By Aderogba George

Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC),  says the Astrazeneca vaccine  recently inaugurated and distributed to states to treat COVID-19 has no side effect.

Adeyeye, who stated this on Thursday in Abuja, shortly after she got vaccinated, said that NAFDAC went through the application dossier of the vaccine before it was approved to be administered on Nigerians for the treatment of COVID-19.

“When we got the dossier or the application package of the vaccine, we went through it line by line, but before we got the application itself, we went through other assessments.

“I am talking about their assessment report so that we are prepared and guided when we start our own and that was exactly what happened.

“We conclude based on quality, safety and efficacy because we have to depend on the report, this particular AstraZeneca vaccine, over 20, 000 people were involved in phase three of the report,’’ she said.

Adeyeye said that the effectiveness of AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh the risk, as it has already been scrutinised.

She noted that there was no medicine without its side effect, especially when still going through the developmental stage.

The director-general said that from all indications of quality and efficacy, the benefit of AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh the risk and the side effect.

She said that the agency also believed in herbal medicine, but it must be backed with research before such could be approved.

She added that such herbal medicine must be antiviral to cater for various illnesses.

Adeyeye said that the agency had accommodated 14 of such herbal medicine for listing to ascertain whether it was safe to use it.

She said that the agency must also do its own clinical trials before any herbal medicine would be approved.

She disclosed that the Federal Government had arranged for research and development scheme for the health sector, adding that, a lot of herbal medicine were going to be used for the testing. (NAN)

By Dorathy Aninge

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Nigeria, has called on pregnant women especially those living with HIV to access antenatal care early to avoid mother to child transmission.

The Coordinator of AHF in Benue, Ruth Atabor, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Makurdi.

Atabor said the foundation had put together a programme where women were trained as mentor mothers in different communities to reach out to women in different localities.

“This will enable them work with the community and facilities in their vicinity to enable pregnant women living with HIV give birth to HIV negative children,” she said.

She added that the programme was presently being implemented in Seven communities and that the response has so far been wonderful.

“AHF has so far discharged 307 exposed infants under the Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT) programme in 2020, who are all HIV negative at 18 months in their comprehensive sites in Benue,” Atabor said.

She also said the PMTCT programme was put in place to reduce the risk of child mortality and transmission from mother to child.

Meanwhile, Mrs Sonia Vembe, a mentor mother at Community Health Centre, Agasha in Guma Local Government Area said they enrolled pregnant women who were HIV positive in antenatal and encourage them to take their drugs regularly.

Vembe said they also follow up on the type of diet they took to build up their immune system and after birth, the children were tested to ascertain their HIV status.

Mrs Deborah Hwande, also a mentor mother at Owner Occupier Facility, Makurdi Local Government Area said they sometimes lacked the resources to take care of the children.

Hwande noted that some communities do not have access to the facilities to access PMTCT service.

She, however, commended the efforts of AHF towards bringing facilities close to them.

By Justina Auta

The National Council of Women’s Societies (NCWS) says it is ready to mobilise massive support for women candidates for various elective positions in the 2023 general elections.

Dr Laraba Shoda, NCWS President, said this on Thursday, while addressing the media during the National Executive Council (NEC) Meeting and celebration of the International Women’s Day (IWD) in Abuja.

Shoda said that women were ready to slug it out, and unlike in the past, were ready to support female  candidates at various levels in 2023.

“A lot of women are planning, they will come out by the time political parties do their conventions and everybody has taken the place that they want.

“Women of course will come out, and when women come out, do not be deceived because women are going to support them,” she said.

Shoda clarified that, though NCWS was not a political party, it had the responsibility to support women in politics.

“NCWS is not a political party, people belong to different political parties, when they come and approach us for support, we will all go out and see what we can do to support them.

“We will mobilise for them, sensitise for them and we will make sure that women vote for fellow women,” she said.

The NCWS president called on stakeholders to create a level playing field so that women could be accommodated in the political terrain.

She condemned the idea of money politics, saying it discourages women from the political terrain.

According to her, the organisation held a summit for women aspirants during the 2019 general elections, but many lost due to money politics.

“In fortunately, many of them did not win in the primaries for obvious reasons. They did not have deep pockets, that is one of the big reason; money politics.

” Unless we stop money politics and go for credible people that merit the position, women might continue to lag behind because we don’t have big pockets,” she said.

Shoda also called for action against political violence, which she said was a disincentive for women hoping to go into politics.

“Women are not violent, and you know during primaries, there is a lot of violence and women cannot come out with sticks, cutlasses and other violent objects because they want to win elections.

“We always weigh what we do. So, a lot of women draw back when they see violence.

“Right now in the Nigerian political scene, it is a man’s world; it is men dominated. That is the problem we have, but we are ready to slug it out in 2023,” she said.

On the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, she said it had further exposed gender inequality, exacerbated the pain of women and the consequences of patriarchal society.

“We can no longer ignore the fact that the pandemic laid bare existing inequalities in society and exacerbated them.

”It also exposed the absence of women in governance, while at the same time reinforced the call to address our gender-biased society.

“The consequences of patriarchy, unequal power relations were also revealed during the pandemic as male decision-makers were in charge of issues that disproportionately affected women and girls, exposing gender inequality in our society.’’

According to her, the NCWS and others have called on the government to adopt a gender-responsive approach in the inclusion of women in decision making and distribution processes for better and effective results.

Shoda also called on all female lawmakers to place women’s issues on the legislative agenda.

The council president said women in executive positions should encourage conversations around budget review and new appropriation to ensure that decisions are gender sensitive.

She said that the 2021 IWD celebration was symbolic as it highlights the achievement and landmark feats achieved by Nigerian women and others across the globe.

Highlight of the day was an award of “Ambassador of NCWS” to Alhaji Yusuf Manjalo, a seasoned administrator, for his support to women and children in Nigeria. (NAN)

By Ikenna Osuoha
Ms Isha Sesay, a UN Population Fund (UNFPA) Goodwill Ambassador, has listed legal prosecution, education and sensitisation as vital instruments to ending the growing menace of Gender Based Violence (GBV) globally.

She made this known in a virtual engagement with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday, stressing that violence against women and girls was unacceptable.

The engagement was part of activities by the West and Central Africa Regional Office of the UNFPA to mark the 2021 International Women’s Day (IWD).

The day is annually marked on March 8 around the world to bring to the fore, issues that affect women and to celebrate women who were making giant strides in different areas of endeavour.

The global celebration has “CHOOSE TO CHALLENGE” as its theme for this year.
Sesay, a British journalist who worked as an anchor and correspondent for CNN International with interest in women and girls’ issues and an advocate for an equal world, said the political will of governments to implement laws that prohibit violence against women was also key to eradicating the menace.

She said “implementing laws to prosecute perpetrators of violence against women and girls is key.”

She condemned all forms of violence against women, blamed it on misconceptions that placed women as property, or men thinking that they have more rights over women.

The UNFPA ambassador called for education of women and girls to truly increase their potential to the advantage of the world.

She decried the statistics that about 40 per cent of women were forced into early marriage, thereby causing great loss of capital to the entire world.

According to her, educating a woman will go a long way in reducing maternal mortality rate around the globe.

Sesay emphasised the imperatives of sensitising religious and community leaders on the benefits of women’s education.

She said the involvement of the female gender in decision making in communities and in governance was also vital to ending violence against women, explaining that women were in better position to know and feel the pains of fellow women.

She, however, stressed that “there is a lot to do before equity or parity can be achieved.”

Sesay is a British journalist of Sierra Leonean descent who worked as an anchor and correspondent for CNN International, but left in 2018.

As UNFPA’s goodwill ambassador, she shared her personal life experiences, her journey as a journalist and her interest in women and girls’ issues, we well as efforts to achieve an equal world.