Nigeria Health Watch
“My father was admitted into the general ward of Federal Medical Centre Jabi, Abuja. Adjacent to his bed was a 70-something-year-old man who was quite ill and frail. Daily, I observed as his son worked round the clock to care for his ailing father. One fateful day, early in the morning, I overheard him make […]
There is a global consensus on the importance of strengthening health systems to deliver quality and affordable healthcare to communities, to make them more effective and efficient, and to prepare, detect and respond to disease outbreaks. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Universal Health Coverage (UHC) means that all individuals and communities receive adequate […]
Editor’s Note: The 74th World Health Assembly has just ended. All plenary sessions were open to be viewed on the WHO website. In this article Nigeria Health Watch’s Kemisola Agbaoye revisits some of the discussions around pandemic preparedness and response, and the potential implications for Nigeria. Given the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it has […]
Sanitation and hygiene are cost-effective approaches against infectious diseases. However, this relatively inexpensive way of preventing infectious diseases seems to be neglected in most markets in Nigeria. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that an estimated 100 million Nigerians lack basic sanitation facilities. The poor sanitation in Nigeria’s markets should be a matter of greater […]
Indo (not her real name) was just 15 years old when she became pregnant. Her boyfriend took her to the only general hospital in their community to terminate the pregnancy. The general hospital did not offer safe abortion services, so, the midwife advised them to formally inform their parents and make necessary arrangements to have […]
By Tosin Akinola (Guest Writer) Technology was pivotal in ensuring that healthcare services could continue to operate even as the COVID-19 pandemic raged. Countries like South Korea leveraged on technology to support their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They used different tools for aggressive contact tracings, such as security camera footage, facial recognition technology, bank […]
By Thelma Chioma Abeku & Aloysius Ugwu (Lead Writers) “Achieving equity in health care depends on equity in health education” — University of Global Health Equity, Rwanda. Since the global target of Health for All was declared in 1978, Primary Health Care (PHC) is universally recognized as the approach to achieving this goal. A primary health centre should […]
By Dr. Chijioke Kaduru (Guest Writer) There is widespread consensus around the globe on the need to strengthen health systems and make them more resilient. A health system includes all of the different institutions, actors and resources involved in delivering healthcare to individuals. Despite this accord, there is continued debate exactly how individual countries should […]
I struggled with feelings of anxiety and depression for nine months during my first pregnancy in 2016. I spoke with my gynaecologist several times about my different mood swings, but he felt I should be excited because I was having a baby. Sometimes I felt happy about having a baby, but most times I felt […]
By Kemisola Agbaoye (Lead Writer) Malaria is one of the leading causes of death in children under five years of age globally. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a child dies from malaria every two minutes. Eighty percent of the global malaria burden is carried by 15 countries, 14 of which are in Sub-Saharan […]
By Beti Baiye & Ibukun Oguntola (Lead Writers) Vaccines are vital to the prevention and control of infectious-disease outbreaks. They protect us from the time we are children into adulthood. Today there are vaccines available to protect against at least 20 diseases, such as diphtheria, tetanus, influenza and measles. Together, these vaccines save the lives […]
In the last month, India has reported over 200,000 new cases of COVID-19 every single day. Hospitals are full and struggling to cope with the overwhelming demand for oxygen, crematoriums inundated, health workers are tired and families have been devastated. Many Indians in the diaspora feel helpless as they see family members struggling with the […]
