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Pakistan launched a nationwide polio vaccination drive on Monday to try to reach 38.7 million children and eradicate the paralyzing and potentially deadly virus in one of the last countries where it is endemic.

Nearly 260,000 volunteers and workers fanned out across Pakistan in an effort to vaccinate every child below the age of five in a week-long campaign, Pakistan’s national coordinator on polio, Mohammad Safdar, said.

“We’re really very close to eradicating the disease,” Safdar told Reuters, appealing to the people to cooperate with the door-to-door effort.

Residents of the Federal Capital Territory have been thrown into apprehension over threat of outbreak of meningitis. The anxiety followed a recent warning by National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Abuja Operations that residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) adopt measures to avert outbreak of meningitis.

The National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) has given a seven-day ultimatum to importers of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) such as seeds, grains and foods to obtain import permit or be sanctioned. The Director-General of the agency, Dr Rufus Ebegba, gave the ultimatum at a news conference in Abuja on Thursday.

An Edmonton woman who received donor stem cells from her sister during a procedure in Calgary last year, has been declared cured of her sickle-cell disease and health officials believe Revée Agyepong is the first adult in Canada to be cured of the disease through such method.

Sickle-cell disease causes red blood cells to become misshapen and results in the clogging of small blood vessels. The disruption can result in bone deterioration and organ failure.

The National Agency for the Control of Aids has said Nigeria contributes the largest number of babies born with HIV in the world. The Director General of NACA, Sani Aliyu in an exclusive interview with Premiumtimes said some of the challenges facing the country in the health sector were responsible for the development.

Food Hygiene Initiative of Nigeria (FHIN) has beckoned on the Federal Government and policymakers to implement laws and policies that will guarantee food safety in the country.

FHIN’s Director General, Mr Nicholas Karimu, made the call in Abuja, during the graduation of about 350 of its officers on Food Preservation, Administration and Safety Practices.

Mr Karimu revealed that the three-week training was conducted at the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corp Academy, Sauka, Airport Road, Abuja.