The Nigerian government has committed to secure US$300 million from the World Bank, Islamic Development Bank and African Development Bank to eliminate malaria in the country. This is contained in a statement issued by the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) on the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2018, which just ended in London.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says no fewer than 59 million children in Africa are stunted while another 10 million are overweight. The UN health agency also warned that Africa’s attempts to achieve health for all by 2030 could be threatened unless the continent address the twin challenges of under-nutrition and obesity.

Scientist from Trinity College Dublin has identified the mechanism that enables Human Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV) to evade being purged by the immune system, paving way for a new curative treatment.

The new research published in EBioMedicine, reveals that HIV targets and immobilize a pathway involving a number of biological molecules that are fundamental in blocking vital activity and clearing infection, illustrating precisely how the virus avoids elimination.

HIV remains a major global health challenge, with over 40 million people infected globally. Whilst people living with the virus have been treated with anti-retroviral therapy for over 30 years, this favoured therapeutic option merely prevents the progression of the disease to AIDS, it doesn’t provide a cure.

Following perennial industrial action by health workers under the aegis of Joint Health Sector Unions, the Federal Government has set up a committee to review the technical and financial aspects of the demands by the striking workers. Punch reports that the move was part of the decisions reached at a meeting of top government officials held on Sunday night on the crisis in the health sector caused by the ongoing industrial action.

Patients receiving treatment at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu on Friday held doctors and some management staff hostage over alleged refusal to allow them access to medical services because of oing strike by members of JOHESU. According to a report filed by Vanguard, the aggrieved patients and their relatives blocked the main entrance to the hospital and prevented movements within the facility.

The UK says it will announce a new malaria programme worth £50 million in Nigeria that will run until 2024. The UK said it would also provide a £9.2 million of new research funds to develop new triple artemisinin combination treatments. A statement issued by Ready to Beat Malaria, an NGO, said the UK Government had re-affirmed its commitment to spend £500 million a year on malaria through to 2020-21.