A new study has suggested that people who suffered stroke may have started experiencing signs of the health condition 10 years before the attack occurs. Reporting in the BMJ Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, the team of scientists from the Netherland said that they wanted to determine the long-term trajectories of cognition and daily functioning before and after stroke because little is known of the cognitive decline that occurs before a stroke. To understand this, the researchers analysed 14,926 participants between 1990 and 2018 who were 45 years and above. Between this time, the participants underwent tests that assessed…
Author: Temitope N.
The World Health Organisation on Wednesday urged “extreme caution” for countries considering lifting COVID-19 restrictions, warning that high vaccination rates would not stop the increasing transmission of the virus. The UN health agency urged governments not to squander hard-won gains and return to scenes of overwhelmed hospitals and exhausted health workers. Asked about England’s plans to ditch most of its coronavirus restrictions from July 19, WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said: “I would urge extreme caution in the complete lifting of public health and social measures at this time because there are consequences for that.” WHO figures show that globally,…
Six states and the Federal Capital Territory have recorded 110 new COVID-19 infections, according to figures released on Thursday morning by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. The agency also reported no new COVID-19 related death. The NCDC disclosed this on its official website on Thursday. According to the NCDC, the 110 new cases were recorded from the FCT and six other states. Lagos recorded the highest figures for new infections by reporting 88 new cases, Rivers – 12, Akwa Ibom – 4, Jigawa–2, Ogun–2, while FCT and Kano reported one new infection each. According to the health agency, the…
The 400-metre-long container ship will be seen off on Wednesday in a ceremony attended by dignitaries, diplomats and company officials from around the world. In fact, the last time the Suez Canal Authority, which is hosting the event, promised this much fanfare was in 2015, when an $8 billion expansion project was completed within a year. The ship is slated to sail into the Mediterranean and then to Rotterdam. This time though, the event will be as much about closure as celebration. Because it was the Ever Given, the giant Japanese-owned vessel carrying some $1 billion worth of cargo, that…
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says Nigeria faces a six-year delay in achieving its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Kristalina Georgieva, IMF managing director, made this known in her remarks at the UN high level political forum on sustainable-development, on Tuesday. Georgieva said the decision of policymakers across the world resulted in an increase in the IMF global growth forecast to six percent in 2021 and four percent in 2022. She said despite the increased growth projection, countries are facing a set back in the path to accomplishing the SDGs. The IMF MD noted that enormous challenges are faced by all…
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, has tasked the board of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) on enforcement of deregulation when the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) becomes law. Sylva gave the charge while inuagurating the Board Chairman of the Agency, Mr Obinna Atuonwu, in Abuja, on Wednesday. “You were carefully chosen, and more especially at a good time when the PIB has been passed by the National Assembly. This entails a lot of movement. “There is a provision for deregulation and subsidy removal in the bill, you are going to manage so many things,…
According to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, thanks to the federal government’s COVID-19 stimulus package, the Nigerian economy did not degenerate as feared and at least over 2 million jobs have both been created and saved with the implementation of the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP). The Osinbajo-led Economic Sustainability Committee (ESC) also reiterates that although the target of N2.3 trillion estimated to be spent under the ESP has not yet been achieved, the federal government’s appropriation of part of that total–which is N500 billion–was completely released by the end of May. The committee also says that a total of 2,100,021 jobs…
The African Development Bank Group has appointed Mr Lamin Barrow as the director-general of its Nigeria office. According to a statement issued by the bank on Tuesday, before his appointment, Barrow was Acting Senior Director, Nigeria Country Office, in the Regional Development, Integration & Business Development Vice Presidency. Commenting on the appointment, President, AfDB, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, said, “Mr Lamin Barrow is a seasoned professional, with a proven track record in strategic management, country dialogue, portfolio management, negotiations and building partnerships. “The Nigeria Country Office is strategic for the bank as it manages a large country portfolio and operations with…
The international oil benchmark, Brent crude, pared some of its recent gains on Tuesday, after the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies cancelled a meeting due to clashes over plan to increase supply to meet rising global demand. Offshore or Onshore Oil Rig Brent, against which Nigeria’s crude oil is priced, plunged by $2.59 to $74.57 per barrel as of 7:40pm Nigerian time on Tuesday after hitting a session peak of $77.84, its highest since October 2018. Ministers from OPEC and its allies, a group called OPEC+, abandoned talks on Monday as negotiations failed to close divisions.…
The World Health Organisation has recommended HPV DNA testing as a preferred screening for cervical cancer The WHO announced the new guideline in a press statement it released on Tuesday. The world’s health agency stated that the preferred method of cervical cancer screening should now be HPV DNA testing and not pap smear that is commonly used. The statement reads, “In particular, the new WHO guideline recommends an HPV DNA based test as the preferred method, rather than a visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) or cytology (commonly known as a ‘Pap smear’), currently the most commonly used methods globally…