By Williams ABAH
The Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Paullen Tallen, has said that for Nigeria to achieve the 2030 SDGs targets, there should be total elimination of Female Genital Mutilation, FGM, in the country.
She stated this while speaking at the launch of the “Movement for Good to End FGM” in Abuja on Friday night
According to her, the 2030 targets on health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, decent work, and economic growth cannot be achieved except FGM is eliminated in the country.
She noted that the continuous practice of FGM denies girls and women the right to quality education and opportunities for decent work and their sexual and reproductive health was threatened.
Talleb also said the procedure of FGM has no health benefit for girls and women but rather causes more problems for them.
In her words, “The resulting outcome of FGM are adverse haemorrhage, infection, acute urinary retention following such trauma, damage to the urethra or anus,” she said.
She added that during the procedure, the victim would struggle through an experience which leads to chronic pelvic infection, dysmenorrhea, retention cysts, sexual difficulties, obstetric complications, bleeding, prolonged labour, leading to fistula formation, amongst others.
“The mental and psychological agony attached with FGM is deemed the most serious complication because the problem does not manifest outwardly for help to be offered,” she said.
Monkeypox: Nigeria records 558 cases, eight deaths
The Nigerian government has given the statistics of monkeypox and fatalities recorded in the country within the last five years.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in its latest report said the country recorded 558 cases and eight deaths across 32 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) between 2017 and 2022.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) had at the weekend confirmed a Monkeypox infection in an unidentified individual believed to have been contracted in Nigeria before arriving in the UK.
Without disclosing the identity of the patient, the UKHSA, in a publication on the official UK government website, noted that the patient is receiving care at an infectious disease unit.
NCDC in the latest epidemiological summary on Monkeypox which was published on Monday noted that since September 2017, Nigeria has continued to report sporadic cases of the disease.
It said a National Technical Working Group (TWG) was set up and saddled with the task of monitoring infections and strengthening preparedness and response capacity.
The disease control centre noted that eight deaths have been recorded with a Case Fatality Ratio (CFR) of 3.3 per cent in six states: Edo (2), Lagos (2), Imo (1), Cross River (1), FCT (1) and Rivers (1) – from September 2017 to April 30, 2022.
Breaking down the cases, the centre said a total of 13 suspected cases had been reported between January 1 to February 28, 2022. Out of these suspected cases, NCDC said four were confirmed positive in three states and the FCT with a single case each.
It said also in February six new suspected cases were recorded in three states with Bayelsa recording three; Imo, two; and Lagos, one.
NCDC said only the suspected case in Lagos was found to be positive after test results were released.
