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Jun112019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

Drinking Unsalted Tomato Juice Lowers Blood Pressure, Bad Cholesterol

Drinking unsalted tomato juice lowered blood pressure and Low Density Lipo-protein (LDL)/ ‘bad’ cholesterol in Japanese adults at risk of cardiovascular disease. The study was published in Food Science & Nutrition. In the study, 184 male and 297 female participants were provided with as much unsalted tomato juice as they wanted throughout one year. At the end of the study, blood pressure in 94 participants with untreated prehypertension or hypertension dropped significantly: systolic blood pressure lowered from an average of 141.2 to 137.0 mmHg, and diastolic blood pressure lowered from an average of 83.3 to 80.9 mmHg. LDL cholesterol levels in 125 participants with high cholesterol decreased from an average of 155.0 to 149.9 mg/dL. These beneficial effects were similar

Jun112019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

Lassa fever Kills One in Zamfara, Infects Two in Edo

NEWS

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed three new cases of Lassa fever and one death. According to the latest figures from NCDC released yesterday “in the reporting Week 22 (May 27-June 2, 2019), three new confirmed cases were reported from two states – Edo (two) and Zamfara (one) with one new death from Zamfara State.” The NCDC said from January 1 to June 2, 2019, 2,639 suspected cases had been reported from 22 states and of these, 581 were confirmed positive, 15 probable and 2,043 negative (not a case). The Centre said since the onset of the 2019 outbreak, there had been 130 deaths in confirmed cases and Case Fatality Ratio (CFR) is 22.4 per cent. The NCDC said 21 states (Edo, Ondo, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Ebonyi, Plateau, Taraba, Adamawa, Gombe, Kaduna, Kwara, Be

Jun102019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

Fayemi to Retain EKSU Medical Graduates

NEWS

Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has said the state government will retain graduates of Ekiti State University College of Medicine willing to work in the state-owned health facilities. According to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Yinka Oyebode, Fayemi made the promise in Ado Ekiti while hosting members of Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria who were in the state to inspect facilities at the college as part of the process for its final accreditation. The governor said it was wrong for any government to have delayed accreditation for so long while putting the career of the students in jeopardy, adding that many universities that did not have the number of professionals as EKSU were turning our their students regularly. Fayemi assured the counci...

Jun102019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

World Food Day: NAFDAC Decries Poor Handling of Foods by Producers

NEWS

As the World marked this year’s World Food Safety Day yesterday, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has decried poor handling of foods in Nigeria by producers and sellers, saying the populace and consumers are being exposed unduly to health risks from contaminants. At a briefing to mark the Day in Lagos with the theme: “Food Safety, Everyone’s Business”, the Director-General of NAFDAC, Dr. Christianah Adeyeye, also disclosed that the World Health Organisation, WHO’s, report showed that an estimated 600 million cases of food borne diseases occur annually while children under age five carry 40 percent of the burden of the disease with 125,000 deaths every year. Adeyeye said in Nigeria, there had been reoccurring food safety issues as well as em

Jun102019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

OOUTH Can’t Produce Competent Doctors for Now’

NEWS

Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun yesterday lamented the deplorable state of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH) Sagamu, insisting that the institution is unfit to produce competent doctors for now. Abiodun, who visited the facility, expressed shock at the level of rot in the hospital, declaring that the institution, which used to be one of the best medical facilities in the country, has become a shadow of itself. He stressed the urgent need for the rehabilitation of the hospital to upgrade from its present deplorable state to a world-class teaching hospital. “Most of the medical equipment are obsolete and others dysfunctional. The mortuary and the entire vicinity reels in bad odour, due to lack of maintenance and non-availability of needed equipment to

Jun102019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

1 Out of 5 Individuals Vulnerable to Mental Illness – Experts

Amazing Health Discoveries, NEWS

A team of Medical Experts from the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital Kano (AKTH) have said that one out of five individuals are vulnerable to mental illness. The Team led by Dr Muktar Gadanya of Department of Community Medicine, and Dr Auwal Salihu of Department of Psychiatry, stated this during a Community Awareness Campaign Programme organised in collaboration with the Neuro-Psychiatry Hospital, Kware, Sokoto State, in Ringim on Sunday. The medical experts explained that the sensitisation was desigdesiged for people in the North West geopolitical zone, pointing out that Jigawa is so far the sixth state benefiting from campaign. Gadanya said are over 300 diagnosable mental illnesses; some mild, some are moderate while some are severe, adding that they are curable. “Mild and moderat

Jun62019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

Doctors Meet Imo Gov, Call Off Two Months’ Strike

NEWS

The Imo State chapter of the Nigeria Medical Association on Wednesday called off its two-month strike after a meeting with Governor Emeka Ihedioha. The NMA Chairman, Kyrian Duruewuru, who spoke on news after the meeting, said that the association “has called off the indefinite strike with immediate effect.” According to the chairman, the governor agreed to address the issues which made the NMA in the state to embark on the strike two months ago. Duruewuru said the NMA called off the strike so as to give the new administration the benefit of doubt that it would fix the concerns of the association.The NMA chairman said apart from the payment of full salaries which the governor promised the doctors, Ihedioha also allegedly agreed to pay three-month salary arrears owed the doctor

Jun62019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

Tobacco Control Act: Health Ministry March on Abuja to Sensitize Public

NEWS

The Federal Ministry of Health and civil society organisations have carried out a public sensitisation on Abuja streets and the popular Wuse Market with a message that violators of the National Tobacco Control, NTC, Act will face fines or jail terms. The march which held on June 3, was organised by the ministry in conjunction with the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance, NTCA, as part of activities to mark the 2019 World No Tobacco Day on the theme Tobacco and Lung Health. Other groups that participated in the march were the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, CTFK; Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, ERA/FoEN; Cedars Foundation; University of Abuja Smoke-Free Club, and the Nigeria Medical Association, among others. The march, which started at the popular Berger R...

Jun62019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

Kogi Health College Gets Full Accreditation 43 Years After

NEWS

The Kogi State College of Health Sciences and Technology, Idah, has secured full accreditation of four out of its five programmes for the first time since its establishment about 43 years ago. A statement by the Provost, Dr Nuhu Solomon Anyegwu, said the college received the letter for the full accreditation from the Registrar, Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN) on Thursday, that four of the five departments in the college had been fully accredited. Anyegwu said the fully accredited programmes are; Health Information Management Department (5 years), Community Health Department (4 years) and Medical Laboratory Department (5 years). The Pharmacy Technician Department has already been granted approval to enlist students while initial provisional accreditation status

Jun62019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

NAFDAC Approves Caya Diaphragm for Women in Nigeria

NEWS

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has approved the marketing of the Caya contoured diaphragm and Caya Gel, making this nonhormonal family planning method choice available for women in Nigeria for the first time. This was disclosed by PATH at the ongoing Women Deliver 2019 conference taking place in Vancouver, Canada. PATH is a global organisation that works to accelerate health equity by bringing together public institutions, businesses, social enterprises, and investors to solve the world’s most pressing health challenges. With expertise in science, health, economics, technology, advocacy, and dozens of other specialties, PATH develops and scales solutions—including vaccines, drugs, devices, diagnostics, and innovative approaches to stre

Jun62019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

Chevron Sponsors Roll Back Malaria in Ondo Communities

NEWS

In pursuance of its Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR), Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), operator of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)/Chevron Joint Venture, has taken one of its health programmes to the riverine areas of Ondo State for the benefit of the people in the area. The programme, tagged ” Roll Back Malaria” was flagged off at Ugbo in Ilaje Local Government Area of the state with an admonition to the people to maintain proper hygiene. Speaking at the ceremony, the General Manager, Policy Government & Public Affairs of Chevron Nigeria Limited, Mr. Esimaje Brikinn, said the programme was one of the CSR initiatives of the company to better the health of the people. Brikinn said CNL places the highest priority on the health and safety of its neighbouri

Jun52019 by PharmaTimes69 Comments

FG Inaugurates 5 Boards of Health Regulatory Councils

NEWS

The Federal Government on Monday inaugurated five governing boards of the health regulatory councils and boards under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH). The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Mr Abdullahi Mashi, who inaugurated the boards in Abuja noted that the inauguration was long overdue. Mashi urged all stakeholders incumbent in the health sector to collaborate towards an efficient and effective service delivery in the sector. The boards inaugurated are: ‘Community Health Practitioners Registration Board of Nigeria (CHPRBN), Health Records Officers Registration Board of Nigeria (HRORBN), Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN), Medical Rehabilitation Therapists (Reg) Board of Nigeria (MRTBN), He also inaugurated the Optometri

Jun52019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

Doctors Issue FCT A 21-Day Ultimatum Over Denied Promotions

NEWS

Resident doctors in the FCT have given the FCT Administration 21 days from Monday to promote resident doctors who have been denied promotion due to the implementation of a skipping policy since 2016, pay arrears of 26-day allowances due doctors and fully convert those who have completed their residency training. The Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) in the FCT says it cannot “guarantee industrial harmony” if the management of the FCT administration fails to correct the anomalies. The promotion of around 150 resident doctors across the FCT’s 14 district and general hospitals, primary health centres, primary health care board and public health agencies have been stagnated since the FCT began implementing the “skipping” policy in 2016. “Many of them had their promotion delayed an

Jun52019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

LUTH Doctors to Begin Strike June 7

NEWS

Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) has announced that resident doctors and house officers will commence total and indefinite strike on Friday, June 7. In a communiqué issued after an emergency general meeting on Monday, the proposed day for the commencement of the strike, ARD said it had reviewed the resolution and expiration of notice for the indefinite strike and moved it to June 7 due to the Ramadan. The communiqué signed by the president, Dr. Kayode Makinde, yesterday, stated: “Following the appraisal of the level of implementation of the demands of the association by LUTH management, the congress resolved to commence the total strike from 8am on Friday.”

Jun52019 by PharmaTimesNo Comments

Anambra: Why Doctors are on Warning Strike – MDCAN

NEWS

The Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital (COOUTH) branch, says doctors embarked on a warning strike to demand improved working condition. Dr Chukwudi Okani, Chairman of MDCAN, COOUTH, said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka on Tuesday that the industrial action would last for seven days Okani said that no fewer than 59 full time, honorary and part-time Medical Consultants who work at the teaching hospital were among those who temporarily withdrew their services. He said their demands were in line with that of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) at the institution who commenced an indefinite strike on May 13. Okani said the seven days warning strike would end on ...