Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, has called for a multidisciplinary effort to solve the growing road crashes in the Federal Capital Territory.

Aliyu, who made the call at the flag-off ceremony of the strategic collaborative campaign against reckless driving tagged, “Away With One Way Violation of Traffic: The Evils of Reckless Driving” decried a situation where the nation’s capital is ranked 2nd position on the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Statistical Digest for the 1st quarter of 2021 Road Traffic Accidents.

The Minister who was represented by the Acting Secretary of FCT PHC Board, Dr. Iwot Ndaeyo made reference to Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said that there are many facets that cause causes for road crashes in the FCT (2nd quarter 2020) as she regretted the loss of many lives with many more lives reduced by disability as a result of road haulage crashes.

She stressed the requirement to work together on multiple elements to address the problems of road crashes.

Her words, “As with other human challenges with multifactorial causation, multi-disciplinary efforts would be needed to address it. This will include multi stakeholder collaboration in public enlightenment, mass mobilisation and awareness creation, redoubling of the efforts of the relevant government agencies and parastatals, and renewed commitment of the relevant officers in their assigned responsibilities.”  

She commended the chief convener of the coalition of partners, the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) for strategically converting what would have just ended a one day mourning for their deceased member, Dr. Ibrahim Muhammad Ibrahim, to a project that would deliver public good and safety, she however said the Administration was not only concerned, but committed in ridding the FCT of drug abuse which fuels road crashes.  

She added; “In the next few days, I will be convening a roundtable on the modalities for sustaining this project especially as the end of year festivities unfold. Let me also use this opportunity to appeal to all the residents of the FCT to be their brother’s and sister’s keepers; a good Samaritan that will assist in rescuing and evacuating the distressed and dying victims of road crashes before they bleed to death.  

“I most heartily appeal to all those who have the ungodly hobby of video-recording fellow citizens in pains and pangs from the injuries sustained during crashes and upload such horrible sights unto social media platforms instead of assisting them to desist from this act. Please treat others exactly how you’ll love to be treated.  

“We are counting on the NURTW to imbibe behavioral change while the relevant road traffic management agencies continue to give their all for better results.  

Similarly, the Chairman FCT Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) , Dr. Job Amodu, decried the wave of one way violation of traffic and evil of reckless driving in the nation’s capital, even as he pledged to sustain the campaign.  

He hinted that :”Earlier this year, we heard the rude shock of our senior colleague of the class of 89 of the Ahmadu Bello University, Dr. Ibrahim Muhammad Ibrahim, who was driving on a Sunday afternoon, unfortunately for him, a careless driver who thought the road was free and decided to engage in driving against traffic caused the unfortunate loss of the deceased.  

“We decided to take this campaign to another level by gathering  ourselves and remind ourselves of the dangers associated with reckless driving because a lot of people said FCT roads are very good, and as a result a lot of drivers have mismanaged the roads. So we are here today to call ourselves to order and put measures in place to sustain this campaign”.  

He, however, warned that until all stakeholders start working the talk, making so many arrest and making people to pay for traffic offences, Nigerians will not stop violating traffic rules.  

Meanwhile, the SSA to NURTW President on Inter Government and International Affairs, Suleiman Danzaki said 95 per cent of drivers are not licensed.

While adding that, if I should examined people present here today, 80 per cent will fail.

He, however, advocated that government revert back to 1979 system of issuing licences where drivers go through nine months of learning process before before going to VIO.

Dr. Obi Adigwe, Director General of the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Success (NIPRD) has hinted that partnership is important to the development of Nigeria’s health business.

He gave this hint while replying to press inquiries at the Institute’s formal presentation of its 5-year Strategic Plan in Abuja.

The Institute’s second Strategic Plan aims to help NIPRD fulfill its purpose of becoming a center of excellence for research and development (R&D) of phytomedicines, pharmaceuticals, and biological products.

While emphasizing the importance of collaboration and partnership in the health sector, Adigwe stated that the 5-year Strategic Plan was developed with technical and financial assistance from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners.

According to him : “In the three years, NIPRD has partnered with governments and agencies across the world, including India, USA, South Africa, UK, Russia, Cuba, Ghana and Canada. That is why we have experience tremendous growth and achieve the milestone successes we recorded in the past three years since our management came board.

”The Strategic Plan will enable us to remain focused on our key mandate to improving the health status of Nigerian through quality research and development in the area of phytomedicines and other pharmaceutical products.”

Findings by our Correspondent, however, indicated that since he became the DG of NIPRD, Adigwe, has initiated and led engagement initiatives with over 70 entities in a bid to improve government’s effectiveness in achieving multi-sectoral development objectives using systems approach.

He explained that the Strategic Plan was developed through a bottom-up approach, followed by various relevant institutional and stakeholders’ consultations and engagements.

According to him, a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) plan for the tracking, analysis, collation, storage and reporting on the implementation updates of the plan for decision making was also developed alongside relevant stakeholders.

The NIPRD Director General further disclosed that the plan which aligns with the vision of the second National Strategic Health Development Plan (NSHDP II 2021 -2025) and the Medium-Term National Development Plan (MTNDP 2021-2025) of the Federal Government of Nigeria proposes four strategic pillars.

The four pillars, he said, include optimization of the Institute’ capacity, optimization of NIPRD’s functions, health emergency preparedness and response and; health, pharmaceutical systems strengthening.

The Federal Government through its ministry of Health has identified seven barriers hindering its mandatory goal to eliminate mother – to – child transmission of HIV (e-MTCT) and Zero new HIV infections in the country

The Assistant Director, National PMTCT Lead National AIDS and STIs Control Program (NASCP) of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Ijaodola Olugbenga made this known on Tuesday at a workshop organised by the Child Rights Information Bureau (CRIB) of the Federal Ministry of information and culture in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Calabar.

The gaps, according to Dr. Olugbenga include: Poor access to the formal public health sector; The challenge of having a comprehensive data reporting system; Ineligible improvement in Antenatal and facility delivery uptake; and low Pediatric HIV case identification as well as poor linkage to care and Treatment for children living with HIV.

He added that Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT) services at present reaches only about one third of pregnant women in Nigeria while many states are yet to respond to the provision of adequate funding for HIV programmatic activities including PMTCT.

Olugbenga ,however, said in a bid to close up the gaps, the government has rolled at a work plan which is targeting at least 95 per cent of all HIV positive person to receive antiretroviral therapy.

Saying, ” The National Strategic Plan (NSP), 95% of all HIV positive pregnant and breastfeeding mothers receive antiretroviral therapy.

” 95% of all HIV-exposed infants receive antiretroviral prophylaxis; 95% of all HIV-exposed infants have early infant diagnosis within 6-8 weeks of Birth.

” The WHO EMTCT Target (“yellow book”) 95% ANC Coverage 95% Testing Coverage for pregnant women 95% PMTCT Coverage”.

He,therefore, advocated for the need to develop state specific realistic approach to improve antenatal(ANC) , ANC Testing and PMTCT Coverage.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has lamented governments’ inability to provide mental health treatment to individuals all around the world, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when they were most in need.

According to the latest edition of the Mental Health Atlas, which was released on Friday and painted a dismal picture of mental health around the world, most 2020 mental health targets have been missed, and the extension of the WHO Mental Health Action Plan to 2030 provides new opportunities for progress.

Despite increased attention to mental health in recent years, quality mental services that are aligned with needs have yet to be scaled up, according to the report.

The latest edition of the Atlas, which includes data from 171 countries, provides a clear indication that the increased attention given to mental health in recent years has yet to result in a scale-up of quality mental services that are aligned with needs, according to a recent report released by WHO and made available to newsmen in Abuja.

The Atlas is a compilation of data provided by countries around the world on mental health policies, legislation, financing, human resources, availability and utilization of services, and data collection systems. It is published every three years.

It also serves as a framework for tracking progress toward the WHO’s Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan’s goals.

Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “It is extremely concerning that, despite the evident and increasing need for mental health services, which has become even more acute during the COVID-19 pandemic, good intentions are not being met with investment.

“We must heed and act on this wake-up call and dramatically accelerate the scale-up of investment in mental health, because there is no health without mental health.”

His words : “None of the targets for effective leadership and governance for mental health, provision of mental health services in community-based settings, mental health promotion and prevention, and strengthening of information systems, were close to being achieved.

“In 2020, just 51% of WHO’s 194 Member States reported that their mental health policy or plan was in line with international and regional human rights instruments, way short of the 80% target. And only 52% of countries met the target relating to mental health promotion and prevention programmes, also well below the 80% target. The only 2020 target met was a reduction in the rate of suicide by 10%, but even then, only 35 countries said they had a stand-alone prevention strategy, policy or plan.

“Steady progress was evident, however, in the adoption of mental health policies, plans and laws, as well as in improvements in capacity to report on a set of core mental health indicators. However, the percentage of government health budgets spent on mental health has scarcely changed during the last years, still hovering around 2%. Moreover, even when policies and plans included estimates of required human and financial resources, just 39% of responding countries indicated that the necessary human resources had been allocated and 34% that the required financial resources had been provided”.

He noted that transfer of care to the community is slow, saying, “While the systematic decentralization of mental health care to community settings has long been recommended by WHO, only 25% of responding countries met all the criteria for integration of mental health into primary care. While progress has been made in training and supervision in most countries, the supply of medicines for mental health conditions and psychosocial care in primary health-care services remains limited.

“This is also reflected in the way that government funds to mental health are allocated, highlighting the urgent need for deinstitutionalization. More than 70% of total government expenditure on mental health was allocated to mental hospitals in middle-income countries, compared with 35% in high-income countries. This indicates that centralized mental hospitals and institutional inpatient care still receive more funds than services provided in general hospitals and primary health-care centres in many countries. 

“There was, however, an increase in the percentage of countries reporting that treatment of people with specific mental health conditions (psychosis, bipolar disorder and depression) is included in national health insurance or reimbursement schemes – from 73% in 2017 to 80% (or 55% of Member States) in 2020.
Global estimates of people receiving care for specific mental health conditions (used as a proxy for mental health care as a whole) remained less than 50%, with a global median of 40% of people with depression and just 29% of people with psychosis receiving care.”

Ghebreyesus said the increase in mental health promotion, but effectiveness questionable. “More encouraging was the increase in countries reporting mental health promotion and prevention programmes, from 41% of Member States in 2014 to 52% in 2020. However, 31% of total reported programmes did not have dedicated human and financial resources, 27% did not have a defined plan, and 39% had no documented evidence of progress and/or impact.”

He, however, noted that there us a slight increase in the mental health workforce. “The global median number of mental health workers per 100 000 population has increased slightly from nine workers in 2014 to 13 workers per 100 000 population in 2020. However, there was a very high variation between countries of different income levels, with the number of mental health workers in high-income countries more than 40 times higher than in low-income countries.”

Speaking on the new targets for 2030, he said the global targets reported on in the Mental Health Atlas are from WHO’s Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan, which contained targets for 2020 endorsed by the World Health Assembly in 2013. This Plan has now been extended to 2030 and includes new targets for the inclusion of mental health and psychosocial support in emergency preparedness plans, the integration of mental health into primary health care, and research on mental health.

“The new data from the Mental Health Atlas shows us that we still have a very long way to go in making sure that everyone, everywhere, has access to quality mental health care,” said Dévora Kestel, Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Use at WHO. “But I am encouraged by the renewed vigour that we saw from governments as the new targets for 2030 were discussed and agreed and am confident that together we can do what is necessary to move from baby steps to giant leaps forward in the next 10 years