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The Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU), the Umbrella body of health workers in Nigeria has directed its members to proceed on nationwide industrial action until further notice.
JOHESU, in its statement, directed its members to withdraw their services from midnight of today, September 13, 2020. The statement titled, “Notice of 15days ultimatum/outcome of JOHESU expanded NEC meeting”. The leadership of the union had on Friday had a lengthy discussion with the federal government on their grievances of unpaid hazard allowance of the COVID-19 as promised by the federal government as well as the withheld of salaries of some of its members by some state governors.

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved an additional N8.9 billion for COVID-19 hazard allowances for all health workers in Nigeria. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, made this known at the bi-weekly Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 (PTF) briefing on Thursday.

The Nigerian Government has approved the use of “Wondfo HIV I and II rapid test kit” for the use in the country as a measure to arrest the spread of the viral disease.
Dr. Akudo Ikpeazu, The National Coordinator, National AIDS/STD Control Programme (NASCP) disclosed this yesterday in Abuja while making a presentation on the evaluation report on the said kit. She said, “The Wondfo rapid test kit, could be used as a confirmatory test because of its high specification of 99.4 percent,”

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has decried the increasing number of cannabis smokers in the country, warning that it could have a dire consequence for the country. Chairman of the agency, Col. Muhammad Abdallah (retd.) gave the warning at a virtual news briefing to commemorate the 2020 International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking in Abuja. “In the light of the prevailing atmosphere of COVID-19, drug-dependent persons are more acutely at risk because of their usually attendant underlying health issues, social stigmatization, and the dearth of access to health care.

The Federal Government on Friday received samples of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine through Russia’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Alexey Shebarshin who paid a courtesy visit to the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire in Abuja.

A shortage in the supply of monkeys may slow down the development of COVID-19 vaccines that are still in the early stages of development in the United States. This scarcity could be a major obstacle to the vaccine moving to the next stage. The scarcity of the primates in the country was revealed by The Atlantic magazine on Monday, August, 31. Scientists in the United States are particularly worried, with around 35,000 monkeys used in experiments there every year.