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Nigeria receives 846,000 doses of malaria vaccine from Gavi

Published

2 weeks ago

October 17, 2024

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Nigeria has received 846,000 doses of the R21 malaria vaccine from Gavi, the vaccine alliance organisation.

Speaking at the official launch on Thursday, Ali Pate, coordinating minister of health, said the arrival of the vaccines marks a significant milestone in government’s efforts to ensure that every child lives a life free of the disease

“Every child that has full course of the vaccine has an opportunity to live a life of health,” he said.

“A child that is immunised against the disease has an opportunity to live a life free of that disease. So it’s a miracle, but it’s also a source of opportunity.

“The vaccines are delivered to populations for free. I want to urge all well-meaning Nigerians to take advantage of the limited availability and the fact that it’s a valuable commodity and bring their wards where they have the opportunity, to make sure they are protected with these vaccines.

“And to discount misinformation for uninformed people who sometimes have their own agendas or may not understand what they’re talking about.”

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He said the “safe and efficacious” vaccines would first be distributed to states with the highest burden of the disease — particularly Kebbi and Bayelsa.

Muyi Aina, director general of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), said an enforcement team would be set up by the agency, and the date and location for the administration of the vaccines would be communicated in due course.

Aina said about 140,000 doses are expected in the coming months as the target is to make one million vaccines available in the first batch.

“This is the first batch out of a million doses. It’s important that we know that we are prioritised as a country,” he said.

“The vaccine is not excessively available globally, but Nigeria remains a very important country. So thank you to our partners — Gavi, WHO, UNICEF, and a lot of the others.

“We have a high burden of malaria in Nigeria, and we all know that. We have made some progress but continue to have up to 50%, 52% prevalence in states. That’s not acceptable.

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“We have been deploying a slew of interventions which have shown some progress.

“But the vaccine is a very important addition that we are hoping to deploy very strategically as a country. The experts have advised that depending on the time that we have enough to go around, we prioritise the highest priority locations.

“And that is why we are taking a phased approach, starting from Kebbi and Bayelsa states.”

In October 2023, the World Health Organisation (WHO) endorsed R21/Matrix-M, developed by scientists at Oxford University, for the prevention of malaria in children.

The R21 vaccine is the second malaria vaccine recommended by WHO, the first being the RTS,S/AS01 vaccine, which received a WHO recommendation in 2021.

Earlier this year, Cameroon began the world’s first routine roll out of the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine.

The country offered the jab free of charge to all infants in four doses.

Related Topics:GAVI Malaria Nigeria VACCINE

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Police detain VeryDarkMan after honouring invitation

Published

19 mins ago

November 1, 2024

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Deji Adeyanju, the Nigerian lawyer, says the police have detained VeryDarkMan, the social media critic.

In a Twitter post on Thursday evening, the lawyer said the activist, born Martins Otse, was detained after honouring the police invitation.

Adeyanju lamented that his client was taken into custody despite cooperating with the police authorities.

“Our client, VDM has been detained after honouring police invitation just like yesterday. VDM who has been consistent in saying the Nigerian Police are our friends even when we all know they are not,” the tweet reads.

The development comes after VeryDarkMan shared a video of himself in a matching suit. In the footage, he said he was heading to the police station in Abuja to respond to the invitation.

Trouble began when VeryDarkMan wore a police uniform and introduced himself as the “chief superintendent of police (CSP) of the online division”.

The police said it would launch an investigation to determine the source of the police gear used and the authority under which the activist acted.

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VeryDarkMan would later apologise to the police while emphasizing that he didn’t intend to impersonate the law enforcement agency.

The fitness expert had also revealed that he returned from the police station where he was interrogated based on the controversial footage.

The police have yet to confirm VeryDarkMan’s detention or provide further details.

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We secured over 3,000 convictions, recovered N248bn, $105m in one year – EFCC

Published

26 mins ago

November 1, 2024

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it recovered over N248 billion, $105 million, and secured 3455 convictions in one year.

Ola Olukoyede, chairman of EFCC, spoke in Abuja on Thursday during a press conference to mark his one year in office.

Represented by Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC’s director of public affairs, Olukoyede said the achievements were recorded between October 18, 2023, and October 18, 2024, when he assumed office.

“The commission within the year recovered N248, 750,049,365.52; $105,423,190.39; £53,133.64; €172,547.10; T1,300.00 Indian rupees and CAD $3,400.00 Canadian dollars,” he said.

“It also recovered ¥74,859:00 Chinese Yuan; AUS $ 740:00 Australian Dollars; 170:00 UAE Dirham; 73,000:00 Korean Won; CFA 7,821,375:00 and R 50:00 South Africa Rands.

“On asset recovery and return, the EFCC on Sept. 6 handed over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) the sum of $180,300 and 53 vehicles, being assets recovered for Canadian victims of Nigerian fraudsters.”

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The EFCC chairman said $164,000 of the recovered cash assets was from one Elena Bogomas, while $16,300 belonged to another victim, known as Sandra Butler.

He added that about 53 vehicles recovered “were stolen over a period of time in Canada, freighted to Nigeria, and distributed to multiple locations in Nigeria by the criminal elements”.

He said the commission charged four former governors to court over corruption allegations in the past year.

The former governors are Yahaya Bello, Abdulfatah Ahmed, Willie Obiano, and Darius Ishaku.

Olukoyede said the commission also arrested two former ministers of power, Saleh Mamman and Olu Agunloye, who are currently facing prosecution.

“Also, a former minister of aviation, Hadi Sirika, is currently standing trial before two different courts: Justice S.B. Belgore of the FCT high court, Garki, and Justice Sylvanus Oriji of the FCT high court, Maitama,” he said.

He said Sirika is being prosecuted alongside his brother, Ahmad Sirika, and two companies, Enginos Nigeria Limited and Samahah Integrated Investment Limited, on 10 counts bordering on alleged N5.8 billion fraud.

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He added that the former minister is also standing trial for six counts alongside Fatima Sirika, Jalal Hamma, and Al Buraq Global Investment Limited over alleged N2.8 billion fraud.

JUST IN: NSIB locates wreckage of crashed helicopter in Port Harcourt

Published

9 hours ago

October 31, 2024

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The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) says its search and recovery teams have successfully located the wreckage of the ditched Sikorsky SK76 helicopter.

In a statement on Thursday, Bimbo Olawumi Oladeji, NSIB’s director of public affairs and family assistance, said the wreckage was identified during recovery dives conducted on Wednesday night.

Details later…