Healthy people, healthy nation.

courtesy CDC Nigeria infographic Nigerians woke up some weeks ago to the news of monkeypox in our dear country Nigeria and it almost resulted into panics in homes, schools, hospitals and also quickly became the focus of the press. We have always known that bad news is good for the press. Little was known about this disease until then and one wonders if rare diseases have finally found a playground in our dear country. God forbid! How much do you know about this rare disease? Check your facts here. Monkeypox is a caused by a virus which resides in some wild animals. The virus can spread from animal to man and can also spread from man to man. The spread from animal to mal is probably by biting, contact with the animal's body fluid especially if you have a wound or a small breach on your skin. It can also be transferred from man to man when one sneezes into the mouth nose or eyes of the other person. There must really be a close contact for a man to spread it to his...

  What we should do to prevent another epidemic. The drums of Ebola has started to sound in Africa again. This time, Ebola cases have been confirmed in DR-Congo. While we yet wonder where and when this started, the answer to this may not be found on time, but we definitely know some facts about Ebola.  Ebola is a viral hemorrhagic fever and it is very deadly. It can kill in a few days.   It can easily spread through contact with body fluids of an infected person. e.g vomit, urine, faeces. Ebola is yet to have a cure. It can also spread through panic. A community-wide panic increases the risk of transmission of Ebola. There has been a vaccine trial which was declared to be successful. (It means we would soon be able to prevent people from getting infected) If you’re thinking about what you can do to stay safe and keep yourself from getting infected in case you come near a ‘not yet diagnosed’ case, then we got you covered. Bring back our hand ...

The malaria-typhoid controversy   Can you relate with this? If you have grown up in Nigeria, I bet you can relate with the malaria-typhoid controversy. Some people have experienced feeling hot and having a headache at one point or the other and they felt it was Malaria so they went to the pharmacy or (patent medicine store) to get some form of treatment but did not get better after 3 days. However, when they started inquiring from some people they tell them "maybe it's typhoid o, you better go and test for typhoid or just treat typhoid". Most of these people go to private labs and get a widal test and they tell them "oh, so you have typhoid". To cut the long story short. They still treat typhoid and still do not feel good. This cycle continues until they get to see the doctor in the hospital. Let's set the records straight because you need to stop wasting money and time treating the 'street opinion'. STOP BELIEVING THE LIE Ma...

Source: bit.ly /2od4WT4 Still on meningitis I understand how you feel if you either live in the meningitis belt of Africa or you're travelling to Africa very soon. Meningitis happened to be a vaccine preventable disease that we are unprepared for this time around.  The issue this time is that there's a new strain, in simple terms, a relation of the usual type of the common meningitis bacteria that we have been used to, but we are not even prepared for this.  To cut a long story short, I'll like to tell you more about meningitis vaccine. Everybody in Nigeria needs a shot in my opinion because you may never know when you will have to travel to an endemic area. That might be difficult but people in meningitis affected states should at least get a shot of the vaccine first. Things you need to know about meningitis vaccine: what is a vaccine: A kind of medicine which helps your body fight off foreign diseases causing organisms. Usually, an injection bu...

courtesy google images It's a new age in the world today. It is called the information age, riding on the back of technology, internet and it's applications in the world. Gone were the days when everything was analogue, I mean humans have to say everything, write everything and do everything. The days are here when recent technology capable of improving productivity are taking over previously difficult and laborious jobs. In fact in some areas, technology does it much better. Needless to say that some things are only possible through technology, but better technology are replacing them. While the High-income countries have their healthcare system riding on the wings of technology, middle and low-income countries are not having it so smoothly. Some countries have successfully digitized their patient records, appointment scheduling, laboratory reporting, and many other things being automated. It may be surprising that other countries are still struggling with the old ...

Better health through your Smartphone. Do you have a smartphone? If your answer is yes, the next question is… Have you been using your smartphone to improve your health? If not, you have been underusing your phone. Let me tell you a few good things you can do with your smartphone that will impact positively on your health. Your alarms and reminders : Stop forgetting your important appointments with your doctor or your caregiver. Set your reminders immediately you are notified of your appointment. Pill reminders: Just get on your app store and search for pill reminder, you’ll be surprised there would be hundreds of relevant result, try one or two of them. Menstrual cycle tracker: Have you every felt somehow when a doctor asks about your LMP (last menstrual period) and you can’t remember the exact date? No need for that anymore if you can just download a simple app that helps to keep all your gynecological important days. Just go ahead and search for it. F...

Drowning in the Sea - Liberty courtesy google photos A familiar feeling Emotions too overwhelming Emotions too familiar, spells hopelessness Drowning in the sea Wanna take you over she cries You are mine, she continues Swimming against the current Drowning in the sea Pushing you back Struggling against resistance A force invisible yet so strong Squeezing my brains out Drowning in the sea I must get there I say Get there I shall The shore is not far anymore I can see it but I can feel it, taste it I don’t want to die in the sea I don’t want to be swallowed  Poem composed by Dr Abimbola Babajide.

World Health day, 2017. Let's start talking now Depression, an everyday word, I hope it means something to you. There is more to depression than you think of it as an ordinary mood swing. Let's call it medical or significant depression which makes the sufferer unable to pull out by her/himself. Clinical depression in simple terms is a state of deep persistent hopelessness, for which there may or may not be a traceable cause and is not resolving for a long time. I think you probably are getting it now. if you have ever seen anybody who looks sad day in day out or keeps crying feeling the world means nothing to her/him, that is probably a case of clinical depression. Who is affected? Depression affects a lot of people in the world. I mean it's not uncommon. It affects the rich and the poor, young and old, male and female. We really don't know if there is a specific cause for it, we only know a few things which make some people be more liable to depression ...

( adapted from http://www. path.org/menafrivac/meningitis-belt.php) (Population as at 2009) Meningitis shouldn't come near you if you take some precautions.  It's all been in the news lately about an outbreak of this disease in some Northern states in Nigeria. Should you be worried if you live in those states in Nigeria or you're travelling to Nigeria soon? Remember that good knowledge is power. So what is Meningitis? It is an inflammation of the covering of the brain (meninges). What causes meningitis? It could be caused by a bacteria (most common), virus, fungus, etc How is it transmitted?  usually the same way catarrh is transmitted. through respiratory droplets from one person to another. Is meningitis preventable? Yes, it is. How can you prevent meningitis? Specific things to do are: Get vaccinated. If your risk exposure is high and you're close to an infected person, speak with your doctor who may give you some prophylactic drug. Non-...

March 30 ….. World Doctors' day.   photo credit: bit.ly/2no4OzD Salute to all the doctors out there in the world. I understand how it feels when no one understands you just because you are a doctor. I understand what it means to put everything on line to save a patient even when the relatives keep abusing you. I know what it means to stay away from families and loved ones since medical school days. I know what pressure is. Success and failure dragging you and you also stretching towards the good things of life. I know what it means to attempt all questions in exams because you have to treat all patients that come to your clinic. I understand what it means to keep working even though you also need to see a doctor. I know it’s a calling, the calling I chose a long time ago and I’m still committed to it because I love you, my patients all over the world. I want you today to show some kindness to a doctor. You may not know all his needs but he...

Is Nigeria really rich and healthy? Oh.... You really want to answer yes. But it's ok if you have not considered the facts that we can see, touch and feel. I'm sure that you'll agree that we should leave the unseen factors to God. To really think about what we can see... We see a lot of people sharing a lot of money (money so much that it’s not up to one-tenth of United States budget in one year). To go deeper into how much money Nigeria has to spend, we would be scared one rich man from the middle east or North America will not suddenly wake up to thinking of buying Nigeria. God forbid, you just thought. (Coz we all love Nigeria). Nigerian isn't so rich relative to other countries of the world composted with their population. What can we touch with our hands and legs? Our hands can touch our pillow in the dark and try to reach for the rechargeable torch so we won't fall down when we go to the toilet at night. (That's a sad reality). Our legs can wal...

It's a great time to be alive and much more blessing to finally find a way to bring my passion to you through this blog. My name is Sola Fajobi, a Medical doctor with a strong passion for public health and a better African health system in general. I am presently climbing the ladder to a very prominent point in my career. My goal is to be able to communicate to Nigerians and Africans the state of development of health in Nigeria and other African countries and relate it to the whole world. I will be able to advise the health system, and the people who care to listen on what needs to be done to get it right. I will be doing this through the following means: Personal experiences Evidence-based results of my spare time data analysis Geographic maps for a better understanding of health systems and indicators. Review of relevant local and foreign journals. featured Guest opinions through write-ups and interviews I will try my best to bring the facts out clearly for ...