NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA

Loading

Tag Documents

General News

Leak official documents, risk jail – FG warns

By Emmanuel Oloniruha

The Federal Government has warned that unauthorised disclosure or leakage of official documents, capable of impacting the country negatively, is a punishable offence.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Sen. George Akume, gave the warning on Tuesday in Abuja, at a workshop organised by the Bureau for Public Service Reforms (BPSR) in collaboration with the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF)

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the workshop is: “Renewing hope and strengthening of national unity through effective communication and the role of the Official Secret Acts in maintaining confidentiality and national security.’’

Represented by Dr Nnamdi Mbaeri, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the SGF, Akume said unauthorised leakage of sensitive official document constitutes felony and there is no defence for such, either in the Constitution  or Freedom of Information Act.

NAN reports that Section 97 (2) of the Criminal Code Act of Nigeria, provides: “Any person who, being employed in the public service, without proper authority abstracts, or makes a copy of, any document the property of his employer is guilty of a misdemeanour and is liable to imprisonment for one year”.

Akume recalled that government had devised measures in the past to contain the leakage of sensitive official information in MDAs through the issuance of service-wide circulars by the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation in August 2021.

“This was reinforced by the issuance of another service-wide circular in February 2024 on the unauthorised circulation of official documents with information on social media.

“This was done to re-emphasise other extant regulations prohibiting unauthorised disclosure or leakage of official documents

“There is the need to regulate the activities of the civil society organisations who use the Freedom of Information Act to harass, intimidate and siphon resources from public officers through the dissemination of fake and unfounded information.

“This should be properly addressed by all the practitioners in the communication and related industries,’’ he said.

Akume commended the BPSR for organising the workshop, saying its underlines the importance government places on the dissemination of correct and truthful information.

The Director-General of Bureau, Dr Dasuki Arabi, urged participants to equip themselves with the Official Secrets Act and effectively communicate government policies and programmes to the public.

“Your role as communication managers in MDAs is crucial, especially in our increasingly complex information ecosystem.

“In today’s environment, communications and platforms are highly fragmented. The government cannot afford to be reactive.

“It must lead the communication landscape to prevent misinformation and ensure that citizens are all informed about the activities, objectives of government and benefits of its policies and programmes to the citizens of the country.

“Accurate and prompt information delivery is essential and cannot be compromised as its impact on service delivery and governance is profound,” he said.

Arabi tasked the communication managers to take advantage of the training to use the traditional and social media platforms to ensure the public is well informed about government initiatives, programmes and services. FG(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Dorcas Jonah/Rotimi Ijikanmi

Judiciary

FG unveils 3 policy documents to reduce cancer prevalence

By Folasade Akpan

The Federal Government on Monday unveiled three policy documents that would stimulate efforts to reduce the prevalence of cancer in Nigeria.

The documents were inaugurated by the Minister of State for Health, Dr Tunji Alausa, in Abuja at the opening ceremony of the 2023 International Cancer Week (ICW).

The theme of the ICW is “Addressing Cancer Care Disparities through Improved Access to Research and Treatment”.

The documents are the National Strategic Cancer Control Plan 2023-2027, National cancer Research Agenda 2024-2027 and the National Strategic Plan for Prevention of Cancer of Uterine Cervix 2023-2027.

Alausa said that the three documents have priority areas of action that address governance, prevention, supply chain management, data and research as well as surveillance.

He said it was no longer news that cancer had become a leading cause of death worldwide including Nigeria, saying global distribution of predominant cancers has continued to change especially in developing countries.

According to him, the low and middle-income countries accounted for 51 per cent of all cancers worldwide in 1975 and the proportion increased to 55 per cent in 2007 and to 70 per cent in 2018.

“The rise in incidence of cancers is even worse with breast cancer which is the main focus of the October Cancer Awareness activities.

“Breast Cancer has remained the commonest cancer in Nigeria for a long time now and the incidence is still on the increase.

“This is followed by cervical and prostate cancers. Childhood cancers especially haematological cancers and retinoblastoma are also increasing daily”, he added.

Alausa said that the gory statistics has shown that cancer has become an emerging disease in Nigeria and of serious public health concern.

This, he said, informed the resolve of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to take the leadership role and harness all available material and human resources within its domain to disrupt the pattern from gaining grounds or becoming established.

“I want to assure you that under this administration, we are deliberate in our commitment to vigorously address the health needs of Nigerians with particular interest in cancer care.

“This underscores my delight in the unveiling of Abuja and by extension Nigeria, as a member of City Cancer Challenge network today as a welcome development.

“We are ready to partner with City Cancer Challenge Foundation and its partners and indeed all stakeholders to advance cancer care in our country.”

Sen. Ibrahim Oloriegbe, said that the National Assembly was committed to ensuring that the Cancer Health Fund (CHF), was beefed up to meet the care needs of indigent cancer patients.

According to him, N750 million was budgeted for the fund in the 2020 Appropriation Act, to take care of the breast, cervical and prostate cancers which based on statistics are prevalent in Nigeria.
Oloriegbe who was the Senate Committee Chairman on Health of the ninth National Assembly, said that the fund as labelled in the appropriation was supposed to be a counterpart of government with a Public-Private Partnership arrangement.

“The appropriation reduced to N250 million the following year and in 2023 it came down to N150 million.

“Recently we had a meeting to talk about the implementation of that fund for more effectiveness and efficiency and we the parliamentarians are committed to increase it to one billion naira in the 2024 budget.

“We will also establish a childhood cancer care fund of N500 million”, he added.

The Director-General, National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (NICRAT), Dr Usman Aliyu, spoke about the National Cancer Research Agenda.
He said that it serves as a roadmap for collective efforts, bringing together the best minds in the field and harnessing the power of research to make a meaningful difference in the lives of cancer patients.

He added that the agenda was centred on prevention and early detection, diagnosis and treatment, support and care as well as research and innovation.

“Through research in these areas, we aim to develop effective preventive strategies, improve early detection methods, enhance treatment options, and provide better support and care for cancer patients and survivors.

“Additionally, we emphasise the need for a strong focus on research and innovation in the areas of cancer cell biology and genomics, implementation, and behavioural science, which will be the driving force behind the development of new and more effective policies on cancer prevention and therapies.”

To achieve the goals, Aliyu said that collaboration and partnership were crucial.
He said that the National Strategic Cancer Control Plan and the National Strategic Plan for prevention of cancer of uterine cervix were products of the previous plans from the Federal Ministry of Health.

“It is our intention to ensure that we align with National Health Development Plan as well as the global strategy for elimination of cancer of the uterine cervix by the year 2030.

Also speaking at the event, the Regional Director for Africa and Europe, City Cancer Challenge (C/Can), Sophie Bussman-Kemdjo, said that the theme of the week was a powerful call to action on the disparity care for cancer.

Speaking about the C/Can initiative, she said it was aimed at supporting cities around the world as they work to improve access to equitable, quality cancer care.

“The reality is that many people living with cancer, particularly those living in countries limited by a lack of resources, don’t have a fair shot at receiving quality cancer care.

“A recent study revealed that nearly 60 per cent of the 27,000 Nigerians surveyed confront enormous barriers in accessing healthcare.

“It’s a challenge, but it is one that the C/Can initiative in Abuja is rising to meet.

“In Abuja, we have mobilised the commitment and brought together the expertise of leading organisations to work with city stakeholders to design, plan and implement data-driven, locally-driven cancer care solutions.”

According to her, C/Can which is present in 14 cities across the world will be supporting Abuja to better understand its cancer care landscape through a comprehensive analysis of the needs, gaps and opportunities, targeting critical areas for strengthening and informing a city-wide strategy.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that C/Can is a Swiss based foundation that supports cities from low and middle income countries around the world in their efforts to close the access to cancer treatment. (NAN)

Edited by Sadiya Hamza

Health

FG develops 5 health promotion policy documents

By Cecilia Ologunagba

The Federal Government has developed five health promotion Strategic Policy documents to empower Nigerians to live healthy lives and adopt healthy behaviours.

Dr Salma Anas-Kolo, the Director, Family Health, Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), said this at the opening of a two-day Fourth Quarter 2020 National Health Promotion Forum (NHPF) meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.

Anas-Kolo, the Chairperson of NHPF, said that the forum was able to facilitate technical and financial support for the development of a compendium of the documents in 2020.

The documents include the National Adolescent Strategy for Reproductive Maternal Newborn Child Adolescent Health Plus Nutrition Programmes and the Knowledge Management Guideline for Health Promotion.

Others are the Revised National Integrated Reproductive Newborn Child Adolescent and Elderly Health Plus Nutrition Social and Behaviours;  Counseling Flip Chart on Key Household Practices and the Counseling Flip Chart on Family Planning/Child Birth Spacing.

According to her, another key achievement by the forum in 2020 was the ministerial presentation and the national launch of the Revised National Health Promotion Policy 2019 and the compendium of the strategic documents.

Effective implementation of these strategic policy documents would ensure health promotion programming in Nigeria: steps out of its less successful past; become formidable contributor to the achievement of the health related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“The documents will become formidable contributors to the achievement of health-related SDGs and active vehicles for the attainable of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

The director added that it would also foster sector and inter-sectoral collaboration to deliver critical interventions that would make healthy choices the easier choice for the people of Nigeria.”

The official said that the meeting was aimed at securing buy-in of all key stakeholders in successful implementation of the National Health Promotion Policy 2019.

She said deliberate efforts were required to successfully harness the benefits of health promotion in improving health, well-being and economic development.

“I implore you to participate actively so as to make the meeting engaging, dynamic and stimulating for maximum output.’’

The chairperson noted that the last meeting was held in May 2020 virtually due to the ongoing COVID-91 pandemic.

She said that the fourth meeting earlier scheduled to hold in December 2020 could not hold until today due to paucity of funds.

On next step, the director said that the forum would involve selected states to facilitate health promotion activities across the country.

In her remarks, Mrs Ladidi Bako-Aiyegbusi, the Director, Health Promotion Division, FMoH, said health promotion had been repositioned for results.

“All materials that we developed were sent to the states before the inauguration of the documents and they are to improve the states’ involvement in health promotion across the country,’’ she said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the National Health Promotion Forum, a multi-sectoral advisory platform, was resuscitated in March 2018, to promote successful working relationship, open discussions, increase transparency and opportunities toward leveraging resources from stakeholders.

The forum is also to leverage resources from stakeholders for infrastructure and human capacity development and harmonise health massages aimed at promoting healthy behaviour across sectors, and at individual, household, community and institutional levels. (NAN)