Investing in Health as a key step to growing the Economy

Nigeria's population is one of the country's most important resources. The population is growing diffidently and it is youthful. At the current growth rate, based on the fertility rate revealed by the DHS, Nigeria will become the fourth largest country in the world by population in 2050.

In order to exploit the huge human resources, Nigeria will need to make faster progress in reducing newborn, infant and child mortality. Nigeria also needs to drastically reduce maternal mortality, at the same time increasing reproductive health services and rights-based family planning. Nigeria also needs to rapidly increase access to quality education for literacy and numeracy among our girls and women, especially in the Northern parts of the country where the DHS data shows appalling statistics in this regard. She should find culture-appropriate ways to empower her girls and women to participate in building the nation in a contemporary way.

Another important aspect revealed by the DHS is with regard to the nutritional status of Nigeria's children. Nearly 4 out of 10 children under 5 years of age are stunted in Nigeria due to malnutrition. This is a huge heartbreak for two main reasons. Firstly, malnutrition contributes to half of child’s death and diseases in Nigeria. Secondly, malnutrition leads to cognitive shortage in a child's development which at population level means that the potential human capital of the nation is detracted by the effect of malnutrition. The newborns, children and youth of today will need to have the intellectual capacity to compete in a globalized and competitive world in the decades to come. Yet, today, malnutrition is depriving them of the ability to reach their potential, even if they survive childhood.

In order to explain the relationship between health and economic growth, it is necessary to understand the concept of health in an expansive sense. Health is not only the absence of illnesses; it is also the ability of people to develop to their potential during their entire lives. In that sense, health is an asset individuals possess, which has essential value (being healthy is a very important source of well-being) as well as helpful value. In instrumental terms, health impacts economic growth in a number of ways. For example, it reduces production losses due to worker illness, it increases the productivity of adult as a result of better nutrition, and it lowers absenteeism rates and improves learning among school children. Health also allows for the use of natural resources that used to be totally or partially out-of-the-way due to illnesses. Finally, it permits the different use of financial resources that might normally be destined for the treatment of ill health. In totting up, health affects economic growth directly through labor productivity and the economic burden of illnesses.

Additionally, the loss of health affects the poor to a greater extent since the main, and at times, only asset they have is their body. When they become ill they have fewer alternative solutions and suffer greater consequences the results of historical studies suggest a very strong relationship between health and economic growth. Robert W. Fogel finds that between one third and one half of England’s economic growth in the past 200 years is due to improvements in the population’s food consumption.

With all this in mind, we can now understand the impact investment in health will have in the lives of the people and the economy. It means, healthier populations, which in turn increases productivity to a large extent, healthy children and families which in turn increases literacy and quality care and reduced hospital visits. Finally the resources meant for health care will be channeled to other productive sectors. This will only happen when the government makes the health sector its priority and invest in it.

Uchechi Okonmah

WOMEN AGAINST WOMEN; THE BANE OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN NIGERIA by Dr Noimot Balogun

It is no more a hidden fact that women empowerment is a reliable measure of sustainable development and good governance in any given Nation. In line with global agitations, the rights of women in the different settings of life has been clamored for several decades, with activists identifying and proffering solutions to the different strategies that can help mitigate the plight of women and improve their access to basic life amenities like health, development and financial capital. With the recent adoption of the new sustainable development goals (SDGs) which is premised on the sole principle of ‘Leaving No One Behind”, the call for women empowerment has become a major factor in economic and developmental discussions thus increasingly coming to the center space of countries’ competitiveness in the global economy.

The situation is no different in developing countries like Nigeria, a country with vast human and physical resources which can rise up to the task of successful empowerment of women empowerment with the right planning and implementation. Unfortunately, a significant proportion of women in developing countries like Nigeria, are still saddled with poor standard of living due to lack of access to basic social amenities despite the preponderance of women empowerment initiatives. Interestingly, experts have identified the different barriers affecting women empowerment in Nigeria, many of which have been blamed on the male dominated mentality and societal norms that make up the ethnicity of Nigeria, one of which has been cited for the recent debate on promotion of women empowerment bill at the National Assembly. However, while I agree that that advocating for gender equality or equity is a viable option, I am genuinely concerned about a section of stakeholders who have been largely misconstrued to be the victims rather than equal perpetrators in the prevention of sustainable empowerment of women in Nigeria; this complex group of stakeholders are the women themselves, who whether actively or passively have contributed more than ever in promoting or quashing women’s dreams in the different areas of life, and I make bold to say this with different case studies.

“I had waited to board the Lagos buses generally referred to as ‘Danfo” in Surulere along with other prospective commuters. When the next empty bus eventually came to where we were waiting, I was amused and excited at the same time to see that the driver of the bus was a woman in her 50s. The 1st impression I had was that of admiration as I sat down to be driven by a woman whom I believed had defied all odds to work in a male dominated environment, and how much more, she was relatively an elderly person, a plus in a country like Nigeria where people have turned to different cadres of beggars in the name of poverty.

The journey started well until it was time for the commuters to send their fare to the woman who did not have a conductor to assist. It was however surprising when the woman raised concern on one person not paying based on the total amount with her; after much questioning, we found out that a lady who had been oblivious of what had been happening because of her earphones was the one responsible for the imbalance in the fares, and as such, the woman in the tensed mood asked for her money wondering why the lady didn’t pay while the others were paying. In defiance, this lady hissed and retorted with a statement that threw women promoters like me off total balance. “Please take your money, don’t go and look for a conductor instead of trying to prove that you can do what only men can do”. Of course, I couldn’t be more dejected when I saw men in the bus trying to educate the lady on why she should encourage this elderly woman who had chosen to remain empowered in the midst of difficulties, all to no avail, the lady would not change her position”.

I left the bus with the total opposite to the initial excitement I felt while entering as I thought about it all; Women against women- the bane of women empowerment in my country.

Reflecting on the situation, a critical look at the different lives of the feminine gender is a testimony to the fact that so many women’s dreams wouldn’t have been quashed just if the balance between envy and appreciation innate in womenfolk themselves has been well positioned. One of such positive stories is the amazing but true story of Olajumoke who was propelled into National and International fame by TY Bello. Imagine if TY Bello had allowed envy to outweigh her appreciation for nature; she would have been annoyed that a common bread seller would look so fine just like a model, but she didn’t, and we all know the result of that singular appreciation of innate beauty. Imagine if a lot of women who are in position in Nigeria today made that extra effort for another woman, it means by the next decade, women vulnerability will be a thing of the past; just if women decided not to be against their fellow women.

As a Public health personnel in the NGO sector, this menace has also reared its ugly head, where mentors who are supposed to help showcase your talents are the very people that will feel intimidated when your work and activities are receiving accolades from notable networks. That may also explain why some women would hide their post graduate endeavors from their bosses, who they believe would not be happy to see them grow up the academic ladder. More observed is the number of women that have had to resign from their jobs due to the growing conflict between satisfying their families and non-concerned female bosses. Although, these are experiences that have been seen in men and women alike, it is expected that when the human relationships is among women, it should be more of supportive and educative rather than discouraging but sadly, this is not the case.

Therefore, in view of the continuous clamor for the bill for women empowerment in Nigeria, I strongly recommend that we start to re-evaluate the stakeholders involved at the different levels; International, National, State, and community levels and examine the holistic contribution of these different stakeholders to the successful establishment of sustainable development through women. More importantly, for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved, there should be identification and deliberation on strategies to engage the different levels of women while engaging them towards a genuine love for women’s growth and empowerment. That way, engaging the male counterparts as a unified voice may better yield the desired results.

This is a clarion call towards being at par with globally aspiring countries; Hilary Clinton of the democratic party in the United States of America just secured her enviable position as the democratic candidate, our dear Sarah Jibril could not even get another vote for her PDP presidential primaries some years back in our dear country with so many women activists. If indeed we are serious about women empowerment, then it is time that the women folk examined herself and chart a new song of unity.

The Right to Health is Human Right.

The human right to health means that everyone has the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, which includes access to all medical services, sanitation, adequate food, decent housing, healthy working conditions, and a clean environment.

What this means is;

The human right to health guarantees a system of health protection for all.

Everyone has the right to the health care they need, and to living conditions that enable them to be healthy, such as adequate food, housing, and a healthy environment.

Health care must be provided as a public good for all, financed publicly and equitably.

The human right to health care means that hospitals, clinics, medicines, and doctors’ services must be accessible, available, acceptable, and of good quality for everyone, on an equitable basis, where and when needed irrespective of location, level of education and socioeconomic status.

 The design of a health care system must be guided by the following key human rights standards and components:

1.     The Right to Appropriate Health Care

The right to healthcare requires the establishment of health facilities, goods and services such as hospitals, doctors and drugs that are of good quality and available to all on an equal basis. These services must be affordable to everyone, the dignity of the people and their diverse needs must be respected and operations must be transparent. And these facilities must provide preventive, curative, palliative and rehabilitative health services, including regular screening programs, appropriate treatment of prevalent diseases and illnesses, injuries, both physical and mental and all necessary medications. Health care institutions and providers in other words must respect dignity, provide culturally appropriate care, be responsive to needs based on gender, age, culture, language, and different ways of life and abilities. They must respect medical ethics and protect confidentiality.

2.     The Right to an Adequate Supply of Water, Food, Nutrition and Housing.

The right to health requires equal access for all underlying determinants of health, such as an adequate supply of food and proper nutrition, safe and potable water, basic sanitation and adequate housing and living conditions. These amenities are not privileges but basic human rights.

3.     The Right to a Healthy Environment and Healthy Working Conditions.

The right to a healthy environment requires ‘’the prevention and reduction of the population’s exposure to harmful substances… or other detrimental environmental conditions that directly or indirectly impact upon human health’’, including the pollution of air, water and soil. The right to safe and healthy working conditions requires the establishment of ‘‘preventive measures in respect of occupational accidents and diseases’’, as well as the minimization of the ‘’causes of health hazards inherent in the working environment’’.

4.     The Right to Maternal, Child and Reproductive Health

The right to health requires special provisions for improving child and maternal health, sexual and reproductive health services as well as the treatment of diseases affecting women, reduction of women’s health risks and protection of women from domestic violence.

5.     The Right to participate in Health-Related Decision-Making.

The Right to health requires the promotion of effective community participation in ‘’setting priorities, making decisions, planning, implementing and evaluating strategies to achieve better health’’.This includes participation in the ‘’provision of preventive health services, such as the organization of the health sector, the insurance system and in particular, participation in political decisions relating to the right to health taken at both the community and national levels’’. Therefore Individuals and communities must be able to take an active role in decisions that affect their health, including in the organization and implementation of health care services.

6.     The Right to Access Health-Related Information.

The Right to access health-related information requires  ‘’the promotion of medical research and health education, as well as information campaigns, in particular with respect to HIV/AIDS and [other sexually transmitted diseases], sexual and reproductive health, traditional practices, domestic violence, the abuse of alcohol and the use of cigarettes, drugs and other harmful substances’’  Health information must be easily accessible for everyone, enabling people to protect their health and claim quality health services. Institutions that organize, finance or deliver health care must operate in a transparent way.

Health Inequality is so unfair and should never have been the case. If the Government of Nigeria beginning with the Federal Ministry of Health takes these rights and components as a goal, Nigeria and all the Nigerian people will experience equity in health irrespective of their socioeconomic status and geographical location. And these should be a huge awakening for Nigerians to their basic right to health.

                                                                                                Uc -Okonmah

References

·       Morbidity and Mortality Weekly, April 27, 2007/56[16];393-397

·       Nutrition Assessment; A Comprehensive Guide for Planning Intervention, 2^nd ed.Margaret D.Simko, Catherine Cowell, Judith A.Gilbride, An Aspen Publication, 2000

Pate: Nigeria’s Most Important Assets Are its People

Former Minister of State for Health, Dr. Muhammad Pate, a public policy expert and a strategic member of the World Economic Forum (WEF) agenda committee, has a passion about improving lives and Nigeria’s public health system. He spoke with Paul Obi about his vision for a better Nigeria, education and how government intervention can be effective. Excerpts:

Since you left office a couple of years ago, there is a foundation which has been linked to you…can you take us through it and your other engagements so far?

The organisation is called Chigari Foundation, its aspiration is to provide world class leadership in supporting communities to implement actions that will positively transform lives and society starting with education, health and bridging the school to work transition for young people in order to ensure that they are actually getting the skills to be employable but also having the opportunity to be employed and contribute to society meaningfully.
It is an indigenous NGO that we formed in 2014 based initially in the North-east part of this country. It is also an effort for us to harness our own resources and the resources of other partners that we can bring together to contribute positively and complement what various governments are doing particularly in the North-east and in Nigeria as a whole. The NGO is currently operating in Sokoto, Kano, Kaduna, Borno, Yobe Bauchi States and the FCT. We are committed as an NGO that connects the local to national as well as global efforts to develop humanity.

What is the philosophy behind this foundation and your projections?

We believe that Nigeria’s most important assets are its people and that in the years to come, it’s not oil that will be the most important resource of this country; rather it is our human capital. All of our people especially our young people in particular but young people have to go through different transitions in order to contribute in the efforts of national development. First they have to survive birth, childhood, vaccine preventable disease, malnutrition, adolescence, and reproductive health to make the right choices so that they don’t get infections like HIV and to avoid things like smoking and ultimately to live healthy lives and good mental health up to adulthood before they can contribute; otherwise at any point in the health transition they could be truncated in terms of their ability to contribute.

The second transition is the learning transition which is starting from reading, writing and counting, illiteracy and literacy and through primary school from one class to the other to primary school to higher tertiary education and ultimately to learn life longer because the day you stop learning even as an adult then you are not making progress anymore. The third transition is called civic transition, helping young people to be responsible sons and daughters, responsible friends in their classes, responsible citizens in their school, responsible team players within the society where they live and ultimately to grow to be responsible leaders and adults. That is a very important transition that helps to build character but also contributes positively to societal development. For us as a non-governmental organisation, we have a very modest objective. If we can get even 200,000 lives within the next three four years that we have touched positively to put them into the education system to create a path for them, that will be fine.

Global figures like Gordon Brown have projected that there are chances of young people being lifted out of ignorance and poverty through education, and that the gap between the rich and the poor would be breached, so how do you find the synergy to achieve that target?

Education is a great equalizer for everyone no matter your background; if you have access to education you can aspire to higher levels. It is unfair for us to deprive those that are being born today the opportunity to get education by virtue of where they are originating from in terms of social status. There are local governments, state governments and the federal government that they are trying to improve the situation even though in some places it is not enough. Our aim is to advocate but also to find willing partners to catalyse innovative ways that might pull some of those kids that are out of school or that have dropped off from school to bring them back into t

he education system by providing accelerated learning opportunities.

If we can contribute to roughly 1,000, 2,000, 50,000 or 100,000 children in the North-east for instance to get back into the education system, we will be satisfied that we have made a meaningful contribution to society and we will continue to do that. But we can also provide technical assistance to the states and other agencies that actually need that or we can convene partnership from the global to the regional and local to make sure that efforts of government or development partners actually succeed. So in essence, we are advocates.

You are from the North-east zone where there are a lot of challenges in terms of security and one critical challenge in this crisis is the number of children out of school…do you have a special intervention in that regard?

Yes, I was in several places including Borno, Maiduguri and Damaturu and also some other parts of the country. If you look at the issue of education in the north east, it’s been an issue even before Boko Haram. The environment within which Boko Haram emerged was one that education system was not functioning; it was collapsing in terms of public education. Most people send their kids to private schools even in those states, so statistics from National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and UNICEF shows that there are millions of children that are out of school in Nigeria, and if you look at them by geo-political zone, North-east has the highest proportion of children out of school. More than 50 per cent of children in the North-east were out of school by 2010 even before escalation of the conflict. Also roughly only about 20 per cent have basic literacy between the age of five and 16 and only about 30 per cent has basic numeracy between the age of five and 16. That means that almost 80 per cent don’t have basic literacy and almost 70 per cent don’t have basic numeracy between five and 16.

If you add the impact of the Boko Haram insurgency with the misplacement of populations, you will realise that there is a huge issue. So in the next couple of months we are going to intervene in at least the three topmost states Borno, Yobe and Bauchi which have the highest proportion of out of school children in the northeast compared to Gombe, Taraba and Adawama. To really ride on the back of the public education system we have identified children that can be exposed to an accelerated curriculum to catch up.

So in the North-east in particular, without dealing with health, education and youth employment issue, the security issue will not just be temporary, it will be there for a long time because the restiveness is likely to continue. But when people are educated, they are empowered, they have skills and they are able to find jobs not necessarily government jobs. They create jobs, they can get employed by the private sector, and then you are preparing the ground for sustainable peace.

QUOTE

“When people are educated, they are empowered, they have skills and they are able to find jobs not necessarily government jobs. They create jobs, they can get employed by the private sector, and then you are preparing the ground for sustainable peace”

Taking a Bold Step against Malaria

With Nigeria having one of the highest burden of malaria scourge in the world, putting over 90 per cent of its population at risk of the disease, Reckitt Benckisers, through its “own a community project” has taken a bold step to change the narrative towards eliminating the menace in the country. Writes Martins Ifijeh

It is no longer news that malaria kills about 482,000 children under age five every year across the globe, which means 1300 children die every day globally due to malaria scourge, with the prevalence not having a significant decline year in year out, as available statistics have proven beyond reasonable doubt. What this implies is that one child dies from malaria every minute.

Available information suggests that of the 627,000 deaths that occur due to malaria, 90 per cent of this figure occur in sub-Sahara Africa, with Nigeria sharing a major chunk of the statistics.

Reports have it that over 200,000 people die yearly in Nigeria from a disease that the World Health Organization (WHO) has stated in its 2013 reports that it was entirely preventable and treatable.

This burden placed on the country by the scourge has birthed various interventions from all levels of government, health bodies, stakeholders and public spirited individuals, through awareness creation on how to prevent the disease, distribution of long lasting insecticide treated nets, among others. But sadly, the interventions have not yielded significant results. Every year hundreds of untimely deaths are been recorded due to malaria.

But in a bid to change the narrative by reducing the scourge to the barest minimum or eliminate it totally from the country, Reckitt Benckisers West Africa, makers of insecticide brand, Mortein, has through a resilient intervention approach made a bold step towards achieving the dream of every Nigerian who is threatened or at risk of the menace.

The approach, tagged ‘own a community project’ intends to make every Nigerian aware, and actively participate in collectively reducing the prevalence of the scourge in the country through deliberate adherence to WHO three core integrated malaria prevention methods, which are cleaning of the environment, use of long lasting insecticide treated nets, and the use insecticides like Mortein.

On its innovative strategy, ‘Mortein own a community project’ provides Mortein insecticide, share long lasting insecticide treated nets and Larvicides to the residents and educated them on malaria prevention methods, and then do a before-and-after study to know how much impact has been made in that particular community.

With the believe that a thousand mile starts with a step, the project, which is billed to cover all urban, rural and hard-to-reach areas in every state in the country, including the Federal Capital Territory, started the intervention from Lagos State, with a particular focus in Kosofe Local Government Area of the State.

With the support of the National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) and the Lagos State Government, this strategy was analysed in Kosofe LGA, with reports suggesting that the project has caused a 55 per cent decrease in malaria cases in children within the six months of the intervention in the local government.

Lending his voice to the project, the Marketing Director, RB, West Africa, Mr. Oguzhan Silivrili, stated that the project was a huge success in the local government, adding that a 55 per cent reduction of malaria cases among children under the age of 10 was achieved through the project.

According to Oguzhan, over half a million (627, 000) people die from malaria each year, with 25 per cent of this figure from Nigeria, mostly among children under the age of five. ‘‘As I speak to you, millions of people are suffering from malaria all over Nigeria and every minute a child reportedly dies from malaria’’, he said.

He added that, “Malaria is not a destiny for Nigerian children, malaria is preventable. We have proved this in Kosofe with a 55 per cent reduction in malaria cases in children in only six months. To replicate the success of the project, we would go from community to community, house to house and mom to mom with the help of grass-root NGOs, to distribute insecticide treated nets and Mortein, as well as educate them on how to protect themselves and their families against Malaria,” he added.

He further stated that the Mortein Own a Community Campaign Research, in partnership with the National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) through the Lagos State Ministry of Health (LSMOH) gives further credence to the three core methods of integrated malaria vector control, and that if Nigerians can adopt and adhere strictly to the recommended measures, we stand a chance at eliminating Malaria in Nigeria.

He said it was unfortunate that despite 97 per cent of Nigerians at risk of the scourge, research still suggests that the citizens have continued to show nonchalance to prevention of the scourge, including the non-use of insecticide treated nets, and use of insecticides like Mortein, hence the need to bring these solutions close to the people so they can take a queue from the approach, adding that it represents a sure way to reduce the scourge in the country.

According to him, Mortein was working on educating and training households in every local government of Lagos State to accomplish a benchmark of 1000 households in a year, including a door-to-door education on how to prevent malaria.

He also added that “the vision is to make sure that by 2030 malaria is eradicated from Nigeria or at best reduced to a very minimal level.

In his presentation at the project commissioning in Kosofe, a Public Health Vector Control Specialist and Head, Malaria Research Programme, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos, Dr. Sam Awolola, who led the project exercise, said the six- month project was to assess the efficacy of the combined interventions of Long Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLINs), Larviciding and Mortein on malaria prevention at select mosquito hot spots in the local government.

He also confirmed that there was a 55 per cent reduction in the cases of malaria amongst children under the age of 10, in homes where all the interventions provided to them were used.

He commended Mortein for its contribution towards the fight against malaria in Nigeria and also stressed that community participation and cooperation were very key to the success of major malaria vector control programmes.

Reiterating Mortein’s commitment to eradicating malaria, Marketing Manager Mortein, Bamigbaiye-Elatuyi Omotola stated that Mortein has been at the forefront of the fight against malaria in Nigeria. “In the past few years, Mortein has partnered with the Federal Ministry of Health through the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), LSMOH and various state ministries of health to foster education on malaria prevention via TV infomercials and at primary healthcare centres .

“We have taken it a step further with the Mortein Own a Community Project and we do not intend to stop in Kosofe only. We intend to implement this all across Nigeria, starting with Lagos state. Mortein is partnering with the Civil Society for Malaria Control, Immunisation and Nutrition (ACOMIN) in Lagos State, and over the next couple of months will replicate the Own a Community Project proven steps to malaria prevention across 20 select grass-root communities in Lagos State,” she said.

Also lending his voice, the Director of the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Lagos, Mr. Ronald Kayanja commended Mortein’s work on malaria prevention in Nigeria. He also stated that initiatives like the Mortein Own a Community Project is supporting the United Nations to achieve a part of goal three (section 3.3) of the sustainable development goals; “To end the epidemic of malaria by 2030”.

In her goodwill message, Advocacy Sensitisation Mobilisation Officer, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Mrs. Akintunde Ibironke, representing the Commissioner for Health, Lagos State, commended Mortein for its work and continuous support in the fight against malaria through its collaboration with the government and innovative solutions. She therefore pledged the Lagos State government’s commitment to work with RB / Mortein to ensure the implementation of this initiative at every local government within the State.

According to experts, malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals, caused by parasitic protozoans (a type of single cell microorganism) of the Plasmodium type. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, fatigue, vomiting and headaches. In severe cases it can cause yellow skin, seizures, coma or death.

RB (Reckitt Benckiser) has been in existence in Nigeria for more than 50 years with popular household brands such as Dettol, Harpic, JIK, Mortein, Durex, Strepsils, Gaviscon and Airwick. RB’s vision is a world where people are healthier and live better lives, with a purpose to make a difference by giving people innovative solutions for healthier lives and happier homes. Over the years, RB Nigeria, has been in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health, the Global Hygiene Council and the Nigerian Medical Association to actively and consistently promote the message of good health and hygiene in Nigeria

Piercing Children with Fake Earrings Cause Loss of Ear”, Firm Warns

Rebecca Ejifoma
An England-based company, Caress Manufacturing, has warned Nigerians and other African countries on the alleged use of fake earrings and piercing kits for new born children that is unsafe to the health.

The company gave this call through its Business Development Manager, Samantha Nicholson, who said that the use of fake piercing kit could cause loss of ear. “Fake earrings are made from brass, which can cause irritation and other skin and ear reaction. Brass can cause an allergic reaction leading to a skin infection.”

According to her, common reactions include: spots, rashes. Adding that the skin might get itchy, dry, irritated and appear red, flakey or scaly. “Nigeria, Ghana, The Gambia, Ivory Coast are the main countries that are prone to this fake product.”

Nicholson spoke further that piercing kits and earrings are to be made from good environment and gold. “The quality of our product is of utmost importance to us. We provide a range of hypo allergenic 24 carat gold plated studs. Our 24 carat gold plated studs are produced in our ISO 9001 accredited UK factory and assembled in a clean air environment.”

She affirmed that the metal they use is medical grade stainless steel with, at least, two microns of gold plate. “We have found out that most fake studs are made with brass with just a flash of gold. Not only is this a health hazard but also the studs will tarnish quickly and won’t last long.”

Sachet Water as a Threat to Public Health

Notions are that water is one medium through which pathogenic organisms are spread. The substantiation is that sachet or packaged water, which is the major means of drinking water in Nigeria, is not exempted of deadly organisms, due to its microbial substance. Unsafe water supply and laughable sanitation are fingered as the cause of over 70 per cent diseases in the developing countries.

Miss Eruchi Chinda, a resident of Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, is fond of drinking chilled sachet water. She later started experiencing symptoms of fever. She visited her doctor and was diagnosed of typhoid fever, caused by Salmonella typhi and related illnesses.

Professor Amobi Ilika, the Director of Community and Public Medicine at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, Anambra State, in March 2013, when in a civic presentation, cautioned that sachet water exposed to heat is capable of exposing the drinkers to cancerous materials. Many won’t listen!

Chinda’s doctor informed her that the typhoid fever is unconnected to drinking impure water. The doctor touched sachet or packaged water as the causative factor, cases of people having diseases like cholera, dysentery, diarrhoea, typhoid fever, and so many others, abound today.

How sachet water gets contaminated
Professor Ilika was of the view that polythene bags made of synthetic petroleum deteriorates water in them, because the polythene bags are weather-susceptible. He averred that some of the sun ray or heat, melt some of the synthetic petroleum into the water. He enthused that the materials that will drop into the water are called carcinogenic. Not only that, the polythene bags also build-up germs and micro organisms.

Chinda’s doctor confirmed that the diseases occur, because of the presence of bacterial features such as Bacillus sp., Pseudomonas sp., Klebsiella sp., Streptococcus sp., and oocysts of Cryptosporidia sp., that have been traced to be present in sachet water.

There are also traces of other microbial pathogens connected with water pollution which include Salmonella, Shigella, Vibrio, Campylobacter, Yersinia, Cryptosporidium and Giardia species, according to the experts, and they are not farfetched in this type of water.

The highlight of this is that vendors of the sachet water are not technically and scientifically grounded on handling and producing sachet water through storage and handling.

Why Nigerians drink sachet water
Water, which is essential to human lives, has recorded immeasurable years of neglect in Nigeria by the successive governments, hence leaving the supply of drinking water in the country in undependable hands of sachet water producers.

The populace loves this brand of water, which comes in sizes ranging from 60 mL to 2 L, due to its portability. However, many citizens are oblivious of the health hazards that it portends. The citizens may not be blamed, since they need ways to douse their urge for water. And it is cheap to purchase a sachet.

But that is not the least. As a viable business in Nigeria, the sellers of sachet water protested in some parts of the country in February 2016, due to the economic downturn that the country experienced. Their anger was that a bag of the product, with habitually 20 sachets that was sold at N100, had skyrocketed for N150.

A sachet that was sold for N10, jumped for N20. The failure to provide safe, pipe-borne water for human consummation by the successive governments, led to the production of sachet water in Nigeria. The governments’ ineptitude geared the sale of such water by individuals, with many of the producers not having in-depth knowledge of producing quality water.

Re-certification of sachet water producers
The authorities, having earful of complaints on the dangers associated to sachet water proposed a bill in the recent past, to ban this type of water in the country. But the bill later bit the dust.

The Director of Special Duties, Mr. Abubakar Jimoh of National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), on February 10 2014, said the agency, in cooperation with the Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control, and the Senate Committee on Health, had put every modality in place towards the re-certification and examining of sachet water producers in the country, with effect from March of the year in quote.

His words were that the agency spurred for the monitoring, because it had newly acquired mobile laboratory kit just like a van, well equipped with latest ultra-modern testing kit. What was intended to be done was for the agency to be moving with the ‘vehicle’ from one factory to another.

That was coming after January,2014, the Federal Ministry of Environment mouthed its plan to phase out light weight non-biodegradable plastics in the country, having collaborated with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), in December 2013, in a workshop, to put Nigerians on notice. Their gesture was that countries like China and South Africa had placed outright ban on light weight plastic bags, likewise some other countries.

Environmental degradation
Sachet water packs are known as major sources of environmental degradation in the country. On June 5, 2013, the authorities made known their plans to ban the use of plastic bags in the country, beginning by January 2014.

The Minister of Environment, Mrs. Hadiza Ibrahim Mailafia, disclosed this then, during the 2013 World Environment Day celebration in Abuja. The statement has not hold water as used sachet packs litre everywhere across the country. In some states of the federation, upon the introduction of waste banks, buy-back programme, to checkmate the nuisance of used sachet packs, orderliness is still elusive.

The country is in a big problem, as synthetic, black bags, polythene bags have crowded the ecosystem, constituting about 70 per cent of Nigeria’s non-biodegradable waste. There are indications that it takes over 20 years for a sachet water bag to get wholly decayed inside the soil.

Its presence decreases the quality of soil texture. The fear among experts is that these bags are in the landscape. And they are not bio-degradable, comprising a pain-in-the-neck. The irony is that the country is in dearth of framework to address the issue.

The wastes block drains, gutters and canals. Not only that, they cause odiferous atmosphere. A new time comer to metropolis and urban centres in the country is greeted with the foul odour. To the residents, the offensive smell has become part of their life. It means nothing to them.

Apart from the foul odour, sachet packs gathered by flood during the rain do not allow easy flow of water, hence causing overflow of erosion into residences. Seeing this, the state governments often introduce levies to residents to help dispose them of their wastes, but this does yield little or no result.

Suggestions on how to get out of the puzzle
Checks revealed that waterborne disease outbreaks can be checkmated by the provision of potable water, which is often regulated to keep public health, owing to the fact that drinking water is an important environmental determinant of health.

In order to rearrange the system, water treatment plants should be provided, such with a capacity over 5,000 m3/d, based on the population. Specialists intoned that poor operation and lack of maintenance that led to the breakdown of the water systems should be reviewed. This will enable the citizens not to rely on unreliable wells, unprocessed water from rivers and streams used in producing sachet water.

Onwumere a poet, writer and consultant, wrote from Port Harcourt

Ending Malnutrition Will Drive Sustainable Development, Says DG NAFDAC

The Acting Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Mrs. Yetunde Oni, has stated that tackling malnutrition effectively in Nigeria will drive sustainable development across the country.

She said the current funding of nutrition intervention was not enough to meet the 2025 World Health Assembly (WHA) targets or the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets of ending malnutrition in all its forms, adding that the concrete action to address malnutrition was being scaled-up by all stakeholders.

Oni, who stated this during the National Consultative Summit on Food Fortification #NigeriaFutureFortified in Lagos, said; “Commitment to and financing nutrition intervention may be ramped-up significantly especially with the recent approval of the National Policy on Food and Nutrition by the Federal Executive Council. The approval of the Policy was made possible as a result of the stewardship of the Honourable Minister for Budget and National Planning.”

According to her, good nutrition signals the realisation of people’s rights to food and health. “It also provides foundation for human development. In a nutshell, good nutrition is an essential driver for sustainable development. When people’s nutrition status improves, it helps break the inter-generational cycle of poverty, generates broad based economic growth and leads to a host of benefits for individuals, families, communities and nations.

“Malnutrition takes many forms: wasting and stunting in children, obesity and nutrition related non-communicable diseases. These effects of malnutrition apply in all countries and one-in-three people on the planet. Nearly half of the populations of all countries face these multiple serious burdens of malnutrition,” she noted.

She stressed that the Agency was not unaware of the fact that there was still high rates of child and maternal mortality in Nigeria which is partly due to malnutrition. “The Nigerian government in collaboration with development partners, in particular, GAIN, UNICEF, Micronutrient Initiative (MI), WHO and a committee of selected experts initiated certain actions and mounted control programmes including Mandatory Food Fortification aimed at addressing the micronutrient deficiency problems in the country,” she explained.

The Battle for Food Safety in Nigeria

Despite the health and food safety industry’s best efforts, food-borne diseases and food recalls are becoming regular occurrences in restaurants and food chains across the country, Adedayo Adejobi writes

Jollof rice, Eba, efo riro, ewedu, edikaikong, white soup, uziza, banga soup, meat and fish, these are just a few of the most familiar dishes in Nigeria, a country renowned for having some of the best cuisines in the world. With fast-growing economy, a burgeoning middle class and complex supply chains, Nigeria faces a growing array of food safety challenges; giving rise to innovative solutions and collaborative initiatives by private sector players like the First HACCP Limited, Lagos and other state governments across the nation.

More than half of all food-borne illness outbreaks in the country are associated with poor food handling by restaurants, banquet facilities, schools and other institutions according to the global Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s Environmental Health Specialists Network Surveillance for Food-borne Disease Outbreak.

It is clear no one is immune to the problem. Fast food chains across the country are hot spots for food outbreaks involving three different food-borne illnesses. In the midst of the crisis, these restaurant’s stock price are daily suffering due to issues ranging from, but not limited to food poisoning, and other food-borne illnesses.

While unsuspecting Nigerians are suffering, and the government turning a blind eye to this growing concern,

A Principal Consultant at First HACCP Lagos, Zainab Akanji is one Nigerian who has stood tall as a crusader in addressing the problem through training and food safety consultancy, offering an all-staff food safety refresher training to the food and health industry.

With this void, Akanji, who is also a United Kingdom certified food safety consultant, and a chartered institute of environment trainer, is fast making a mark in giant strides through plain-language summaries of the study findings and recommendations, setting an agenda for the Nigerian government and the restaurant industry who are daily using these findings to develop effective interventions to improve food safety in restaurants.

Passionately speaking on some of the causes of food-borne illnesses that unsuspecting consumers suffer from cooking practices, she was quick to link E. coli O157:H7 infections to eating in restaurants. From experience, she enthuses that poor beef preparation practices, cross-contamination of other foods, and undercooking can lead to food-borne illness.

From a survey and independent research carried out by her firm, First HACCP Limited, the report found that many restaurants prepared food in ways that could lead to cross contamination or undercooking. For example, in 62 per cent of restaurants where workers used bare hands to handle raw beef, workers did not wash their hands after handling it. And about 80 per cent of managers said that they did not always use a thermometer to make sure that their foods were cooked to the right temperature. This lapse shows the dearth of kitchen managers who are duly certified in food safety.

When quizzed on what the ideal role of the government in handling practices of food-borne illnesses especially with the frequency of inadequate prevention of cooking practices, she said, ‘‘Poultry is the most common food associated with deaths from food-borne illness all over the world. Food-borne illness outbreaks have been associated with fresh produce like poor restaurants’ handling practices, which contribute to food-borne illness outbreaks. The government needs to look at receiving and training restaurant workers, and that is my forte.

“Additionally, for the fear of losing their job, food worker experiences with and beliefs about working while ill with vomiting can transmit germs, diarrhea and food-borne illnesses from themselves to the food they prepare. People who eat that food can then get sick. This is an equally important cause of food-borne illness outbreaks. And so restaurant, food chain operators need to learn more about factors that influence restaurant workers’ decisions to work while sick.”

Drawing inference from the Food Safety Modernisation Act (FSMA), which President Barack Obama signed into law in 2011, ‘‘it was a critical step forward. This Act which addresses the single biggest factor needed for food supply safety success — a focus on proactive strategies to prevent recalls and illness outbreaks. Industry best practices have now been turned into law in America, and it is time that Nigeria works together to make it easy to implement the new regulations,” Akanji enthused.

Through a proactive and preventative control approach, driving a note of advice to the Federal Ministry of Health, she added, ‘‘Nigeria needs to further push towards proactive food safety measures — to extend beyond its traditional reactive role. The Ministry of Health has the power to stop unsafe and possibly contaminated food from entering the food supply, but it is not. To best comply with these requirements, companies need to consider implementing better visualisation, documentation and communication tools that can deliver better insight into food safety processes.”

Disclosing key ways to leverage technology tools based on tenets of the Preventative Controls rule, “the government should seek to analyse the hazard risks, test for preventive controls such as allergen and sanitation controls, keep a watchful eye, hope for the best but plan for the worst, renew its dedication to leveraging the best tools and technologies to support food safety strategies and around the goals and objectives of a proactive food safety programme, and most importantly create testing programmes to ensure controls and corrective actions are effective.

“As most food companies do not have strong HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) plans in place, taking into account food safety hazards which pervade the life of the average Nigerian. Organisations in the food industry need to have immediate access to both current and historical situations at control points to easily see their proximity to each other, as well as to other components,’’ she said.

According to her, most concerns to analysts are the possible outbreaks involving two strains of E. coli, bacteria that can cause severe intestinal cramps, diarrhea and fever.

“The huge cost of those outbreaks would become apparent when it comes as a crisis, necessitating for the government to import new food safety equipment and procedures, testing done to try to determine the cause of the problems and the cost of discarding food, hiring auditors and consultants and training employees in new procedures.

“The dire need to overhaul its food safety regime before it denigrates to such level beneath health and food safety standards, the government has the responsibility of bringing the risk of contamination to near zero.

“Our food-onions, vegetables, fruits, need to be cleaned in a central location and packed in sealed containers, then transported or shipped to individual restaurants. The foods we consume that arrive in the restaurants should ideally be blanched in boiling water to kill microbes, and raw meat should be handled differently,”Akanji told THISDAY.

Giving solution to the poor company policies that hamper the health and safety of consumers,’’ the Federal government must ensure food companies institute a paid sick leave policy, unusual in the fast-food business. Food safety is a key issue for consumers in Nigeria,” says Akanji.

“Over 70 per cent of senior executives who attend our firm’s routine trainings and leaders debate that food safety as being the issue that will have the greatest impact on consumer preference in Nigeria in coming years.”

Akanji explains that the question was posed as part of an opinion poll conducted by a unit of the First HACCP group with the topic of food safety polling considerably higher than other issues, including sustainable sourcing, genetically modified ingredients, health and wellness, and price. In a follow-up question, the audience chose cost of regulation and poor enforcement as the biggest barriers to growth for the food industry in Nigeria, Akanji continues.

“These issues polled higher than things like access to technology, human resource capability, cost of raw materials, and route to market/poor infrastructure,” she says.

Not surprisingly, addressing food safety and harmonisation of regulations feature prominently in my work plans through the year. By serving as the leading industry platform for non-competitive debate in Nigeria, Akanji aims to promote the value of self-regulation and public-private partnership as a cost-effective way of delivering wider benefits to society.“We also believe in harmonised standards, especially in the context of food quality and safety,” the food safety expert noted.

“By harnessing the technical expertise of our food companies, we work with appropriate authorities to accelerate the removal of trade barriers and promote the alignment of standards with international best practice. A key focus of my five-year strategic plan will be accelerating food safety improvements in Nigeria, by scaling up capacity building and providing local trade associations with scientific information, education, and industry best practice,” Akanji said.

When asked on best possible ways to leveraging resources to help local food systems with food safety, she said ‘‘Food safety research and training programmes for local food systems require partnerships between local food entities and groups, universities, and state and federal governments. A good starting point for the training efforts, require collaboration with state health departments that may be contracted as third-party inspectors for stakeholders in the local food marketing chain, such as retail food stores. State departments of agriculture and health could be strong partners with universities in developing and delivering outreach programs related to risk assessment and regulatory compliance for farmers’ markets and food safety programs. Creating a Nigerian Food Safety Inspection Service would be an appropriate starting point for research and training efforts related to meat, poultry, dairy, and egg products not inspected by the health institutions.’’

The impact of food safety standards on processed foods imported and exports in Nigeria cannot be over-emphasised, as practically, there is ample room for Nigeria’s health sector and related food safety policies to tweak the standards to be stronger than necessary to achieve optimal levels of social protection, and to twist the related testing and certification procedures to make Nigeria’s competing products competitive with imports.