Daily Times Nigeria Friday, March 23, 2018
7 News
Revealed: 57.3 million people worldwide suffer annually from malaria Doosuur Iwambe - Abuja
The World Health Organisation, WHO, has revealed that Malaria remains the leading killer disease around the world with a total of 57.3 million people being infested annually with the mosquitoborne infectious disease. A representative of the WHO Dr. Rex Mpazanje, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja during a two-day conference on capacity building for health reporters. The event was organised by WHO in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. Mpazanje disclosed that over 7.3 million Nigerians were at risk of being infected with malaria. He said that 23% of death all over the world is caused by malaria while 45% die in West Africa annually from the disease. While lamenting that HIV has remained a major problem in Nigeria, Mpazanje added that the country has the highest record of transmission of mother to child in the world. He said, “Nigeria is second to South Africa to HIV burden in Africa. We need to do something so that our prevalence rate will come down. While Bayelsa State has the lowest Anti Retroviral drug coverage of 7%, Enugu has the highest of 90%. “The WHO will continue to be at the forefront
to support and give guidelines on how to control and prevent the spread of HIV, Tuberculosis and malaria in line with international guidelines. “ Our aim is to have 90% of those living with HIV know their status, 90% know their status on ART and 90% on ART to be virally suppressed by year 2020”. On his part, Sisay
Tegegne from WHO, also presented a paper titled ‘Protecting Children from Vaccine Preventable Diseases,VPD, and challenged stakeholders in the health sector to ensure they sustain immunization programs in order to eradicate both communicable and noncommunicable diseases in Nigeria. According to him, 1 out
of 200 cases of polio lead to irreversible paralysis, out of which 5% to 10% die. While stressing that over 200,000 new cases of polio have been reported globally in the last 10 years, he added that as long as a single child remains infected, children all over the world are at risk of contracting the disease.
He said, “ In 2015 alone, over 4.3 million children were left un-immunised. Lagos is the only State out of the 36 states that has achieved 80% immunisation coverage, the remaining 35 states including Federal Capital Territory achieved only 33% coverage”, he said. He added that it was imperative to differentiate between Acute Flac-
L-R: Minister of Transportation, Hon.Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, receiving an award from Vice Chancellor UNIZIK, Prof. Joseph Ahaneku, at the 12th convocation lecture of University held in Awka, Anambra State.
Insecurity: Plateau procures 51 patrol Kingsley Chukwuka, Jos
ÏÏÏ The Inspector Gener-
al of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, Thursday, inaugurated 51 security patrol vehicles acquired by Plateau Government for distribution to security agencies in the 17 Local Government Areas of the state. The IGP said the procurement of the security patrol vehicles is an obvious indication that Governor Simon Lalong is determined to tackle insecurity in the State. Mr. Idris stated this
cid Paralysis (AFP), from polio, because over 16,000 cases of AFP were reported as polio. Also, Dr. Andrew Mbewe in his paper presentation titled,” Reducing Maternal/Mortality” identified High blood pressure, obstruction, Ante/post-Partum Hemorrhage as some of the common causes of death in pregnant women.
at the Ground Breaking for the establishment of the 66 Nigeria Police Mobile Squadron in Shendam and the formal presentation of security vehicles to the 17 LGAs in Plateau State. He said that the establishment of squadron would increase and improve the existing security infrastructure in the state for purpose of providing adequate security. “The establishment of PMF 66 Squadron in Shemdam is therefore one of my strategies to
ensure that the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) is at all times within reach, to respond to the challenges of crime being faced by the people. “The establishment of PMF 66 in Shendam is not by accident but deliberate attempt to fight crime. “Shendam town is densely populated and shares boundary with three states namely Bauchi, Nasarawa and Taraba. “This feature makes the town prone to criminal activities like herd-
ers/farmers clashes, armed robberies and other criminal activities,” he stated. The IGP said that PMF was established as a strike force of the NPF and always deployed to troubled spots across the country. He said that he would ensure the establishment of the PMF in other parts of the country but ensure that adequate and befitting barracks are provided. Idris called on state governments to doante lands for the establish-
ment and creation of more PMF squadrons and construction of PMF barracks. The IGP appreciated Gov. Simon Lalong for donating 51 security patrol vehicles to the 17 local governments. He said that Lalong was one out of many governors that was passionate about securing his state. Gov Lalong in his remarks stated the establishment of squadron was a dream come true for his people. The governor appreci-
ated the IG and the President Muhammadu Buhari for granting them their wish. He said that the 51 patrol vehicles were donated by the state government in collaboration with the local governments. Lalong regretted the recent attacks in Bassa and Bokkos LGs where countless people were killed, said that it bestowed on them more responsibilities in protecting the people. He enjoined traditional rulers to work closely