LASUTH spends N12m naira on diesel monthly -CMD T OBOAE O VUORIE
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le Ollef Medical Director d "'" ' - UnMrsity Teal:hi... """,ital (LAst1IH). Prof _ 0I<e. has
COI'1"eCted OI'''80ing ml!Jcoocep. lionsabout the alleged poweroutace In the sta!I'l health institution. ~ news tDI!I1l"l'lOl'1ltb;
he diI!Ido8ed that the allegaUons which ha\-e 1Jeen on the rise in
recent ~ are all raise. IlOI.Jn& that "'U.SI.I1'H has:14 hours unlnI1!l'n.Ipted pO'~r supply aU UteMl while becawe It is the polk::y of LASt1I'H to hlM uninterrupted
powersupply'".
N a result rI the poor power supply in the country generaiIJ< l~rJll has been )eft with DO cboico than i'teqUl'Dlly make use of pnemUng sees. The ho6pitil management ~ that It spends between 10 to 12million I'1llin monthly on dJeIel. &plaln· Ins thai: ~lf 'Io'I! doo'l do It, then we MJUId haw DO lJKht". _ 10 tum. tho dalms began M a rumour as a r1!SUlt cl the hospital', PHCN cal:l'es thai I n as old as the hospital 1tget( henc!, the Wlfolded clalm.!I becomlna rID!. It would be recalled that LA· Stm-l was built 57 yean ago
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while Its poYow supply c:ab&es IJe. cause of their beull old cannot
carry the same load as in
)'ftV'S
Con!tequentJX to en5W'e unllllerrupted JIOW\"r' su~ Pm( Oke clliK:Icaed that six functional generators hIM! been put in place as back-ups lOr PHCN po'IIoW sup. ply:. The!Ie include a Um,4OO, 250
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and two 350 KVA
genenUnc RU
He f\u1her" noted Ulllt the U.
mes wh1dI are be:lnB rumoun!d
to be in the dar1t are with JlO'I'oW supply and )"!t CDIlJlI!Cted to a 350 KVA ~ set as _'ell as a :[iIJ KVA ~ Jet as beck up.
NAFDAC, UNICEF call for effective food fortification ion programme TOBORE OvuoRIE
he National Agency ror Administration and Control (NAY· DAC) last week called ror a col· laboration of relevant agencies to ~l Nigeria.'. Food Fort1ficaUon Programme (FFP).
T
""'" ./vl'bru"
The Dlrector-CeneraJ.. NAP· DAC. Or Paul Othll. made the call in l..agos al a one-day work·
shop themed ·' Improvlng the Ef· rectlvenes.! of Food FbrtificaUon
in Nigeria." TIle event was or· ganlsed by the agency in collaboration with the United NaUma Children "'-md (UNICEf).
OthU. who was represented by the DlredOi. Ports Infection, NAFDAC, O. Momodu Sealru. said lhat soch collaboration would MUI.:e Micro-nutrient
Deficiency Diseases (MOO). He dHCrlhed FFP as an in' tervention programme which would enhanCf' the quaJltr of available roods by ensurln& that vital minera)s and vlta-
m1ru are added to roods durin& production The director-general noted that efforts to curb Porno in Nigeria started foUowtl18 recommen dation! made durin& the World Summit ror Chlklnm held in the US In 1990. He said evidence showed that Nigeria still haJ a hJ&h rate of child and malemaJ mortallt)t whlle Vllamln A def1ciency was • nyUor C3U3e ~ the deaths. According to him, mlc~nu· trient malnutrition al90 known as - hidden hunger" is a nutrl· Uona1 problem affect1n8 the health 0( chUdren, pregnant women and lactating mothers. -rile nuUor MOO in Nlgeril lncIude Iodine Oeflclency Dfs.. order, Vitamin A OeOclency and Iron Oeflclency Anaemia. -In view ~ this. the Ff!deral
Government in collaboration with the WorkS Hea1th Organ isadon. Global Alliance ror lmproved Nutrition and UNICEP wID mount control Pro&nunmes to address the problem. "he saki.
Kalsina to Immunize 2.3m children against polio the vaccines .'ere kept in cold stores In Bakotl. Kankla. Sandamu and Katslna local
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government councUs.
Accordinl to hhn. enough health pel"lOnnel have been re. cruJted to reach llll nook and crannies, and that the monitor· inI team was also constituted for the immunization exerdse. KaLslna stale Is one of the northern states currently faeI.nc the problem 0( fre5h transmission of pollo ~. The .tate had recently detected • fresh cue of poUo in Dam. arM wbich also led to the death ~ the Victim. It was gathered that the fa· ther of the deceased chUd was &rn'5led whU~ the conununJty's vlllB.ge head W8!I removed by Oaura Emlnte Council
_ITom __
"'The theatre even has an In·
dverter .... in C8!e cl the brief period to the..,.,..-atlna __ he _ _ He In addition stated that the Lap state governor. Babatunde FashoIa has Jet In moOon the ~ 009S that wUl.xtress the replacement of the old cabks. Alread.K NIIDn1llion has been earmarked to thlJ ft'I8ni while the project wWch will. commence !OOOeSt ~ be completed before the
""" d tho ""'" The project b ..... handled directJy by ' State Electricity Board. Qmmentinll; on the car paJ1ts In the hospital whkb lII'f!I"e aU recently oommerdallzed. Pn:ll me
stated that ..the parking arrangements and fee is to dbcourage IOrIle outsiden who come to park I.ndbc:rimlnate!Y in the hospital and to regulate and maintain sec vb partq staUons hospital
ror
Oeet """ staff"
WHO expresses concern over polio increase in Nigeria Country RepresentatM In Nip. ria. Or David OkeUo lamented that though ERC had been talkIng and reviewing steps .lnoe it was estabUshed, It must now !'eo I'ocIJs and take COIlCI'1!le Jteps to contain the dl!ease..
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MARCUS FATUNMOLE
he YAlrid llealth OrpnizIltioo (WIIO) bas 0 pn!S8l'd foan 0\0W the increase 0( polio transmlsalon
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in the NI&e1a and called on the p-ernment to come up with • sustalnabk! strategy to stop the spread d the
dJ5eage
in the
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Addreo5Ing tho ZIni ......
Review CommJttee (ERe) meetin& recently in Abt.Ua. the WHO
OkeUo appealed 10 the com· mlttee to look be)UXl sdenc:e to address the probtem that is becomIno oonIOund ................. " We look forward to ERC guidelines at this crltica1 time and how to tackle the pers.i5teot aitlcal probk!m d how to get every child immunized in NIgft1a", in hl5 mnarks. the chairman d ERe. Prof Oyewote _ said polio cases wt't"e still c:orn. lng up and except the oommlt· tee takes concrete acUon and show IDCft conunltment. poUo
would never be eradk::ated from N ........ He dbclosed that the problem
at the moment -is not lack d plans but how to tum the plans intocorruniunenL ~'ssitu8Uon slnoe last year bas been worse off than the sltualion two
yean ..." Earlier: In his rema.rks.. the Executive Director. Nationa1 Prt mary Hea1lh Care OeYe~menl Agtncy (NPHCOA). Or Ado Muhanuned saki that polio eradica lion remained a crisis gk>baUy becaU!Je rA two muntries; PaId stan and Ni.gerla.
He. however. said that the core agenda d the Pl'1!M!lt ERC is 10 formally bdef members on the revbed Emergency Plan and seek its ratlflcation by the ERe. His words: -ntert' has to be. change whkb must be lndepen dently Yl!rtnabie and the only change that will be appreciated Is when there Is no polio vtrus In
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FG laments public perception of autistic children MARCUS
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and time to care for the!Ie chll dren. " Chukwu abo notl!d that an other major challenge "<IS the ...... d~dtho famIly by theconunuruty and Ole fact that Il106t pan'Ilts seek help from the w1'On& ptac:es due to C1ll
FAllJNMOLE
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,""""""",I advbed pe.rents and memben 0( the pubUc to always tee autism as a chaJltoo8e that requires the support d aD to manage. 'Ib1s call was m.Je on Monday a1 this years Wortd AUUsm Awareness Day in AhlQa with the thtomt! "Autism: Early Intervention Is Key",
tunoi bette(
MeanwhlJe, a member d the HOI.l"iIe of RepresentatM, Hon. Jeny Alagbooso. haoJ called on
Spenklne
al the event. Nip. ria's Ftnt ~ represented by Specia1 Advtger to the President on Gender lssueI. Mrs. Asma'u Abdulkadlr sald the challmee required the colIabonIUon 0( all to IXIIllr'Ol.jusl as she stated p ' munent readlne!e in ensuring It lives quaUty life to m!ry Nip. rIan c:hIid. In his address on the B!!I!'I!nCe d the event. Mlnlster ~ Health. Prof Ony.!buchl Otukwu 581d.
"'nIe I!ffecl d autism on the c:hl1dn!n and their farnlUeI Is d ubnost conc:em to us becaUge af· reeled chUdren cannot fend for themselves bulan!! totally dependent on others for routine dally LIvlna. ThIs condition makes tife difficult. stressIW and c:haJlen&lrc fOr the pan!l11S due to the fact that it requln!s a k)t d resources
the redera1 ~t to em bark on the vetting d UII! NGOs .... daimed .. be .......... in the Interest d autistk d:illdren. He asked goyernment to subject lhMl to scrutiny to "ascertain the ones with ROOd intentions ..... Ihooe ..........-adinc in ..... step andjumpstYles as NGOs but with ulterior motives t!SJltdally in thoir _ with and iln!1gn donors. ..
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:\101"'£' Health & Wrllbring s tOrl£'S on pag(' :).t