By Kester Kenn Klomegah

With a strong structured plan and that includes President Vladimir Putin weekly meetings with regional governors and related ministry officials, Russia is making headway in mobilising first its own domestic resources in fighting and controlling the coronavirus pandemic.

Under these time-testing conditions, the Russian government also ponders on the necessity to adopt a concerted approach to the economic sectors related to the public health system, making efforts to strengthen fundamental research in all health disciplines and close the pitfalls in its policy.

Arguably, Russia is really moving with innovative orientations, exploring to find lasting solutions. Without doubts, Russia is far ahead, both in terms of medical tests and vaccines. Currently, it is partnering with India and South Korea in manufacturing vaccines for the immunization of both foreigners and Russians.

“India and South Korea are already producing the vaccine, and many of these enterprises will reach full capacity in April. Thus, this is truly the greatest achievement of Russian science, which is widely acknowledged by the entire world,” CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev told Russian President Vladimir Putin during an early April meeting to review developments as well as production and promotion of Russian vaccines.

In addition, he informed the president that RDIF and its partners are actively working with Russian manufacturers, it took three months to build Sputnik Technopolis, one of the largest plants to produce the vaccine, and together with R-Pharm. Russia is setting up international production per agreements with 10 countries and 20 manufacturers, including the world’s largest producers.

Beyond that, the Russian Direct Investment Fund is actively implementing a programme, of course, with a focus on vaccinating Russian citizens, but part of the vaccine produced abroad will simultaneously be delivered to foreign markets, according to Dmitriev.

According to his assessment, Russia is not only one of the current leaders in the world in terms of vaccination rate, but it can provide vaccines to all people in Russia who want to be vaccinated before June using the production capacities in Russia and abroad.

“As I understood from talking to experts, our vaccine is effective against all known strains of the virus,” Putin commented during the discussion, and Kirill Dmitriev smartly added that “due to the two jabs, it is better than the other vaccines as relates to mutations. We believe that our vaccine is one of the best in the world, including against new strains of COVID-19.”

Reports show that Russia has produced 20.1 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine as of March 17, while 4.3 million people, out of a population of 144 million, have received both shots of the vaccine.

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, at 225,572, the total coronavirus-related death toll places Russia third after the United States, which has reported over 553,000 deaths, and Brazil, with over 325,000.

According to the Russian Statistics Service, this April Russia has recorded over 225,000 deaths related to coronavirus since the start of the pandemic. That Russia has the third-highest death toll in the world.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is Russia’s sovereign wealth fund established in 2011 by the Russian government to make investments in leading companies of high-growth sectors of the Russian economy. Its mandate is to co-invest alongside the world’s largest institutional investors – direct investment funds, sovereign wealth funds and leading companies.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has raised alarm over suspected rising cases of cholera in Nigeria.

This disclosure was made by the NCDC Director-General, Mr Chikwe Ihekweazu, on Tuesday in Abuja, while giving updates about the disease.

According to him, the national multi-agency cholera Technical Working Group (TWG) at the agency is monitoring the situation in eight states, where there are reports of suspected cholera cases.

Dr Ihekweazu said as at March, Benue, Delta, Zamfara, Gombe State, Bayelsa, Kogi, Sokoto State and Nasarawa State have reported suspected cholera cases.

Cholera is an endemic and seasonal disease, occurring annually mostly during the rainy season and more often in areas with poor sanitation, overcrowding, lack of clean food and water, and areas where open defecation is common practice.

”As of March 28, a total of 1,746 suspected cases including 50 deaths with a Case Fatality Rate (CFR) that is 2.9 per cent have been reported from Benue, Delta, Zamfara, Gombe, Bayelsa, Kogi, Sokoto and Nasarawa.

”Of the confirmed cases, 63.2 per cent were aged five to 14 years.

”Also of the suspected cases, 48 per cent were females and 52 per cent were males,” he said.

The director-general said that there has been a gradual increase in the number of new cases in the last two weeks.

”Zamfara accounts for about 100 per cent of cases reported in the last two weeks.

“A total of 75 samples were collected out of which 49 tested positive.

”The Test Positivity Rate (TPR) for laboratory confirmation by culture is 14.7 per cent,” he said.

“Most people infected with cholera do not develop any symptoms, although the bacteria are present in their faeces for 1-10 days after infection and are shed back into the environment, potentially infecting other people.

“Among people who develop symptoms, the majority have mild or moderate symptoms, while a minority develop acute watery diarrhoea with severe dehydration. This can lead to death if left untreated,” he explained.

By Adedapo Adesanya

In another round of efforts to push for transparency, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against President Muhammadu Buhari over his alleged failure to probe allegations that the sum of N3.8 billion is missing in the country’s health sector.

SERAP claimed that the alleged missing public fund is meant for the Federal Ministry of Health, teaching hospitals, medical centres, and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

The alleged missing fund was revealed in a 2018 audited report recently released by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation.

The suit is coming in the wake of the controversy over Buhari’s travel to London for a routine medical check-up at a time the country’s resident doctors are on strike over unpaid salaries, upward review of hazard allowances, and COVID-19 care incentives, leaving millions of poor Nigerians without access to medical treatment.

In suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/433/2021 filed last week at the Federal High Court in Abuja, SERAP is seeking “an order of mandamus directing and compelling President Buhari to investigate alleged missing N3.8bn health funds, and to promptly investigate the extent and patterns of widespread corruption in the Federal Ministry of Health, teaching hospitals, medical centres and NAFDAC.”

SERAP argued that “Corruption in the health sector exacerbates inequality in already unequal and unfair political, social, and economic environments, and produces a ‘cash and carry’ health care system based on one’s ability to pay for care or one’s political position.”

“Transparency and accountability in the management of health funds is essential for promoting access of people living in poverty to physical and mental healthcare, satisfactory health conditions, equality and non-discrimination, development, as well as good governance and the rule of law.

“The failure to investigate the alleged missing health funds, bring suspected perpetrators to justice, and to recover any missing public funds has exposed millions of poor Nigerians to serious health risks, amounting to violations of constitutional and international human rights and anti-corruption obligations,” it added.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria is expected to get 70 million Johnson and Johnson (J&J) single-shot COVID-19 vaccines, following the African Union deal with the drugmaker for 400 million vaccine doses.

This was disclosed by the head of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, in an interview with Reuters, noting that the vaccines will come in batches with an initial 30 million J&J vaccines to be delivered in July.

“We’re hoping that we’ll be able to get up to 70 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson this year. This is yet to be finalised but these are some of the advanced conversations that are going on between Nigeria and the African Union,” he said.

He also disclosed that there was the possibility that the vaccine option, which is single-shot, may replace the AstraZeneca-Oxford variant due to constraints to its vaccine value chain.

“Some of the allocations that we were supposed to get for the AstraZeneca will be replaced by the Johnson and Johnson,” Dr Faisal said.

Business Post had on Monday reported that the American pharmaceutical giant is set to provide up to 400 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to African countries.

J&J through its subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceutica, had entered into an agreement with the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) to initially make available up to 220 million doses of its vaccine to the continent.

AVAT can order an additional 180 million doses for a combined total of up to 400 million doses through 2022.

J&J says its vaccine candidate protects against COVID-19 in broad geographical regions — including those with new variants of the virus.

In a global trial of almost 40,000 people, the J&J vaccine’s efficacy against the severe disease was 85.4 per cent, but it fell to 66.1 per cent when including moderate forms of the disease.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The federal government has advised Nigerians to undergo tests before taking an anti-malarial drug because not all fevers are symptoms of malaria.

This warning was made by the Chief Community Development Officer, Advocacy Communication and Social Mobilisation guidelines (ACSM), National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), Mrs Chinelo Ogbodo, at the review meeting of the ACSM guideline, in Akwanga, Nasarawa State.

According to Mrs Ogbodo, the government was hopeful that by 2025, through its sensitisation programmes, every Nigerian would have understood the meaning, causes, treatment and preventive measures for malaria.

She said that the guideline was a document that detailed the planning, coordination and implementation of ACSM activities to guide increasing awareness about malaria and develop activities that would help increase the demand for malaria products and services.

The expert charged Nigerians to test every fever and know its cause before treatment, saying, “Malaria is one of the so many conditions that could lead to fever in an individual.”

“So, you need to run a test; every individual presenting symptoms of malaria or fever must be tested before you give them antimalarial drugs, when they test positive,” Mrs Ogbodo added.

”Nigerians must understand that malaria is not common, there are various types and levels of the disease, like complicated and uncomplicated malaria, we also have severe malaria.

”When you treat fever with malaria drugs, without going for a test before treatment, you have succeeded in treating blindly without knowing what you are treating or the level of what you are treating,” she further stated.

”When somebody has malaria and treats without testing, he or she has abused the drugs because you do not know the level of malaria you are treating. When death occurs as a result of malaria, people term it as witchcraft or spiritual causes,” she said.

Adding her input, Mrs Samuel Owoya, on behalf of NMEP, advised Nigerians to sleep under the Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs) every night, as she cited malaria as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the country.

She explained that Nigerians must adopt the right health-seeking behaviour for the elimination of malaria.

Nigeria, she explained, had adopted the use of LLINs as one of its interventions for malaria prevention, and it was recommended that every person should sleep under the LLIN every night.

Mrs Owoya said that LLINs were a type of mosquito net that had been treated with insecticides that repel and kill mosquitoes, adding that LLINs were safe and effective in protecting oneself and family members against malaria.

She said that when correctly used, an LLIN every night significantly reduced a person’s risk of being infected with malaria, in addition to saving the time and money spent on treating malaria.

”To use and care for your LLIN, tuck the LLIN under your mat, mattress or bed, sew if torn, and wash with bar soap if dirty. Do not use LLINs for fishing or covering crops or animals,” she said.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The Senior Director for Africa, Global Government Relations and Public Policy at Procter & Gamble (P&G), Mrs Temitope Iluyemi, has stressed the need to create awareness for proper oral care.

Speaking at an event to announce the provision of free dental checks and a month’s supply of Oral B toothpaste and toothbrushes to members of the Jiwa community in Abuja, Mrs Iluyemi declared that “effective oral care reduces infection and promotes health.”

P&G collaborated with the Federal Ministry of Health through its Oral- B brand in furtherance of its commitment to promoting oral health and hygiene.

The leading consumer goods company explained that the main rationale behind the partnership is to touch and improve the lives of people in the communities where it operates.

“Oral hygiene should not be overlooked, most especially in terms of its effects on the general health and nutrition of people.

“Effective oral care reduces infection and promotes health, thus the need to drive awareness. The World Oral Health Day presents an opportunity to amplify this oral health drive which our brand has actively driven through the year,” Mrs Iluyemi said.

She further encouraged Nigerians not to underrate the effect of poor oral hygiene as it can negatively affect confidence and social skills, explaining that, “Oral health is very essential to human’s general health and wellbeing.”

The senior staff of P&G said her company was happy to promote oral health and hygiene in Nigeria, stating that the Oral B brand has over the years partnered with dentists across the country to elevate the role of oral health of over 10 million Nigerians through its Mobile Dental Clinic Program.

While commending P&G for its efforts in promoting oral health, the Director of Dentistry Division of the Federal Ministry of Health, Mrs Bola Alonge, noted that “proper oral health practices are important to ensure good general health.”

“A lot of people have not had dental checks. As a result, we need to leverage this World Oral Health Day to drive oral health sensitization at the grassroots especially in areas with limited access to quality health care,” she said.

Mrs Alonge added that, “This is why we partnered with P&G and Oral-B on this community outreach where dentists will be available to conduct free oral health check for community members who will also a month supply of Oral-B toothpaste and Oral B toothbrush. The outreach will also include oral health training for the community leaders and other members”.