Health

The World Health Organization (WHO) is set to certify on Tuesday that the African continent is free from wild polio, four years after the last cases appeared in northeastern Nigeria. “Thanks to the relentless efforts by governments, donors, frontline health workers and communities, up to 1.8 million children have been saved from the crippling life-long...

Coronavirus cases in Asia-Pacific countries are now being driven by people under the age of 50 who may not know they are infected, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, warning of a “new phase” in the pandemic. Many have mild or no COVID-19 symptoms and risk infecting the elderly and other vulnerable populations, the WHO’s...

Although none of the coronavirus vaccines under development has proved its efficacy yet in clinical trials, at least 5.7 billion doses have been pre-ordered around the world. First shipments of a COVID-19 vaccine created by Western laboratories have often been snapped up by the United States. Five vaccines — three Western and two Chinese — are...

The World Health Organization said any WHO stamp of approval on a COVID-19 vaccine candidate would require a rigorous safety data review, after Russia announced Tuesday it had approved a vaccine. President Vladimir Putin said Russia had become the first country to approve a vaccine offering “sustainable immunity” against the new coronavirus. “We are in close...

Russia claimed Tuesday that it had developed the world’s first vaccine offering “sustainable immunity” against the coronavirus, as the pandemic marked another bleak milestone with 20 million infections globally. President Vladimir Putin said that one of his own daughters had received the inoculation, dubbed “Sputnik” after the pioneering 1950s Soviet satellite. Western scientists have previously raised...

Dr Abosede Lewu, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, has warned that male and female smokers experience a higher infertility rate than non-smokers. She told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday that such persons were “smoking away their babies”. Lewu explained that cigarettes contain harmful chemicals like nicotine, cyanide and carbon monoxide. On women of childbearing...

The World Bank Board of Directors yesterday approved $114.28 million financing to help Nigeria prevent, detect and respond to the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic with specific focus on state level responses. On the same day, 443 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded nationwide, taking the number of confirmed cases to 45,687 with 32,637...

The World Health Organization said Monday it had completed the groundwork in China to probe the origins of the new coronavirus — as it warned there might never be a “silver bullet” for COVID-19. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged governments and citizens to focus on known basic steps to suppress the pandemic, such as...

The only ingredient Nigerian pharmaceutical companies do not import is water, according to the Director General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye. She stated this is changing as the Muhammadu Buhari administration steps up investment in the sector. Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye said on Saturday during...

Gov. Fayemi recovers from COVID-19 after 11 days in isolation Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti has recovered from COVID-19, after 11 days in isolation. Fayemi , in the early hours of Saturday confirmed this new development on his verified Twitter handle. The governor thanked God and his numerous well wishers across the globe for his recovery...