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Ovarian Cancer A Silent Women Killer
Earlier Diagnoses is Key To Survival
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Monday, December 28, 2009
Ovarian cancer: A silent women's killer
THAT the disease is rising in profile is no longer news. What is perhaps worrisome is that most hospitals lack the capacity to diagnose the disease before the damage is grave.
"It is bad enough that cancer is a terminal disease. It is, however, made worse by the fact that most hospitals and medical centres in Nigeria lack diagnostic capacity for early detection and treatment of cancer infections," lamented Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Adamu Aliero recently.
Giving statistics of the havoc the disease has wreaked on the country, the minister disclosed that in 2005 alone, 89,000 Nigerians lost their lives to cancer.
"This number has, unfortunately, grown with the years. It is feared today, no less than a million more are probably suffering from the scourge,"
Aliero explained that on the global level, over seven million people lost their lives to cancer in 2007 alone, while it is expected that by 2020, the death rate will rise more than five times in low- and middle-income countries.
Obesity on the Rise in Africa
A New Problem Africa Now Faces
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Obesity has long been seen as a challenge for affluent Western nations, but according to a new study the epidemic appears to be spreading through the African continent - particularly among the poor. Obesity is becoming an endemic problem on a new continent - as poor urban dwellers throughout Africa succumb to the epidemic that has long been considered a matter of abundance and hedonism in rich Western societies.
A new study from the African Population and Health Research Centre in Nairobi was released on Tuesday, reflecting the challenges that African cities now face. The findings reveal a broad access to cheap foods that are high in fat and in sugar - and that are readily consumed by the poorest populations living in Africa's growing cities. "Despite being the least urbanised continent, Africa's population is becoming increasingly urban and its cities are growing at unprecedented rates," said Abdhalah Ziraba, a researcher with the African Population and Health Research Center, according to Reuters. The assumption has long been that obesity is an epidemic of wealthy nations, but the African Population and Health Research Centre report offers new perspective. The World Health Organization contends that there are 1 billion overweight adults in the world - and that 300 million of them are obese. The global economic downturn and the inexpensive nature of these high-fat, high-sugar foods will likely only compound the problem.
Cignet Health HMO Starts Registration For MDG Program in Yobe Nigeria
US Based HMO Company Starts NHIS Registration for Children in Yobe State
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Cignet Health HMO Corp. a US based Health Care Organization with operations in Nigeria and one of the operating Nigerian National Health Insurance Scheme HMO have announced the Commencement of registration of the MDG program for Pregnant women and children less than 5 years old in Yobe State of Nigeria for health care services. This pilot program was announced by the National Director for Marketing in Nigeria, Mr. Alali Oraumbo while attending the NHIS HMO Executive Meeting in Abuja, Nigeria this week. Cignet Health the only USA based parent company to provide health services in Nigeria, is optimistic that their participation in the government sponsored program for this pilot state, will begin to upgraded health care services for Nigerians by introducing their vast technological operational skills and access to US health care services.
Up to now, Cignet Health had only been involved in providing international health services to top Nigerian Corporation staffs who seek health services abroad in the USA and selected Nigerian Providers. Speaking on the assignment of Cignet Health to Yobe State, at the event conducted by NHIS Executive Director Dr. Dogo Mohammed in Abuja, Mr. Oraumbo said Cignet Health HMO intends to provide similar services which our current members enjoy to our State registered patients, which include our international Cignet Card membership registration in our world wide Database, access to our local Nigeria network of Providers nation wide, our international provider network, electronic prescription processing with our Pharmacy network, as well as our specialized Laboratory and diagnostic network, which are all presently been developed in Nigeria. Cignet hopes to extended these services to other States in Nigeria as soon as possible.
A Drop in Africa's HIV Infection and Death Rates
Greater Access to Treatment and Awareness of Disease Get's Most Credit
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The World Health Organization has reported a drop in Africa's death toll from HIV as well as declines from new infections. Greater access to anti-retroviral drugs, awareness of the infection, public campaigns have all helped cut the death toll from HIV by more than 10% over the past five years, latest figures show. The World Health Organization and the Joint UN Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAids) say an estimated 33.4 million people worldwide are infected with HIV.
UNAids and WHO say better access to powerful drug treatments has helped save many lives. The report estimates that since the availability of effective treatment in 1996, some 2.9 million lives have been saved.
In total, almost 60 million people have been infected by HIV, of which about 27 million are in Africa and 25 million people killed by causes related to the virus since the epidemic started world wide, with about half of that number in Africa. The report also suggests that HIV prevention programmes have had a significant impact. In sub-Saharan Africa, the epicentre of the global pandemic, the number of new infections has fallen by around 15% since 2001 - equating to about 400,000 fewer infections in 2008 alone. Anti-retroviral therapy has also made a significant impact in preventing new infections in children as more HIV-positive mothers gain access to treatment preventing them from transmitting the virus to their children.
Drop in Nigerian Infant Mortality
Maternal Mortality Remain High
ENUGU-The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has said that cases of maternal mortality remains on the increase in the country, even as it announced a drastic reduction in infant mortality across the country.
Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Dr. Ali Bate, who said this at a press conference in Enugu State, after a two day retreat of the agency at the weekend, emphasized the need for all stakeholders to join hands to improve the survival of women during childbirth, which is the fifth on the list of Millennium Development Goals of the Federal Government.
The retreat was "organised to take stock of what has been done so far in the development of primary healthcare in the country and form new partnerships for efficient healthcare delivery,"
New Rapid Malaria Diagnostic Test Unveiled
Result in Less Than Five Minutes
Africa: Experts Unveil Rapid Malaria Testing Kits
Newly developed malaria testing technologies could help shift diagnoses from the current hit or miss management to treating only the confirmed cases.The Rapid Testing Kits, of which several brands are on display at the ongoing international malaria conference in Nairobi, take less than five minutes to diagnose a case.
The kits which are already being tested by the World Health Organisation in five countries can be widely used at community level, requiring little skills and no expensive storage systems. Current diagnoses for malaria include a microscope test, equipment that are not available in most government hospitals. Consequently any case of fever in endemic areas is managed as malaria in what is called presumptive treatment.
What You Need To Know About Cancer
Compiled by Fidelis Iyebote
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What is Cancer?
Cancer is an abnormal growth of cells. The human body is made up of hundreds of different types of cell, all of which behave differently.
A cell in the kidney, although it contains the same genetic information as a brain cell, performs a completely separate role.
Cancer happens when a tiny part of the cell's mechanism goes wrong.
What is a cancer cell?
And just as there are hundreds of types of cell, there are hundreds of types of cancer, few of which can be treated in the same way.
Every cell's life is mapped out in advance by coded instructions, called genes, held in its nucleus.
These tell it how to behave, when to reproduce by dividing - and when to die.
When the instructions relating to cell multiplication and dying are wrong, the cell may start dividing uncontrollably, and not die when it should.
In addition, the cancer may not follow the usual instructions that keep cells spaced out properly.
Every time the cell divides, the "bad" instruction is reproduced, so the out-of-control multiplication carries on.
As these cells can be multiplying more rapidly than healthy cells, the cancer cells can form a growing lump in the body called a tumour or a lesion.
As this gets larger, it can even grow its own vessels to keep it supplied with blood.
A benign, or non-cancerous tumour shares this uncontrolled growth, but will not generally invade neighbouring tissues and damage them.
Tumours which do this are "malignant", or "cancerous".
The type of cell in which the cancer starts will generally determine the speed at which it grows, and its resistance to treatment, although there are many variations.
Cancers harm health in a number of ways. The very size of the tumour can interfere with nearby organs, or ducts which carry important chemicals, causing pain or other symptoms.
For example, a tumour on the pancreas can grow to block the bile duct, leading to the patient developing obstructive jaundice.
And a brain tumour can push on important parts of the brain, causing blackouts, fits and other problems.
Even benign tumours can cause these problems if located in the wrong place.
When a cancer invade nearby tissues, they can cause bleeding from damaged blood vessels, and stop the organ which they are invading from working properly.
What happens if it spreads?
As a tumour grows, cells can break off and start growing on adjacent tissues and organs.
For example, if a bowel cancer has spread through the wall of the bowel itself, it can start growing on the bladder.
Cells can also enter the bloodstream and travel to distant organs, such as the lungs or brain.
The technical term for this is "metastasis".
When new tumours form on distant organs, they behave like the original tumour - so a bowel cancer cell growing in the lung will not be lung cancer.
Once other organs are involved, then any symptoms of the cancer can get worse.
However, it may be some time before a growing cancer in certain parts of the body produces symptoms that the patient can notice.
Once a cancer has started to spread beyond its original site, then the chances of a cure often begin to fall, as it becomes more difficult to treat.
How is it treated?
There are three principal ways of treating cancer.
The first is surgery, normally an operation to remove the cancerous growth, and, depending on its type, nearby tissues and organs.
A cancer patient may first undergo a minor operation called a biopsy to take a small sample of the cancer for analysis.
The surgeon will try to remove as much of the cancer as possible, but sometimes extra treatment will be needed.
This could either take the form of radiotherapy or chemotherapy, or a combination of treatments.
President Yar'Adua Accepts Resignations of Ministers of Health
President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua on Tuesday March 25 accepted the voluntary resignations of the Minister of Health, Prof. Adenike Grange and the Minister of State (Health), Arc. Gabriel Aduku.
Both ministers are leaving the Federal Executive Council following charges of corruption brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
It is expected that without the burden of their ministerial duties, they will be better placed to respond to the charges against them. In a statement signed by the Special Adviser to President Yar'Adua on Communications, Mr Olusegun Adeniyi, the President has also ordered the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Engr. Ebele Okeke to direct that the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Health, Prof. Simon Ogamdi, the Director of Administration, Dr. H.B. Oyedepo and the Director of Finance, Hanafi Muhammed who participated in the subversion of his directive on the return of unspent Budget 2007 funds to the Treasury should proceed on immediate suspension in accordance with extant civil service rules pending further disciplinary action by Government.
Another Director, Mr. M.S. Hamid, a Chief Accountant, Abdulrahaman Ambali, a Principal Administrative Officer, Mr. Donald Ekanem, a Principal Transport Officer, Mr. Donatus Iyang and seven other civil servants in the Ministry were also affected by the suspension order.
The Minister of Labour, Dr. Hassan Muhammad Lawal is to oversee the affairs of the Federal Ministry of Health until further notice.
Sierra Leone slum medic
Adama Gondor, who runs a clinic in a coastal slum of Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, is keeping a diary for the BBC News website about her work.
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The happy news is that this weekend our clinic cleaner Abdul's wife Mary gave birth to a little baby boy without problems.The staff had been worried about Mary because she had very high blood pressure. She was advised to go to the hospital, but they didn't have the money. Unfortunately the baby was born with his two middle fingers attached to each other and we can't do that kind of surgery here. Abdul can't afford the operation so we are not sure what will happen.About two hours ago Kroo Bay resident Memunata brought her little two-and-a-half-year-old girl Christiana to the clinic.Christiana had been playing and suddenly she started vomiting severely and got diarrhoea.Immediately I got worried that we might have an outbreak of diarrhoea and vomiting, which often comes with the start of rainy season in April. It's bacterial and highly contagious, so it spreads very fast in Kroo Bay where everyone lives so close to each other.
Menmunata rushed her daughter to the clinic. She was dehydrated and needed an IV fluid drip to rehydrate her, but we did not have one.Fortunately Memunata had brought 10,000 leones ($3.40; £1.70), which is the price of the drip, and volunteer nurse Norah took the money and rushed to buy one. The big pharmacy is not close and she had to get the bus.Meanwhile, we started giving Christiana oral rehydration salts, but she was vomiting everything she drank.She was hardly conscious, her eyes were sunken and she only woke up to vomit every once in a while.
Highly contagious
Not long after another child from the same compound was brought in with similar complaints, she was also throwing up, but not as severely as Christiana.I am extremely concerned if we have an outbreak now, because we do not have drug supplies here and many people would not be able to afford it. There is nothing we can do - the staff can't start paying for everyone.The big outbreaks of vomiting and diarrhoea every year claims the lives of more children in Kroo Bay - especially children under five.
People will often wait till the symptoms get very bad to come to the clinic.
They try to treat it at home first, with lemon and water or coffee and only come to the clinic when it's severe.If the outbreak is very big, the government sends in emergency supplies of IV fluids.Within half an hour of starting the IV drip, Christiana was wide awake and chatting with her mother and the centre of attention of the many relatives who came to see her.The IV fluid works very quickly and makes dramatic improvements in dehydrated babies.We will keep her here for observation to see how it develops. Christiana also had a respiratory disease so we added penicillin to the IV fluid.
Sierra Leone slum medic
Adama Gondor, who runs a clinic in a coastal slum of Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, is keeping a diary for the BBC News website about her work.
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A severely malnourished child was brought to the clinic on Monday.The baby was eight months old, but she only weighed 4.5kg.If we assume she had the average weight of 3.3kg when she was born she should have been getting close to 9kg by now.The baby was very thin, with bad skin and looked more like an old man - it's awful to see a baby in such a condition.She also looked very hungry. We immediately referred the baby to the hospital quite far away in the east of Freetown where there is a therapeutic feeding centre.The mother took her straight there and she was admitted - the programme is free.
Herbs
Recent research by a university student in the community found that 95% of the population here cannot afford to buy proper nutritious food. Their diet is not balanced and many children are malnourished but to see such a child is unusual.The mother told us she had been feeding the baby rice porridge, which is just carbohydrates and does not give enough nutrition.She also said the child had been sick and she had been giving her native herbs.I suspect that the herbal medicine may have had a part to play in this as an eight-month-old baby does not have a very developed liver and the various herbs could have been poisoning her and making her condition worse. The mother waited to come to the clinic till the situation was really severe.
In Kroo Bay in addition to this clinic there are both traditional healers, who use herbs, leaves and local medicine, and medical quacks, who pretend to be doctors and nurses and use modern medicine.People often prefer to go to traditional healers because they come from the countryside and feel more comfortable approaching them.Also it is cheaper and sometimes we have to send people away when we have no drugs in the clinic.I am not so worried about the external medicines they give people to put on their skins - like the chicken pox paste I described last week - but some of the ones they tell people to swallow can be poisonous, especially for a small baby.
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