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NANFeatures/Vol.10/No.232/2016 (Oct. 6)

Re-positioning primary healthcare centres

A News Analysis by Jacinta Nwachukwu, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Primary Health Care was inaugurated in 1987 to accelerate healthcare, improve health data management and implement the expanded programme on immunisation in rural communities.

The initiative tends to ensure that the presence of primary healthcare centres, mostly in rural communities, improves healthcare at the grassroots through diagnosis and treatment of common diseases.

However, stakeholders note that with increasing prevalence of diseases arising from lack of basic facilities, available healthcare infrastructural facilities have been stressed.

Concerned by this development and the increasing epidemiological challenge in rural communities, the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, announced the inclusion of the treatment of chronic diseases at the primary healthcare centres.

Speaking recently in Abuja at a news conference, he said the inclusion of the treatment of chronic diseases would also decongest the nation’s hospitals and provide access to certain specialised services for the rural dwellers.

“Nigeria is currently undergoing an epidemiological transition, and the rise in prevalence of non-communicable diseases has implications on demands for healthcare services.

“The health system hence needs to be positioned to respond effectively to these new challenges and be able to offer quality services towards the management of the associated co-morbidities of non-communicable diseases,’’ he said.

Adewole also expressed concern about the report of the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicating that 24 per cent of illness related death in Nigeria was caused by non-communicable diseases with diabetes accounting for two per cent.

According to him, WHO mentions the four main types of non-communicable diseases to include cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and stroke, cancers and chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and diabetes.

The minister stressed that the health sector would develop new policy on diabetes, cancers and stroke for effective management of the diseases.

“We aim to incorporate the management of chronic illnesses into the benefit package to be delivered to Nigerians at the primary care level,’’ he noted.

Adewole said further that Federal Government had developed the National Policy and Strategic Plan of Action on non-communicable diseases and a national nutritional guideline on prevention, control and management of the ailments.

He observed that WHO had planned to scale up diabetes prevention efforts, strengthen healthcare delivery and enhance surveillance.

Irrespective of this, the former Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, urged governments and stakeholders in the health sector to pool their resources toward strengthening the country’s health system, especially at the primary level.

He said that although, the sector had witnessed significant improvements from what it was in the pre-colonial era, stakeholders should do more.

“There is still room for improvements since the health sector had continued to experience deficiencies in its development in which many people cannot access good healthcare at the grassroots.

“Drugs are very expensive and not within the reach of the common man; that has forced them to patronise hospitals, health centres and chemists’ established by quacks,’’ he said.

Chukwu said the public would be able to enjoy healthcare facilities by strengthening the primary healthcare centres with personnel and drugs.

“We need to produce enough health personnel to boost health care system in Nigeria.

“Both the Federal Government and state governments need to focus on helping to build the capacity of the health workers in the country.

“Medical researchers need to come up with findings that will help to improve the nation’s healthcare sector.

“The healthcare system in Nigeria also needs experts to brace up to the emerging challenges in the system,’’ he said.

He also observed that the outbreaks of Ebola Virus Disease, Lassa fever and the recent development in the health sector had placed emphasis on the need for government and other stakeholders to prioritise research in the country.

He advised both the Federal Government and state ministries of health to improve on their services and intensify their constant surveillance on disease control in the country.

“They can achieve this by making findings from their researches and reports from their surveillance public weekly, monthly or quarterly,’’ he said.

Chukwu said that he was certain that the current Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, was capable of bringing positive change to healthcare system in the country.(NANFeatures)

**If used, please credit the writer as well as News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

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Centre
Abakaliki, Oct. 6, 2016 (NAN) The Ebonyi Government says it has concluded arrangements to provide one functional primary healthcare centre in each of the 171 wards in the state before December, 2016.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr Daniel Umezuruike, made the disclosure in Abakaliki on Thursday while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Umezuruike said that the decision was to complement the Federal Government’s efforts to enhance healthcare delivery in the country.

“Ebonyi today has fully perfected all arrangements to provide one functional primary health care centre per ward to complement what the Federal Government is doing.

“Primary, secondary and tertiary health facilities have to be fully functional and equipped with facilities to achieve the aim of universal health coverage,” he said.

The commissioner said that Gov. David Umahi had declared a state of emergency on the health sector in the state due to the weak system inherited from the past administration.

According to him, the state has 430 primary healthcare centres and 13 general hospitals which will be upgraded to render quality services.

The commissioner said the ministry had engaged field officers from the works, lands and survey, power and water ministries to improve facilities for effective and efficient healthcare services.

He disclosed that funds for the projects had been kept in a dedicated account while work had commenced in some of the hospitals.

“Primary healthcare facilities and the 13 general hospitals will be upgraded with power, landscaping and man power.

“Health workers, equipment and ambulances will be provided in these facilities and also in six missionary hospitals in the state for easy access to the people,” he said.

Umezuruike also said that all hospitals would be connected to the national grid and provided with 50 KVA generators, inverter and solar energy appliances.

The commissioner commended the governor on the efforts made to strengthen the health sector and ensure quality service delivery. (NAN)
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(Edited by Maureen Atuonwu and Mufutau Ojo)

Jigawa Govt. spends N697m to boost PHCs

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Investment

Dutse, Oct. 6, 2016 (NAN) The Jigawa Government on Thursday said it has constructed 27 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) and 27 Midwives Staff Quarters in the state.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr Abba Zakari, made this known to newsmen in Dutse.

Zakari said that the facilities were provided in each of the 27 local government areas of the state at the cost of N573,652,726 million.

He explained that the gesture was to address the shortage of health workers in the state.

The commissioner stated that the fund was generated through a counterpart funding with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) where the state contributed 50 per cent of the total sum.

According to him, the state government will also spend N98,238,240 million to equip the health centres, while N25,570,750 million would be expended on furnishing the hostels.

Zakari added that the government is currently upgrading Kafinhausa Cottage Hospital, in Kafinhausa Local Government Area to a general hospital.

“Also, renovation is ongoing at Gumel, Ringim and Babura local governments” general hospitals,” he said.

He further disclosed that the state government had concluded plans to construct two Lassa Fever Wards, close to its Ebola ‎Centre, near Rashid Shekoni Specialist Hospital in Dutse, the state capital.

The commissioner noted that the gesture was to ensure quick intervention against epidemic outbreak in the state.

According to him, a new specialist hospital will soon be built in the Hadejia‎ town, headquarters of Hadejia Local Government Area.

Zakari added that the ministry would soon commence the second phase of all health workers biometric data aimed at fishing out ghost workers. (NAN)

MNB/MST/MST

Edited and controlled by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Samsung buys Siri developers’ start-up for own voice assistant

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Samsung

Seoul, Oct. 6, 2016 (dpa/NAN) Tech giant, Samsung, announced on Thursday its plan to buy Viv Labs, a start-up founded by the developers of the voice assistant Siri which is used by competitor Apple.

The South Korean company plans to use Viv’s artificial intelligence system across all of its devices and services, a statement said.

“Viv’s “sophisticated natural language understanding and machine learning capabilities” makes the product particularly attractive,’’ according to Injong Rhee, Chief Technology officer of Samsung’s mobile communications division.

It was not reported how much Samsung expects to pay for the acquisition of the California-based firm.

As part of the deal, Viv founders Dag Kittlaus, Adam Cheyer and Chris Brigham promised to work closely with Samsung and to still continue to operate independently.

Kittlaus, Viv’s co-founder and chief executive, said that Samsung offers his business a global opportunity.

“We see a future that is decidedly beyond apps, where you can get what you need quickly and easily no matter where you are,” he said.

On Tuesday, internet giant Google launched its Pixel smartphone in San Francisco, which uses Google assistant, a type of artificial intelligence. (dpa/NAN)
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Edited by Damilola Oyewole and Abdullahi Yusuf

Audio Attached

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Jetropha

By Ginika Okoye

Abuja, Oct. 6, 2016 (NAN) Jetropha farmers have called on the Federal Government to subsidise farm inputs for them to enable them to increase production of the plant.

Mr Luka Kefas, the Secretary, Jetropha Farmers Association based in Plateau, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday.

Kefas said the subsidy of farm inputs such as fertiliser and agro-chemicals would encourage more farmers to cultivate the flowering plant on a large scale in view of its economic value.

• Cue in audio

“Jetropha can diversify our economy if we are serious and if the government can give us support to do the production

“We are appealing to the Federal Government to give us support in terms of subsidy in the area of inputs, fertiliser, the agro chemicals and even the seeds.

“We need improved varieties to step up our production.

“And at the National level also, we should have more of the off-takers, those that will buy our seeds.’’

• Cue out audio

Kefas noted that crude oil used in producing diesel, aviation fuel, kerosene and petrol as well organic fertiliser, livestock feeds and soap are derivatives of jetropha.

There are more than 175 species of jetropha all of which are found to be of significant economic importance.

It is used to produce bio-fuel which can be an alternative to diesel.

The plant can also serve as wind breakers, shelter belts to curb flooding, desertification and erosion.

According to him, jetropha is one of the crops that can be planted on a marginal land across the country.

He said the production of the crop was cheaper when compared with food crops and could easily be managed.

Kefas, who explained that the association has more than 100 members in Plateau, said that each of them cultivated nearly half hectare of the plant annually.

The secretary, however, appealed to young farmers in the rural areas to take advantage of the vast land in their respective localities to cultivate the plant, saying that it will enable them to earn additional income.

NAN reports that the Federal Government on Oct. 4, began stakeholders’ dialogue on ways to explore Jetropha plant as a way of diversifying the country’s economy.

NAN also recalls that the Federal Governement said that tapping into the benefits of the plant would help the country achieve its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) as contained in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. (NAN)

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Edited by Shittu Obassa/Controlled by Emmanuel Yashim

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Director says PHC provides affordable healthcare

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PHC
By Victor Adeoti
Osogbo, Oct. 6, 2016 (NAN) Dr Kayode Oguniyi, the Director of Primary Health Care and Disease Control in Osun, says primary healthcare is an integral part of affordable healthcare delivery in rural communities.

Oguniyi said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Osogbo on Thursday.

According to him, since more than 70 per cent of Nigerians dwell in semi-urban areas, primary health care centres remain strategic to their well being.

“The Primary Health Care (PHC) is the pivot upon which other categories of health sector rest and the reason is because majority of our people dwell in the rural areas.

“The essence of primary health care is to ensure that people are able to access health care wherever they live or work.

“The idea is that people should be able to locate a primary health care centre within a radius of five kilometres and that is what we have in Osun.”

Oguniyi said the state have 1,000 PHCs in all the local government areas of the state providing healthcare for pregnant women, children and others who needed medical attention.

He said there was no local government in the state that does not have a comprehensive health centre with a standby ambulance and a health medical officer to attend to emergencies.

According to Oguniyi, due to well equipped PHCs in all the local government areas, the state maternal and child index is about the best in the country.

“At the national level, the indices of maternal and child is 565 per 100,000 deliveries; that is 565 women die per 100,000 deliveries in Nigeria.

“But in Osun, the figure is 165 per 100,000 deliveries and that simply means that we are good.

“Also at the national level, the number of pregnant women that were being attended to by skilled birth attendants is about 70 per cent.

“But in Osun, the figure is 97, that is for every 100 women that attend our PHC, not less than 97 of them were been attended to by skilled birth attendants”.

Oguniyi said the state would continue to provide quality healthcare delivery to the people across the state. (NAN)
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Edited by Remi Koleoso and controlled by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Thailand commemorates student massacre four decades later

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Massacre
Bangkok, Oct. 6, 2016 (dpa/NAN) Hundreds of people gathered on Thursday at Thammasat University in Bangkok, the scene of a bloody massacre four decades ago that killed more than 40 students and wounded more than 100.

Survivors and victims’ family members, as well as current students and professors, laid wreaths at the university memorial.

At dawn on Oct. 6, 1976, police, military and paramilitary forces blocked campus exits and opened fire on students. Victims were reportedly raped, hanged, beaten and burned to death.

The annual commemorations saw waning participation in recent years.

However, this year saw student activist sentiment reignited, with the country’s top three universities co-hosting commemorative activities for the first time.

Central to the commemorations is a photo exhibition featuring black and white images of the crackdown.

One shows a beaten man hanging from a tree.

“The perpetrators include a right-wing order connected to the military that feared the communist expansion promoted by left-wing students,’’Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political science professor at Chulalongkorn University said.

With Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s promise of elections and the end of military rule in 2017, some see lessons from the 1976 massacre.

Thailand has been under a military rule since a coup d’etat was staged in May 2014.

“Four decades later, the established order that put down the earlier challenge now confronts self-empowering communication tools and international norms such as democracy and elections.

Those in power need to change and adjust to accommodate new voices.

“If not, the country will see more tension that can only lead to more turmoil,” Thitinan said.(dpa/NAN)

(Edited by Damilola Oyewole/ Julius Enehikhuere)

Moro’a Development Association donates 5,000 books to pupils

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Donation
Kafanchan (Kaduna) Oct. 6, 2016 (NAN) The Moro’a Development Association in Kaura Local Government, Kaduna State, on Thursday donated 5,000 exercise books to primary school pupils in the area.

The Presidenet of the Association, Mr Daniel Gaggah, who made the presentation at the Tagwai Sambo Model Primary School, Manchok said the gesture was part of the association social responsibility.

Gaggah said the exercise books would be distributed across the 37 primary schools in the chiefdom.

He said that the association considered it imperative to cushion government efforts towards meeting the education target under the Millennium Development Goals.

“Education is the bedrock of development in any society, if our children are educated, they become better people and in turn, the society stands to benefit in the long run,” he said.

Gaggah said the association had also provided electricity polls for the provision of power supply to some parts of the area.

The president disclosed that the association had acquired land for the construction of a Community Town Hall.

He urged beneficiaries of the various interventions by the association to make judicious use of the items.

Responding on behalf of the community, a former Acting Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr Shehu Abui, thanked the leadership of the association for the gesture.

Abui, who is also the Danmasanin Moro’a, noted that the association has remained consistent in its support to the people in spite of current economic hardship in the country.

He assured that the Moro’a chiefdom would continue to support the association in its laudable programmes.(NAN)
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Edited by Remi Koleoso and Controlled by M aharazu Ahmed

Philippines top diplomat says U.S. has failed former colony

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Diplomat
Manila, Oct. 6, 2016 (dpa/NAN) Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay said on Thursday that President Rodrigo Duterte is seeking to realign his country’s foreign policy away from the US, stating “America has failed us.”

“The U.S. has “held on to invisible chains that reined us in towards dependency and submission” even after it gave its former colony independence in 1946.

“Breaking away from the shackling dependency of the Philippines to effectively address internal and external security threats has become imperative in putting an end to our nation’s subservience to U.S. interests,” he said.

The U.S. is the Philippines closest ally and the two countries have a mutual defence treaty.

However, in the past three months, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has expressed his discontent about relations with Washington.

On Tuesday, he warned that he might “break up” with the U.S.

He earlier said that ongoing joint military exercises between U.S. and Philippines troops would be the last under his term.

The U.S. obtained the Philippines from Spain in 1898 and despite a first constitution being drawn up in 1935; it only officially recognised the country’s independence in 1946. (dpa/NAN)

(Edited by Damilola Oyewole/ Julius Enehikhuere)

CCT jurisdiction: Court of Appeal reserves judgment on Saraki’s appeal
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Adoption
By Martins Odeh
Abuja, Oct. 6, 2016 (NAN) The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Thursday reserved judgment in an appeal filed by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, challenging the jurisdiction of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) to trial him.

Justice Abdu Aboki-led other four justices of the appellate court reserve the date after parties had adopted their written addresses.

Aboki said that the date of the judgment would be communicated to the parties.

The notice of appeal was filed on March 24 after Saraki’s motion challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal was dismissed.

Adopting his address, Mr Kanu Agabi (SAN), Counsel to Saraki, urged the appellate court to upturn the decision of the tribunal which had arrogated to itself jurisdiction to try the applicant.

“That is to say that the tribunal has no jurisdiction to entertain the charge brought against my client,’’ he said.

Agabi argued that under Section 3(d) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, anyone alleged to have breached the provision must be given an opportunity for a written admission.

He submitted that the non-compliance of the provision presupposed that the tribunal declared that legislation unconstitutional.

“That is why we are here. Leaving an inferior court like the CCT to declare an important legislation unconstitutional will be fatal,’’ he said.

Agabi further said that the applicant should not have been taken to the tribunal, adding that Saraki was not given his full right of admittance to the error spotted in his assert declaration forms.

“If the Code of Conduct Bureau had followed the provision of the law we would not have been here. Saraki was not given the right of fair hearing and we are surprised why this happened.

“In the light of this, there is no statement from the applicant which should have been accompanied with the prosecution’s proof of evidence as stipulated in the Administration of Justice Act.

“The other aspect is for the appellate court to decide whether it is right not to treat all identical cases equally,’’ Agabi said.

He also said: “we are saying this because the tribunal had some time ago ruled itself out of a similar case filed against Sen. Bola Tinubu.’’

Agabi submitted that it was clear that the action against the applicant was not in the interest of justice.

According to him, it amounts to judicial absurdity to bring the applicant to court on alleged offence committed 13 years ago.

“The Code of Conduct Bureau exists as a reconciliatory unit meant to correct errors spotted in asserts declaration forms and not created to send people to prison.

“I urge the court to impress it on the two institutions to do the needful by availing the applicant the opportunity for a written admission.

“I also pray the court to hold that the tribunal do not have the jurisdiction to try the applicant in the circumstance,’’ Agabi said.

Agabi further averred that it was a breach of statutory provision that established the Code Conduct Bureau for either the EFCC or ICPC to assist it prosecuted alleged offences bordering around assets declaration.

“In this case, the EFCC was brought in to investigate and prosecute the applicant,’’ he said.

On his part, Chief Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), the Prosecuting Counsel, prayed the court to dismiss the appeal, adding that it lacked merit.

On Agabi’s submission that the applicant was not given the right of written admission, Jacob said that provision was an old law.

Jacob said Section 3(d) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act was contained in the 1979 Constitution but expunged from the amended 1999 Constitution.

“I want to also make it clear before My Lords that the written statement of admission is different from the statement of defence that must accompany the proof of evidence.

“The applicant was given sufficient right to file objections to all the allegations brought against him, therefore, it will be unfair for his counsel to claim that he was not given fair hearing,’’ Jacob said.

Jacob also said the immunity status accorded the applicant by the constitution while being governor of Kwara for eight years delayed his prosecution, adding that it was not a case of selective justice.

In a cross appeal filed by the prosecution team, the applicant was accused of abusing court process, as according to Jacob, most of the reliefs sought has been heard and decided by the Supreme Court. (NAN)
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Edited by Felix Nwadioha