The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) on Friday said it had responded to reports of diphtheria cases in Lagos and Kano States and was monitoring the situation in Osun and Yobe States where cases are now being picked up. Read Also: Poliomyelitis (polio) In addition, the centre said it had taken clinical steps …
What are food additives? Substances that are added to food to maintain or improve the safety, freshness, taste, texture, or appearance of food are known as food additives. Some food additives have been in use for centuries for preservation – such as salt (in meats such as bacon or dried fish), sugar (in marmalade), or …
Overview The social determinants of health are the circumstances in which people are born, grow up, live, work and age, and the systems put in place to deal with illness. These circumstances are in turn shaped by a wider set of forces: economics, social policies, politics, and the commercial determinants of health. Social determinants of …
Nigeria was among the first countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to identify COVID-19 (coronavirus) cases and has since implemented strict measures to contain the spread of the virus. At the same time, oil prices plummeted by 60% following the spread of the global pandemic. As the oil sector accounts for the bulk of Nigerian government revenue, …
China has nearly 1.4 billion people, most of whom are susceptible to infection. The rapid spread of Covid-19 could mean very large numbers of people falling sick at the same time. A surge of Covid-19 infections in China in the past few weeks has prompted warnings that the country could witness over a million deaths …
Virus and fear surge in China: what’s happening and why? Read More »
What is quality health services? Quality of care is the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with evidence-based professional knowledge. This definition of quality of care spans promotion, prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and palliation, and implies that quality of care can be measured …
Overview Some 829 000 people in low- and middle-income countries die as a result of inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene each year, representing 60% of total diarrhoeal deaths. Poor sanitation is believed to be the main cause in some 432 000 of these deaths and is a major factor in several neglected tropical diseases, including intestinal …
Road traffic injuries or crashes result in the deaths of approximately 1.3 million people around the world each year and leave between 20 and 50 million people with non-fatal injuries. More than half of all road traffic deaths and injuries involve vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists and their passengers. Read Also: …
Overview The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) targets the immune system and weakens people’s defense against many infections and some types of cancer that people with healthy immune systems can more easily fight off. As the virus destroys and impairs the function of immune cells, infected individuals gradually become immunodeficient. Immune function is typically measured by …
Dracunculiasis (Guinea-worm disease) is caused by the parasitic worm Dracunculus medinensis or Guinea-worm. This worm is the largest of the tissue parasite affecting humans. The adult female, which carries about 3 million embryos, can measure 600 to 800 mm in length and 2 mm in diameter. When a person drinks contaminated water from ponds or shallow open wells, …
