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Feb192020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
Deadly Wuhan Virus: Scientists in Hong Kong may have found a vaccine

Deadly Wuhan Virus: Scientists in Hong Kong may have found a vaccine

NEWS
Recently HKU’s Professor Yuen Kwok-yung stated that since he and his team of researchers were able to isolate the previously unknown virus from Hong Kong’s first imported case of the deadly Wuhan Coronavirus, they have been working on a vaccine. In the same vein, researchers in mainland China and the United States are as well in a race to produce a vaccine to take care of the deadly new coronavirus which emanated from China. Latest reports say as it is now, Hong Kong researchers have actually developed a vaccine for the deadly viral disease except that more time is needed to carry out tests with it - according to infectious diseases expert, Professor Yuen Kwok-yung. “We have already produced the vaccine, but it will take a long time to test on animals,” Yuen said, without giving a specifi
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Feb192020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
WHO Targets to Save 7 Million from Cancer by 2030

WHO Targets to Save 7 Million from Cancer by 2030

NEWS
No fewer than seven million people are being targeted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the effort to step up cancer services in resource-poor countries. The WHO warns that if current trends continue the world will see a 60 per cent increase in cancer cases over the next two decades, predicting that the greatest increase (an estimated 81 per cent) in new cases will occur in low-and-middleincome countries, where survival rates are currently lowest. The global health body in a statement published recently on its website saying, this is largely because the countries in question have had to focus limited health resources on combating infectious diseases and improving maternal and child health, while health services are not equipped to prevent, diagnose and treat cancers. In 2019 mor...
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Feb192020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
Drug Resistant Infections Can now be Tested Differently

Drug Resistant Infections Can now be Tested Differently

NEWS
It is now possible to test if an infection is resistant to common antibiotics or not. This is as a result of a new study carried out by scientists from the University of York. In this latest research the scientists were able to change the nature of an antibiotic from the beta-lactam family - making it possible for it to be attached to a sensor, thereby facilitating their ability to identify the presence of bacteria that would resist treatment. Beta-lactam antibiotics like penicillin constitute one of the most vital categories of antibiotics; then again resistance to them has arisen so much so that over and over again doctors avoid recommending them and would rather prescribe stronger drugs instead. According to experts, the novel approach will possibly bring about clinicians being able to...
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Feb192020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
Threat of Drug-Resistant Infections Worries WHO

Threat of Drug-Resistant Infections Worries WHO

NEWS
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has expressed worry over the declining rate of private investment and lack of innovation in the development of new antibiotics which it says are undermining effort to combat drug-resistant infections. “Never has the threat of antimicrobial resistance been more immediate and the need for solutions more urgent,” says Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO in a recent press release posted on the agency’s website. “Numerous initiatives are underway to reduce resistance, but we also need countries and the pharmaceutical industry to step up and contribute with sustainable funding and innovative new medicines,” he said. Two reports – Antibacterial agents in clinical development – an analysis of the antibacterial clinical development pipeline a
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Feb192020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
Averting Possible Rise in Drug Costs

Averting Possible Rise in Drug Costs

Editorial Opinion, NEWS
Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), was on point recently when he raised the alarm over a possible increase in the cost of essential medicines in Nigeria. He observed that Nigeria’s inflationary trend, increase in VAT, and lack of incentives for local manufacturers of pharmaceutical products is the major factor that will make a spike in the cost of prescription and non-prescription medicines inevitable. We support Ohuabunwa’s submission and urge authorities in government not to ignore it because the consequences of sudden rise in the prices of medicines could be disastrous to public health. The main challenge of our country over the years has been the inability to ensure that our citizens, especially the rural dwellers, have access to basi
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Feb182020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
New Coronavirus Jolts The World; Death Toll Nears 1000

New Coronavirus Jolts The World; Death Toll Nears 1000

Cover Stories, NEWS
• NCDC Cautions Nigerians going to China                       • About 56 million people quarantined Since the deadly new coronavirus surfaced in China the death toll has continued to swell. As at press time available data showed that more than 900 people have lost their lives as a result of the infection while the number of cases within and outside of China is now above 40,000, which is many times more than the situation during the SARS epidemic of 2002-03. PharmaTimes Editor, MORGAN NWANGUMA in this cover story does an in-depth examination of this new viral epidemic while looking at the risks and urgent precautionary measures Nigerians must observe. As China continues to battle an outbreak of pneumonia-like illness first detected in the city of Wuhan last December, the Coronavirus dise
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Feb182020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
All You Need to Know About Menopause

All You Need to Know About Menopause

NEWS, Women's health
In spite of the fact that all women go through it, quite a number of women are clueless as to what to expect during menopause. While some contend with just the hot flushes, for others, menopauses are utterly debilitating. The average age of going through ‘the change’ according to experts is 52, but women can notice symptoms from their mid-40s, and they can last for anything between two to twelve years. Experts say the fluctuation in hormone levels impacts all women differently and also believe that the following factors play a role in determining what to expect during menopause. Anxiety: This expert observed affects as many as one-in-three menopausal women. It often happens during the perimenopause (the period before the start of menopause). Crawling skin: Some women get the feeling of
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Feb182020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
Chlamydia Vaccine Gives Hope for Treatment

Chlamydia Vaccine Gives Hope for Treatment

NEWS
•John Hopkins Researchers Develop Anti-Cancer Compound A vaccine that could facilitate protection against chlamydia is closer to becoming reality after a pioneering clinical trial found the treatment to be safe. The vaccine according to The Guardian report, successfully provoked an immune response, boosting levels of antibodies against the chlamydia bacterium in the blood and vaginal fluids. About 131m cases of the sexually transmitted infection are diagnosed worldwide every year. The study is seen to represent a significant step towards a preventive treatment for world’s most common sexually transmitted disease. Chlamydia can be treated with antibiotics, but infection often has no symptoms and many people are unaware they have it. Without treatment, it can lead to a range of complicati
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Feb182020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
E-Certification Unsettles Violators of NAFDAC Policy

E-Certification Unsettles Violators of NAFDAC Policy

NEWS
The camp of violators of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) policy on imported regulated products, may have been jolted by the full implementation of e-certification policy of the agency at the nation’s ports. Already, sharp criticisms are pouring in from quarters considered by commentators as harbouring interest of perpetrators and beneficiaries of the old order that was fraught with compromises and illegality against the commencement of the policy. A recent newspaper report blaming NAFDAC for congestions at the seaports and credited to a group in the clearance of cargoes is seen by some stakeholders in health as representing outward manifestation of shattered dreams of promoters of the age old illegality. In a report published last December 2019 by Pun
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Feb182020 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
WHO Highlights Urgent Health Concerns for the Next Ten Years

WHO Highlights Urgent Health Concerns for the Next Ten Years

NEWS
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released a document listing 13 most pressing global health challenges that need to be tackled in the next ten years. At the core of issues contained in the document, WHO argues that governments are failing to fund healthcare systems and consequently, many people are exposed to avoidable risks such as poverty, national economic downturn, and even death. The document which was developed by public health and policy experts around the world working in collaboration with the WHO was signed by the Director-General of the global health agency, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus according to a press release issued on the agency’s website. The 13 global health challenges as listed by the WHO include: Making Healthcare Accessible to Everyone “Persistent and g
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Nov132019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
Police Arraign Man for Posing As Doctor

Police Arraign Man for Posing As Doctor

NEWS
The Lagos State Police Command has brought before the Ikeja Magistrates’ Court one Ebuka Duru for allegedly parading himself as a medical doctor. Duru was arraigned on Tuesday on four counts of conspiracy, stealing, impersonation and unlawful possession of medical instruments. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.It was gathered that Duru paraded himself as a medical doctor and commenced treatment of unsuspecting members of the public of various ailments. News Agency learnt that some medical equipment such as syringes, injections and drugs as well as a Toyota Matrix and Toyota Camry cars, both valued at N4.2m, were found in his possession when he was arrested. According to the police prosecutor, Ezekiel Ayorinde, the defendant committed the offences between April and August 2019 at the I
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Nov132019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
NACA Decentralises Office, Says its To Strengthen Fight Against HIV/AIDS

NACA Decentralises Office, Says its To Strengthen Fight Against HIV/AIDS

NEWS
The Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS, Dr. Gambo Aliyu, has said the decentralisation of the agency’s office to the six geopolitical zones of the country is to strengthen its fight against the spread of the disease. Aliyu said this on Tuesday during the inauguration of the South-East Zonal Office of the agency in Umuahia, the Abia State capital. He said the measure was meant to take the war against HIV closer to the people, to further identify the carriers and avail them of easy access to the facility and medications. He also said the zonal offices of the agency would help to drive the fight against the stigmatisation of persons living with HIV/AIDS. He admonished Abia residents to visit NACA and State Agencies for the Control of HIV/AIDS (SACA) faciliti
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Nov132019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
Africa Bears 25 Per Cent of Global Disease Burden, Says CMA President

Africa Bears 25 Per Cent of Global Disease Burden, Says CMA President

NEWS
The newly installed President of the Commonwealth Medical Association (CMA), Dr. Osahon Enabulele has lamented that Africa with its huge population bears 25 per cent of global disease but is home to only three per cent of the global health workforce. Enabulele stated this at the Benin Airport when he was received by friends and associates after his installation as the first Nigerian to lead CMA 57 years after the association was born. He said he would use the next three years to work with all commonwealth countries to ensure adequate healthcare for their people just as he said an award of excellence would be instituted to reward countries who improve on the health of their people. Enabulele said; “Africa even though contributes a very large percentage of the population of the world, it b
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Nov132019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
Obiano Warns Immunisation Workers against Collection of Tips

Obiano Warns Immunisation Workers against Collection of Tips

NEWS
The Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano, has warned health workers participating in the routine immunization campaigns against collecting tips from residents. Obiano gave the warning during the one-day Sensitisation/Engagement Meeting for Measles Second Dose (MSD) Vaccination held on Monday in Awka. Dr. Nnamdi Uliagbafusi, Head of Department, Immunisation and Disease Control, Anambra State Primary Health Development Agency (ASPHCDA) made the position of the governor known to participants at the meeting. Uliagbafusi said that the state had yet to apprehend any offender but added that rumours going round had it that some health workers on immunisation demanded tips from residents. “Immunisation is free and it is both national and state policy that it be administered free to the tar
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Nov132019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments
Enabulele Emerges Head of Commonwealth Medical Association

Enabulele Emerges Head of Commonwealth Medical Association

NEWS
A former President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr Osahon Enabulele has emerged President of the Commonwealth Medical Association, CMA. Enabulele, a family physician and the first Nigerian to attain the position, was a past Vice President of the CMA before he was elected president. He took over from Vajira Dissayanake, a physician from Sri Lanka and will be piloting the affairs of the Association in the next three years alongside other elected officers.  During his inauguration  last Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the 25th Triennial Conference of the Association in Abuja, anelated Enabulele said his leadership will institutionalise the CMA safe hospital initiative to address violent related cases in health facilities. “During my presidency, all disadvantaged
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