Bauchi First Lady Lauds Fidelity Bank’s Free Medical Outreach

By Adedapo Adesanya Scientists Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries enabling the development of COVID-19 vaccines, the award-giving body said on Monday. The prize, among the most prestigious in the scientific world, is selected by the Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute Medical University and also comes with 11 million Swedish crowns (about $1 million). “The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19,” the

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government has pledged to increase domestic health financing to improve health condition of all Nigerians as part of President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s targets. The Vice President, Mr Kashim Shettima, on Tuesday made the pledge when a delegations from the Global Health Partners, the Global Fund, US President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), and others, paid him a courtesy visit at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The US President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was also part of the delegations. Mr Shettima emphasised that enhancing domestic health financing and improved health outcomes of Nigerians were topmost on the

Every day across Africa, people turn to Google products like Search, YouTube and Fitbit for insights about their health and wellbeing. But many may not know that we have also been researching how AI can help improve healthcare outcomes for people, and how AI can empower our partners to deliver better health services — from improving maternal health outcomes to building useful digital tools for healthcare workers. To mark the upcoming Africa HealthTech Summit in Kigali, Rwanda — an event that brings together a diverse group of digital health innovators and public health experts to share knowledge and ideas to

In today’s world where modern technology has us glued to our screens, teens and adults alike are woefully inactive. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), global estimates show that one in four adults and more than 80% of adolescents do not do enough physical activity. Physical activity is critical for human health, and adopting a healthy lifestyle that includes regular physical activity is one of the most important things a person can do to improve their health and well-being. Evidence is emerging that shows that physical inactivity is associated with a heightened risk of serious illness and death. On

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Efforts are being made by different bodies to deepen financial inclusion in Africa and bring the continent at par with other more civilised in the world. Although over 80 percent of Africans have mobile phones, only around one quarter (28 percent) of them have bank account. But mobile banking and e-wallets are helping to break the banking logjam, offering a range of alternative payment methods as well as lending and savings services. This has boosted the overall financial inclusion rate to 34 percent, and it is growing each day. According to Ecobank, the leading independent pan-African banking

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, has mandated the lower arm of the parliament to investigate the legality of the suspension of operations of Twitter in Nigeria by the federal government. Last week, the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, announced a ban on the use of Twitter in the country indefinitely, citing “the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.” To make the ban effective, after some Nigerians began to bypass the blockage, the Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, said violators

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Passengers on the Abuja-Kaduna train were stranded on Friday in the Kubwa area of Abuja when the train conveying them derailed. According to reports, the incident happened a few distances to its destination at about 3:20 pm and left the passengers frustrated. Today’s derailment occurred barely a week after 300 stranded passengers on the Warri-Itakpe train missed its track in Kogi State. In the latest incident, there were no reports of casualties, though the exact reason for the derailment is still sketchy. The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), which manages rail transportation in the country, was yet to

By Aduragbemi Omiyale About 34 corporate organisations, including Excellence Hotel, Medilag Ventures, Jade Palace Chinese Restaurant, have been shut down by the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS). The Director of Legal Services of LIRS, Mr Seyi Alade, said the facilities were closed because they failed to remit personal income taxes of their employees to the state government and for the operators in the hospitality, they did not also remit consumption taxes to the appropriate quarters. Mr Alade further reiterated that “these companies deduct personal income taxes from their employees’ salaries at the end of each month, and charge consumption

By Adedapo Adesanya Imo State-based 5,000 barrels per day Waltersmith modular refinery looks set to provide 500,000 oil downstream sector jobs, according to the federal government. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timpre Sylva, while speaking at the official launch of the refinery, said this will reduce the rate of unemployment in the country. He also stated that the project is part of efforts to gradually reduce the importation of petroleum products into the country with the support of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). Waltersmith’s refinery, perhaps the first to

By Dipo Olowookere Nigeria has been excluded from the cut in oil production barrier put in place by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The body met on Wednesday in Vienna, Austria and it was agreed that production should be reduced by 1.2 million barrels a day to 32.5 million, effective from January 1, 2017. This cut represents about 1 percent of global production. For several months, OPEC had tried to convince its members to agree to an oil cut deal, but Iran, which only had its embargo recently lifted, vowed not to accept the deal heavily backed

By Ahmed Rahma Leading consumer goods company, Procter & Gamble (P&G) has donated over 180,000 Pampers diapers to promote maternal and infant health in hard to reach communities in Nigeria. The diapers were donated to Tabitha Cumi Foundation (TCF) through the company’s Pampers Rigakafi III program to support the non-profit organisation’s initiative known as Help Mama Keep Baby, which hopes to reduce infant mortality and increase the immunisation rate in Nigeria. According to the Executive Director of TCF, Adetayo Erinle, “The Pampers Rigakafi III program will be implemented through our Help Mama Keep Baby project from October 2020 to March

By Adedapo Adesanya Figorr, a Lagos-based technology company that develops Internet of Things-powered solutions, has raised $1.5 million in seed funding to use data to prevent loss of temperature-sensitive products as well as insure against post-harvest losses. The round was led by Atlantica Ventures, with participation from Vested World, Jaza Rift, and Katapult. The company intends to use the funds for the rollout of a proprietary risk management platform that will provide data that will make it easier to insure perishable and temperature-sensitive goods on the African continent. Formerly known as Gricd, the startup has so far raised $1.7 million