WORLD HEALTH DAY 2013: HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

WORLD HEALTH DAY 2013: HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

Femi Adebayo is barely twenty eight years old. He was almost in tears when he discovered at a market health fair organized by LEC public school students, his blood pressure was 160/80, a far cry from the normal 120/80 and was at risk of heart failure and stroke.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), High blood pressure (HBP) also known as hypertension affects more than one in three adults worldwide and accounts for more than nine million deaths yearly. The proportion increases with age, from 1 in 10 people in their 20s and 30s to 5 in 10 people in their 50s. Statistics also show that 80 per cent of non-communicable deaths occur in low and middle-income countries in Africa, with over 40 per cent of adults in many African countries thought to be affected.

In Nigeria, greater attention has been focused on tackling infectious diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV with minimal attention on non-communicable diseases like high blood pressure. This has led to negligence by its citizens in observing routine medical check-ups to monitor the risk factors (stress, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, overweight, tobacco and excessive alcohol consumption) associated with non-communicable diseases.

As the World Health Organisation (WHO) marked its 67th anniversary on April 7, 2013 it called global attention to high prevalence of high blood pressure in the world. The ultimate goal of world health day 2013 is to reduce heart attacks and strokes through greater awareness, healthy behaviours, improved detection, and enabling environments around the world. In this light, the campaign messages focused on the diagnosis, prevention and control of high blood pressure, as a means of reducing the number of people affected, both now and in the future.

On the other hand, LEAP Africa, a Lagos based non-governmental organisation has initiated projects addressing high blood pressure through student beneficiaries of its Leadership, Ethics and Civics (LEC) Programme in public secondary schools. The LEC is one of LEAP Africa’s core leadership programmes that train secondary school students across Nigeria to become change agents and leaders in their immediate communities. Engaged in a curriculum designed to equip and empower students to carry out community projects, the LEC students gain leadership, soft skills to successfully implement these projects.

A medical personnal checking one of the beneficiaries Blood Pressure

Contributing to the diagnosis and prevention of high blood pressure, student beneficiaries of Immaculate Heart Comprehensive Senior High, Maryland, Ikeja organized free blood pressure check and treatment for traders in Onigbongbo market of Maryland, Lagos in collaboration with community chiefs, religious leaders and the Local Council Development Authority (LCDA).

Free tests were carried out by medical practitioners from the state teaching hospital LASUTH. As petty traders, they also benefitted from free counseling on the importance of regular medical checks and HBP medications. Given the impact of the project, the Health fair became a yearly exercise since 2010, reaching 68 micro business owners dealing in consumable goods. Femi Adebayo is a petty trader in Onigbogbo market in Ikeja, Lagos who benefitted from the health fair in 2010. He is grateful for the timely intervention of the LEC students in saving from advanced health implications of HBP which includes strokes and heart failure.

LEC students with one of the beneficiaries of the free BP test

In 2011 in Edo State, students of Edokpolor Grammar School implement a similar project. They organized free medical checkups for older citizens in the community in partnership with WHO (World Health Organization) officers. As a result of this outreach, 50 individuals -25 local community chiefs and 25 other community people were diagnosed of high blood pressure and we referred to State clinic for urgent treatment. This outreach created awareness in the community and reiterated the importance of routine medical checkup especially for older people.

Contrary to general belief that LEAP Africa does not support health programmes, some youth alumni of its Youth Leadership Programme (YLP) have initiated, supported health related projects in various locations in Nigeria. The projects range from Anti-Malaria campaign, HIV awareness, prevention and support and Safe Motherhood.

It is hoped the campaign against high blood pressure will encourage more adults to check their blood pressure and prompt health authorities in nations to provide affordable blood pressure measurement for everyone. Sam Eferaro of National Mirror newspaper in Nigeria reports that under the national health bill which the national assembly is currently revising, “is expected to ensure that some categories of Nigerians receive free health care services from public health establishments.”
The good news is that the high blood pressure is preventable and treatable by reducing salt intake, eating a balanced diet, moderate alcohol consumption, regular physical activity, maintaining a healthy body weight, avoiding tobacco use, regular medical check-ups and high blood pressure medications.

Governments, health workers, civil society, the private sector, families and individuals can act as change agents in addressing high blood pressure and its impact. Things are picking up in Nigeria, according to Dr Kingsley Akinroye of the Nigerian Heart Foundation; the federal government is currently putting together a national policy on non-communicable diseases due to be out later this year and will aid the response to hypertension in the country.

At state levels, the Lagos state government is raising public awareness about hypertension through sponsored advertising in national daily newspapers. Dr. Jide Idris who is the present commissioner for health in Lagos state, says the state is providing diagnosis in public health facilities and some financial means to support the poor people. The state is also investing in pedestrian paths to provide an enabling environment where people can walk without fear of accidents, thus encouraging more physical exercise.

Challenges of the Nigerian Youth – Job Search by Uchechi Abakporo

Uchechi Abakporo is a guest blogger with LEAP Africa and she writes about her personal experience searching for a job in Nigeria after studying in the United Kingdom. Read below

Uchechi Abakporo

This post is a story about my personal experience; which may differ from others in a similar situation.

I relocated to Nigeria over a month ago from England; I was so excited and looked forward to the move. I had hoped searching for a job in my field won’t be a difficult task and job-related information will be easily available online. I guess that was wishful thinking because looking for a job in Nigeria “no be small thing o”.

Quite a number of job seekers with me included; are not so fortunate to know someone that knows someone who knows someone that work in companies with available job openings. As a result of this, we depend on advertised job openings.

This brings me to the core focus of this post “job search”. This is the challenge I have faced so far and presently facing which I believe is applicable to other Nigerian youths. There are just a handful of online jobsite portals present in Nigeria today. This had made job search extremely difficult.

I’m aware some companies do place job openings on their websites, but searching individual company sites is exhaustive! Also, getting information on the list of registered companies in one’s field to perform this herculean task is not readily available. Thus dependency on online job portals is extremely high; not only in Nigeria but globally as well.

I shared my frustration with my aunt the other day and she said “most companies place their job openings in newspapers”. Perhaps, I have to start buying all daily newspapers! There are quite a number of newspaper companies in Nigeria. The question now is; can an unemployed youth afford to buy them all? If I was to target a few newspaper companies, how can I determine which one company A or B will place their adverts?

I have even contemplated appearing uninvited to offices to hand in my CV. Again, this avenue is discouraging! Firstly, there is no easily accessible address directory for companies. Secondly, if I appear invited, there is a high probability of being refused entry on security or other official grounds. If I succeeded in making it past the big gate, what is the assurance that my submitted CV will get to the appropriate person for consideration?

Nevertheless, I and other Nigerian youths in this dilemma refuse to give up! We just wish it was less daunty!

International Water Day: Water Cooperation

Water is an essential need for every living thing on the planet earth, but as important as it is, water is unevenly distributed across the planet leaving some areas short while some have more than enough to even subject to waste. The United Nation writes on cooperating to effectively manage water and reach out with aid and provision to areas with deficiency.

The fulfillment of basic human needs, our environment, socio-economic development and poverty reduction are all heavily dependent on water.

Good management of water is especially challenging due to some of its unique characteristics: it is unevenly distributed in time and space, the hydrological cycle is highly complex and perturbations have multiple effects. Rapid urbanization, pollution and climate change threaten the resource while demands for water are increasing in order to satisfy the needs of a growing world population, now at over seven billion people, for food production, energy, industrial and domestic uses. Water is a shared resource and its management needs to take into account a wide variety of conflicting interests. This provides opportunities for cooperation among users.

To read more about the international water day, please click here

Social Entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurship means identifying or recognizing a social problem and using entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a social venture to achieve a desired social change.

Youth social entrepreneurship is an increasingly common approach to engaging youth voice in solving social problems. Youth organizations and programs promote these efforts through a variety of incentives to young people. LEAP Africa’s Annual Nigerian Youth Leadership Awards and the forthcoming Youth in Social Enterprise Conference are perfect examples of programmes that promotes the efforts of social entrepreneurs. The programmes strengthens, supports and celebrates the role of young people in creating positive change in their communities.

LEAP Africa annually celebrates social entrepreneurs and a host of other youth engaging in change projects in their communities and contributing to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in Nigeria.

The internet and social networking websites have been pivotal resources for the success and collaboration of many Social Entrepreneurs. A lot of these social entrepreneurs utilize the platform of the social media to interface with other young people across the globe to further consult on the many possible solutions to the existing challenges in the world. These media allow ideas to be heard by broader audiences, help networks and investors to develop globally, and achieve their goals with little or no start-up capital. In addition the internet allows for the pooling of design resources using open source principles. For example, the rise of open-source appropriate technology as a sustainable development paradigm enables people all over the world to collaborate on solving local problems just as open source software development leverage on collaboration.

Over the years LEAP has provided support for social entrepreneurs to further their change projects and aspirations and has linked them with available networks and resources to bolster their efforts.

Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation

February 6th 2013 marks the 10th annual International Day for zero tolerance against female genital mutilation around the world. This day is observed each year to raise global awareness about the dangers of the practice.

Female genital mutilation(FGM) as defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) comprises of “all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reason”. FGM is usually carried out on girls between infancy and puberty. The procedure is mostly carried out by traditional circumcisers without anesthesia using a knife, razor or scissors until most recently where more than 18 percent of FGM procedures are carried out by health care providers.

Current statistics by the WHO shows it is practiced in 28 African countries, parts of the Middle East, and within immigrant communities in Europe, North America and Australia. It is estimated that 100 – 140 million women around the world have undergone this practice.
Nigeria is among the 28 African countries that practices FGM. In the past, Nigeria had the highest number of cases in the world. This amounted to about one quarter of the estimated circumcised women in the world.

A research carried out by TC Okeke, USB Anyaehie and CCK Ezenyeaku in 2012 on the overview of FGM in Nigeria showed occurrence of 77 percent in the South-South, 68 percent in the South East, 65 percent in the South West, and practiced on a smaller scale in the North.

The practice of FGM is deeply rooted in local traditional beliefs which have been passed on from generation to generation. Advocates stress the perceived benefits for the female are maintaining chastity before marriage, better marriage prospects, reduces infidelity in marriage, provides more sexual pleasure for men and aids safe childbirth.

However, there are associated health dangers which can be immediate or occurring later in the female’s life. The procedure can cause haemorrhage (there are documented reports of bleeding to death), infections, cysts, keloids, infertility, sexual dysfunction and complications in childbirth.
Oppositions to FGM make emphasis on the need to eradicate this practice as it has no health benefits and a violation of the human rights of females. Due to this activism, there has been a significant reduction of its practice globally. The world has woken up to this call and several countries have enacted laws prohibiting and banning FGM on their soil.

Countries with existing federal laws to fight FGM include Australia, Burkina Faso, Canada, Central African Republic, Cote D’Ivoire, Djibouti, Eritrea, France, Italy, Norway, Netherlands, New Zealand, Senegal, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, United Kingdom, and United States.

There is no existing federal law prohibiting and banning the practice in Nigeria. However, there are legislation and enforcement state laws with mild penalties in Abia, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Ogun, Osun and Rivers. The WHO, United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Federation of International Obstetrics and Gynecology (FIGO), African Union, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), and many women organisations are also addressing this issue in Nigeria.

As the world marks the 10th anniversary of the International Day for zero tolerance against female genital mutilation, I hope this will act as a reminder to the Nigerian government to see the need for a federal law with stiffer penalties in the struggle against the eradication of FGM.
Let us all hope that in the near future, the practice of FGM will be abolished globally and our daughters will only read about it in their history classes.

Guestpost by Uchechi Abakporo.

Getting even with Mondays

For most metropolitan folks, Mondays are dreadful days, especially when your weekend was full of activity. On Mondays, employees rush out of their homes, fighting the lateness potential and hoping to beat nascent traffic. On the same routes too, students speed off to school, attempting to either keep a clean punctuality record at the assembly ground before the bell stops ringing or arrive at early-morning lectures promptly. So, even when the day is not going to be very busy, the hustles and bustles of the early hours of a simple Monday morning set the day on a busy tone.

But in truth, Monday is only as busy as the haste we make. It is just lucky to receive the attention it pulls as the first work day of the week. An observant mind would see Monday like any other work day stripping it of the ability to catch one unawares. And on days when it seems as though Monday stumbled on us, it is usually because of our inadequate preparedness for the new week’s tasks and a slight loss of familiarity with our old routines. Yet, trust impatient Monday, “he” is ready to snatch the next week right from euphoric Sunday. And his attitude could be worse if Sunday night had witnessed a rainy or snowy weather. You can be sure Monday will stealthily and suddenly light up the day while your bed still keeps you cozy.

For students who have had series of activities and assignments the previous week, starting work on Monday after the weekend crash could be horrible! People whose presence is vital labour market don’t get it easy either. In fact, workers have more to lose than semester grades: they could lose the very job that sustains the family cash flow! Preparing for the day alone could be frightening enough to keep one in bed for so long.

On the face of it, there is no new formula to apply against the Monday issue. All we can do is what we already know: to gain mastery over it, just prepare ahead. Monday’s only intention is always to sting us while we are looking away. But we can as much protect ourselves from this snare by creating our own backup system. To be precise, we should ensure that we find time, no matter how small, to relax during weekends. You could shake off some body stress and fatigue by combining good meals with good naps.

Think of how you could make the coming week better than the last. Try to finish off all office works that spilled over the weekend to reduce or totally eliminate excess work the next week. By doing these and more, you protect yourself from a crazy Monday and as the rush heightens the next week, you’d have time to enjoy the traffic. It’s like having a baseball bat in your hands, ready to hit hard at Monday. So, all you need do is take a convenient position, hold the bat firmly and when Mr. Monday comes, hit him hard in the groin. Monday could be fun, just prepare adequately.

Ayodeji Morakinyo is a leisure writer. He blogs at www.moraks.blogspot.com and corresponds for the youth programme of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Adding Values to Communities through Volunteerism

Values are the set standards esteemed by the people of a particular community. They are the general quotas used to regulate societal stability and benchmark the worth of development occurring within a communal group. Though each community is distinguished by its own values, several communities share certain tenets. Some of these widespread values include promotion of human and animal lives, law, morals, religion, culture, hygiene, education, economy and they form the belief system of the people. Where there are no values, there are no standards and anything is acceptable. Consequently, order cannot be regulated neither can progress be measured in the absence of values.

The world is evolving and the situation in many countries keeps changing with it. The effects of adverse climate change, war, poverty, unemployment, terrorism, illiteracy, poor hygiene and economic fluctuations are creating problems for both humans and animals in several societies across the globe today. Leaders and technology pioneers are struggling to solve the many infrastructural difficulties of this age. For instance, in Africa and some parts  of Asia, democratic governments are fighting hard to resolve the seemingly insurmountable problems of poverty, unemployment, crime, poor hygiene and illiteracy. Many citizens find it almost impossible to uphold the values originally established in their societies. The environments in such societies are therefore non-supportive to the regulation of order and communal development; values are corroded and the average standard of life continually dips. These are some of the negative effects of global evolution.

To sustain life and order on earth, some governments of countries as well as their intracontinental and intercontinental unions are persistently creating programmes to help control and gradually resolve these problems. International bodies and summits like the United Nations (UN), Commonwealth of Nations, Organisation of Africa Unity, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), European Union (EU), Group of Eight (G8), are exemplary channels through which many governments cooperate to assuage the unpleasant effects of global evolution.

In addition, various local, national and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are developing initiatives to complement the efforts of government in fighting these problems. Ashoka, LEAP Africa, Innovations for Poverty Action, GOI Peace Foundation, OneWorld Health, Oxfam, Water for People, Creative Commons and Stop Malaria Now are just a few of such NGOs.  However, government and NGO efforts alone cannot resolve the problems because they continue to augment every day. If truly, we will build a more salubrious global habitat and meet the millennium development goals, every youth and adult must be willing to participate.

Civic participation is one of the surest means of controlling the defects of global evolution. Each one of us must be willing to contribute an effort or resource against the existence of one or more of those problems. This is where the significance of volunteerism becomes obvious. Volunteerism is the aspect of civic participation which involves the use of unpaid help from professional and non-professional workers to perform tasks or job duties that may require certain composite skills or experience. It may also be described as the act of providing free services to other people within or outside one’s community. These tasks or duties include but are not limited to teaching and enlightening, providing healthcare, operating equipments, administering resources, ensuring safety, providing legal service, etc. Today, there are countless opportunities for people to volunteer regardless of their level of education. One can volunteer to participate in a project as a skilled professional, semi-skilled worker or an unskilled labourer.

Youth are the most dynamic human resource for driving volunteerism because they have energy, passion and intelligence. Young people can achieve any realistic objective if their hearts are set on its attainment. They can easily adapt to foreign environment and are quick to assimilate and interpret new information. They constitute the majority of the proletariat in the foremost economies of the world and are definitely the linking factor between a nation’s present status and its future goals.

Thus, youth are the best resource for volunteerism. However, the idea of volunteering is still hidden from many young people. It is not uncommon for me to find people asking how they can add value to themselves while awaiting university admission or employment. But as I often say, “the best way to add value to one’s self is by adding value to other lives.”When you engage in volunteerism, you engage in a value exchange process. You trade your efforts in exchange for new experience, knowledge and fulfillment. More information about how to become a volunteer can be found at: All Hands Volunteers, Idealist, LEAP Africa, VE Global, UN Volunteers, One World, and Christian Volunteering. Apart from these, with the right motivation, you could find a way into any organisation and offer to work for free. Along the line, your commitment will lead you to an opportunity within or outside that organisation and pay off your free work.

If as a young person, you truly want to grow in value, seek a means of adding value to the lives of other people. You will be amazed at how much value you can add to the community and your worth to other lives would have increased.

Ayodeji Morakinyo is a leisure writer. He blogs at www.moraks.blogspot.com and corresponds for the youth programme of the Commonwealth of Nations.