Ten lessons from Ogun State - from first COVID-19 case in Nigeria to building a resilient response

Doctors and nurses at the Ogun State COVID-19 Isolation Centre. Photo Source: NCDC

Vivianne Ihekweazu (Lead writer) On the day marking one year since the first COVID-19 case was reported in Nigeria, this article reflects on the experience and lessons learnt from the Honourable Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker as she led the response in Ogun State. What a difference a year makes. Three hundred and sixty days […]

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Thought Leadership Series

Drug-Resistant Malaria: A Public Health War Nigeria Cannot Afford to Fight

Image credit: Nigeria Health Watch

Editor’s Note: In today’s Thought Leadership Piece, Dr. Okonkwor Oyor of Hygeia HMO explains the looming threat that ACT-resistant malaria poses to the long global struggle to “roll back malaria”, and shares insights into what Nigeria must begin to do if we are to stall the spread of drug-resistant malaria today.  Malaria has been with […]

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Through our Hands: Collaborating for a cancer-free world for children and adolescents in Nigeria

International Childhood Cancer Day calls for every individual, group and organisation in all facets of society, to stand up for children who depend on us to stay alive and thrive. Photo source: World Child Cancer

By Olubunmi Oyebanji (Lead Writer) On the 15th of February every year, the world observes the International Childhood Cancer Day (ICCD). It is a global collaborative campaign designed to raise awareness about childhood cancer and to express support for children and adolescents with cancer, as well as the survivors and their families. A cancer diagnosis […]

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Conspiracy theories and COVID-19 vaccine introduction in Nigeria

Conspiracy theories emerged about COVID-19 Vaccines in the wake of the global spread of the coronavirus. Photo source: Zebralter Medical

Editor’s Note: This week’s piece comes from researchers Dr. Chizoba Wonodi, Chisom Obi-Jeff, Dr Carleigh Krubiner, Elana Felice Jaffe, Dr. Ruth Karron, and Dr. Ruth Faden. They analyze the rise of conspiracy theories during public health crises like the current coronavirus pandemic and explore who is most vulnerable to conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines and […]

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Preparing Nigeria for future pandemics is only possible by building our scientific capacity: Views of Six Leading Nigerian Scientists

Nigeria needs to have a much stronger educational foundation in science to build the necessary research capacity. Photo credit: Nigeria Health Watch

By Vivianne Ihekweazu & Atinuke Akande-Alegbe (Lead Writers) “Is Nigeria no longer the GIANT OF AFRICA? Why are we not producing the Covid-19 vaccine yet or we’re waiting for free doses of vaccine from foreign aids?” This sentiment was shared on Twitter in December 2020 and has been echoed in multiple forums since the onset […]

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World Leprosy Day 2021: Making life count for people affected by Leprosy in Nigeria

The socio-economic impact of leprosy disease may be a greater source of suffering to the affected than the disease itself. Photo credit: Nigeria Health Watch

By Kenneth Ibe and Onyinye Oranezi (Lead Writers) Mrs Aisha Yunisa, a fifty-year old woman from Niger state, got married in her early twenties and was living happily with her husband and their beautiful daughter. When she started noticing patches of discolouration on the skin in her hands and legs, she thought it was a […]

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‘E nor dey, come tomorrow’ – How vaccine stock-outs affect routine immunisation rates

Image credit: Nigeria Health Watch

Vaccines administered on the Nigerian National Immunisation schedule are free, right? Ewomazino disagrees. She had given birth to lovely twin boys and the expenses started to pile up almost immediately, often threatening to overshadow the joys that usually accompany the birth of a child. At birth, immunisation for her boys cost her 50,000 naira per […]

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Your health in 2021: 10 things you should know about accessing healthcare

To cushion the potential negative impacts of the persistent underfunding in the health sector, efficient health financing and health insurance schemes are required to provide financial risk protection for Nigerians. Image source: technext.ng

Editor’s Note: This week’s thought leadership piece comes from Dr Kemi of RelianceHMO, an HMO provider in Nigeria. She works to explain the different types of health insurance plans that are available for Nigerians, and highlights what everyone should take into consideration when choosing a health plan.  Despite a consensus with other heads of African […]

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“I decided to be pregnant with my wife” – Men as nurturers for healthy pregnancy and delivery

Since our baby has come, I have entered another phase of support to both my wife and baby. Photo Source: Aloysius Chidiebere Ugwu

Aloysius Chidiebere Ugwu (Lead Writer) In January 2020, in the middle of the dry season known as harmattan in Nigeria, I was in Kano state performing my duties as a health advocate when I received news from my wife which redefined my plans for the next nine months. “Babe, I think my body is changing, […]

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No Retreat No Surrender: Celebrating frontline responders in the fight against COVID-19 in Africa

Image Credit: Nigeria Health Watch

By Beti Baiye & Patience Adejo (Lead Writers) It is not surprising that the fight against COVID-19 has introduced a great deal of military metaphors in the media globally. The world has been at war with a virus and from the outset, healthcare workers of different cadres have been at the frontline of defense between […]

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Kaduna State pioneers procurement process for family planning commodities

Mrs Habiba Luka coordinating the panel discussion titled ‘Direct FP commodity procurement by sub-national government, a Pioneer’’. Photo Source: dRPC

Kaduna state has gotten a waiver to procure Family Planning (FP) commodities as the state’s demand for FP commodities increases. This makes Kaduna the first and only state with permission to directly procure family planning commodities in Nigeria. The Executive Secretary, Kaduna State Primary Health Care Board (KPHCB), Hamza Abubakar, made this known during the Kaduna […]

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Next Level Agenda in the journey towards UHC: Health for All Nigerians

Image credit: Nigeria Health Watch

By Aloysius Ugwu & Michael Atima (Lead Writers) When the Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom, said “Without health, people have nothing; without health, we have nothing as humanity”, he meant a world where everyone can achieve healthy and productive lives no matter who they are or where they live. […]

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The need for women’s leadership in global health – The Nigeria experience

Image credit: Nigeria Health Watch

Editor’s Note: This week’s Thought Leadership piece comes from Women in Global Health (WGH) Nigeria, an organisation that was established to bring visibility and recognition of Nigerian women, shape global health programming and advocacy, and reform policy and in communities in Nigeria and the diaspora. They analyse the reasons why more women are not seen […]

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#Innovate4HealthNaija: Improving Healthcare Access at the Future of Health Conference 2020

Innovations must lead to the patient, must empower the patient with information and encourage partnership, coordination and collaboration. Image credit: Nigeria Health Watch

Innovation is a term used to spur big business into evolving their way out of oblivion. In healthcare, refusal to innovate could mean loss of lives, especially for vulnerable populations who are most at risk of poor health outcomes and have significant challenges accessing quality healthcare. When the 2020 Future of Health Conference theme, Innovation: […]