Assessing Nigeria’s anti-tobacco campaign

Okeoghene Oghenekaro, CNS Correspondent, Nigeria 
(First published in News Agency of Nigeria)  
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that tobacco causes over six million deaths every year, and over 600,000 of these deaths are induced by second-hand smoke. In adults, second-hand tobacco smoke causes several diseases, including coronary heart disease and lung cancer. In infants, it causes sudden death, while in pregnant women, it causes low birth weight.

World Asthma Day: Expert recommends tags for asthma patients

Okeoghene Oghenekaro, CNS Correspondent, Nigeria  
(First Published in News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in May 2014) 

Photo credit: CNS

A Pulmonologist, Dr Kingsley Osagie, said that wearing a tag with the inscription ‘I am an asthmatic’ by patients could help save their lives. Osagie, who works with the National Hospital Abuja, told this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in commemoration of the World Asthma Day 2014. World Asthma Day is celebrated globally every year on the first Tuesday of May to improve asthma awareness and care. This year's theme is ‘You can Control Your Asthma’.

Experts call to prevent malaria in Nigeria

Okeoghene Oghenekaro, CNS Corespondent, Nigeria
(First published in News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in April 2014) 
Medical experts have urged governments, stakeholders and communities in Nigeria to take proper measures to prevent malaria which has remained ‘a big health challenge’ in the country. The experts made this call in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday, 22nd April, ahead of the World Malaria Day. The day is commemorated on April 25 in recognition of global efforts to control the disease.

WHO says 450,000 people are resistant to TB drugs globally

Okeoghene Oghenekaro, Nigeria 
(First published in News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on 30th October 2013) 
The 2013 WHO Global Tuberculosis Report says an estimated 450,000 people develop Multi-Drug Resistant to Tuberculosis (MDR-TB). MDR-TB is a form of TB that is resistant to at least two drugs known as ``rifamoicin’’ and ``isonaizid’’, which are the two most powerful first line treatment of tuberculosis.  The report however said that globally 170,000 died from the disease in 2012.

WHO, others launch roadmap to end childhood TB deaths

Okeoghene Oghenekaro, Nigeria 
(First published in News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on 2nd October 2013) 
World Health Organisation (WHO) in Washington DC on Tuesday launched the first ever roadmap designed to end childhood tuberculosis deaths globally, a report said. The report was published by an Indian-based online publication on global health issues, the Citizens News Service (CNS), made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday. It stated that the roadmap was launched by WHO, Stop TB Partnership, International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, also known as The Union and other partners.

Overcoming obstacles in managing TB and HIV infections

Okeoghene Oghenekaro, Nigeria 
(First published in National Mirror, Nigeria on 3 September 2013)
The incidence of tuberculosis and HIV seem to be rising in Nigeria, as it has been recorded that more than 3.4 million people are now infected. More agonising is the fact that those diagonised with the diseases are constantly stigmatised in the society. This piece examines efforts being made to mitigate their effects.

Making air free from diseases

Okeoghene Oghenekaro, Nigeria 
(First published in News Agency of Nigeria, on 6 August 2013): Bidemi, a widowed petty trader, feels her life is crumbling because all her children frequently go down with cold. Joshua, her five-year old son, has just been discharged from the hospital after treating a debilitating cold. After medical tests, the doctor said Joshua had a respiratory tract infection the symptoms which Bidemi’s three other children are already having. She then wonders what could have caused this.

Dying in bits by smoking

Okeoghene Oghenekaro, Nigeria
(First published in News Agency of Nigeria, on 5 June 2013): Dr Kingsley Osagie, a consultant physician/pulmonologist at the National Hospital, Abuja, believes that for every stick of cigarette smoked, between five and seven minutes of the smoker’s life are cut. Alarmist as this may sound, it is quite logical, as health experts also say that whenever a smoker takes a puff on a cigarette; he or she is gradually moving towards the grave. Osagie says that Nigerian men often start smoking earlier in life than women, adding that it is estimated that a smoker could lose up to seven to 14 years of his or her life-span because of the habit.

Addressing the burden of asthma in Nigeria

Okeoghene Oghenekaro, Nigeria 
(First published in News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Nigeria on 6th May 2013): Priscilla, a 40-year-old public servant, has been living with asthma for the last 32 years. When Priscilla was first diagnosed of asthma, her grandmother called her an ogbanje because of the way she struggling to breathe. Narrating her story, Priscilla said that growing up was not easy, as she was hospitalised on several occasions. She stressed that she had to consciously avoid cats, dust, fur and feathers, recalling that her contacts with such objects usually triggered asthma attacks.

What Factors Predispose Women To Lung Cancer?

Okeoghene Oghenekaro, Nigeria
Mrs. Christy Efemena, 59, a mother of four children, had never smoked a cigarette in her life, just as Mrs. Joyce Adefila, 47, a mother of five had never done. Ironically, they were both victims of lung cancer and unfortunately, they were not able to survive the disease in spite of series of treatments, including chemotherapy, at home and abroad. Such cases tend to elicit some thought-provoking questions as to why non-smokers die of lung cancer in spite of the fact that smoking is adjudged to be one of the major causes of the disease.