Oyo braces up for health challenges from climate
By Sade Oguntola
From left, Prof. Odunayo Oluwatosin of Department
of Surgery, (UCH) and Dr. George O. Tubi of World
Health Organisation, at this year’s World Health Day
celebration by the Federation of African Medical
Student Association. Photo: D’Toyin.
As part of efforts to
tackle health
problems associated with climatic changes, the Oyo state government has said it is repositioning its hospitals to ensure better health for the citizens and implementing an health insurance policy that ensure access to good health care services.
Oyo state Commissioner of Health, Dr. Isaac Owolabi stated this at a programme organised by Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria (HERFON), Oyo state chapter to mark the World health day in the state.
Dr. Owolabi said for several years such events as the Lagos Bar beach surge were pointers to changing climatic conditions in the country adding, several activities like reclamation of the land in the coastal areas could endanger the health of Nigerians.
He expressed the need for health practitioners to be alive to imminent possible dangers of climatic problems such as skin diseases and cancer.
Dr. Muideen Olatunji, the medical officer of health, Afijio Local Government Area, in a lecture on the theme of the World Health day, which is “Protecting health from climate change”, said because of climatic changes , there will be more cases of diseases like malaria and diarrhoea.
He said the threat by the climatic changes would further burden health services and called for establishment of protective health approaches, including promulgating legislation on carbon dioxide release by vehicles and industries.
Dr. Abass Gbolahan, the Chairman, HERFON, a nongovernmental organisation working for better health, said climate sensitive diseases such as diarrhoea, malaria and protein-energy malnutrition had already caused more than 3 million deaths worldwide.
He pointed out that climatic changes threatened to reverse progress in fighting diseases of poverty and to widen the gaps in health outcomes between the rich and the poor.
Don raises concern on dearth of medical specialists
By Seye Adeniyi
IT is a well known fact that there are many
problems confronting the health care system of the country, however, an expert in medicine have traced one of such problems to insufficient hands and expertise in some areas of practice of medicine like neurosurgery.
A professor of neurosurgery, Samuel Ohaegbulam, made this observation while speaking as a guest lecturer at the 13th Latunde Odeku’s memorial lecture, an annual event for the late first Black — African neurosurgeon organised by his friends and associates, at the Paul Hendrickse Lecture Theatre, College of Medicine, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, last week.
Prof. Ohaegbulam stated that though there are serious problems militating against the development of our health sector, there is a serious problem in the area of neurosurgery training and practices in Nigeria as this aspect of medicine is experiencing an unprecedented shortage of personnel and expertise due to many factors.
The chairman and founder of the Memtys Hospital for Neurosurgery, Enugu, said the practice of neurosurgery in Nigeria is at its peak of crisis as there remains only few hands in the profession. He said it was high time for a serious sober reflection and not a funfair in Nigeria health care sector if we don’t want to experience total collapse of this important aspect of medicine.
“The standard by international medical body and World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendation of neurosurgeons globally are not met by many developed nations of the world.
“Nigeria, however, cannot claim to be near such a recommendation, not to talk of having necessary and required equipment and facilities even in many well known teaching hospitals across the nation. This is a thing of concern and a big threat to an ideal health care practices in the country,” he lamented.
