Health

The Nigerian Optometric Association (NOA) says it will kick start a nationwide comprehensive free eye test for children between the ages of five and 14.

Dr Ngozi Nwanekezie, Chairperson of NOA FCT Chapter, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja that the initiative was aimed at improving the sight of children in the country.

She said the exercise was slated for every last Friday of the month and it would begin on March 30 and end in November.

Nwanekezie said the initiative was tagged “My sight, my right”, adding that the objective was to ensure high quality vision and eye health as the right of every child.

Severe Pain affects half of all persons suffering from cancer and an estimated 80 per cent of those with advanced cancer.

A study suggests that patients with cancer could ease their pain levels by using a simple pen and paper bedside chart.

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh in the UK, discovered that the chart works by encouraging doctors to ask the right questions and reflect on pain medications and side effects more frequently before patients reach a crisis point.

A nutritionist, Dr. Bartholomew Brai, at the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, has advised again the consumption of exposed onion cut the previous day, to avoid food poisoning.

Dr. Brai made the disclosure to press men on Wednesday, that such sliced onion if not properly stored when exposed could be highly poisonous as they could create toxic bacteria.

According to him, the vegetable contains sugar which promote bacteria growth.

A medical expert, Dr Stephen Aderemi of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), has cautioned people against too much intake of locally prepared herbs to avoid causing grave damage to their health.

Herbs are plants with aromatic properties used for either medicinal purposes, flavouring food, or as fragrances.

According to Aderemi not all the plants reported to be useful were harmless.

The doctor added that, if plants are taken without adequate knowledge of prescription, they can cause kidney and liver dysfunction or even death in some cases.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it provided health interventions to 3.8 million people affected by the Boko Haram insurgency in northeast in the past one year.

WHO said in its 2017 annual report that it coordinated health sector partners and reached 3.8 million people with health services.

The agency said that it worked closely with local officials, partners and community leaders to address the health risks posed by malnutrition, disease outbreaks, and long-term inaccessibility to basic health services.

Who said it provided technical and financial support for measles catch-up campaigns reaching 2.2 million children aged between six months and 10-years in 25 local government areas of Borno.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it has deployed its personnel to rapidly contain the outbreak of Lassa fever in more than 18 states in Nigeria.

This was contained in a statement released in Abuja by Charity Warigon, communication officer for WHO in Nigeria.

The statement said: “For the Lassa fever response, 271 are involved in active case search, 235 in contact tracing and 320 in community sensitisation activities in the 18 states active states.”

According to Warigon, from January 1 to March 4, a total of 1,121 suspected cases of Lassa fever were reported across 18 states.