Nigeria Health Watch
“My husband and I have always known that I would deliver at the hospital,” says Azeema Hussaini, 25, while sitting on a bed in a muddy two-room house, nursing her three-week-old daughter, Maisara, whom she gave birth to at the General Hospital Jahun, Jigawa State. The mother of three had her previous deliveries at the […]
By Beti Baiye and Dara Ajala-Damisa (Lead Writers) The trip from Yenagoa was short and uneventful. We arrived the community town hall before our hosts and as they walked in, some led by friend or family members and others feeling their way along, their gait and demeanour began to tell their story long before they […]
Polio, a contagious disease caused by the poliomyelitis virus is transmitted primarily when stool from someone infected contaminates foods, drinks or water sources. It invades the nervous system and could, in a matter of hours, lead to complete paralysis. On the 24th of August 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) officially declared Nigeria and Africa […]
When will the COVID-19 pandemic be over? Will life return to how it was before COVID-19 disrupted it? These questions probably run through every person’s mind often even if they are not conscious of it. But the pandemic is far from over, even though the ease of lockdown measures makes it appear as if the […]
For several weeks, sixty-year-old Musa Danyadikko had been grappling with a strange fever and cough that had defied all known treatment. One day in June, sitting in his home in Gwarzo town, 75 kilometers north-west of Kano metropolis, he heard that public health officials from Kano had arrived at the palace of the District Head […]
Data is one of the most important drivers of development, from conceptualisation of interventions to design and implementation. It is what largely guides the policy direction of government and implementation plans of development partners. Data determines what investments will be made in particular areas, and highlights where the need is greater for a specific intervention. […]
As COVID-19 hit Nigeria, concerns grew for many journalists as to how they were to report on the pandemic which affected every sphere of life. Most media pages and airtime slots were filled with reports about COVID-19 cases and precautions on how the disease could be prevented. Given that COVID-19 is a disease caused by […]
By Adaobi Ezeokoli & Chibuike Alagboso (Lead Writers) Professor Chris Bode, Chief Medical Director at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), is sitting at a conference table in his spacious office. A colourful artwork frame takes up the wall behind him, and files and papers are arranged on the table, remains of a meeting he […]
By Chibuike Alagboso and Adaobi Ezeokoli (Lead Writers) When Oluwaytoyin Adebiyi, a 66-year old elderly resident of Ejigbo in Lagos State woke up on April 28, 2020, he expected the day to start and end like any other day — he would spend the day at the stationery business he operates with his wife of nearly 40 […]
COVID-19 pandemic has come with lessons for everyone around the world. It has not only shown that even the strongest economies can be severely shaken by just one public health emergency, it has also revealed that the best health systems in the world can be taken unawares by infectious disease outbreaks. Countries in Europe and […]
By Dara Ajala-Damisa & Chibuike Alagboso (Lead Writers) The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way people work in Nigeria and the response has required a multi-sectoral approach with all arms of the government keyed into the response. This led to the setting up of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 which brought together the Ministers from […]
On April 11, 2020, exactly one month after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic, Kano State confirmed its first positive COVID-19 case. In the same month, the state witnessed what was described as “mysterious” deaths, claiming hundreds of lives including the Emir of Rano and seven professors from Bayero University Kano (BUK). […]
“This article was produced in collaboration with Maternal Figures, a database of maternal health interventions implemented in Nigeria.” At Amorji Nike Primary Healthcare Centre [PHC] in Enugu East local government council, more than a dozen women with their children wrapped in their arms sit patiently in a waiting room at the premises. The women came […]
By Elfredah Kevin-Alerechi (Lead Writer) Queen Wisdom is a petty trader who had come to buy some food items for her business at the Rumuokoro Market in Port Harcourt. She was seen wearing a face mask. When she heard of the coronavirus outbreak from international news channels, she was skeptical, and she felt coronavirus won’t […]
