Ebola outbreak is a 'threat' to UK says Philip Hammond, as Government calls emergency Cobra meeting in response to deadly virus

The Government is to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the “threat” to the UK from the Ebola virus, the Foreign Secretary has said.

Philip Hammond said he would chair the meeting of the Cobra committee, which will begin coordinating Britain’s response to the spread of a disease that has killed more than 670 people in West Africa.


It comes after Public Health England’s global health chief told The Independent that officials have been briefing doctors, Government bodies and the UK Border Agency on what to do if Ebola arrives in Britain.

Fears of a global outbreak were raised last week after a man exhibiting signs of the disease was allowed to leave Liberia on a flight to the international travel hub of Lagos, Nigeria, where he later died.


Mr Hammond told BBC News: “At the moment we don't think any British nationals [abroad] are affected and we are fairly confident there are no cases in the UK.“But it is a threat, it is something we need to respond to and we will be doing so through the Cobra mechanism.”

Meanwhile, in an indication that Public Health England’s advice is now being acted upon, a man in the UK has been tested for the Ebola virus, according to the Mail.

The man was isolated and subjected to a number of tests at a hospital in Birmingham after becoming “feverish”.

He had been travelling from Benin City in Nigeria, via Paris, and became unwell on Monday.

The man has since been given the all-clear, but the episode shows just how seriously the warnings from Public Health England are being taken.

Dr Brian McCloskey, the director of global health at the agency, told The Independentthat Ebola represents the most “acute health emergency” currently facing Britain.

“When these things start to escalate we work with everybody to ensure they are aware of what needs to happen,” he said.

All doctors in the UK have been told to look out for patients exhibiting the early symptoms of the Ebola disease, which include fever, headaches, joint and muscle pain and lack of appetite, particularly if they have a history of travel in West Africa.

The disease has up to a 90 per cent fatality rate in some cases, and later symptoms include vomiting, diahhorea, a rash and bleeding from the eyes, nose and mouth.

UK Doctors have been told to contact a national team of infectious disease experts if they suspect cases – who then advise on whether further action or tests are needed

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/ebola-virus-is-a-threat-to-uk-says-philip-hammond-as-government-calls-emergency-cobra-meeting-in-response-to-deadly-disease-9636789.html

FG to ban NMA, JOHESU over incessant strikes

FG to ban NMA, JOHESU over incessant strikes


Miffed by recurring industrial actions in the health sector, the Federal Government may be considering the options of either proscribing the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) or privatizing all public health institutions.


A senior government official, Wednesday, in Abuja told The Nigerian Times that President Goodluck Jonathan is presently being advised on what to do in the situation, as the Federal Government is caught in the middleof the inter-union rivalry between the NMA and JOHESU that leaves many Nigerians without health care as often as they go on strike.

The NMA embarked on an indefinite strike action since July 1st, demanding among 24 things the payment of N13 billion wage demands for 2014, reserving the position of Chief Medical director toonly medical doctors, appointment of Surgeon General of the Federation, passage of National Health Bill, providing security for doctors, increase in duty hazard and specialist allowances, as well as budget for residency training programme, reintegration of its members into the IPPIS platform, and reserving the title of consultants to only medical doctors.


The government officer revealed to The Nigerian Times that while government is negotiating with the medical doctors to return to work immediately and agreeing on manyof the terms, JOHESU has written tothe Ministry of Health of its plan to embark on another strike action in the event that government concedes to the demands of the doctors.

He said: “We cannot continue like this. NMA today, JOHESU tomorrow, and it has become a cat and mouse game. No responsible government will allow its employees hold it to ransom especially in a peculiar case like this.


“In the event that the Federal Government tows this course of action, the military will be deployed to guard the medical institutions with military and para-military medical professionals rendering services in the mean time...

“Then the ‘no work no pay’ principle will be enforced, doctors who are interested will be protected to resume duties while new ones will be employed to take their place.”


In a related development, Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Health Ndudi Elumelu, who also is a medical doctor, has given a hint that his Committee will be recommending the privatization of medical centres and hospitals maintained by government.He made this disclosure at the third reconciliatory meeting between theNMA, Health Ministry and the Finance Ministry his committee convened on July 22.

Elumelu called for alternative ways of funding the country’s health sector which according to him has been paralysed by incessant strikes.

Also, the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) has described the ongoing nationwide strike by the NMA as selfish, unethical and illegal, alleging that the strike was awell calculated and orchestrated plan by the doctors to divert patients to their private clinics to milk them of their hard earned resources.

In a statement by the Secretary General of NANNM, Yusuf Badmus,on Sunday in Abuja, the union advised the Federal Government to“stop all government employed doctors from establishing private clinics while still in government employment, for the benefit of the citizens of this nation.”

“They should be called to order because their incessant strike is a gimmick to further divert innocent patients to their private clinics, where they (the doctors) stand to benefit.

“The government should have a rethink on the undue attention they give them and do what is right.

“The government should revert to the era when administrators administered the hospitals/health facilities while health professionals,including doctors do their professional duties that they are being paid for.

“The difference should be entry/exit points and professional/peculiar allowances of the different cadres of workers.

“This will go a long way towards checking and preventing unhealthy rivalry and end the incessant strike action, which leaves the innocent patient to suffer,” Badmus stated.

In an interview granted by the NMA President, Kayode Obembe, he said everybody should know that medical doctors in Nigeria are also human beings with blood, bones and flesh and as a result, they actually feel bad that the association should degenerate to such a condition.

According to Obembe, the doctors do not want to take the lives of the Nigerian citizens for a ride and as aresult of that efforts are being made to make sure that hospital services are restored.

He said: “One thing I want to make clear is that we were also pushed to the wall before we had to go to this length. And some of the things we are talking about now, we have been discussing for years, and they are coming up again. I want to emphasise this: as far as this strike is concerned, the earlier the government listens to us and we restore services, the better for all of us.


“What I can say is that some of the demands we are making will actually forestall any (possible) industrial action in the future, if the government goes by our plan. Most of the demands that we are makingare based on the question of relativity.

“Relativity actually implies that if you make any adjustment in the salary of any member of the healthsector, doctors are not going on strike to make their own demands again. They should just use it (the relativity formula) to calculate that of a doctor. This is also what is happening overseas.


In the United Kingdom, the salaries and remunerations of doctors are automatically adjusted, if there is inflation.

“Consequently, the demands we are making, if government approves, is that there will no longer be industrial action on the basis of remuneration. But then, that is if government keeps its own side of the bargain.

“In the same vein, most of the things we are asking for are things that have, in fact, existed before. Accordingly, if they restore to status quo what has always existed in teaching hospitals, we have no contention with going back to work.

For example, teaching hospitals have always been known to have consultants. If government restoreswhat has been happening before, we can’t go on strike on that. In view of all this, I can say that if government keeps its own side of the bargain, there will be no strike in the foreseeable future. But here is the proviso: they must keep their own side of the bargain.

”Concerning the rivalry between medical doctors and other health workers Obembe said: “We are not fighting over superiority. And nobody is contending over our superiority. That’s not the language.We’ve always expressed this to the public: all the issues of superiority, leadership and harmony, in fact, don’t exist.


“It is some people fabricating that. All we have in the health sector arepeople who have been trained to do certain jobs. For example, as a medical doctor, one can receive training as a gynaecologist, obstetrician, radiologist and others. I cannot go and do the work of a nurse, or a medical laboratory scientist.

“It is not a question of superiority. It is not a question of one being bigger than the other. Therefore, everybody needs to work according to his profession and according to what he’s been trained for.

We’re not attaching any priority or superiority and nobody is challenging us about our superiority – our leadership. There is nobody we’re referring to as being inferior;there’s no inferiority complex we’re ascribing to anybody.

“The structure of the health sector can simply be illustrated as having doctors andnon-doctors; or you can say medical and non-medical workers. You can also refer tothe non-medical personnel as allied healthworkers.

“Occasionally, the non-medical professionals are referred to as paramedics or allied medical workers or allied health professionals. That’s basicallythe structure; that’s how the hospital operates.

“The medical personnel are those made up of doctors and are trained according to the medical school curriculum; they can become consultants on that line. The non-medical workforce, which include the nurses, pharmacists, medical laboratory scientists, and others who are working in the hospital, are all in the allied professions. That’s the simple way of explaining the structure to outsiders."

Source: The Nigerian Time

Nursing Council Registrar to NUC: Why Should Registered Nurses Have to Spend Four Years in Universities for BNSc

The Executive secretary, National universities commison professor Julius Okojie OON, has urged the Nursing and midwifey council of Nigeria to conduct a needs assessment to determine the number of nurses required in the nations health care system to enable the council know how many nurses must be produced and avoid over producing nurses who would not be relevant.

Welcoming a delegation of the N&MCN, the executive secretary commended the N&MCN and said it was one of the most diligent professional bodies in the country and encouraged its members to keep up the good work.Prof Okojie also advised the council to review its journal for the purpose of upgrading it to meet international standards.

In his response, the chairman of the board of N&MCN, Alhaji Mustapha Jumare, thanked the executive secretary, for the cordial working relationship that existed between the NUC and the N&MCN, which hes said had assisted in guiding the council in taking decisions that bordered on the professional regualation of Nursing and midwifery education in the departments of nursing in nigeria universities.

The chairman highlighted some issues that needed to be addressed by the NUC on university based nursing educatioin.

The registrar of N&MCN Mrs Eunice Azuike said in her remarks that a laarge number of nurses had been admitted into the nursing program of the NOUN and that the BNSCc had not been implemented. She pleaded tht the NOUN should be assisted by the NUC to implement the program so that there would be no discrimination between graudates of the program and those of conventional universities and also to forestall the frustration of the nurses who chose this university because of its mode of education. She said that since the NUC had not accrediterd the program, the council could not conduct its accreditation.

Mrs Azuike said that the council was strongly advocating the consideration of an Abridged bachelor of nursing science degree program for registered nurses as was the practice globally, adding that the nursing education at the level of the hospital based schools of nursing was very rich in content, both theoretically and practically, and that there were many postbasic programs designed for nurses who had acquired the basic nursing education to further enhance their academic and professional knowledge, skills and competence in unique nursing specialties.

The registrar said that the nursing education in the hospital based schools of nursing in nigeria was bequeathed to nigeria by the british colonial masters inline with what was operational in Britain and that the system of nursing education had produced registered nurses who competed favourably with their counterparts all over the world.Mrs Azuike however, said the N&MCN wanted to know why registerd nurses had to spend up to four years in the university before they could acquire a certificate.


The registrar further said that only three departments of nursing in the nigeria university systerm offered post graduate programs in nurisng and that this number was grossly inadequate , adding however, that the council was aware that most universities were being careful due to lack of adequate manpower, particularly qualified academic staff.

Mrs Azuike also added that the council was willing to work with the NUC in order to evolve modalities that would assist in re-solving this perennial constraint of inadequate manpower through collaborations, linkages and networking. She recounted how the council in collaboration with the NUC had developed curricula on post basic diploma in nursing PGDN and post graduate diploma in nursing education PGDNE and that these had been incorporated into the NUC benchmark minimum acadmic standards (BMAS) for post graduate education in nigeria.


The registrar disclosed that the federal minister of health had approved the internship program for nurses but that the scheme was not captured in the curriculum of the BNSc degree program and appealed to NUC to fully incorporate it in the next review of the BNSc degree program.

Responding to some of the issues raised by the council, the director, office of the executive secretary, Dr Gidado Kumo said that the refusal by the NUC to allow students to graduate in the NOUN was due to the non compliance with the content of the curriculum, particulary in anatomy, physiology and biochemistry.

Dr kumo said that some of the council members who at that time were also students of NOUN argued that since they were practising nurses and were already indexed they did not need to offer those three courses, while the argument in NUC was that to acquire a B.Sc at least 12 credits of anatomy, physionlogy and biochemistry were required.

The director went on to say that NUC had no objection to the internship program, if the council felt it was necessary for its training. He however said the implication of this was the entry point for graduating nurses into the civil service must be reviewed, especially those joining the service for the first time, and that the issue was not solely dependeant on NUC alone.

He therefore urged them to go through the office of the head of service to ensure that the issue of entry requriement was addressed and then write back to the NUC so that it could be incorporated into the bench mark to enalbl students do the internship after this program.

The director of open and distance learning NUC Dr Suleiman Ramon yusuf said that the nursing program in the NOUN was faulty, poorly conceived , hurriedly executed and that it created a lot of problems in the university system. Dr Ramon yusuf said tht the bachelor of nursing science degree program of the national open university of nigeria and an abridged BNSc program for registered nurses were not accredited by the council. He added tht an update on the internship of nurses needed to be indicated in their curricullum as they were just implementing the program.


In a vote of thanks, a member of the delegation and council member, Mrs Adenike Olaogun, thanked the executive secretary, NUC for the opportunity to interact with them pledging that the council would work hand in hand with the NUC to make the nursing program better.

Source: Nursing world

Nurses fault doctors strike

Nurses in the country have condemned the ongoing strke by the medical doctors.They urged government to stop all doctors on it’s pay roll from establishing private clinics.

Besides, the nurses under tbe umbrella of National Association of Nigeria Nurses andMidwives (NANNM) also condemned what it described unethical behavior or practice of Medical Practitioners whereby in-patients are compulsory discharged against their wish whenever Nigeria Medical Association calls for industrial action.

The Nurses in a statement issued on Sunday and made available to newsmen inAbuja expressed displeasure over the strike, stressing that NMA always wants to make it appear that the patients left the hospital because doctors are on strike.

The statement which was signed by Mr. Yusuf-Badmus, General Secretary, NANNM stressed that, “the public at large must be made to know that most in-patients are in the hospital for comprehensive healthcare (physical and psychological) and are being taken care of by the nurses and other health professionals, except those that have been booked for surgical procedures or surgical operation.”

The medical practitioner therefore, has no moral nor ethical justification to compulsorily force them (in-patients) out of the hospital to make the hospital empty because doctors are on strike.”

He explained further that “Ante natal care, deliveries and post natal cares are handled by skilled nurses or midwives even where we have or do not have medical practitioners. Most hospitals or health facilities in Nigeria are run today without medical practitioners especially in the ruralor semi urban areas where the medical practitioners have distained and refused towork.“



The public are therefore encouraged to attend and patronize the hospitals because other health professionals such as skill midwives, the accident and emergency (A& E) Nurses, intensive care nurses, orthopedic nurses pediatric nurses etc. including the medical laboratory scientists, medical record officers, the radiographers the physiotherapists and pharmacists etc are on ground to attend to their health needs.”

He further stated, “All government health workers should have a unified salary scales. Difference should be entry/exit points and professional/peculiar allowances of the different cadres of workers. This will go a long way in checking.and prevent unhealthy rivalry and end to the incessant strike action, that leaves the innocent patient to suffer.”

Source: The Nation

Lagos okays six month maternity leave

The Lagos State Government has introduced a 10-day paternity leave for male civil servants and extended maternity leave for female worker to six months.


Speaking at a joint press conference at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, Alausa, the state Head of Service, Mrs Josephine Williams, said the new leave regime was meant to reduce the negative implication of the extensive work life of parents, who are civil servants in the state.


She said, “A female officer shall be entitled to twenty-four weeks maternity leave with full pay in case of her first two deliveries.

The said leave shall commence, at least two weeks before the expected delivery date; a male officer, to who a new baby (or babies in case of multiple births) is born shall be entitled to 10 working days.”


Williams added that subsequent deliveries by any employees would attract only 12 weeks maternity leave for the female officer, while the male officer would not be entitled to the 10-day leave.The Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Health, Dr. Yewande Adeshina, said the six-month leave would enable the nursing female public servants to implement the recommended six months exclusive breast feeding.

“At six months or 24 weeks, a baby is considered strong enough to be left in decent crèche for proper care having gone through close affection and nurturing by mother,” she said.

Source: Punch Newspaper.