The Punch, 02 September 2016 N’Assembly plans bill to exempt NHIS, others from TSA
The National Assembly said it had commenced plans to remove the National Health Insurance Scheme and other agencies requiring emergency situations from the Treasury Single Account initiative of the Federal Government. The lawmakers attributed the decision to the impediments encountered in its implementation. The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Health, Chike Okafor, stated this during a three-day NHIS management retreat in Kaduna with the theme ‘Repositioning the NHIS towards achieving Universal Health Coverage.’ According to him, due to the TSA, the quest by the NHIS to implement universal health insurance for the teeming Nigerian population hangs dangerously in the balance. Okafor, who was represented by the Deputy Chairman of the committee, Muhammad Usman, said the House of Representatives would soon initiate a bill to effect such changes.
The Nation, 01 Spetember 2016 NHIS scam worse than oil subsidy, says new secretary
The level of fraud in the health insurance coverage scheme is worse than the fuel subsidy, Executive Secretary, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Prof. Usman Yusuf, has said. This is just as the National Assembly resolved that NHIS and other emergency agencies be removed from the Treasury Single Account (TSA). Both remarks were made yesterday at the three-day NHIS management retreat in Kaduna. Prof. Yusuf accused many Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs) and health care givers of collecting money from the agency for work not done. He said the HMOs should return money to the agency. The NHIS chief challenged stakeholders to brace themselves, warning that he would ditch any HMOs, which failed to change. “What we have here is not health care financing. This is worse than fuel subsidy. “I need to see money returned by HMOs, through the NHIS that were not used.
THISDAY, 28 August 2016 Japan donates $800m to fight malaria, TB, in Nigeria, pledges $30bn investment in Africa
President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed special appreciation to the government of Japan for donating $800 million to the fight against malaria, tuberculosis among other deadly diseases in Nigeria. The contribution was part of the $1.3 billion made available to the Nigerian health sector by the Global Fund. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI) in Nairobi, Kenya yesterday, Buhari gave an assurance that his government would ensure full rehabilitation and resettlement of the victims of the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east who are currently scattered in different camps as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). The two-day summit which had a theme ‘Advancing Africa’s Sustainable Development Agenda – TICAD Partnership for Prosperity’, was attended by Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, some 35 African leaders and chief executives of at least 80 major companies from Japan.
The Punch 29 August 2016 Dangote spends N4.5bn to tackle malnutrition, others in North-East
The Chairman of Dangote Foundation, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, on Monday night said the foundation has so far spent about N4.5bn to address the problems of poverty and malnutrition in three states in the North-East. Dangote said this in Abuja while speaking at the launch of a partnership with Lead singer of rock group U2, Paul Hewson, who is known by his stage name Bono. He gave the three states where the N4.5bn was spent as Borno,Yobe and Adamawa, where activities of insurgents have left millions of people displaced. He said due to the activities of terrorists in these states, a lot of children are now malnourished,adding that this development was what informed the partnership with Bono who is also the founder of the ONE campaign advocacy group. He said there is an urgent need to address the malnutrition and employment crisis in the North East adding that the importance of health in helping the country’s progress cannot be over-emphasized.
Vanguard, 30 August 2016 LASU medical students protest non-accreditation of programmes
Activities at the office of the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, was yesterday halted by students of the Lagos State University, LASU, protesting over non-accreditation of medical and dental programmes in the institution. The students, who defied the early morning downpour, stormed the office of the governor to express their displeasure over the administration of Lagos State University College of Medicine, LASUCOM. The students were armed with placards with different inscriptions like: “Our parents are frustrated, they think we have been rusticated’, ‘Ambode; release N100 million to LASUCOM’, ‘Ambode, please save us from shame and others.” The students lamented that the non-accreditation of the programmes has forced them to spend eight years studying a six-year programme. Speaking on behalf of the protesters, chairman, LASU Association of Dental Students, Mr. Sydon Agbor, said the non-accreditation of the programmes had impeded the graduation of the final year students.
Premium Times, 01 September 2016 Ogun shuts 3 hospitals over pregnant women’s death
The Ogun State government has closed three hospitals after two pregnant women died. The government accused the hospitals of lacking the competence to treat patients. The affected hospitals are Shepherd clinic and maternity, Ayo Ni Medical Centre and Dayo Maternity Home, all in Ifo Local Government Area of the State. The Commissioner for Health, Babatunde Ipaye, said on Thursday the two pregnant women bled to death because they were attended to by fake doctors from the clinics. He said one of the deceased had initially been on admission at Dayo Maternity Home, before she was referred to Ayo Ni Medical Centre, where she died during childbirth. The commissioner, represented by the deputy director hospital services, Solomon Shokunbi, said the government had begun registration and revalidation exercise of all private hospitals in the state.
The Eagle Online, 31 August 2016 Enugu state targets 1m children for immunisation
No fewer than one million children aged between 10 and 12 are to benefit from the Maternal, New Born and Child Health Week inaugurated in Enugu State on Monday. The Director of Public Health in the state, Dr. Okechukwu Ossai, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Enugu that the exercise was to tackle issues of maternal and child health to scale down maternal and infant mortality in the state. Ossai said the week-long exercise commenced on August 29 and would end on September 3. Ossai said: “The free lecture, enlightenment, medication, health consumables for pregnant women, nursing mothers, infants and children will be facilitated by the government and its health partners – UNICEF, WHO and others. “It is primarily going to take place in all state government-owned health facilities in the urban and rural communities. “We are going to teach pregnant women and nursing mothers the benefit of exclusive breastfeeding, how to wash their hands before breastfeeding and handling of food items for the household.”
The Nation, 31 August 2016 Niger state to build 70 PHCs
Niger State government has disclosed plans to build 70 new Primary Healthcare Centers under its Primary Healthcare Under one Roof (PHCUOR) programme this year. The state Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, who made this disclosure while commissioning one of the four MTN Foundation Maternal Ward Support Projects in the state at General Hospital, Lapai, said that the centres will form the first phase of the 274 centres to offer 24 hours comprehensive medical service in each of the wards in the state. “In the next one year, at least 70 PHCOUR service facilities would be rolled out across Niger State through massive renovation, equipping and manpower improvement.” He said the neglect of the Primary Healthcare over the years informed the resolve of his administration to give priority attention to this level of healthcare delivery with a view to reducing significantly maternal and childhood mortality in the state adding that his administration was committed to providing qualitative, comprehensive and affordable healthcare to the people.
New Mail, 29 August 2016 Sokoto to commence anti-malnutrition supplements
Following the continues increase in number of malnourished children in Nigeria especially in the Northern part of the country, Sokoto State government said it will start producing Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), a nutrient used for treating malnutrition. The State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Shehu Balarabe, who disclosed this in Sokoto, said the state government can no longer afford to continue to spend on the importation of RUTF which is produced from groundnut paste. “In the past, imported Ready to Use Therapeutic Food from South Africa and United States. However, what we’re now working to stop that. We will soon start producing it right here in Sokoto. “RUTF is highly nutritious and is made from groundnut paste. We also thank God that Dangote is investing in the production of the drug here in Nigeria, so we commend him for that. Balarabe explained that if proper measures are taken, all that is needed in Nigeria for proper nutrition is available and will cost nothing. He added that “breastfeeding can save Nigeria in excess of N300 billion every year. Breastfeeding is part of nutrition and it’s free.”
Nigeria Health Watch, 30 August 2016 20 Startups to know in the Nigerian Health Tech Space
The Future of Health Conference II is 23 days away!! As we at Nigeria Health Watch work to deliver this year’s conference themed “Health Meets Tech: From Innovation to Implementation,” it is only natural that we begin to take a look at the health tech space in Nigeria. Our guest contributor this week is Dr. Ikpeme Neto, Internal medicine physician turned digital health entrepreneur, who through his start-up ‘Wella Health’ is working on ways to provide cost-effective technological solutions to improve quality of health care and patient engagement in Africa. He is the Editor of Digital Health Nigeria, and highlights 20 start-ups everyone should pay attention to in the health tech space. The article first ran in Digital Health Nigeria’s Medium Blog, and has been edited and re-published with permission.
EpiAFRIC is a health sector focused consulting group working to improve
population health through expert research and data analytics, project
design and evaluation, health communication, advocacy and training. Our
non-profit arm is Nigeria Health Watch.
