The Federal Ministry of Health has directed the immediate retirement of all directors who have served at least eight years in the directorate cadre, effective from December 31, 2025.

The directive, outlined in a memo signed by Tetshoma Dafeta, Director overseeing the Office of the Permanent Secretary, enforces the eight-year tenure policy for directors as stipulated in Section 020909 of the Revised Public Service Rules 2021.

It applies to directors across the ministry, federal hospitals, agencies, and parastatals under its supervision.

The move aligns with a broader Federal Government circular from the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, which reiterated the compulsory retirement rule for directors (Grade Level 17 or equivalent) after eight years in the position, as part of efforts to ensure compliance across all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).

The policy has sparked concerns from the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), which has criticized what it describes as selective implementation of retirement age reviews in the health sector.

JOHESU argues that such policies favor certain cadres over others, potentially undermining equity, teamwork, morale, and overall efficiency in healthcare delivery.

The ministry’s action follows recent government-wide enforcement of tenure limits for senior civil servants, including permanent secretaries. Affected directors are to be disengaged immediately, with institutions required to implement the directive without delay.

The United States’ withdrawal from the World Health Organisation (WHO) officially took effect on Thursday, exactly one year after President Donald Trump ordered the country to pull out of the global health body.

Under the terms governing WHO membership, a withdrawal becomes effective after a mandatory one-year notice period, which expired on Thursday 22 January, following the executive order signed by Trump shortly after he took office in 2025.

Although the agreement requires the United States to settle all outstanding financial obligations before withdrawal, that condition has not been met. However, the WHO has no legal mechanism to enforce payment or prevent a member state from exiting the organisation.

Reacting to the development, WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, expressed regret over the decision and urged the United States to reconsider.

“The withdrawal is a loss for the United States and also a loss for the rest of the world,” Tedros said, adding that the organisation remains open to the country’s return.

President Trump had justified the decision by accusing the WHO of mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic, which originated in Wuhan, China, as well as other global health emergencies.

He also cited the organisation’s alleged failure to implement necessary reforms and its inability to operate independently of political influence from member states.

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The Paediatric Association of Nigeria (PAN) says that former President , Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has accepted to be an advocate for children’s nutrition and healthcare in an efforts to reduce the high deaths rate amongst them.

“More than 800 Nigerian families lose a newborn everyday, despite the fact that most of the deaths are preventable,” said the PAN President, Dr Ekanem Ekure.

Speaking at a press conference in Abeokuta, Ogun State, ahead of the 57th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the association, Ekure lamented about Nigeria’s worsening child health indicators, warning that vaccine-preventable diseases, malnutrition and rising newborn deaths continue to claim thousands of young lives daily.

While visited former President Olusegun Obasanjo at his residential house in OOPL, the association demanded that he should an advocate for children’s nutrition. A tasked he greatly accepted.

He pledged to be an advocate of child healthcare and utilize his strength even though he doesn’t have children at hand anymore.

Ekure said Nigeria remained off track in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG-3), particularly in the areas of neonatal and under-five survival, describing the situation as a national emergency requiring urgent political, financial and technological intervention.

According to her, about 50 percent of child deaths in Nigeria are worsened by malnutrition, noting that poorly nourished children are far more likely to die from infections than healthy ones.

Ekure blamed vaccine hesitancy, misinformation, poverty, insecurity and weak health financing for Nigeria’s high burden of preventable child deaths, warning that the resurgence of diseases such as measles in some parts of the country mirrored global trends where immunisation rates have fallen.