PharmaTimes

Aug72020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

GROUP SUPPORTS NCDC WITH ONLINE MEDICAL INTERVENTION

NEWS

A non-governmental organisation, Murtala Mohammed Foundation, has inaugurated a tele-medical line to support the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control to reach patients of the COVID-19 who are unable to access the designated isolation centres across the country. The project, named MMF Medassist Covid Partner Line, is part of efforts to provide access to medical advice and mental health support for those exposed to the virus across the 36 states of the country. The Chief Executive Officer of the foundation, Mrs Aisha Mohammed-Oyebode, in a statement on Thursday, said, “COVID-19 unfortunately has redefined for us a new normal and as the rest of the world is entering the second wave of the virus, this initiative will offer virtual health care delivery in collaboration with public and priv

Aug72020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

FG TO PAY JUNE HAZARD ALLOWANCE OF MEDICAL WORKERS FROM AUGUST 10

Coronavirus, NEWS

The federal government has assured medical workers handling COVID-19 pandemic cases across the country of payment of their June hazard allowance from August 10. The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, gave the assurance on Thursday at a meeting with the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) in Abuja. According to him, notwithstanding a shortfall in revenue, the government will start the payment with six hospitals, while expecting more funds. On the Residency Training for doctors, Mr Ngige said the Federal Ministry of Health and the Budget Office of the Federation were working in tandem with the Federal Ministry of Finance to resolve the problem in the budget. He added that the processing would commence soon. “The Teaching Hospitals and Medical Centres have

Aug72020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

WHO Warns Rich Countries against ‘Nationalising’ COVID-19 Vaccine

Coronavirus, NEWS

The World Health Organisation on Thursday warned against “vaccine nationalism,” saying vaccine-hogging richer countries would not be safe coronavirus havens if poor nations remained exposed. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it would be in the interest of richer nations to ensure that any vaccines eventually produced to protect against the new coronavirus were shared globally. “Vaccine nationalism is not good, it will not help us,” he told the Aspen Security Forum in the United States, via video-link from the WHO’s headquarters in Geneva. “For the world to recover faster, it has to recover together, because it’s a globalised world: the economies are intertwined. Part of the world or a few countries cannot be a safe haven and recover. “The damage from COVID-19 could be l

Aug62020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

NMA Collates list of Doctors killed by Covid-19

Coronavirus, NEWS

President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Prof. Innocent Ujah, on Wednesday said the association had directed members nationwide to begin the collation of doctors who died during the treatment of patients for COVID -19. Ujah spoke at the commencement of payment of insurance claims to families of some doctors who died in active service by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria at the MDCN secretariat in Abuja. The NMA president said the body needed the data in order to have credible information about its members. He said, “We have directed members nationwide to begin the collation of doctors who died during the treatment of patients for COVID – 19. “We are going to collate the details of doctors that have lost their lives, especially during this pandemic. We need a comprehe

Aug62020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

Pharmacist Council seals 499 Premises over Professional Misconduct in Kwara

NEWS

The Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) has sealed 499 pharmacies and medicine shops in Kwara State for professional misconduct. Announcing this recently, the Registrar, PCN, Mr Elijah Mohammed said 30 of the premises are pharmacies, while 469 are patent medicine stores. He said the enforcement was carried out in order not to allow the residents have access to illicit drugs that may affect their social wellbeing. Mohammed, who spoke through the Director of Enforcement, Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, Mr. Stephen Esumobi said, ” PCN enforcement team has been in Kwara since the beginning of this week with the aim to ensure that all premises where medicines are sold are registered, and have fulfilled conditions with respect to location, storage facilities, environment, documentation

Aug62020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

32 Nigerian Universities Researching COVID-19 Vaccines, Treatment –NUC

NEWS

The National Universities Commission has revealed that 32 federal, state and private universities are at different stages of research to develop COVID-19 vaccines and other treatment regimens. NUC Executive Secretary, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, represented by Dr. Suleiman Yusuf, Deputy Executive Secretary, Academics, stated this in Abuja, at a news conference. He was speaking on the contributions of the Nigerian university system to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. He said as, at June 22, not less than 32 universities were at various stages of research, adding that the momentum is expected to build up over the coming months so that by the time COVID-19 ends, documented lessons would have been learnt to tackle future national and global pandemics. Prof. Rasheed noted that the African ...

Aug42020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

US Begins Clinical Trial of Antibody-Drug for COVID-19

Coronavirus, NEWS

The United States has started late-stage clinical trials into a drug formulated to fight COVID-19, officials said Tuesday. The medicine is an antibody against the new coronavirus called LY-CoV555, which was identified in the blood sample of a recovered patient by Canada’s Abcellera Biologics. It was then developed synthetically for mass production by US-based Lilly Research Laboratories in partnership with Abcellera. The Phase 3 trial will initially enrol some 300 volunteers around the world who have been hospitalised with mild to moderate COVID-19 with fewer than 13 days of symptoms. Each will be assigned either the medicine, which will be injected intravenously, or a placebo. Patients will also receive standard care for COVID-19, including the antiviral remdesivir. The

Aug42020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

Risks of COVID-19 Infection through Breastfeeding Negligible —WHOv

NEWS, Women's health

The World Health Organisation says the risk of COVID-19 infection through breastfeeding is negligible and has never been documented. Head of the organisation’s Food and Nutrition Action in Health Systems unit, Dr. Laurence Grummer-Strawn, stated this on Tuesday, according to the United Nations. In a report, the UN quoted Grummer-Strawn as making the statement at a news briefing on the 2020 World Breastfeeding Week where he appealed for greater support for the practice. This year’s event is coming amid warning by the WHO that lack of mother’s milk is linked to 820,000 child deaths a year, costing the global economy 300 billion dollars (N114 trillion). “WHO has been very clear in its recommendations to say absolute breastfeeding should continue. “We have never documented, anyw

Aug42020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

FG to Develop Interventions to Reduce COVID-19 Fatalities

Coronavirus, NEWS

Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, says efforts are ongoing to develop innovative interventions to reduce COVID-19 case fatalities to below one per cent. Ehanire said this at the Presidential Tasks Force (PTF) on COVID-19 daily briefing on Monday in Abuja. According to him, fatalities at present are at two per cent, especially for the elderly and those with co-morbidities. Ehanire said that PTF members were aligned in non-pharmaceutical key role interventions in controlling new infections, as the measures of wearing of masks and avoiding crowds were easy, cheap and proven to be effective. He added that “we would work with state governments to prepare necessary space and human resources at general hospitals or Primary Healthcare Centres to train and set u

Aug42020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

COVID-19 Vaccines now in Phase 3 Clinical Trials– WHO

Coronavirus, NEWS

The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Ghebreyesus, says a number of vaccines are now in phase three clinical trials to prevent COVID-19 pandemic. Mr Ghebreyesus made this known at a virtual news conference on Monday at the WHO Headquarters in Geneva. The director-general said: “We all hope to have a number of effective vaccines that can help prevent people from infection. “However, there’s no silver bullet at the moment and there might never be; for now, stopping outbreaks comes down to the basics of public health and disease control. “Testing, isolating and treating patients, tracing and quarantining their contacts. Do it all. “Inform, empower and listen to communities. Do it all. “For individuals, it’s about keeping physical distance,

Aug42020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

COVID-19: NCDC Tracking 11,000 Contacts Nationwide-Ihekweazu

Coronavirus, NEWS

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said it was tracking 11,000 COVID-19 contacts nationwide. The Director-General of the agency, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, said the agency would continue to pay attention to contact tracing, which he described as a vital aspect of the campaign to curb the pandemic. Speaking during a briefing by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja yesterday, Ihekweazu also said the NCDC was liaising with the African Centre for Disease Control to obtain the COVID-19 vaccines for the continent whenever it is available. According to him, about 226 vaccines are in different stages of development, adding that clinical trials carried out so far were encouraging. He said, “On contact tracing, right now, we are following about 11,00 contacts na

Jul312020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

One in Three Children ‘Exposed to Lead’ Globally

Children's Health, NEWS

One in three children could have been exposed to poisonous lead, potentially causing irreversible harm, research into the global risk of exposure has found. Unicef and Pure Earth estimate around 800 million children might be affected, with most in low and middle-income countries. South Asia accounts for almost half the global total. Poorly recycled lead batteries, e-waste, mining and paints are the main sources of poisoning, the report says. Vehicle batteries prime culprit The report's authors say their findings were mainly based on data from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, which obtained results of blood tests on tens of thousands of children across the globe. "Vehicles in low and middle-income countries ha...

Jul302020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

Nigeria Starts Emergency Operations as COVID-19 Cases Surge Past 42,000

Coronavirus, Latest Health News, NEWS

Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has recorded 404 new COVID-19 cases in the country, as total infections from the virus rise to 42,208. The NCDC made this known on its official twitter handle on Wednesday. It added that a multi-sectoral national Emergency Operations Centre had been activated to continue to coordinate national response activities across the country. The health agency stated that the rising number of COVID-19 cases in states across the country called for caution for Nigerians to avoid non-essential travels. It noted that travelling during the COVID-19 pandemic can increase the risk of getting infected. The NCDC urge Nigerians to take responsibility for their health and adhere to COVID-19 preventive measures. The health agency noted that five more ...

Jul302020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

Ihekweazu Urges Attention to Health Sector Beyond COVID-19

NEWS

The Director-General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, has called for more attention to the health sector beyond COVID-19. Ihekweazu made the call on Wednesday in Abuja when members of the House of Representative Committee on COVID-19 accompanied him on a tour of the agency’s reference laboratory in Gaduwa, Abuja. Ihekweazu told members of the committee that the nation needs to make health security an important national agenda. “Honourable members, we really have to elevate health security on the agenda a little bit in our national discourse. “We have to deal with COVID-19 in the short term but in the long term, we really need to elevate the issue of health security,” Ihekweazu said. According to him, the National Laboratory set up in 2018 c

Jul292020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

Air Pollution May Reduce Life Expectancy by Two Years –Study

Health Issues, Men's Health, NEWS, Women's health

Air pollution cuts life expectancy for every man, woman and child on earth by nearly two years, according to data released on Tuesday which experts said showed poor air quality is “the greatest risk to human health”. The Air Quality Life Index study reported that as the world races to find a vaccine to bring the COVID-19 pandemic under control, air pollution would continue to cause billions of people to lead shorter and sicker lives across the globe. The index converts particulate air pollution — mainly from the burning of fossil fuels — into its impact on human health. It found that despite significant reductions in particulate matter in China — once one of the world’s most polluted countries — the overall level of air pollution had stayed stable over the past two decad