. Nigerian couple jailed for selling bush-meat in Britain
. Surgeons meet in Abuja
. The doctors' strike

1. GARLIC HEALS HIV INFECTIONS IN CHILDREN

Garlic is proving a prize warrior in the battle of HIV-positive
children against opportunistic infections. And the availability of
the pungent herb means it could become an important weapon in
Africa's fight against HIV/AIDS. Allacin, an extract of garlic, is
being used with excellent results at the Red Cross Children's
Hospital to treat patients with drug-resistant infections of candida
in their mouths and throats. Peter de Wet, head of research
technology at the paediatric surgery department at the Red Cross
Children's Hospital, said at the weekend that allacin had been used
only in "problem cases" when conventional drugs had failed, and it
had healed almost all these children. He had isolated 77 samples of
the fungus that proved resistant to conventional drugs, and these had
been killed off by allacin. It also took between two to five days for
candida mouth infections to vanish, after no respose was obtained
with conventional antibiotics.

Source: Healthlink Bulletin 01-06-2001/The Star,
http://news.hst.org.za/view.php3?id=20010518 28 May 2001

2. 20 YEARS OF AIDS: JUNE 5, 1981-JUNE 5, 2001

On June 5, 1981, the CDC published a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly
Report (MMWR) account of a new disease that was hitting gay men. This
report ushered in what we now know as the AIDS pandemic. In the
United States alone, almost 900,000 people are infected with HIV.
Worldwide, tens of millions are believed to be HIV-infected, and
untold millions have already died of AIDS. (To read the original MMWR
article, visit http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pubs/mmwr/mmwr05jun81.pdf )

Source: Healthlink Bulletin 01-06-2001

3. MEASLES CASES INCREASE BY NEARLY 700 PERCENT IN KANO

Measles infections rose by 670 percent in northern Nigeria's biggest
city, Kano, in the first 21 weeks of this year over the same period
in 2000, the international medical organisation, Medecins sans
Frontieres (MSF), said on Tuesday. The results of MSF research at two
hospitals in Kano and of a joint surveillance by MSF and Kano State's
Ministry of Health show there were 16,263 cases in the first 21 weeks
of 2001 compared to 2,111 cases in the same period last year.

Source: IRIN. LAGOS, 23 May 2001
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/wa/countrystories/nigeria/20010523.phtml
Keywords: Nigeria. Measles infection. Kano. Medecins sans Frontieres.

4. UNICEF, NORTHERN STATES FIGHT DISEASES

Over the past three months, UNICEF's office for northern Nigeria,
located in Bauchi, has signed agreements with the 10 states it covers
on fighting infectious diseases, girl's education, safe water and
improving medical care, UNICEF Assistant Representative Vinod Alkari
told IRIN on Friday. The last state to sign was Gombe, to which
UNICEF has allocated 15 million naira (US $134,000) for various
initiatives including the fight against Guinea worm, malaria and
HIV/AIDS.

Alkari said immunisation and education, including upgrading the
skills of medical professionals, would remain key areas in the fight
against the diseases. Another major project is a Child-Friendly
School Initiative launched last year with UNICEF and federal
government funds. The initiative aims to ensure a healthy learning
environment in schools, the UN official said. The overall situation
for the first part of the year is positive, but UNICEF's work has not
been without obstacles, Alkari said, mentioning a lack of adequate
infrastructure and the attitude of local communities as challenges
for his office.

Source: IRIN. Abidjan.
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/wa/countrystories/nigeria/20010525.phtml
May 25, 2001
Keywords: Nigeria. Unicef. Cooperative health agreement. Infectious
diseases. Girl education. Safe water. Immunisation. HIV/AIDS. Guinea
worm diseases. Improving medical care.

5. NIGERIAN COUPLE JAILED FOR SELLING BUSH-MEAT IN BRITAIN

On Friday 25 May 200, a Nigerian couple, who runs a foodstuff store
in Dalston, East London, was jailed 7 years each for dealing in bush-
meat -which the authorities in the UK called endangered species. The
victims Rose and Bode of Mercyland Stores - Oshodi London- are
parents to three young children born in England. The couple has no
discernible police records. Amazingly, such a case has not been heard
of in the country. Besides, the jury of ten that convicted them
composed 9 White and 1 Caribbean (no African nay Nigerian). The
ruling of 9 against 1 emerged. At the heels of this judgement comes
the ban placed on egusi (melon seeds) a stable foodstuff of most
Africans - especially Nigerians. Dried fish, snail, etc have also
gone under the hammer. Egusi, they say, can cause cancer!

Source: Nigeriaworld.com. Thursday 31, May 2001
http://nigeriaworld.com/news/daily/2001/may/311.html Keywords: London
Jailed Nigerians in London. Bush-meat. Ban on Nigerian foodstuffs in
UK.

6. SURGEONS MEET IN ABUJA

The 36th Yearly Scientific Conference and General Meeting of the
International College of Surgeons, Nigerian national section kicked-
off in Abuja, Nigeria on Thursday May 31, 2001 with an appeal by the
Senate President, Pius Anyim to the august body "to include in its
agenda ways of resolving the present doctors' strike in the interest
of the common man". The Senate President described as irksome the
face-off between the NMA and the Federal Government, stressing that
because medicine is a very respected and noble profession, there is
need to guard jealously the Hippocratic oath which is the guiding
principle of medical practice.

"Medicine is all about preservation of life above all else and
preservation of human life should be upheld at all cost and as such
the current face-off between the NMA and the Federal Government is
rather irksome." Anyim said. He expressed confidence that the
conference, a gathering of patriotic and eminent Nigerian surgeons
would come out with positive contributions that will form the
blueprint for future health policies.

"I have no doubt that the outcome of your deliberations at this 36th
Yearly General Meeting will go a long way in positively shaping and
influencing the government's new policies on health care delivery."
Anyim promised to canvass vigorously for improved funding of the
health sector, even as he assured the surgeons of the support and
felicitations of not only the executive, but also the legislative arm
of government.

Source: Nigeriaworld.com. Friday June 12001.
http://nigeriaworld.com/news/source/2001/jun/1/11.html Keywords:
Nigeria. Scientific conference. Surgeons. Doctors' strike. Senate
President. Hippocratic oath.
.
7. THE DOCTORS' STRIKE

The Minister of Health, Professor Alphonsus Nwosu held a meeting
recently with the heads of all health institutions in the country as
well as the Chief Medical Directors and Chairmen of the boards of all
specialist teaching hospitals, amongst other key players in the
healthcare sector. Top on the agenda is the on-going strike of
doctors in government hospitals across the country. The strike
started on Monday after last-minute efforts to stave it off collapsed
the previous day.

It is expected that the Abuja summit will produce some timely
solutions to the imbroglio and end the strike. Like all previous
industrial actions embarked upon by medical practitioners, the
current one has resulted in great suffering and inevitably, deaths
even in its first couple of days. Earliest reports indicated that
government-run hospitals have shut their doors in the faces of those
in need of medical treatment and patients have been discharged or
simply abandoned on their sick beds. At the Modular Theatre of the
Lagos University Teaching Hospital, for example, all major operations
have been suspended. In Abuja, government hospitals have also
suspended surgical operation and out-patient treatment. The situation
is not different in other parts of the country.

Even though some efforts have been made to ameliorate the situation
by drafting nurses to take over the functions of doctors in casualty
and emergency wards and some serious cases are being referred to
private clinics, these constitute only a drop in the ocean of
suffering. Innocent Nigerians, like the proverbial grass, which bears
the brunt when two elephants fight, are being made to suffer because
of the strike.

Source: Nigeriaworld.com. Thursday, May 312001.
http://nigeriaworld.com/news/source/2001/may/31/25.html Keywords:
Nigeria. Doctors' strike.

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