NIGERIAN DOCTOR INAUGURATES NEW BREATHING DEVICE...

A Nigeria-trained doctor, Dayo Olakulehin, has inaugurated a portable ventilation device called D-Box.

Olakulehin, who spoke at the product inauguration in Lagos, said it was cost, effective and power-friendly compared to existing ventilators.

The ventilator, which is rechargeable, he said, was built to suit the dynamics in developing countries such as Nigeria, where a significant number of people were dying of respiratory challenges in emergency situations due to lack of such medical equipment.

According to him, patients with respiratory problems in Nigeria use the manual type, a process, he said, was grossly inefficient in terms of manpower required to operate it.

Olakulehin narrated his experience while treating a four-year-old boy to buttress his case.

He said, “In 2012, while I was at the Olikoye Ransome Kuti Children emergency ward in LUTH, I had to manually ventilate a four-year-old boy for four hours and at about 2am, I fell asleep, only to be awakened by the boy’s father that he couldn’t breathe again.

“If the child had continued without ventilation for longer than four minutes, it could have resulted in irreversible brain damage.

“It was after one of such incidents that the idea for an alternative ventilation method came to my mind and I knew that this method will eliminate the dependence on human-operated ventilation.”

According to him, the D-Box is a user-friendly device that can save lives especially in rural settings where access to skilled health professionals is a challenge.

Olakulehin said, “In rural areas where we don’t have enough doctors, the ‘D-Box’ device is what is needed. It can work for 12 hours without electricity unlike the existing sophisticated ventilator that is not mobile and cannot be used without electricity.”

The Founder, Afrigants Resource Limited, Ms. Thelma Ekiyor, noted that with the device in place, health officers and doctors would have the luxury of attending to the critical needs of other patients.

She urged other stakeholders to encourage entrepreneurship in health care as a way of contributing to the good of humanity.

Good News: Gov. Wada inaugurates N300m Hospital Complex in Kogi State..!

Governor Idris Wada of Kogi has inaugurated a General Hospital complex built by his administration at a cost of N300 million at Odu-Ogboyaga, Dekina Local Government.

Wada said at the ceremony that the hospital, built in 12 months, was part of efforts to improve the health of the people living in the rural areas.

He said fully equipped hospital with state of the art machines, will help in the delivery of quality health services to the people of the area and its environs.

Wada expressed delight over the completion of the project in record time, saying that it was one of the legacies his administration was bequeathing to posterity.

According to him, the people of the community should take ownership of the hospital so as to protect the facilities.

The Commissioner for health, Dr Idris Omede, said the hospital was a fulfillment of promise to the community during the governor’s first visit in April 2012.

He said the hospital was taking off with full complement of qualified medical personnel, as it would general consultations, maternity, surgery, antenatal and postnatal care, x-rays and medical laboratory.

The traditional ruler of Odu-Ogboyaga, Alhaji Salihu Yahaya described the hospital as a dream come true and a great relief for the people without access to quality health care facility before now.

He assured the state government of the continued support of his people and promised that the facility would be protected and shielded from vandals.

The next step should also be about MAINTENANCE, not just protection and shielding from vandals...

What do you think?

ROTARY to perform lip surgeries on 100 children

A team of 17 medical workers from the US, Canada and Australia will arrive Nigeria on January 8 to perform free surgeries to correct cleft lip and palate in 100 children.

Nigerian doctors will join in the 12-day surgeries at General Hospital, Ilorin fom January 10 to 22, supported by the Mike Omotosho Foundation and the US-based Alliance for Smiles, and facilitated by twin Rotary International districts in Nigeria and the US and Kwara State government.

“There is an urgent need to invest in children with birth defects and reduce neonatal and under 5 mortality,” said Omotosho, governor of Rotary’s District 9125, in Abuja.

Orofacial cleft (OFC) results when face and lips do not form properly in babies during pregnancy, and are considered the most common malformations not the head and neck in babies.

Rotary has called for a registry to track birth defects, including clefts, across the country.

“The opportunity to provide free surgical care for OFC opens a new vista for public awareness, prevention and research. Surgery is an important and life-saving but largely unreachable component of the services required to treat children with orofacial clefts,” he said.

Rotary to perform lip surgeries on 100 children

A team of 17 medical workers from the US, Canada and Australia will arrive Nigeria on January 8 to perform free surgeries to correct cleft lip and palate in 100 children.

Nigerian doctors will join in the 12-day surgeries at General Hospital, Ilorin fom January 10 to 22, supported by the Mike Omotosho Foundation and the US-based Alliance for Smiles, and facilitated by twin Rotary International districts in Nigeria and the US and Kwara State government.

“There is an urgent need to invest in children with birth defects and reduce neonatal and under 5 mortality,” said Omotosho, governor of Rotary’s District 9125, in Abuja.

Orofacial cleft (OFC) results when face and lips do not form properly in babies during pregnancy, and are considered the most common malformations not the head and neck in babies.

Rotary has called for a registry to track birth defects, including clefts, across the country.

“The opportunity to provide free surgical care for OFC opens a new vista for public awareness, prevention and research. Surgery is an important and life-saving but largely unreachable component of the services required to treat children with orofacial clefts,” he said.

Nurses and Midwives of UCTH begin Indefinite Strike...

The University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) yesterday began an indefinite strike.

The association, which comprises nurses and midwives, is protesting the alleged non-payment of three years arrears of their uniform allowance, four years arrears of training allowance and other allowances, promotions and the general conditions of the hospital, among others.

UCTH’s NANNM Chairman, Sylvester Ugor, told our reporter that the association started the strike, following what he called the futile attempts to make the management address its demands, especially the payment of uniform allowance.

Members of the union, last week, gave the hospital management a seven-day ultimatum and, since Thursday, have been wearing mufti to work to protest the non-payment of their uniform allowance.

Ugor, whose executive council took over in March, said several negotiations with the hospital management had failed to yield any result.

The chairman said the association would continue the strike until the management settled the debts or made “reasonable commitment”. He urged the hospital management to do something about the situation.

Ugor said: “Want we want is for our money to be paid and we will get back to work. Our job is to save lives, and we are not happy being at home. It is our calling to save lives. If they settle our issues or show reasonable commitment, we would go back to work with immediate effect.

“When we assumed office in March, we presented 11 issues to the hospital’s management to address. It was during a courtesy visit. Surprisingly, nothing has been done. We have had several consultations and nothing happened.”

Authorities of the UCTH refused to comment on the matter.

BREAKING NEWS: UNTH RESIDENT DOCTORS SUSPEND STRIKE...

According to MedicalWorld Nigeria..The Association of Resident doctors of the university of Nigeria Teaching Hospital
(UNTH) has suspended its 11 week old strike.

The Association of Resident Doctors, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital held an emergency Congress on Thursday
17th September, 2015 to deliberate on the recent moves made by President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR through the Office
of the Head of Civil Service of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHSCF) and the outcome of the meeting held
between representatives of ARD UNTH, some elders of the Medical Profession in UNTH and the UNTH Management...

This comes as a great news to the masses, as these past weeks(month) have been really challenging... However, there
is a plea to all other State Association of Resident Doctors(who are still on strike) to PLEASE call off the strike in their
various Hospitals...

Keep staying Healthy, Informed and Entertained...

600 Nigerian Couples to take part in best HIV treatment Strategy..!

About 600 Sero-discordant couples where one partner is HIV positive and the
other is not will take part in a new research study to help decide the best
HIV Treatment Strategy that will reduce the rate of infection in the
population.

A study by the National Agency for Control of AIDS (NACA) is to help decide
whether health workers choose to administer the anti-retroviral drug,
Truvada- as a prevention or treatment for HIV/AIDS.

Multiple studies have established that anti-retroviral drugs could be used to
reduce the rate of infection in a population in two different ways, known by
the acronyms PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) and TasP (Treatment as
Prevention).

Director General, National Agency for Control of AIDS (NACA), Prof. John
Idoko disclosed that the study is being carried out in Nigeria to see if it will
work under normal conditions.

"The whole idea is to see if it will work so well in this situation, and if it
does, it will become a policy. NACA understands that, given the data and
experience to be gained from the project, it should be possible to present
this to stakeholders for consideration as part of policy and guidelines for the
comprehensive combination preventing program in the country."

Keep staying Healthy, Informed and Entertained...