Health
Bayer to establish reproductive health commodities plant in Nigeria
The plant is expected to manufacture family planning commodities locally, reducing Nigeria’s dependence on imported products, creating jobs and contributing to economic growth.
•The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate
Global pharmaceutical company, Bayer, is to establish a reproductive health commodities manufacturing plant in Nigeria, with the facility currently under construction in Anambra State.
The plant is expected to manufacture family planning commodities locally, reducing Nigeria’s dependence on imported products, creating jobs and contributing to economic growth.
The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, disclosed this in Abuja at the inauguration of the High-Level Inter-Ministerial Platform (IMP) on Family Planning, Health, Human Capital and Sustainable National Development.
Pate described the investment as evidence that President Bola Tinubu’s Executive Order on the pharmaceutical sector was beginning to attract significant investments in local pharmaceutical manufacturing, diagnostics and health technology.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of FP2030 West and Central Africa Office, Dr Alain Damiba, described the initiative as a major step towards strengthening cross-sector collaboration to improve health outcomes and accelerate Nigeria’s socio-economic development.
Damiba commended the Federal Government for adopting a whole-of-government approach, noting that the new platform demonstrated that health and family planning were national development priorities and not issues that should be left to the health sector alone.
“Health, including family planning, is a smart investment in human capital and Nigeria’s future,” Damiba said.
Source: The Guardian Nigeria
The Federal Government has confirmed Nigeria’s first case of Ebola virus disease in the current regional outbreak, authorities announced Tuesday.
A woman who recently arrived in the country on an international flight from Uganda tested positive after being treated for several days at a private hospital in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. Laboratory confirmation was received on October 20.
The patient is now in isolation and receiving medical care. Health officials have identified 44 close contacts so far and begun contact tracing. These include healthcare workers, other patients, caregivers, and travel contacts.
Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate said the Federal Ministry of Health, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), and FCT health authorities are working together to contain the infection and prevent further spread. Surveillance has been intensified, and the hospital where the patient was treated is receiving support to strengthen infection prevention and control measures.
Pate urged healthcare facilities nationwide to maintain a high index of suspicion, promptly isolate suspected cases, and report them immediately. He also called on the public to cooperate with contact-tracing teams, avoid spreading unverified information, and refrain from stigmatising those who may have been exposed.
Nigeria successfully contained an Ebola outbreak in 2014. Officials say the country has the experience and public health systems needed to respond to this case. The confirmation comes amid a wider regional outbreak linked to cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and elsewhere.
Health
Millions of bedbugs crawl out of mattresses and walls in huge outbreak
Bedbugs can enter homes on clothes, luggage, or second hand furniture – and “hide” in mattresses or walls, according to the NHS.
Millions of bedbugs were crawling out of mattresses in what a pest controller said was the worst outbreak he had seen in 38 years.
They were even in the walls and under the wallpaper, with the mattresses and bed frames needing to be incinerated.
Cardiff pest controller Gareth Davies had to wear full protection as his team tackled the problem in the Canton area of the city, using a specialist vacuum cleaner to collect millions of the bugs.
It came after they had tackled a large cockroach outbreak last month in a scene he likened to a horror movie.
“This house was just horrific,” he told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.
“Hundreds of thousands of them when you lifted the mattresses up.
“They were coming out of the wallpaper, it was horrendous.”
Bedbugs can enter homes on clothes, luggage, or second hand furniture – and “hide” in mattresses or walls, according to the NHS.
Credit: BBC
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has confirmed that Lassa fever has claimed 259 lives and infected 1,086 people across 24 states and 118 local government areas so far in 2026.
In its latest Lassa Fever Situation Report for epidemiological week 36 (August 31 to September 6), the agency said the figures represent a case fatality rate of 23.9 percent — significantly higher than the 18.6 percent recorded during the same period in 2025.
Twelve new confirmed cases were recorded in week 36, a decline from the 18 cases reported the previous week. The fresh infections were detected in Ondo, Edo and Kogi states.
Five states continue to bear the heaviest burden, accounting for 87 percent of all confirmed cases this year: Bauchi, Ondo, Taraba, Benue and Edo. People aged 21 to 30 remain the most affected age group.
The NCDC noted that no new infections among healthcare workers were recorded during the latest reporting week. The agency continues to urge the public to maintain hygiene, avoid contact with rodents and their droppings, and seek early medical care if symptoms appear.
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