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  • Global COVID-19 cases surpasses 90 million – WHO

    Global COVID-19 cases surpasses 90 million – WHO

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed that the number of COVID-19 cases worldwide has surpassed 90 million, with a total of 90,054,813.

    The health organization in a statement on Wednesday said that globally, there are 90,054,813 confirmed cases with 1,945,610 deaths.

    The WHO noted that the U.S. remains at the top in both infection cases and fatalities, with 22,428,591 confirmed cases and 373,329 deaths followed by India with 10,495,147 cases and 151,529 deaths, and then Brazil, with 8,131,612 cases and 203,580 deaths.

    “Also severely affected were Russia with 3,448,203 cases, Britain with 3,118,522 cases, France with 2,740,656 cases, Italy with 2,289,021 cases, and Spain with 2,111,782 cases.

    “On the list of death tolls after the top three were Mexico with 134,368 cases, Britain with 81,960 cases, Italy with 79,203 cases, France with 67,368 cases, Russia with 62,804 cases, Iran with 56,360 cases, and Spain with 52,275 cases.

    “As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in some countries with the already-authorised coronavirus vaccines.

    “Meanwhile, 236 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide, 63 of them in clinical trials in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States,” the statement said.

  • COVID-19 Origin: WHO Scientists to Visit China on Thursday

    COVID-19 Origin: WHO Scientists to Visit China on Thursday

    Ten World Health Organization scientists will visit China from Thursday to probe the origins of Covid-19, authorities said Monday, more than a year after the pandemic began and amid accusations Beijing has tried to thwart the investigation.

    The long-awaited mission is of great political significance at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has devastated the world, caused almost two million deaths, and brought the global economy to a virtual standstill.

    The WHO team “will conduct joint research cooperation on the origins of Covid-19 with Chinese scientists”, the National Health Commission said in a statement that provided no further details.

    A last-minute delay to the mission earlier this month earned China a rare rebuke from the head of the WHO.

    Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was “very disappointed” China had not authorised the team’s entry — especially as two members were already en route.

    Beijing sought to downplay the tension, however, with foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying calling it a “misunderstanding”.

    The WHO experts will have to quarantine for two weeks on arrival, but are expected later to visit Wuhan — the city where the deadly virus was first detected in late 2019.

    Virus origins

    The US and Australia have led international calls for an independent inquiry into the origins of the virus, putting China under significant pressure amid growing calls for accountability.

    Beijing has faced international criticism over its lack of transparency during the initial outbreak, although domestically the government has praised its own handling of the outbreak and stifled any criticism.

    Government officials have repeatedly said that tracing the origins of the pandemic was a “scientific matter”, and has even pushed theories it originated outside China.

    Experts say solving the mystery of how it first jumped from animals to humans is crucial to preventing another pandemic, but China’s tight control of its scientific research leaves little hope of finding definitive conclusions.

    There is little dispute that the virus emerged in late 2019 at a wet market in Wuhan where wildlife was sold as food, and the pathogen is believed to have originated in an undetermined bat species.

    The quest to detect its origins has also been plagued by conspiracy theories — amplified by US President Donald Trump — that it leaked from a Wuhan virology lab.

  • Some countries have purchased excess COVID-19 vaccines – WHO

    Some countries have purchased excess COVID-19 vaccines – WHO

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) says some countries have purchased more COVID-19 vaccines that they would need.

    WHO Director-General, WHO, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus at a news conference in Geneva appealed to them to donate the excess vaccines to COVAX immediately.

    Ghebreyesus confirmed that 42 countries are rolling out the various COVID-19 vaccines which have been cleared for use.

    36 are in high-income nations.

    He expressed concern that low and most middle-income countries are not receiving the vaccine yet.

    “We can and must solve this problem together through COVAX and the ACT-Accelerator”, the UN health chief said.

    COVAX was set up in April 2020 by WHO, GAVI, the vaccine alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

    Ghebreyesus said two billion doses of “safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines” have been secured.

    The WHO head appealed to countries to shun vaccine nationalism.

    This is when a country secures doses for its citizens and prioritises its own domestic markets before they are made available in other countries.

    “Going forward, I want to see manufacturers prioritise supply and rollout through COVAX. I urge countries and manufacturers to stop making bilateral deals at the expense of COVAX.”

    Ghebreyesus said some of the highest numbers of deaths have been recorded in recent times.

    WHO advised everyone to shun crowded places, noting that coronavirus thrives when people gather.

    “Science has delivered, let’s not waste the opportunity to protect the lives of those most at risk and ensure all economies have a fair shot at recovery,” he added.

  • WHO confirms ‘Super Gonorrhea’ is spreading fast due to COVID-19

    WHO confirms ‘Super Gonorrhea’ is spreading fast due to COVID-19

    The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed that a “super gonorrhea” is spreading fast due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The agency says the disease is spreading due to actual antibiotic overuse for those infected with the novel coronavirus.

    The agency also states the sexually transmitted infection (STI) may become even more resistant to the recommended treatments like azithromycin, which typically is used for chest and sinus infections. Azithromycin has seen an increase in usage during the pandemic.

    “Such a situation can fuel the emergence of resistance in gonorrhea including gonorrhea superbug (super gonorrhea) or gonorrhea with high-level resistance to current antibiotics recommended to treat it,” a WHO spokesperson told British media outlet The Sun.  

    The new strain does not respond to the normal first-line treatments, making it even more dangerous and uncomfortable for those infected, according to the report. 

    Doctors and medical experts have long warned of the possibility that “superbugs” that are antibiotic-resistant could become more commonplace, and this is one example of such a thing happening.

    The Agency also explained that the new strain is exploding is because most people aren’t going to the hospital unless they come down with COVID-19 symptoms. Instead, they’re self-medicating, a WHO spokesperson told The Sun, adding that the “super gonorrhea” is extremely resistant to antibiotics.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said cases of gonorrhea, which is caused by the bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae, have increased 63 percent since 2014.

     The US agency has also warned that this could “facilitate transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).” Not only this, it can also cause eye infections.

  • WHO Releases Psychiatric Health Facility To BOSG

    WHO Releases Psychiatric Health Facility To BOSG

    By Dauda R Pam Maiduguri

    World Health Organisation (WHO) has released a psychiatric hospital to Borno state government for the treatment of mental disorders in the state.

    It was gathered that the hospital was built in 1976 with 48 bed capacity to serve in the northeast, Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad republics.

    At the handing over ceremony of the hospital, on Thursday, in Maiduguri, WHO’s Public Health Officer, Emergency Programme, Northeast, Dr. Henry Okoro-Nwanja, disclosed that The rate of common mental health disorders has increased to as much as 20% comparatively, because of the violent conflicts in the state in which loved ones had lost their livelihoods, thereby increasing poverty, discrimination, food insecurity and other common emergencies which has increased the risk of developing mental health conditions in the area.

    “People with severe mental disorders are particularly vulnerable,” he said, noting that most of the affected population in the state would continue to suffer from a wide range of mental disorders even after the emergency and acute trauma phase is over.

    The  public health officer, Dr Okoro-Nwanja, therefore urged the state government to scale up mental health interventions to meet urgent needs and  lamented the  overstretched psychiatric facilities covering the Northeast.
    “WHO has been supporting the clinical management and referral of mental health cases from communities and primary healthcare facilities through the Mental Health Gap Action Programme (MhGAP).

    And  that under the programme, 225 healthcare workers have been trained by the global health agency from 2017 to 2020to integrate mental health care into primary healthcare level with the state Psychiatric hospital as a referral, to enable trained health workers to commence treatment of patients with mental health disorders.

    According to him, 26 selected primary health facilities in 14 Local Government Areas (LGAs) were supported with psychotropic drugs.

    “We support mental healthcare outreaches being conducted in health facilities in host communities and IDP camps,” he said; adding that the outreach were rendered by mental health nurses of Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital.

    He said that in 2019 alone, 24,190 patients were treated for mental health disorders with 405 referrals to the federal psychiatric hospital.

    He said the number of those referred dropped; because of what he described as; “increased number of Boko Haram attacks on the roads.

    He said with the handover of the reconstructed psychiatric hospital and restoration of healthcare services, access to mental health services will be enhanced.

    While receiving the hospital, the Special Adviser to the Ministry of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RRR), Abdulrahaman Abdulkarim, assured that the hospital will be maintained to sustain mental healthcare services to the people.

    “Health workers of the hospital should take the challenges of increasing mental disorders, caused by the over a decade long insurgency that claimed 26,000 lives in Borno,”he said.

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    81% of people living in Africa know their HIV status- WHO

    WHO launches global strategy to eliminate cervical cancer related deaths by 2050

  • 81% of people living in Africa know their HIV status- WHO

    81% of people living in Africa know their HIV status- WHO

    By Joyce Remi-Babayeju

    As the world commemorates the 2020 World AIDS Day, WHD, today, the World Health Organization, WHO, has declared that at least 81% of Africans already know their HIV status.

    This was contained in a message delivered today by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti to mark the day in the African continent.

    Moeti said, ” 2020 is a milestone year towards ending AIDS epidemics and 81 % of the people living with HIV know their status.”
    “Among them, 70 percent of adults and 53 percent of children are receiving lifelong antiretroviral therapy, ART.”
    The WHO Regional Director noted that the WAD is marked every year on the 1st of December by the global community to show support for people living with HIV and to remember those who have lost their lives to AIDS.
    According to the global health body, worldwide, there are 38 million people living with HIV and 67% of them reside in the African Region.

    In 2019, more than 1 million people in the Region were newly infected with HIV, accounting for 60% of the global total, and sadly, 440,000 people in the Region died from HIV-related causes.
    Speaking on the 2020 WAD theme “global solidarity and shared responsibility” was chosen because of the context of the COVID-19 pandemic as it reveals how important it is for the world to come together, with determined leadership from governments and communities to sustain and expand access to essential services, including HIV prevention, testing, treatment and care.

    WHO noted that with the COVID-19 pandemic it is becoming even more challenging for countries to provide these services, particularly in areas affected by conflict, disasters, outbreaks and rapid population growth.

    WHO lamented that presently in the African Region new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths are not reducing fast enough to meet the Sustainable Development Goal target of ending AIDS epidemics by 2030.
    Children living with HIV are not being adequately identified for HIV treatment. Girls and women aged 15–24 years account for 37% of all new HIV infections, and stigma and discrimination especially against key populations continues to create barriers to service access.

    And then the good news is that Eighty-five percent of pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV are on ART, which protects their health and prevents HIV transmission to their newborn infants.
    The health body however commended countries and stakeholders for contributing to the progress on HIV in the African Region, and urged them to come up with innovative ways to keep services going during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    WHO called for global solidarity and shared responsibility among all stakeholders to ensure integrated, people-centred, quality care and an uninterrupted supply of essential commodities for HIV services.
    The rights of women and girls, and gender equality, must be at the centre to stop new HIV infections among girls and young women, it emphazied.

    Further tasked communities, especially people living with HIV, to be proactive in your self-care and in understanding how to prevent the spread of infections.
    This World AIDS Day let us all demand global solidarity and shared responsibility to maintain HIV services during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond as we strive to achieve the 2030 targets, Moeti said.

  • WHO launches global strategy to eliminate cervical cancer related deaths by 2050

    WHO launches global strategy to eliminate cervical cancer related deaths by 2050


    By Joyce Remi-Babayeju

    The World Health Organization, WHO, today has recorded a historic milestone as it launched the Global Strategy to Accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer and it’s related deaths by 2050. WHO says the strategy outlines three key steps which includes vaccination, screening and treatment, adding that successful implementation of all three could reduce more than 40% of new cases of the disease and 5 million related deaths by 2050.

    WHO Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom  Gbebreyeyus during the launch said, “Eliminating Cervical Cancer would have once seemed impossible dream, but we now have the cost- effective, evidence based tools to make that dream a reality.”
    But we can only eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem if we match the power of the tools we have with unrelenting determination to scale up their use globally, Gbebreyeyus emphazied.

    WHO Director General, Dr. Princesses Nothemba Simelela said, ” The huge rate of mortality related to cervical cancer is a consequence of  decades of neglect by  global health community. According to her” Critical development s include availability of prophylactic vaccines, low cost approaches to screening and treating cervical cancer precursors and novel approaches to  surgical training.
    Through a shared global commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals, SDG, and leaving no one behind the countries of the world are forging a new oath to ending cervical cancer.
    In a statement WHO said,” today’s development represents a historic milestone because it marks the first time that 194 countries commit to eliminating cancer – following adoption of a resolution at this year’s World Health Assembly.”

    According to the health body meeting the targets by 2030 will place all countries on the path toward elimination
    of  90% of girls fully vaccinated with the HPV vaccine by 15 years of age.  70% of women screened using a high-performance test by age 35 and again by 45 and  90% of women identified with cervical disease receive treatment (90% of women with  pre-cancer treated and 90% of women with invasive cancer managed).

     WHO noted that the strategy also stresses that investing in the interventions to meet these targets can generate substantial economic and societal returns. An estimated US$ 3.20 will be returned to the economy for every dollar invested through 2050 and beyond, owing to increases in women’s workforce participation. The figure rises to US$ 26.00 when the benefits of women’s improved health on families, communities and societies are considered.

    WHO says that Cervical cancer is a preventable disease. It is also curable if detected early and adequately treated. Yet it is the fourth most common cancer among women globally.Adding that without taking additional action, the annual number of new cases of cervical cancer is expected to increase from 570 000 to 700 000 between 2018 and 2030, while the annual number of deaths is projected to rise from 311 000 to 400 000. In low- and middle-income countries, its incidence is nearly twice as high and its death rates three times as high as those in high-income countries.

    The COVID-19 pandemic has posed challenges to preventing deaths due to cancer, including the interruption of vaccination, screening and treatment services; border closures that reduced the availability of supplies and that prevent the transit of skilled biomedical engineers to maintain equipment; new barriers preventing women in rural areas from travelling to referral centres for treatment; and school closures that interrupt school vaccine programmes. To the extent possible, however, WHO urges all countries to ensure that vaccination, screening and treatment can continue safely, with all necessary precautions. 

    Further Dr Simelela  stressed, “The fight against cervical cancer is also a fight for women’s rights: the unnecessary suffering caused by this preventable disease reflects the injustices that uniquely affect women’s health around the world”, adding “Together, we can make history to ensure a cervical cancer-free future.”

    The launch is being celebrated with a day of action across the globe, as ministries of health, partners, and cancer advocates engage in activities to improve access to cancer prevention and treatment for girls and women. 
    Around the world,  monuments are being illuminated in the cervical teal, from Niagara Falls in North America to The Dubai Frame, to city skylines across Australia. 

  • Yellow fever: Nigeria resumes new YF vaccination for 30m Nigerians in 7 states

    Yellow fever: Nigeria resumes new YF vaccination for 30m Nigerians in 7 states

    By Joyce Remi-Babayeju


    To stop outbreak of Yellow Fever, YF, in Nigeria the World Health Organization, WHO, CDC, Gavi, and Vaccine Alliance in a collaborative initiative with the Nigerian Government will launch a safety accelerated series of mass prevention to vaccinate 30 million people against Yellow Fever, YF in Seven states.
    According to WHO in a statement made available to Journalists in Abuja said that the accelerated YF campaigns phase 4 will target more than 30 million people in seven states and complete the pending 2019 phase 3 YF campaign in Anambra State.

    The seven states include Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Delta, Osun, Ondo and Oyo.
    The new vaccination safety measures is in view of combating multiple public health challenges including COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.
    The acceleration has been endorsed by the global strategy to Eliminate Yellow Fever Epidemics (EYE) by 2026.

    In view of combating multiple public health challenges in Nigeria, the trio initiative has assured safe implementation in the COVID-19 context by providing personal protective equipment, PPE, and enhanced infection prevention control measures with funding from. Gavi and Vaccine Alliance.

    Executive Secretary of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, Dr Shuaib Faisal, said, “While COVID-19 remains a pressing priority, we are pleased to be able to safely launch life-protecting vaccination campaigns against yellow fever this week. “Almost 30 million Nigerians will be protected for life from these campaigns in coming months – a remarkable achievement by our health care workers and communities,”
    “We encourage all eligible persons in the state to come forward and get vaccinated. Yellow fever outbreaks have re-emerged as a serious public health concern since September 2017. The upcoming campaigns will help stop outbreaks and save lives.”

    WHO Representative to Nigeria, Dr Kazadi Mulombo said, ” WHO has helped source and provide 265,000 face masks that will support safe implementation of life-saving yellow fever vaccination activities in the COVID-19 context in Anambra state.

    WHO says that Yellow fever is a viral infection transmitted by infected mosquitos. The infection can cause serious disease, including fever and jaundice (yellowness of the eyes) and can even lead to death and that outbreaks of the disease can spread rapidly in communities and cause devastating and deadly illness.

  • WHO calls for vigilance against polio resurgence

    WHO calls for vigilance against polio resurgence

    By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
    As the world records a milestone feat on eradication of the Wild Polio Virus, WPV, in Nigeria and Africa, the World Health Organization, WHO, has called for vigilance against a resurgence of the virus.
    WHO Representative to Nigeria, Dr Walter Mulombo Kazadi said this today in Abuja during the Commemoration of the certification of the Wild Polio Virus, WPV.
    Mulombo said, ” As we mark this milestone, we must emphasize the need to be vigilant to prevent resurgence of wild polio virus given the disease has not been eradicated globally. 102 wild polio virus cases have so far been reported in Pakistan and Afghanistan this year.”
    WHO commended President Muhammadu Buhari and the| government, the African continent on the declaration of the WPV free certification announced on the 25 August, 2020, adding that it s a massive public health achievement.
    Mulombo said that the feat was made possible due to the leadership and commitment of governments, global polio partners, traditional and religious institutions, frontline health workers and vaccinators, nothing that It is a moment to celebrate the many individuals that worked tirelessly to make this miles.
    He said that 16 countries in the region are still face with the treat of vaccine derived polio virus outbreak.
    According to him, Nigeria’s battle with wild polio has been long and therefore the government for to be steadfast commitment in leading a massive national effort over the last couple of decades.
    He further commended Nigeria’s strong National Polio Emergency Operations Centre for devising several innovations to address the prevailing challenges in then fight against polio.

    He reiterated WHO’s commitment to support the country towards closing immunity gaps through a strong routine immunization and primary health care system.
    Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire while thanking WHO and the African Regional Commission Committee for cerifying the African region of free polio virus, said that Poliomyelitis us caused by the Polio Virus which has affected thousands of children global as it results in lifetime physical disabilities and sometimes loss of life.
    Ehanire said, ” Declaring Nigeria as a polio virus free state is particularly significant for us, coming at a time when we are on the threshold of fostering an evolution in the health sector, built on the revelations and opportunities provided by the COVID-19 outbreak and inspired by the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari.”

  • BREAKING: WHO Officially Declares Africa free of Wild Polio Virus

    BREAKING: WHO Officially Declares Africa free of Wild Polio Virus

    With no recorded cases since 2016, the World Health Organisation has declared Africa free of the wild polio virus.

    The United Nations specialised agency on public health described the feat as “one of the greatest achievements in public health history.”

    The polio virus once killed or maimed hundreds of thousands of children every year and led to summertime lockdowns for children.

    This was contained in a Press release jointly authored by the WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus; and President of Rotary International, Holger Knaack.

    The release was emailed to the media.

    The statement titled, ‘Creating a great polio legacy in the African region’, reads in part, “Delivering polio vaccines to every child in the African region and wiping out the wild virus is no small feat and the human resources, skills, and experience gained in the process leaves behind a legacy in how to tackle diseases and reach the poorest and most marginalized communities with life-saving services.

    “Leadership from all levels of government across party lines, a historic public-private partnership that raised billions, millions of health workers reaching children across the region – from conflict zones to remote areas only accessible by motorbike or helicopter – and a culture of continual improvement were all critical to overcoming challenges and bottlenecks.

    “As countries work to suppress COVID-19, many of the same basic traditional public health methods used in polio eradication, including contact tracing and surveillance, are key to breaking the chains of transmission and saving lives and livelihoods from the first coronavirus pandemic in human history.

    “As recently as 2012 half of all globally recorded cases of wild poliovirus were in Nigeria, the final country in the region to rid the virus from its borders. However, as with the COVID-19 pandemic, the lesson is that it’s never too late to turn a disease outbreak around. Through hard work, new innovations and ensuring that no child was missed, Nigeria and the entire African region have now defeated polio.

    “Across the region, health workers go village-to-village and door-to-door vaccinating children multiple times and offering health advice and support to the community. It’s a remarkable effort started by Rotary International, which in the 1980s – when there were hundreds of thousands of cases every year – made a global call for eradication.

    “While thanking and congratulating governments, health workers, civil society and all groups that have been part of this titanic struggle; it is important to use the momentum to invest further in health systems, as well as the health worker force, to protect people from this pandemic, and prepare them for future disease outbreaks.”