‘Why state governments should imbibe telemedicine’

By Sade Oguntola

 

President Umaru Yar’AduaWith the introduction of the mobile telemedicine van in Ibadan suburbs to offer tertiary healthcare at the grassroots, Dr. Temitope Alonge, the UCH coordinator of the project has said that this Federal government initiative should be replicated by state governments to ensure that tertiary healthcare needs of the rural dwellers can be met.

Speaking at the University College Hospital (UCH) Primary Health care post, Abedo in Akinyele Local Government, the first point of call of the mobile telemedicine van, Dr. Alonge said, “this is a Federal Government investment. It had led the way by providing the bus as a trial run and subsequently we are praying the state governments to take over the challenge of providing this kind of buses to ensure the whole idea lives for ever.”

Dr. Longe stated that the essence of a telemedicine was not to present it as a clinic that can be run as other clinics,” but one that can serve as a backup in case there are cases that the experts on ground need another expert’s opinion to diagnose appropriately.” “Those ones that we are not sure of the diagnosis, we can get an expert opinion. They will come to the telemedicine room. In the van, we will examine them and send the images across to the experts to help us out and if we need to share information, assuming the case is an interesting one, we can also share the information.”

He stressed that basically telemedicine was more of the use of telecommunication devises to try to offer information and manage patients in the remote areas, adding that “what we are providing is a tertiary care at the primary health care centre because the experts are from tertiary institutions and we are bringing expertise to this level.” Dr. Alonge assured that even such patients might not need to come to UCH to know the result of the findings as they will be traced and told if they need an expert care.

“We have a follow- up team that includes public health nurses and community physician who will come and visit them and offer care,” he said. He said private clinics can register in order be able to teleconference to UCH on health problems they are treating because the project can provide data on prevalent diseases in different communities, however, he stated that several challenges before the telemedicine project included availability of a national data on experts that could be consulted for different diseases. At the occasion over 20 patients were attended to in the van that had three medical doctors and many public health nurses.

Problems of bird flu not yet over- Expert

By Seye Adeniyi

 

MEMBERS of the public have been reminded to be careful on the types of poultry product they buy and eat as well as be conscious of the fact that eating partially cooked poultry products, especially poultry meat, could predispose them to certain diseases especially respiratory disease which is very synonymous to Avian Influenza popularly referred to as bird flu.

This was the main advice given by public health practitioners, medical doctors, Avian Influenza Control experts, pharmaceutical workers as well as social and nutritional experts who gave lectures on different topics during a one-day clinical programme tagged: “Avian Influenza Control and Response,” organised by the Epidemiology/Research/Training and Ethical Review Committee (ERTER), held at the auditorium of the Ring Road State Specialist Hospital, Adeoyo, Ibadan last week.

Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Wale Olanrewaju, the Oyo State project desk officer of the Avian Influenza Control and Human Pandemic Preparedness and Response Project of the Oyo State Ministry of Health, Ibadan, stated that people should not be too relaxed to the extent that they would just be eating any poultry product they could lay their hands on, adding that members of the public should realise the fact that Avian flu is still very much with us, although much has been done to curtail its spread.

The public health practitioner said to be on the safe side and to keep the viral disease at distance, people should not touch sick or dead poultry (birds) neither should they entertain sick birds in their surroundings or homes.

He also cautioned those who are in the habit of eating partially boiled or partially cooked poultry meat to stop doing so as this practice can expose them to diseases.

3m Nigerians will die of AIDS by 2010

Muda Oyeniran, Lagos

 

A coalition of civil society organisations in the fight against HIV/AIDS has estimated that 3million Nigerians would have died of the disease by 2010. According to them, the current situation of people living with the disease in the country was most unfavourable.

For example the coalition comprising Treatment Action Movement (TAM), ActionAid International, Civil Society for HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (CISHAN), Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS), National Youth Network on HIV/AIDS (NYNETHA) and Nigeria HIV Vaccine and Microbicides Advocacy Society (NHVMAG) estimated that 1million Nigerians were in immediate need of antiretroviral therapy (ARV) adding that most treatment centres remained concentrated in the urban areas with patients in the rural areas having to travel long distances at great risk to access care.

Quoting UNAIDS report, they revealed that between 1.7 and 4.2 million Nigerians were HIV positive and between 0.5 and 1.3million children had been orphaned by AIDS. They also stated that stigma and discrimination remained a great killer of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) just as tuberculosis constituted the single biggest killer of PLWHA.

The organisations in a statement made available to the Nigerian Tribune as part of the activities to mark this year’s Global AIDS Week of Action and Candlelight Memorial in Lagos urged the federal government to keep its promise of ensuring that the country met the target of Universal Access on prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010.

They appealed to the government to provide free comprehensive care for all people living with HIV/AIDS in the country including treatment literacy, ARVs, all drugs for opportunistic infections, laboratory diagnosis and monitoring, adherence counselling and psychological support.