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T H I S D AY THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2016
HEALTH
Investcorp Turns Wellness Health to Provide Quality Services Rebecca Ejiforma Investcorp Medicare Limited, a foremost national Health Maintenance Organisation, has announced its decision to change the name of its company to Wellness Health Management Services Limited for better expert health care and quality service delivery. This was made known at a press briefing held in Lagos, where the Executive Director,
Wellness Health Management Services limited, Mrs. Adetutu Afolabi said the decision was to rebrand, reposition and excel in the role of providing quality healthcare solution that offer superior services as Investcorp Medicare Limited have been known for since its inception. She further emphasized that the organisation’s new name is accompanied with a wide-range of improved healthcare services designed to meet the needs of
every client. “We work with our corporate partners through the development of innovation and high quality healthcare solution that offer them superior service experience, more convenience and flexible which ensures that they drive maximum value for their money.” As an innovative Health Insurance organisation, it assures that it offers its customers a world of unique benefits. They are: flexibility
and convenience, which allows a registered client with a membership card stress-free access to our national network of over 1200 best-in-class primary, secondary and specialist hospital even when they are outside their area of residence. Afolabi added that with their Seamless Referral System, clients can take maximum advantage of the wide range of medical specialist available within and outside their
network of service providers through their end-to-end referral system. Meanwhile, Wellness Heath Management Service has put in place a structure called Client Engagement Programme. “This programme enables Continuous Engagement and Interaction with clients can benefit from regular updates about their health plans and have access to general health information. It, also, includes
a monthly e-newsletter, on-site health talks and health checks and short message service of topical health issues.” With a highly responsive 24-hour call centre personnel, the ED said that clients were assured of round-the-clock solution to enquire about their scheme eligibility, plan benefits and hospital access issues thereby removing all barriers to quality care and service,” she assured.
NACA to Hold Conference on Key HIV/AIDS Findings As part of build up to marking the World Aids Day (WAD) on December 1st, the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) will on the 29th and 30th November in Abuja, hold a national conference to showcase key findings on AIDS prevention in Nigeria. The conference, which is tagged: ‘Hands on for HIV prevention’ will have participants from relevant government departments and agencies, research institutions, the private sector, development partner agencies and representatives of people living with or affected by HIV. According to the Chairperson, Organising Committee of the conference, Dr. Akudo Ikpeazu, the event will bring together a range of experts to advance knowledge, present new research findings, as well as promote and enhance scientific and community collaborations. “It will also be a platform for discussions on development of new strategies for addressing HIV, especially in the area of HIV prevention. “We welcome participants from all sectors: government, business, community, civil society, academia and others. It is my hope that participants will all take advantage of the
conference and the opportunities it presents for networking, forming new collaborations and strengthening old partnerships to strengthen HIV prevention efforts,” she said. She said keynote speakers from within and outside the country will be invited for the meeting, as presentations at the Conference have been organised under four knowledge areas including behavioural, biomedical, structural, as well as key populations issues. “Over 250 participants have already concluded the registration process and intending participants are encouraged to register online, as soon as possible, through the Conference’s website: http://www. hivprevention2016.com.ng/,” Ikpeazu adds. “To facilitate our planning, registration for participation in the Conference is already underway. I am encouraging any interested individual to visit the Conference’s website and register for this important event as soon as possible,” said Dr. Ogungbemi, acting Director General National Agency for the Control of AIDS. For more information, kindly visit: http://www. hivprevention2016.com.ng/ or www.naca.gov.ng
UNICEF: Two Hundred World Renowned Writers to Mark Universal Children’s Day Martins Ifijeh Over 200 prominent writers including novelists, playwrights and poets, have joined a global literary campaign this week, penning ‘tiny stories’ of around seven lines each to highlight Universal Children’s Day and the injustice many of the world’s poorest and most disadvantaged children still face. The short story series, which kicks off the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) commemoration of its 70th year working to bring help and hope to children around the world. According to UNICEF’s the short stories will be shared by some of the world’s most celebrated writers with their own social media audiences. The First Lady of Finland, Jenni Haukio, introduced the concept, which has gained global momentum with writers joining from Asia, Africa, South America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia. “As writers, we are able to
advocate through the simplicity of storytelling. With this worthy and necessary campaign, we advocate for the protection of the rights of precious children all over the world,” said celebrated Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie. The group of writers, whose genres range from fairy tales to fiction, include one of the world’s youngest published authors, seven-year-old South African, Michelle Nkamankeng. Written in over 10 languages and varying in style, all stories illustrate that the rights of many children are still neglected. The campaign comes at a time when there are increasing threats to child rights. Over 50 million children have been uprooted from their homes due to conflict, poverty and climate change and millions more are facing unspeakable violence in their communities. Around 263 million children are out of school and last year, nearly six million children under five died from mostly preventable diseases across the globe.
PREVENTING BREAST CANCER
Members of Staff, Deloitte Professional Services, during the Breast Cancer Awareness Walk in Lagos ...recently
ETOP UKUTT
Lagos Rich Women Use Family Boko Haram: Group to Planning More than Lagos Poor Establish First Trauma Centre Women, Survey Says in Maiduguri Offers scholarship to 111 children of fallen soldiers Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja A group under the auspices of the Fallen Heroes Project, said it plans to establish the first trauma centre in the Northeast, starting with Maiduguri. It also revealed that it has offered scholarship to 111 children of the fallen heroes nationwide as part of its intervention programme aimed at ensuring that the families of the fallen heroes are catered for. The National Coordinator of the Project, Dr. Kenneth Kalu disclosed this in Abuja during a courtesy call to the Corp Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps, Boboye Oyeyemi. Kalu noted that the sacrifices of the fallen heroes who died at the battle front protecting this country had further reinvigorated the need for the campaign. He promised that his team in a matter of days would pay a visit to the families of Col. Abu Ali and the six other soldiers that died some days ago during a Book Haram ambush to commemorate with them. Kalu stated categorically that, “the money that is generated from the emblem goes to the
Nigerian Legion, both the donations and the sponsorship the organisation is seeking goes to the legion’s account and it would be used to take care of the children of the fallen soldiers, as well as take care of the injured ex-service men,” “I like to announce to you that organisation is in partnership with the Nigerian Legion and as of course approved by the Minister of Defence, we are doing all things possible so that by next year you will be seeing the first trauma centre in the North -East, starting with Maiduguri,” “We have also given out scholarship to 111 children of the fallen heroes, three from each State of the federation, one widow with empowerment equipment and by next year we would be launching the Nigeria legion scholarship, that would be available to all indigent child that cannot take care of themselves across the nation and the children of the fallen heroes,” Kalu stated. The National Coordinator lamented that as at 2015 armed forces remembrance day celebration only 17,000 out of 170 million Nigerians wear emblem, stressing that it was not good enough.
Martins Ifijeh
A recent survey by the Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020-Nigeria (PMA2020-NG) has revealed that Lagos rich women are more likely to use family planning methods than Lagos Poor women. These family planning methods include the modern system, including pills, condoms, injectables, intrauterine devices (IUDs) & implants and the traditional system, which includes withdrawal and periodic abstinence. The survey results were disseminated on 25 October at the Lagos State Ministry of Health chaired by the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, and attended by over 40 family planning stakeholders in the state, showed that 33 per cent of married women in Lagos State aged 15-49 years were using a family planning method. But the poorest women were more than twice as likely as the richest women to report that they were not using a family planning method, even though they wished to postpone their next birth for at least two years. According to a member of the survey team, Dr. Funmi Olaolorun, the poor women have an unmet need for family planning. “These disparities between the rich and the poor are of concern, given the state of
the Nigerian economy and the obvious fact that those who can least afford an unplanned pregnancy due to their economic status will be the most likely to have one if they remain sexually active and do nothing to avoid becoming pregnant. ‘The challenge for the Lagos State government and family planning stakeholders is to find a way to financially assist these poor women to access the family planning methods of their choice, so they can decide (along with their partners) if and when to have children. This is essential because despite the widespread information that contraception is free, the survey showed that 1 in 10 public facilities and 7 in 10 private facilities charge for family planning services. She said the involvement of the government in particular will ensure that the socioeconomic disadvantage of these poorest women does not push them into further poverty following the addition of another child that they cannot afford to properly look after. PMA2020 is a quick turnaround mobile-assisted survey that collects data on a regular basis to monitor performance towards the Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) goal of reaching 120 million additional women and girls in the poorest countries with life-saving contraceptives.