Nigeria News

Abuja 31 March 2019 - Abubakar Salau is only 16 years old but receiving treatment at Karu General Hospital Psychiatry ward for his addiction to ‘snuff.’ 

“I used to mix liquid glue with old tobacco to make my snuff. Whenever I sniffed it, the feeling was surreal,” he says. “Snuff destroyed my life though. I lost so much weight, dropped out of school and hurt members of my family. When I recover fully, I plan to educate teenagers like myself on the dangers of tobacco,” he claims.

Abuja, 25 March 2019- The Nigerian Federal Minister of Health on 25 March 2019 launched a report of a catastrophic cost survey on TB concluded in 2018. 

Presenting the document in Abuja, as part of weeklong World TB Day commemoratory activities, the Minister of Health, who was represented by Mr Felix Ogenyi said, “In Nigeria, TB, a disease that affects mostly the poor and low socio-economic population, usually leaves the patient and households with devastating financial loss.” A survey was conducted between 2017 -2018 to confirm this and to evaluate its impact.”

Abuja, 23 March, 2019 - As Nigeria prepares to commemorate World Tuberculosis (TB) Day on 24 March 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) has engaged over 12,000 community informants to find ‘missing cases’. The 2018 TB report reveals that 4.3 million are missed globally and Nigeria contributes 8% of this.

Abuja 21 March 2019 – In 2018, insecticide treated nets were distributed by well-meaning individuals in Jigawa and Katsina State. However, the nets were poorly distributed and it caused a lot of discontent in the two states. As a result, caregivers such as Aishatu Mani refused to take her four month old for immunizations. “I am not happy I didn’t get a mosquito net, for this reason, I will not take my child for vaccination,” she told the community health workers. 

Vaccine hesitancy is one of the major challenges facing the immunisation programme in Nigeria.

Abuja, 15 March 2019 - “My son had blood in his urine for almost a year and I didn’t know what to do,” says Rahab Haruna, a 45-year-old mother from Adamawa State.

Abuja, 13 March 2019 - “In Northern Nigeria where I work as a nurse and polio vaccinator, only women are allowed to enter houses because most women in this part of the country are in purdah (practice of seclusion)”, says Ramatu Garba of Dala Local Government in Kano State.
Not only that, many times, mothers require the permission of their spouses to take ailing children to hospitals.

Abuja, 04 March 2019 – While the number of new Lassa fever cases have significantly reduced over the past weeks, intensified response activities are on-going to control the outbreak across Nigeria.  To fully contain the outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) remains mobilized and is  supporting Nigeria to stem further spread of the disease.

Abuja, 28 February 2019 - As Nigeria experiences measles and rubella outbreaks, the World Health Organization (WHO) has constituted, in collaboration with the Nigerian government, an Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) team to mitigate further spread of measles and rubella in the country. 

Abuja, 21 February 2019 - Engagement of community informants for Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) surveillance has yielded positive impact    in Borno State. 

Abuja, 06 February 2019 – As Nigeria joins the world to mark the World Cancer Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) has made a call for a renewed fight against cancer. The World Cancer Day is commemorated on the 4th of February every year and it serves as a platform to raise awareness, educate the populace and press for action from governments and individuals. This year’s theme: “I Am and I Will”, urges individuals to make renewed personal commitments against cancer.