Tedros Re-Elected For Second Term As WHO DG

Member-States of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday re-elected Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus to serve as the Director-General (DG) of the Organization for the second term of five years. His re-election was contained in a statement published on the WHO’s website which disclosed that he was the sole candidate and his second term commences officially on August 16, 2022.

National Health Bill Approved By President Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the National Health Insurance Authority Bill 2022 into law which repeals the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) Act, Cap N42, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004. During the signing ceremony, President Buhari stated that a fund will be set up “to ensure coverage of 83 million poor Nigerians who cannot afford to pay premiums as recommended by the Lancet Nigeria Commission”.

COVID-19: Nigeria Receives Three Million Doses Of Vaccine

The Nigerian government on Monday received over three million doses of the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Italian government. The Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib, while acknowledging receipt of the donated vaccine doses in Abuja, highly praised the Italian government for the good gesture. Mr. Shuiab said the donation is also a reflection of the commitment of the Italian government and European delegates to the global efforts in halting the pandemic which has claimed millions of lives. He said the rollout of the J&J vaccine across the country has rapidly improved vaccination coverage.

Healthcare Financing: FG Impose Tax On Phone Calls To Foot Bill

The Federal Government has revealed that it has introduced a new telecommunication tax that is targeted to finance a subsidy cost for the provision of healthcare to vulnerable persons in the country. The new law was contained in the just concluded national Health Insurance Authority Bill 2021 and was just endorsed by President Muhammadu Buhari into law on May 19, 2022. As contained in the new law, section 26(1c) of the Act states that the source of the money for the funding of the new health law will include; telecommunication tax, at least a kobo per second of total GSM calls being made in Nigeria.

COVID-19: Biden Boosts Access To Antivirals As Demand Increase

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration announced plans on Tuesday to nearly double the number of pharmacies that carry antiviral pills to combat covid-19 as many consumers report difficulty finding a doctor to prescribe the medication, or a pharmacy that carries it, when they get sick. Dozens have struggled to get Paxlovid pill amid the latest wave of infections driven by the highly transmissible omicron subvariant BA.2 Paxlovid was expected to be a major tool in the battle against COVID after it reduced hospitalizations or deaths in high-risk patients by around 90% in a clinical trial. Beginning from this week pharmacies participating in the federal pharmacy program for distributing antiviral treatments will be able to order the free treatments directly from the U.S. government.

FG Issues New COVID-19 Travel Guideline

The Federal Government (FG) has issued a new international travel guideline on COVID-19 which would take effect from Monday, April 4, 2022. This was disclosed on Sunday by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19, Mr Boss Mustapha. He said, “This protocol is a revision of the Travel Protocol released on 29th November 2021 Interim Travel Guidelines for Passengers arriving in Nigeria. In-bound passengers to Nigeria, who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, are no longer required to carry out COVID-19 PCR test before boarding Nigeria-bound flights.