Nigeria’s rising population a security threat says MeCAM - NaijaAgroNet

NaijaAgroNet:

Nigeria must multiply its efforts to strengthen the economy and provide all the necessary social and physical infrastructure to keep up with the country's explosive population growth, the Media Centre Against Child Malnutrition (MeCAM) has said, reports NaijaAgroNet.

MeCAM, a media advocacy group against child malnutrition, is determined to strengthen the agro-nutrition capacity and interest of its members professionally in contribution to nation-building and emancipation from extreme hunger especially in children, women as espoused in the Goal 2 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

MeCAM National Coordinator, Remmy Nweke said in a press statement commemorating the World Population Day that Nigeria’s estimated 192m population is not sustainable and may well worsen its security challenges and leave more children malnourished, unless it is matched by commensurate economic growth and infrastructure.

“Such infrastructure must include affordable and accessible medical facilities that would not only boost public health but will offer all the assistance for family planning to check unwanted pregnancy and keep population in check as well as have healthy children,” according to the statement.

“Overpopulation begets insecurity especially on food and put pressure on family fiscal economy, could lead to school dropouts, and lack of money for balance diet which is key to effective breastfeeding by mothers.

“Importantly, MECAM urges the government to make life more abundant for the people by working on all the fundamentals of the economy that would support its population. Also, we call on the governments to double their efforts on education, health care and access to other basic needs so that the rising population would be an asset instead of liabilities and source of security threats.”

Commemorated every July 11, the World Population Day was established by the then-Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989, an outgrowth of the interest generated by the Day of Five Billion, which was observed on 11 July 1987. The objective is to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues. This year’s commemoration was themed “Family Planning is a Human Right”.

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Use antibiotics wisely to combat rising drug resistance

NaijaAgroNet:

Leading up to 2017 World Antibiotic Awareness Week, slated between November 13 and 19, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) are together calling for responsible use of antibiotics in humans and animals to reduce the emergence of antibiotic resistance, NaijaAgroNet reports.

Antibiotic resistance, NaijaAgroNet report, is rising to dangerously high levels in all parts of the world and threatening our ability to treat common infectious diseases.

Also, NaijaAgroNet reports that infections affecting people including pneumonia, tuberculosis, blood poisoning and gonorrhoea - and animals alike are becoming harder, and sometimes impossible, to treat as antibiotics become less effective.

Antibiotics, experts say, are often overprescribed by physicians and veterinarians and overused by the public. Where they can be bought for human or animal use without a prescription, the emergence and spread of resistance is made worse.

They also cited examples of misuse include taking antibiotics for viral infections like colds and flu, and using them as animal growth promoters on farms or in aquaculture.

To tackle these problems, WHO, FAO and OIE are leveraging their expertise and working together in a ‘One Health' approach to promote best practices to reduce the emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant microbes in both humans and animals.

"Antibiotic resistance is a global crisis that we cannot ignore," says Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO. "If we don't tackle this threat with strong, coordinated action, antimicrobial resistance will take us back to a time when people feared common infections and risked their lives from minor surgery."

"The overuse of antimicrobials blunts their effectiveness, and we must reduce their misuse in food systems," says José Graziano da Silva, Director-General of FAO. "Antimicrobial veterinary medicines are a crucial tool for animal health and welfare and safe food production, but they are by no means the only tool."

"Like in human health, veterinary medicine has tremendously progressed thanks to antibiotics. Preserving their efficacy and availability through their responsible use associated with good husbandry and prevention practices, is therefore essential to preserve animal health and welfare," highlights Dr Monique Eloit, Director-General of OIE. 

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Pix: Prof. Adewale, Minister of Health