As the Director-General of NNMDA, Professor Emeje has played a pivotal role in promoting research, development, regulation, and commercialization of natural medicines in Nigeria.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has named Professor Martins Emeje, Director-General of the Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency (NNMDA, as Co-Chair of its newly established Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (STAG-TM).

Professor Emeje was appointed alongside Dr Susan Wieland, Director at Cochrane Complementary Medicine, following the formal unveiling of the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group.

The establishment of STAG-TM marks a significant milestone in the implementation of the WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy, aimed at strengthening global health systems through evidence-based traditional and integrative medicine.

The appointment of Professor Emeje reflects the WHO’s commitment to inclusive, balanced, and scientifically rigorous leadership in advancing traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine worldwide.

Both Co-Chairs bring extensive expertise in research, innovation, and policy development, particularly in natural products and evidence-based medicine.

As the Director-General of NNMDA, Professor Emeje has played a pivotal role in promoting research, development, regulation, and commercialization of natural medicines in Nigeria.

His selection highlights Nigeria’s growing contribution to global health governance and innovation in traditional medicine.

The Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine will provide expert guidance to the WHO on policy frameworks, research priorities, and best practices to ensure the safe, effective, and quality integration of traditional medicine into national healthcare systems.

The W.H.O while announcing the creation of the 19 member Group emphasized that the move is part of its global Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025 describing it as a decisive step in applying a scientific response to traditional medicine.

At the inaugural meeting of the Group, held alongside the second W. H.O Global Traditional Medicine Summit held in New Delhi, India, the W.H.O’s Assistant Director General for Health System,Access and Data, Dr Yukiko Nakatani says it is a pivotal moment for Traditional Medicine as it embodies cultural heritage, national health identities and a vital component of policy healthcare strategies.

The situation whereby the rapid growth of traditional medicine has not been matched by strong evidence, standards, regulatory frameworks or sustainable governance, W.H.O’s Chief Scientist , Dr Sylvie Briand emphasized, underscores the urgency of the initiative.

• A patient with headphones playing music during surgery in a hospital in Delhi.

Under the harsh lights of an operating theatre in the Indian capital, Delhi, a woman lies motionless as surgeons prepare to remove her gallbladder.

She is under general anaesthesia: unconscious, insensate and rendered completely still by a blend of drugs that induce deep sleep, block memory, blunt pain and temporarily paralyse her muscles.

Yet, amid the hum of monitors and the steady rhythm of the surgical team, a gentle stream of flute music plays through the headphones placed over her ears.

Even as the drugs silence much of her brain, its auditory pathway remains partly active.

When she wakes up, she will regain consciousness more quickly and clearly because she required lower doses of anaesthetic drugs such as propofol and opioid painkillers than patients who heard no music.

That, at least, is what a new peer-reviewed study from Delhi’s Maulana Azad Medical College and Lok Nayak Hospital suggests.

The research, published in the journal Music and Medicine, offers some of the strongest evidence yet that music played during general anaesthesia can modestly but meaningfully reduce drug requirements and improve recovery.

The study focuses on patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy, the standard keyhole operation to remove the gallbladder.

The procedure is short – usually under an hour – and demands a particularly swift, “clear-headed” recovery.

To understand why the researchers turned to music, it helps to decode the modern practice of anaesthesia.

“Our aim is early discharge after surgery,” says Dr Farah Husain, senior specialist in anaesthesia and certified music therapist for the study.

“Patients need to wake up clear-headed, alert and oriented, and ideally pain-free. With better pain management, the stress response is curtailed.”

Achieving that requires a carefully balanced mix of five or six drugs that together keep the patient asleep, block pain, prevent memory of the surgery and relax the muscles…

(From BBC)

The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has urged the Federal Government to immediately conclude the long-delayed Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) as the union’s indefinite strike entered its 15th day on Saturday.

The doctors are also demanding a review of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS), which they described as outdated and inadequate in the face of rising living costs.

In a statement posted on X on Saturday, NARD said doctors have waited too long for a fair and clearly defined agreement on their work conditions and remuneration.

“For long we’ve waited for a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), a simple, written promise that ensures fairness, clear work terms, and proper pay. But the government keeps delaying, while doctors face rising costs and crumbling morale,” the union said.
“We demand the immediate conclusion of the CBA and review of the outdated CONMESS salary structure.”

The ongoing industrial action, which began earlier this month, has disrupted services in 91 hospitals across the country, including federal teaching hospitals, specialist centres, and federal medical centres.

NARD reiterated that its 19-point demand list is vital for improving the welfare of doctors and safeguarding the health sector. Among the demands are the payment of arrears under CONMESS, the disbursement of the 2025 Medical Residency Training Fund, prompt payment of specialist allowances, improved recognition of postgraduate qualifications, and better working conditions.

The union said these measures are essential to keep medical professionals in the system and maintain a functional healthcare delivery structure.

President Bola Tinubu had earlier directed the Ministry of Health to ensure immediate resolution of the strike, assuring that the government is working to address the doctors’ concerns.

However, NARD said the continued delay in signing the CBA and reviewing salaries has further dampened morale among resident doctors, many of whom are battling with economic hardship while providing critical healthcare services.

The union maintained that it remains open to dialogue but expects urgent government action to restore normalcy in the nation’s hospitals.