Health

Following the decline in cases of COVID-19 in the country especially the variant, the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) has reviewed the country's response to the pandemic. This was made public by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) who doubled as the chairman of the PSC, Boss Gida Mustapha, today in Abuja said this followed the reduction in cases of importation of the new variant. Availability of vaccines and their accessibility to members of the public was also what necessitated their committee action coupled with the global reduction, he said.

The Federal Government has today commenced the enrolment of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members for National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). The scheme was tailored to be under the Group Individual and Family Social Health Insurance Program and was initiated to guarantee access to quality health services for the corps members nationwide.

Lassa fever, one of the deadliest diseases in the country that has not received the required attention from the authorities has within January 2022 alone killed 40 persons and infected four health workers. This was a report released by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) via its verified website this morning, lamenting that currently, the disease has threatened health workers response to the disease. Lassa fever is a viral haemorrhagic fever transmitted by rats. It has been known since the 1950s, but the virus was not identified until 1969, when two missionary nurses died from it in the town of Lassa, in Borno state, Nigeria.

The Executive Secretary, Yobe state Primary Health Care Board, PHCB, Dr. Babagana Kundi Machina has raised the alarm that some neglected tropical diseases are still threatening them in Yobe state. Machina raises this concern during the media briefing to mark the year 2022 World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe state.

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has reacted to report by some sections of the media that there was an outbreak of wild poliovirus in some states. Reacting to the statement, the NPHCDA, Executive Secretary, Dr. Faisal Shuaibu disclosed that Nigeria has recorded 395 cases of circulating mutant poliovirus Type 2 (cMPV2) across 27 states of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The NPHCDA boss made this statement while reacting to the report in Abuja today; saying contrary to the report, what was recorded was not the Wild Polio Virus (WPV). That has been eradicated in the country since 2016, he said. 

A new variant of coronavirus has just been discovered in France; the variant was identified as B.1.640.2 and dubbed the IHU variant, and since has infected about 12 persons so far in France. According to a research journal published by French scientists of the Méditerranée infectious University Hospital Institute (IHU) France claimed the index case was first linked to a person who has a travel history to the Cameroun Republic. The statement reads, “The index case was an adult first diagnosed as infected with SARS-CoV-2 by real-time reverse transcription PCR (qPCR) performed in a private medical biology laboratory on a nasopharyngeal sample collected mid-November 2021,”