Services at the Ministry of Health, said: "Given the current humanitarian environment in the country, an effective disease surveillance system is essential to detect disease outbreaks quickly before they spread.
".
“Infectious diseases can cost lives and become difficult to control if they are not detected and responded to in time,” said Dr. Fabian Ndenzako, WHO Acting Representative for South Sudan.
“With generous funding from the World Bank, we are strengthening EWARS reporting by training health workers across the country.” Prior to the implementation of EWARS in South Sudan, integrated disease surveillance and response (IDSR) weekly reporting rates were as low as 30%, well below the 80% target.
Following the completion of EWARS implementation at health facilities, reporting rates improved and exceeded the 80% goal for completeness and timeliness of weekly IDSR reporting.
The Ministry of Health, WHO and partners continue to strengthen disease surveillance and response to meet the core surveillance and response capacity requirements of the International Health Regulations (2005).
Following an outbreak of violence in Tonga, in the Upper Nile region of South Sudan, humanitarian needs have increased exponentially, with tens of thousands of people displaced.
In the wake of this unprecedented crisis, Sara Beysolow Nyanti, Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), who is also the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator of the world's newest nation, visited Adidyang, an area where nearly 4,000 displaced people seek temporary refuge.
Upon landing in the state capital, Malakal, Ms. Nyanti's first order of business was to meet with the authorities to ensure that a humanitarian corridor can be established that allows UN Agencies, Funds and Programs to provide the aid they need.
The newly displaced need so much.
“This developing situation requires collaborations between all stakeholders, and I urge our partners in government to allow safe passage for humanitarian workers to deliver aid to those who need it most,” she said.
Severe flooding across the state was another key issue raised by Ms. Nyanti.
This affects the support that international friends can provide to communities at large.
For Teresa Joseph, a recently displaced woman, the recent conflict has another dimension: children separated from their families.
“It has been a difficult situation for women and children.
Many older people and young children are still missing,” she revealed.
However, speaking with DSRSG Nyanti seemed to give Teresa hope.
“We understand that UNMISS and humanitarian partners are doing everything they can to help us.
We appreciate this,” she said simply.
Humanitarian aid tops the list of immediate needs for the newly displaced, as Nyawanga Aban points out.
“We need tents to shelter us from the rain,” she said.
“Our children are cold and wet; we leave our homes with only the clothes on our backs.
We need support to rebuild our lives.” Ms. Nyanti was visibly moved by these testimonies and the situation on the ground.
“I saw destitute men, women and children.
I saw the destitute youth.
People are looking for help and losing hope.
Some walked for 10 days and some lost their children,” she revealed.
“People have been running for their lives and they are tired.
There is an urgent need for peace here so that this crisis can be overcome and development can begin."
The DSRSG's visit to Adidiyang also shed light on a critical issue: the reduction in donor funding for South Sudan.
“We currently have insufficient funds for South Sudan.
The situation in Adidiyang is a new challenge that was not foreseen.
The prevailing insecurity does not help humanitarian workers who work 24/7 to reach the most vulnerable.
Protection is a major concern,” she stated.
For their part, UNMISS peacekeepers yesterday conducted a river patrol in Adidiyang to assess protection needs and continue to monitor the security situation.
Ms. Nyanti was accompanied by humanitarian partners from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA); the International Organization for Migration (IOM); the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR); the World Food Program (WFP); the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO); as well as members of the diplomatic community.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Health launched a five-year National Health Equity Strategy on August 18, 2022 during a one-day high-level advocacy workshop.
The workshop, organized jointly with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Ethiopia, brought together representatives of the Standing Committee for Social Development, Culture and Sports of the House of Peoples' Representatives, line ministries, regional health offices, municipal administrations , academic institutions, professional associations, donors and development partners.
In addition to officially launching the country's new five-year National Health Equity Strategy, the workshop aimed to advocate for greater political commitment, technical support and resource allocation for the successful implementation of the strategy.
The workshop approached stakeholders to create a mechanism to ensure that all government systems and structures implement implementation modalities, allocate resources, and establish or strengthen coordination mechanisms at the regional, zonal, and district levels.
Speaking at the launch event, the Minister of Health, the Honorable Dr. Lia Tadesse, testified that the new national health equity strategy builds on lessons learned from the implementation of the previous health equity strategy and more broad health sector.
Dr. Lia called on all stakeholders and sectors to have stronger coordination and an intentional equity perspective in all of her programs to achieve the goals set out in the strategy to reduce inequity at the zonal and district levels.
The WHO Deputy Representative in Ethiopia, Dr. Dlamini Nonhlanhla, praised the leadership of the Ministry of Health in seeking to ensure equity in health as a key component of universal health coverage.
“WHO is committed to ensuring that all Ethiopians, everywhere, exercise the right to good health and well-being.
The successful implementation of strategies such as the National Health Equity Strategy is key to achieving this,” she stressed.
“I am pleased to confirm that we are ready to work with the Ministry of Health and other partners towards this goal.” The National Health Equity Strategy covers five years, 2022-2026, and is an integral part of the Ethiopian Health Sector Transformation Plan. The strategy articulates nine strategic directions that help reduce the gradient of equity in health: improve the provision of equitable and quality comprehensive health services, improve the accessibility of health facilities in all regions, participation and empowerment of the community, improving health products supply chain and logistics management, improving leadership, management and governance, ensuring the integration of health equity in all policies, strategies and programs, improving public-private partnership and improving the financing of health.
WHO Ethiopia works closely with the Ethiopian government at the national and regional levels, as well as with development partners, to strengthen the Ethiopian health system and support the country's progress towards health equity.
In the Greater Horn of Africa, famine is looming on the doorstep of many homes.
More than 80 million people in this region, which includes Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda, lack access to food that meets their basic needs along with clean water.
More than 37 million of these people have reached a crossroads in their lives where they have had to sell their possessions to feed themselves and their families.
In this desperate situation, the risk of morbidity and mortality due to outbreak-prone diseases goes hand in hand with forced displacement.
This is set in a context of limited access to primary and essential health care interventions throughout the region.
Every day, the most vulnerable populations, including children, pregnant and lactating women, and displaced people, face increasing threats of becoming infected with communicable diseases.
Outbreaks in the region Drought has exacerbated disease outbreaks in the Horn of Africa, a region constantly facing other emergencies, including the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda are experiencing measles outbreaks, while Kenya, Somalia, and South Sudan are seeing cholera outbreaks.
The countries also have high rates of severe acute malnutrition among children under 5 years of age, all of which increase the risk of morbidity and mortality among displaced and vulnerable populations.
Unless a coordinated response effort is put in place, health risks will continue to increase and spread within and outside the region.
Developing plans for stronger collaboration To continue deterring these serious health consequences of drought in a coordinated manner in the Greater Horn of Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) convened a meeting on June 26-27, 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya, for senior specialists and officers of the organization.
These experts included Dr. Ibrahima Socé Fall, WHO Assistant Director-General for Emergency Response, WHO Representatives from the 7 countries in the region, and other technical experts.
Participants set out to brainstorm ways to mount a stronger and more coherent health response.
They considered joint actions to improve primary health care interventions, including in the provision of essential health services, nutritional support and immunization, communication and resource mobilization, and regional, interagency, and partner coordination.
They also discussed the alignment of response plans and health information and intelligence products and systems.
After finalizing the Contingency Fund for Emergencies, an emergency fund administered by WHO, the country teams also agreed on a series of steps to take to advance the recommended action.
Coordination of information management in the Region As next steps, the information management teams of the 7 countries and the representatives of the WHO Regional Office for Africa, the Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean and the headquarters convened a meeting in Kenya on July 25-27, 2022.
The team aimed to understand and document the information and data landscape across the region.
They also discussed ways to improve coordination using 4 pathways of health information management (products, processes, people and tools) and the need for monitoring and evaluation, including indicators related to nutrition, which is closely related to health and nutrition.
primary health care.
Following an analysis of all the different siled and donor-driven individual disease management systems and information collection tools in the 7 countries, participants agreed on the need to integrate health information management assets into countries into a single cohesive integrated system.
In conclusion, the team agreed to create a joint situation report every month, combining an epidemiological bulletin, known as an EPI watch, and a visually appealing infographic on the drought situation.
They also agreed to create an overview dashboard showing drought response activities for each of the 7 countries.
It will present information on activities against malaria, cholera, community health worker interventions, outreach interventions and stabilization centers for severe acute malnutrition in drought-affected areas.
Regional and national appeals for support To scale up the response to the situation in the Greater Horn of Africa, on August 2, 2022, WHO launched an appeal for US$123.7 million.
The response will focus on 5 pillars: coordination and collaboration; surveillance and information; outbreak prevention and control; essential nutrition actions; and essential health services.
In Somalia, the WHO launched an emergency health response plan for the ongoing drought in May 2022.
With a request for US$35 million through the end of 2022, the plan aims to strengthen disease surveillance, integrate of nutrition horizontally in the provision of health services and ensure adequate levels of vaccination coverage against measles and polio, including vitamin A and deworming.
In addition, the plan will ensure the provision of an essential package of health services with nutrition and mental health and psychosocial support integrated into activities.
To address the needs of young children and women, the response would also address the integrated management of childhood illnesses and reproductive health.
“Since the beginning of last year, in Somalia, our urgent attention has focused on anticipating and avoiding the serious health consequences of drought.
We advocate for early action for drought response to avoid regrets, and for flexible and urgent funding to support our efforts.
Since then, we have spared no effort to work to prevent avoidable morbidity and mortality linked to epidemic diseases caused by limited access to adequate drinking water, food, sanitation and hygiene.
In many ways, we have managed to prevent large-scale loss of life, but even one life lost is too many,” said Dr. Mamunur Rahman Malik, WHO Representative in Somalia.
Partnerships at the WHO level and with donors that save lives Commenting on the extraordinary efforts to improve partnerships within the WHO, Dr. Malik, Head of WHO Mission in Somalia, said: “Across the Horn of Africa , WHO is stepping up its response, improving coordination and streamlining existing efforts and optimizing resources to ensure we reach more people with life-saving support.
With a million Somalis displaced, we have a million and more reasons to redouble our efforts and provide additional support to affected families.” He added that the support of partners such as the Delegation of the European Union (EU) in Somalia, the European Civil Protection and Somalia Humanitarian Aid Operations, donors contributing to the Contingency Fund for Emergencies and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, WHO has already been able to impact the lives of some of the most affected people.
For additional information on the appeals launched by WHO for the Greater Horn of Africa and Somalia to respond to ongoing drought: WHO steps up response to looming Greater Horn of Africa health crisis as it worsens food insecurity WHO EMRO | WHO regional director officially launches emergency health response plan for drought in Somalia | News | Somalia Site Emergency Contingency Fund (who.int) Contributions and Allocations (who.int)
The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on the Federal Government to strengthen routine immunization to protect more than 24,000 babies born daily, to receive all vaccines scheduled for the first two years of their lives. Dr Walter Kazadi Mulombo, WHO Country Representative, Nigeria, made the call at an event to commemorate the 2022 African Vaccination Week (AVW) in Abuja. It was organised by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA). The News Agency of Nigeria reports that AVN is an annual event celebrated during the last week of April in synchronisation with other WHO Regions and World Immunization Week (WIW). The goal of the AVW is to strengthen immunization programmes in the African Region by increasing awareness of the importance of every person’s (particularly every child and woman) need and right to be protected from vaccine-preventable diseases. The over-arching slogan of AVW is “Vaccinated Communities, Healthy Communities”. However, to commemorate this year’s AVW, Nigeria hasa adoptedthe theme “Long Life for All – Vaccinate for Healthy Living”. Mulombo said that he was aware of the Nigeria Strategy for Routine Immunisation and Primary Health Care Systems Strengthening (NSIPSS) 2.0. It focuses on drastically reducing the unimmunised in zero-dose children by the end of 2024. “I want to therefore appreciate the timely introduction of the Immunization Performance Recognition Awards, given the symbolic impact it would provide in ensuring that sub-national leaderships drove the enabling factors required for high and sustained immunization coverage,” he said. The WHO Rep. assured Nigerians of its continued commitment to the agenda of PHC revitalisation, immunization systems strengthening and interruption of the cVPDV2 outbreak in the country. “I am very confident with the strategies adapted and we will continue to sustain eradication of WPV in Nigeria,” he added. The Representative of UNICEF Nigeria, Dr Eduardo Blanco, UNICEF Nigeria Chief of Health, said the hard work, perseverance and dedication of the frontline health workers, including doctors, nurses, midwives and volunteers working to provide health and immunization services to Nigerians, was astonishing. “I have seen the hard work, efforts, commitment and perseverance of health workers at all levels; I have witnessed community volunteers working tirelessly in their communities. “I have seen health workers working 247 to provide services to women and children And I have observed the leadership, commitment and sound technical knowledge of NPHCDA and Federal Ministry of Health staff at all levels,” Blanco said. Dr Melissa Freeman, Rep. USAID Nigeria, said as Nigeria celebrated, it must not forget to continuously emphasise that vaccines and hand washing remained the most effective public health measures for disease prevention and control. Freeman said the country had made progress in improving routine immunization and reaching zero doses and under-immunized children. “It is my earnest hope that we continue making progress until we can globally eliminate more than just smallpox. “USAID Routine Immunization programmes are implemented across 16 states, including humanitarian settings. She said the polio programmes provided support since 1998, contributing to the wild polio eradication three years ago. “At the same time, USAID supported routine immunization and global health security efforts to strengthen surveillance and response to newly emerging diseases,” she said. She, however, said she looked forward to the outcomes of USAID’s $33.3 million support for the SCALES 3.0 COVID-19 vaccination acceleration across 36 states and the FCT. According to her, that would help ensure shots in arms for the U. S. Government donation of over 48 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Meanwhile, on the sideline of the event, the Breakthrough ACTION Nigeria (BA-N), with support from USAID, had a soft launch of its newest COVID-19 Social Behaviour Change campaign tagged “Follow Who Know Road (FWKR)”. At their exhibition stand to commemorate the AWV, they distributed some promotional materials such as T-shirts, Face caps, Lapel pins, Bumper stickers, jotters, fliers, and danglers and also shared out different SBC materials across all programme areas, including Tuberculosis, Nutrition, Family Planning, Malaria. In the last three years, in spite of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health, social and economic wellbeing of Nigerians, Nigeria had continued to make significant strides by repositioning itself to deliver high-impact and cost-effective interventions through its programmes and policies. These interventions are deliberately developed and implemented through National Routine Immunization Coordination Centre (NERICC), National Emergency Maternal and Child Health Intervention Centre (NEMCHIC) and Community Health Influencers and Promoters Services (CHIPS). However, as these strides are being made towards reducing the high burden of vaccine-preventable diseases in the country, some gaps remain, especially in the areas of demand generation and funding. This prompted the need for collaboration and partnership with different stakeholders to complement government efforts. The commemoration of 2022 African Vaccination Week is an opportunity for Nigeria to galvanise action in partnership with relevant stakeholders. This will draw National and Global attention to the importance of immunization as most cost-effective public health intervention for “long life and healthy living”. NewsSourceCredit: NAN
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency(NPHCDA), has recognised and rewarded 15 states of the federation for the implementation of best practices in COVID-19 vaccination and Routine Immunizations.
The Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib, explained at the ceremony on Friday in Abuja, that the 15 states distinguished themselves with the highest qualities and best practices in providing technical and programmatic support to Nigerians.
The News Agency of Nigeria , reports that the award was organised to commemorate the 2022 African Vaccination Week, (AVN).
AVN is an annual event celebrated during the last week of April in synchronisation with other World Health Organization (WHO) Regions and World Immunization Week (WIW).
He said that It was also a day to physically meet friends and colleagues for mutual reflections and celebration of their collaborative efforts.
“Our history in the last two years has been inundated with the challenges of COVID-19 emergency, even as we were battling through to eradicate circulating variant polio virus, monkeypox and improve uptake of primary health care services in the country.
“We may not be able to satisfactorily reward those who will be receiving awards today, or adequately cover everyone who deserves to be rewarded.
“But we recognize and are sincerely thankful to everyone because we know that no matter how big a tree might be, it cannot make a forest alone.
He said that the agency prides on the progress made as a country in reaching 42 million eligible persons with COVID-19 vaccines as of Friday.
He added that about 29.6 million of the persons were fully vaccinated, while others were either waiting for their due date for the second dose or on the list of those who were hesitant of taking their second dose.
“Of course, the struggle continues, and it is a matter of sworn trust that we protect the health of our people.
“It is not easy walking through the high-impact of misinformation and disinformation and getting people to willingly accept the COVID-19 vaccine.
“To a lesser extent, we had some experience with polio immunization, but today we have been certified wild polio virus-free!
Even the emergence of the circulating variant poliovirus has been significantly controlled in Nigeria,” he said.
He said that the agency set aside a variety of awards for different categories of performances and ensured that the selection criteria were scientific and transparent.
“The selection process was backed by data and was rigorously scrutinized by partners.
“The reward for Hard work is more work.
Let us continue to remain committed to the cause of ensuring all Nigerians are protected against vaccine-preventable diseases,” he said.
The NPHCDA boss said the states awarded included Kaduna, Adamawa, Edo, Lagos, Ebonyi, Benue, Jigawa, Gombe, Cross River, Ogun, Abia, Nasarawa, Kano and Yobe.
The goal of the AVW is to strengthen immunization programmes in the African Region by increasing awareness of the importance of every person (particularly every child and woman), needs and right to be protected from vaccine-preventable diseases.
It aims at keeping immunization high on the national and regional agendas through advocacy and partnerships and promotes the delivery of other high-impact lifesaving interventions.
The over-arching slogan of AVW is “Vaccinated Communities, Healthy Communities”
However, to commemorate this year’s AVW, Nigeria adopted the theme “Long Life for All – Vaccinate for Healthy Living”.
www.
ng
AIR
NewsSourceCredit: NAN
The Federal Government has rewarded 15 states of the federation for their outstanding performance on routine immunisation and COVID-19 response.
The awards were given through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA).
The Chairman, Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, said the awards were meant to recognise those who made remarkable contributions to immunisation in the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria, reports that the award was organised to commemorate the 2022 African Vaccination Week (AVN).
AVN is an annual event celebrated during the last week of April in synchronisation with other World Health Organization (WHO) Regions and World Immunisation Week (WIW).
Mustapha said overcoming the misconceptions that followed vaccination was part of why the country had engagements with stakeholders and partners to promote vaccination uptake across the nation.
The SGF said this was further strengthened by conspiracy theories, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“At the peak, our traditional religious leaders who are community gatekeepers were not left out in the struggle.
“They invested their energy and time in mobilising the communities for the uptake of our health workers, some of whom we have lost along the way.
He said they moved around the communities from house to house to ensure that every eligible child received vaccines and was protected against vaccine-preventable diseases.
“We are here together today to reward excellence or excellent performance by individuals and states that have encouraged the vaccination in their states,” he said.
According to him, While it is safe to mention the impressive decline of death arising from COVID-19 due to the ongoing vaccination.
” We should not rest yet as the virus is still very much with us.
”
The SGF said that the COVID-19 virus mutated and that made it more dangerous, calling on Nigerians to take all precautions.
“I had the privilege some couple of weeks ago, along with the emir of Argungu, the health minister, and those that attended the launch of the SCALES 3.0 to take our second booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
“That guarantees that the vaccine is safe and efficacious.
“So I would ask every one of you here that have not availed themselves to take the booster doses and first be prepared to take that second because COVID-19 is not in a hurry to go.
“Most of this is to encourage all around us to get vaccinated as a matter of priority,” he said.
According to Mustapha, “as of Monday, from the records I have, we have about 43 million doses of different brands of vaccines in our cold storage facilities.
“So there is no vaccine shortage, what we have probably is vaccine hesitancy and as long as we do not get ourselves and our loved ones across the nation in our villages and our communities vaccinated, we have a long way to go.
“This is where I will continue to appeal to our traditional institutions because they are close to our people,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III, said Vaccination had made an important contribution to the decreased incidence of numerous infectious diseases and associated mortality.
The Sultan was represented by the Chairman of the Northern Traditional Leaders Committee on Primary Health Care Delivery (NTLC), and Emir of Argungu Alhaji Samaila Mera.
He said that as traditional rulers, they would continue to collaborate with their communities to ensure that they take advantage of the health programmes to improve their health outcomes.
The states awarded were Kaduna, Adamawa, Edo, Lagos, Ebonyi, Benue, Jigawa, Gombe, Cross River, Ogun, Abia, Nasarawa, Kano and Yobe.
The goal of the AVW is to strengthen immunisation programmes by increasing awareness of the importance of every person’s right to be protected from vaccine-preventable diseases.
It aims at keeping immunisation high on the national and regional agendas through advocacy and partnerships, and promotes the delivery of other high-impact life-saving interventions.
The AVW provides opportunities for countries to strengthen the delivery of immunisation services and draws attention to the progress made towards ensuring access to basic life-saving vaccination across the
continent.
The over-arching slogan of AVW is “Vaccinated Communities, Healthy Communities”.
However, to commemorate this year’s AVW, Nigeria has adopted the theme “Long Life for All – Vaccinate for Healthy Living”.
www.
ng
NewsSourceCredit: NAN
The seventy-second session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for Africa concluded today after five days of deliberations and adoption of strategies to better respond to the region's health challenges and improve the health and well-being of people.
The meeting provided a platform for collaboration, brainstorming and resetting the focus for a post-COVID-19 Africa.
Three resolutions were adopted during the meeting, including a strategy to decentralize health services for serious noncommunicable diseases, reform the public health response, and a regional strategy for managing environmental determinants of human health.
Around 30 health ministers and more than 700 participants attended the meeting, held in the Togolese capital Lomé, in person and virtually.
The Regional Committee is WHO's decision-making body in the region and meets once a year to discuss and approve regional policies, activities and financial plans to improve people's health and well-being.
Closing address by Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa: https://www.afro.who.int/regional-director/speeches-messages/closing-72nd-session-who-regional-committee-africa
