The Federal Government has approved the appointment of doctors, nurses, and other clinical healthcare workers as contract staff after attaining their compulsory retirement age or years. The government, however, said the appointed contract staff would be on the same salary scale level that they retired on if they desire and deserve it. A circular obtained by our correspondent, dated October 5, 2023, by the Federal Ministry of Health, directed the Chief Executive Agencies, Chief Medical Directors, Medical Directors, and Heads of Regulatory Bodies and Schools to ensure compliance with the circula ..read more

It’s not everyday you watch a sudden collapse live on TV. Earlier this week, the senate screening for ministerial candidates almost turned into a funeral. The candidate from Kaduna state, Mr Balarabe Abbas Lawal, after making his submission suddenly slumped. This led to a flurry of activity with people scampering to either see what was going on or assist. The senate President, concerned, urged them to ‘Give him water,… water and sugar!’. Prior to this, a journalist Tijani Adeyemi who was to cover the screening wasn’t so fortunate. He had a cardiac arrest on the way to the event and was pronoun ..read more

Do you take cold medicine? It is quite common when one has a cold to walk into the pharmacy and request for cold medication. There are some popular ones that readily come to mind and are easily obtained over the counter. These medications contain phenylephrine. They go with various brand names suggestive of their ability to fight cold and decongest the nostrils. Indeed one can swear by this cold medicine which has been passed down from one generation to another. However a recent panel report by the Food and Drug Administration of the USA says such drugs don’t really work. What they do is to ma ..read more

Linda was a seventeen-year-old girl. Like other girls her age, she liked going out without telling her parents. On one such occasion, she returned home and was scolded by her mother. In a fit of rage, Linda went into her room, opened a bottle of insecticide and swallowed the contents. She was dead a short while later. Samuel was a 14-year-old whose parents had decided to separate; he stayed with relatives under questionable conditions. One day Samuel disappeared. He was found 4 days later, hanging from a rope tied to a fan in a nondescript building. An apparent teen suicide. We hear countless ..read more

A jolly day, walking with your umbrella in your hand Suddenly, you find your umbrella on the sand You wonder if you’ve just been had by a crook It’s no crook dear sir, you’re just having a str….. Talking to your family, you try to utter a word Though excited, you find your speech is slurred They all laugh trying to join in the joke It’s no joke dear sir, you’re having a stroke. Walking to the bathroom , you suddenly fall Unable to move forward or utter a call You lie wondering on the floor made of oak It’s no mystery dear sir, you’re having a stroke. Smiling in the mirror one day, you’re feel ..read more

Doctor vs Patient? No, I don’t mean a Mortal kombat like fight between a doctor and a patient, but how doctors and patients see the same thing in different lights. Here are some definitions that mean different things to doctors and patients Doctor vs patient – CALL DUTY Doctor: Time at work to stretch out a bit and work at a more leisurely pace. Patient: Time when doctor can and must be bothered by all minor complaints ranging from a scratch to a bruise. YOUR COMPLAINT Doctor: A simple statement saying why you are in the hospital. Patient: Something akin to a police report beginning with,” it ..read more

What is a gratitude journal doing in a health blog you may ask? I recall a story told by renowned minister Norman Vincent Peale about an extremely dejected man who came to him that he’d lost everything in Life and didn’t know how he was going to go on. “Everything?’ Mr. Peale asked. ‘Everything’ the man repeated. Mr. Peale proceeded to ask him some questions: How about your wife? oh, she’s amazing support, she could never leave me. How about your children? They love me so much How about your country, the United States? Oh, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, it is the best country in the wo ..read more

”Ah! Why are you so lean?” ”What is happening to you?” ”Are you all right?” These are the common expressions of concern people have for those they notice have lost weight. The average Nigerian equates excess weight, pot belly, etc with a sign of affluence or being healthy. The bigger the belly, the more affluent you are. When such individuals are noticed to have lost weight, the cry goes up, ”What is happening? Are you sick? They could even whisper behind your back, ”Maybe he has HIV, you know his ways are not straight.” Is My Weight loss Normal? Though weight loss can sometimes be an indicati ..read more

The National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has granted provisional approval for the use in Nigeria of the R21 malaria vaccine developed by Oxford University. The R21 vaccine is the second being approved for rollout by the WHO, the first being Mosquirix by GSK. In a statement by the Director of NAFDAC, Mojisola Adeyeye, the vaccine will prevent malaria in children 5 – 36 months of age. Nigeria has a global malaria burden of 27%. This makes it the worst-hit country in the world with children under five being most affected. The R21 malaria vaccine has been clinically te ..read more

The United Kingdom has taken measures to restrict the Migration of Nigerian Health care workers. The move is seen as adding fire to an already tense situation and comes on the heels of calls by a Nigerian lawmaker to bond Nigerian-trained doctors for 5 years before allowing them to migrate overseas. The UK had in its revised code of practice for the international recruitment of health and social care personnel in England, placed Nigeria along with 54 other countries on a Red list. This is a list of countries that should not be actively targeted for recruitment into the UK’s health and social c ..read more