Some experts appointed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) say the global system for pandemic alert and response is “not fit for purpose”, emphasising the need for a new framework in the wake of COVID-19. The experts, Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, in an interim report presented on Tuesday, said countries should use technology to inform people about the disease. They found critical elements to be “slow, cumbersome and indecisive” in an era when information about new disease outbreaks was being transmitted faster than countries could formally report on them. “When there is a potential health threat, countries and the…
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The Director General of the World Health Organisation, WHO, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus says the organisation had secured two billion doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, with a billion more in the pipeline and deliveries expected to begin next month. He made the remarks as he addressed a meeting of the Committee on the functioning of the International Health Regulations, 2005, during the COVID-19 response, posted on the WHO website, Ghebreyesus said ensuring that countries would have access to any COVID-19 vaccines, was the promise of a global mechanism established last April, known as the COVAX Facility. “The vaccines should be administered…
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has recorded 1,301 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infected people in the country to 113,305. The NCDC disclosed figures on Tuesday on its official website. The public health agency said that 1,261 patients had been discharged from isolation centres after testing negative to the virus. The NCDC noted that the discharges included 702 community recoveries in Lagos State, 157 in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and 143 in Plateau. “So far a total of 91,200 patients have been discharged following their recovery from COVID-19,” NCDC said. It reported 15 COVID-19-related…
The Presidency has warned that Ondo governor, Rotimi Akeredolu’s threat for herdsmen to leave the state forest reserves was unconstitutional because all Nigerians have choice to live where they want. Akeredolu had on Monday, issued an ultimatum to herdsmen in the state to leave Ondo forest reserve. However, the presidency in a statement by the spokesperson to President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr Garba Shehu on Tuesday urged the state government and the leadership of the Fulani communities to continue to dialogue. According to the statement, the governor could not ask thousands of herdsmen, who had lived all their lives in the…
Nigeria’s vice president Yemi Osinbajo has disclosed that the federal government will give N30 billion to one million households, equivalent to N5,000 monthly cash transfer for 6 months. Prof. Osinbajo, who stated this Tuesday in Abuja while virtually flagging-off the cash transfer scheme to be facilitated through a wholly technology-based approach, called the Rapid Response Register (RRR), also said that Nigeria is the first country in Africa to develop and test a wholly technology-based approach to social protection. According to Osinbajo, the development followed the successful activation of the Economic Sustainability Plan’s (ESP) Cash Transfer scheme, which is aimed at…
Zamfara state government has described as wicked allegation and sheer mischief, a media report that it provided 15 Hilux vehicles as well as gave ‘millions of Naira to bandits in the state. This is contained in a statement by the spokesperson of the governor Muhammad Bello, Zailani Bappa and made available to ASHENEWS on Tuesday. According to the statement, the publication did not contact the side of the government for balance because of “carelessness, quackery or sheer mischief.” It urged the military which officer was alleged to be the source of the story, to investigate with a view to unraveling…
An infectious disease expert, Dr Adefolarin Opawoye on Tuesday and said that body steaming does not prevent people from contacting COVID-19. Opawoye who is of the Infectious Diseases Unit of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) made the assertion during a virtual programmme organised by the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Yaba, Lagos. The programme was themed: “Second Wave of COVID-19: Frontline Workers Experience and Psychological Tips. “Steaming doesn’t work for COVID-19; we should be careful about what we read on the social media. “The virus is very difficult to control; we need to adhere strictly to the guidelines in order not…
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), says GSM operators have collected 47.8 million National Identification Number (NINs) from subscribers as at Jan 18. This is contained in a statement by Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, NCC Director, Public Affairs on Tuesday in Lagos. Adinde quoted Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Ali Pantami as saying that the figure showed that many Nigerian subscribers would be linked to their NINs before the Feb.9, deadline. Pantami said that the collection of NIN was at an average of three to four SIMs per subscriber. He expressed the Federal Government’s appreciation for the commitment shown by stakeholders and…
Nigeria’s Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, says the company’s domestic consumption of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), popularly known as cooking gas, exceeded one million metric tonnes (MT) in 2020. The agency disclosed this in a statement signed by its executive secretary, Abdulkadir Saidu on Tuesday. He said the consumption rate made 2020 the first year in the nation’s history where LPG consumption had reached the one million MT threshold. “Nigeria consumed 840,594.37 MT LPG in 2019, indicating an increase of 60.5 per cent over 635,452.061MT recorded in 2018. “This steady and sustained pattern of growth culminating in the over…
Up to 70 per cent of adults in the European Union should be vaccinated against the coronavirus by summer, according to the European Commission. The Brussels-based body plans to publish a corresponding proposal on Tuesday, dpa learned in advance. By March, the commission wants an interim goal of 80 per cent of people over 80 and of health workers to be reached. The targets are part of a discussion paper for the EU video summit on Thursday, which will focus on vaccination as the key topic as the 27 EU states work to coordinate their efforts to fight the pandemic. EU heads…