What are the symptoms caused by the Covid-19 virus, how does it spread, and should you see a doctor?



What is Covid-19?

It is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that has never been encountered before. Like other coronaviruses, it has transferred to humans from animals. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared it a pandemic.

What are the symptoms this coronavirus causes?

According to the WHO, the most common symptoms of Covid-19 are fever, tiredness and a dry cough. Some patients may also have a runny nose, sore throat, nasal congestion and aches and pains or diarrhoea. About 80% of people who get Covid-19 experience a mild case – about as serious as a regular cold – and recover without needing any special treatment.

About one in six people, the WHO says, become seriously ill. The elderly and people with underlying medical problems like high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes, or chronic respiratory conditions, are at a greater risk of serious illness from Covid-19.

In Nigeria, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has identified the specific symptoms to look for as experiencing either:

- a high temperature – you feel hot to touch on your chest or back
- a new continuous cough – this means you’ve started coughing repeatedly

As this is viral pneumonia, antibiotics are of no use. The antiviral drugs we have against flu will not work, and there is currently no vaccine. Recovery depends on the strength of the immune system.

Should I go to the doctor if I have a temperature or a cough?

No. In Nigeria, the NCDC advice is now that anyone with symptoms should self-isolate. If you live with other people, they should stay at home for at least 14 days, to avoid spreading the infection outside the home. This applies to everyone, regardless of whether they have travelled abroad.

In Nigeria, you should look on the dedicated coronavirus NCDC website for information. If you get worse or your symptoms last longer than seven days, you should call NCDC on a toll-free number 0800 9700 0010, WhatsApp +234708 711 0839 and SMS +234809 955 5577. People will no longer be tested for the virus unless they are in hospital.

Many countries have imposed travel bans and lockdown conditions in order to try and halt the spread of the virus. You should check with your local authorities for the latest advice on seeking medical assistance.

How many people have been affected?

China’s national health commission confirmed human-to-human transmission in January. As of 24 March, more than 380,000 people have been infected in more than 150 countries, according to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

There have been over 16,500 deaths globally. Just over 3,000 of those deaths have occurred in mainland China, where the coronavirus was first recorded in the city of Wuhan. Italy has been hardest hit, though, with over 6,000 fatalities. Many of those who have died had underlying health conditions, which the coronavirus complicated.

More than 100,000 people are recorded as having recovered from the coronavirus.

Why is this worse than normal influenza, and how worried are the experts?

We don’t yet know how dangerous the new coronavirus is, and we won’t know until more data comes in, but estimates of the mortality rate have ranged from well below 1% in the young to over 3% among those who are elderly or have underlying health conditions. Seasonal flu typically has a mortality rate below 1% and is thought to cause about 400,000 deaths each year globally. Sars had a death rate of more than 10%.

Another key unknown is how contagious the coronavirus is. A crucial difference is that unlike flu, there is no vaccine for the new coronavirus, which means it is more difficult for vulnerable members of the population – elderly people or those with existing respiratory or immune problems – to protect themselves. Hand-washing and avoiding other people if you feel unwell are important.

Have there been other coronaviruses?

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (Mers) are both caused by coronaviruses that came from animals. In 2002, Sars spread virtually unchecked to 37 countries, causing global panic, infecting more than 8,000 people and killing more than 750. Mers appears to be less easily passed from human to human, but has greater lethality, killing 35% of about 2,500 people who have been infected.

Read Also: Osinbajo self-isolates as Abba Kyari tests positive to COVID-19

Ninety-two Chadian soldiers have been killed in the deadliest attack ever by Boko Haram jihadists on armed forces in the country, President Idriss Déby Itno said on Tuesday.

The attack is part of an expanding jihadist campaign in the vast, marshy Lake Chad area, where the borders of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria converge.

Boko Haram launched an insurgency in Nigeria in 2009 before beginning incursions in its neighbouring countries to the east.

“We lost 92 of our soldiers, non-commissioned officers and officers,” in the attack overnight on Sunday in Boma, the president said.

“It’s the first time we have lost so many men,” he added, after visiting the site of the attack in the Lac province, which borders Niger and Nigeria.

The attack on soldiers on the Boma peninsula lasted at least seven hours, and reinforcements sent to help out were also targeted, one soldier told AFP.

He said 24 army vehicles were destroyed, including armoured vehicles, and captured military arms were carried off in speedboats by Boko Haram.

“The enemy has hit at our defences hard in this zone,” a senior officer said.

Boko Haram has stepped up its attacks in recent months on the islands of the Lake Chad basin.

Boko Haram’s insurgency has killed 36,000 people and displaced nearly two million in northeastern Nigeria since it began, according to the UN.

Since 2015, countries in the region have cooperated in the Multinational Joint Force, a regional coalition engaged around Lake Chad with the help of local residents formed into vigilante groups.

Read Also: Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should I call a doctor?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5TPi6hFOdA

Tottenham FC boss Jose Mourinho has decided to volunteer to the less privileged during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

In a video obtained by Sports Extra, the Tottenham boss was seeing helping elderly people by delivering food to their doors while they are unable to leave home.

“I’m giving a little help to Age UK Enfield and Love Your Doorstep Enfield,” he said while being filmed bagging items.

“And of course you can donate food online or volunteer.

“It’s so easy to contact.”

Read Also: Search for Coronavirus Vaccine Has Turned Into a Global Competition

The devaluation of the Nigerian naira will put pressure on the assets of lenders struggling to raise asset quality to the regulatory threshold, according to Moody’s Investors Services.

Africa’s largest oil producer on March 20 devalued by 4% the local unit versus the dollar, a move that will cause concern for Nigerian banks’ credit book and capital metrics “as they have a high proportion of foreign-currency denominated loans,” Peter Mushangwe, an analyst at Moody’s Investors Service said in emailed response to questions on Monday.

Nigeria’s central bank weakened the market rate for the currency to 380 naira per dollar from 365 naira while the official exchange rate was allowed to depreciate by 15% to 360 naira per dollar from 307 naira. The unit traded 381 per dollar on the interbank spot market as of 3:50 p.m. in Lagos, the nation’s commercial hub.

“Foreign-currency borrowers who do not earn foreign currency will require higher naira cashflows to meet their obligations, diminishing their repayment capacity,.” Mushangwe said. The banking industry’s non-performing loans as percentage of total credit dropped to 9.3% as at mid-2019 from 12.5% a year earlier. The regulator wants it below 5%.

“A weaker naira also increases Nigerian banks’ risk weighted assets related to their foreign currency loans, putting negative pressure on their capital metrics,” according to Mushangwe. “However, the banks hold good capital buffers,” he said.

Read Also: Coronavirus: Private jet bookings spike in Nigeria

Israeli medical doctor Gai Peleg told Israeli television that in northern Italy the orders are not to allow those over 60 access to respiratory machines.

Italy suffered more coronavirus-related victims than China with 4,825 confirmed deaths and 5,000 confirmed patients in the last 24 hours, Channel 12 reported on Sunday.

Israeli doctor Gai Peleg, who is currently working to save lives in Parma, Italy, told Channel 12 that things are only getting worse as the number of patients keeps growing.

As his department receives coronavirus patients who are terminally ill the focus is to allow patients to meet loved ones and communicate with them during their last moments despite the quarantine regulations. Other reports claim that, as the numbers of dead increases, some families find themselves unable to secure a proper burial for their loved ones.

Read Also: COVID-19: Niger governor orders strict measures

Peleg said that, from what he sees and hears in the hospital, the instructions are not to offer access to artificial respiratory machines to patients over 60 as such machines are limited in number.

Israel is currently purchasing thousands of respiratory machines, and they are meant to arrive in the country by mid-May. On Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is using every means it has to secure medical equipment to help patients during the pandemic.

The emphasis on prevention is the only logical thing to do because our health system cannot cope with an outbreak of Covid-19.

Read Also: COVID 19: Borno bans visits to IDP camps

Earlier this year, when the first reports of the coronavirus started to come out of China, global health officials said they were very worried about what would happen if the virus started spreading in Africa, where many health systems are already struggling.

Well, now the coronavirus is spreading in Africa.

So far the number of reported cases remains low. As of Saturday, more than half the nations on the continent — 36 of the 54 countries — had reported cases. South Africa, with 150 cases, is the only one with more than 100.

Nonetheless, many countries in Africa are responding aggressively to the pandemic.

Schools were ordered closed in the Nigerian capital of Lagos after only eight cases were confirmed nationwide. Last week South Africa banned visitors from high-risk countries, closed down schools and quickly opened drive-through testing centers in Johannesburg.

Regional experts say a widespread pandemic in Africa could cripple the continent’s fragile health-care systems and be devastating economically. It also could be difficult to contain while foreign donor nations that traditionally assist the continent in such crises are overwhelmed with their own outbreaks.

The head of the World Health Organization’s Africa region, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, said on Thursday that most of the cases have been imported from Europe and so far there is relatively limited community transmission of the virus on the continent.

“Although there may be some undetected infections, we don’t think these are very large in number,” Moeti said.

Given Africa’s close ties to China and the explosive outbreaks happening elsewhere in the world, it’s unclear why that is. Researchers are questioning whether Africa is somehow less vulnerable to the virus or if it is still just in an early phase of the epidemic.

Moeti speculated that the low number of cases may be because the Southern Hemisphere is just coming out of summer.

“In southern American countries there’s also been spread but it has not been the same as we’ve seen in the Global North. So we are trying to understand if this could be related to temperature or to weather,” she said in a video conference call with reporters. “We have a distinct flu season in the southern part of continent and some Eastern African countries. We may from this infer that we should expect … perhaps in a couple of months when the winter sets in in the South … to see an increase in the rate of transmission of this virus.”

One question in Africa is whether the number of confirmed cases is so low simply because the virus isn’t being detected.

At the beginning of February only two countries in sub-Saharan Africa —Senegal and South Africa — had the ability to test for the novel coronavirus. WHO has helped 43 more countries set up or augment their national laboratories so that they can also test for this pathogen.

The overall capacity of those labs is low, and the tests will have to be done in capital cities. But getting even a basic level of domestic testing capacity running could be crucial as borders close and international air transport grinds to a halt.

Managing a major outbreak on the continent could be difficult, Moeti said, and two of WHO’s recommended interventions — social distancing and hand-washing — may not always be possible.

“Sometimes families live in houses where you don’t have a bedroom for every family member,” Moeti said. “Quite a few people in the family have to sit in the same space, sleep in the same space.

“In addition they may be in houses that do not have running water so the possibilities of hand-washing in the ways that it’s recommended with soap is a challenge under those circumstances.”

Tom Achoki, who’s studied health care in Africa extensively, says the medical systems have improved significantly in many countries since the 2014 Ebola outbreak. “But still the health-care systems are very weak.”

Achoki, the co-founder of Mass Sciences and a lecturer at the University of Pretoria, says by “very weak” he doesn’t mean just a shortage of emergency room beds. “They’re dealing with access to things like disinfectant,” he says. There’s a need to train workers on using masks and gowns to protect themselves when treating COVID-19 patients, he says. Achoki also points out that the data is still collected on paper forms rather than digitally in many African countries.

“So the transmission of data is not as effective,” he says. “This is an epidemic which is moving very quickly.” He says improving information systems is something that needs to be addressed and could hamper the ability of some countries to respond to this outbreak effectively.

Gyude Moore, who served as part of Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s administration during the Ebola outbreak, says African nations are already innovating to fight COVID-19.

Moore, who’s now a visiting fellow at the Center for Global Development, says countries saw the devastation of the Ebola crisis and are taking steps to get ready for this virus.

“For example, Nigeria, they’ve applied the lessons from Ebola and they are doing their best to separate the response to the [coronavirus] pandemic from the provision of regular health care,” he says.

“The people [in Nigeria] presenting symptoms of the disease are ushered into a specialized clinic, specialized areas separate from the regular health system,” Moore says. “It allows the health system to continue to function and not be overwhelmed quickly. What we saw in West Africa [during Ebola] was how very fast and how easily the health system was overwhelmed as the case load increased.”

To prevent that during this pandemic, countries across the continent are trying to get ready for COVID-19. Uganda hasn’t yet confirmed a single case but it’s already banned weddings and large religious gatherings. Kenya, Moore notes, has shut down schools.

But most African nations can’t order nationwide or citywide lockdowns as Italy and China have. Moore says it’s just not possible. “In an informal economy,” he says. “People literally have to go out every day as a means of being able to feed themselves.”

One of the other big concerns in Africa is how the coronavirus may affect places that are also battling other diseases such as malaria, cholera and HIV.

“HIV-positive individuals who are on medications are probably fine,” says Karen Hofman, a professor of public health at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. “The people that are most vulnerable … and there are a lot of them … are HIV-positive individuals who are not on medications.” Roughly a third of the 7.7 million South Africans with HIV are not on treatment.

COVID-19 has been particularly deadly to people with compromised immune systems. Hofman says the expectation is that the disease would be quite bad if it starts spreading among people who are HIV-positive and not on medication.

South Africa also has a large number of people with tuberculosis. It’s not known exactly how COVID-19 would play out in TB patients but piling a second respiratory disease on top of TB could be devastating.

Hofman says she hopes the arrival of coronavirus in South Africa will spur people who are HIV-positive to enroll in the government’s free treatment program. She also says there might be a silver lining in getting more people to wash their hands, which could stop the spread of other diseases too.

“This is a big natural experiment that’s going on right now. We don’t really know exactly how it’s going to play out,” she says. But Hofman says South Africans and people in many low- and middle-income countries are accustomed to adversity.

“So possibly we will handle this a little bit better,” she says. “But the fact is that this is going to have a huge economic consequence aside from the health issues. In a country where there is already a 30 to 35 percent unemployment, this is of grave concern to us.”

Real Also: Covid-19: NCDC issues self isolation guidance for Nigerians

As Europe and much of the developed world shuts down in the face of coronavirus, many millions of people haven’t much hope in following the World Health Organization (WHO) advice on washing hands and keeping their distance.

About one billion people live in slum-like conditions, making up 30% of the world’s urban population. These housing facilities tend to have very little ventilation, drainage and sewage facilities, with diseases spreading easily.

Celestine Adhiambo, 43, lives in the Mukuru slum in Nairobi with her husband and six children. The family’s one-room house has no running water or electricity. She says her children can’t move around much without banging into each other.

“It is not possible for us to separate a child from another in case of any infection. We don’t have any space. No rooms here. The government should take the infected people to hospitals,” she told the BBC.

Her husband works as a carpenter and on the days he works, he earns about 400 Kenyan Shillings (£3.15, $4) and every day the family spends about 50 shillings on buying 10 buckets of water.

Read Also: Japanese flu drug appears ‘effective’ in coronavirus treatment in Chinese clinical trials

But the water supply is erratic and on days when there is no water, the family has to forgo the quick bath they are accustomed to.

Over half-a-million people live in Mukuru. The houses are made from cardboard or plastic material while those who are better off have houses made from corrugated iron sheets. There is no waste collection, with most of it going directly into the river.

Local NGO Mercy Mukuru runs four primary schools in the area with a total of around 7,000 students. About half of the students cannot afford soap, according to its head, Mary Killeen.

“I am worried. If the virus spreads in our locality it will be terrible,” Ms Adhiambo said.

Dr Pierre Mpele, a former WHO representative who has worked in many countries in central and West Africa says African households can be more crowded and in some cases, up to 12 people will share a small house. “Self-quarantine is not possible in many places,” he says.

It’s not just slums that are struggling with the availability of water. The cities of Johannesburg and Chennai both almost ran out of water last year.

Shanthi Sasindranath, a mother of two who lives in the outskirts of Chennai told the BBC: “If there is a shortage like last year, it will be difficult to get clean water to wash our hands multiple times.”

During the water shortages last year, her family was able to survive by buying untreated water from agricultural wells located more than 50km away.

There are very few public toilets and water points, and she says people aren’t following public health advice.

“In the local trains, people cough inches away from your face, without even covering their mouth. If I point this out, some will say sorry, few others will just pick a fight.”

Friends and relatives visit her apartment every day and Ms Sasindranath is yet to figure out how to minimise human interactions.

“I’m telling my children to wash their hands slowly and thoroughly. I told them they must wash their hands whenever they come back from outside, even if they’ve just popped out for five minutes. As a family we are not travelling as much as we used to.”

Dr Poppy Lamberton, a lecturer in delivering health services at the University of Glasgow in the UK, said governments need to step up in a big way.

“Some governments are poor, but not as poor as individuals. In the case of an outbreak, they should be able to isolate a whole community.”

The WHO says it is working to support governments manage their response to the pandemic, but Dr Mpele wants it to come up with a guide which will work in the developing world.

He is also calling for greater efforts to engage with community leaders before a full-blown crisis occurs in Africa.

“The silver lining is the virus is not spreading fast in Africa. Most cases that have been reported came from people who travelled back from China or Europe. We don’t know why it is not spreading fast,” he said.

The WHO says local transmission – people with no travel history – remains low in the African continent and containment is the most appropriate strategy.

Back in Mukuru, nothing seems to have changed in recent weeks.

Ms Adhiambo says she feels defenceless and is doing the only thing she can do.

“I am praying to god to save us and our neighbourhood from this virus,” she said.

Read Also: Covid-19: NCDC issues self isolation guidance for Nigerians

Urban myth or scientific fact: does drinking hot drinks on a scorching summer's day really cool you down? Well, scientists do say sweating is the best way to stay cool.



If you’re among the many millions who prefer a chilled glass of juice to a hot cup of tea on a scorching summer’s day, take heed: scientists say a hot drink will cool you down more than an ice-cold beverage.

So how does it work?

According to Professor Peter McNaughton, a neuroscientist at the University of Cambridge, consuming hot beverages, such as tea or hot water, will raise your core body temperature. And this makes you to sweat at an increased rate.

Nerves in our mouths and in our upper digestive tract respond to the heat of the beverage, stimulating the brain to produce more sweat. And as it evaporates, the sweat effectively cools you down.

Water evaporates very quickly from the skin. And when water evaporates, McNaughton explains, “that cools you down.”

Sweat is vital for cooling the body down, says Professor McNaughton

But there’s a catch.

“Sweating will start, or increase, if the person is already hot,” says Dr Christopher Gordon, an expert in human thermoregulation at the University of Sydney. “Whilst people often feel hot during the consumption of the hot drink they will feel cooler once they are sweating.”

Sweat glands are distributed across the skins surface. The distribution of sweat glands, Gordon explains, “is greater in areas such as the head and hands and lower leg region. As people sweat they often feel cooler as they notice the change in skin temperature in the face.”

Sweating is vital for our bodies to function, “because if you didn’t sweat in a hot environment, then your central temperature would rise and it only takes a rise of a couple of degrees for that to cause brain damage and death,” says McNaughton.

Read full report >>>

A football-mad schoolboy will visit Old Trafford for the first time after “a novel attempt to derail Liverpool’s Premier League campaign”.

Daragh Curley wrote to Jurgen Klopp, asking if it would be possible for the team to lose some games so they would not win the league.

The 10-year-old, from County Donegal, was shocked when he received a personal reply from the Liverpool boss.

Manchester United said the club was proud to have fans like Daragh.

“That’s brilliant news. The atmosphere at Old Trafford will be great,” said Daragh shortly after hearing the news of his visit.

“My friends are going to be really jealous.”

In the letter, Daragh, who counts goalkeeper David de Gea and midfielder Bruno Fernandes as his favourite players, wrote: “Liverpool are winning too many games.

“If you win nine more games then you have the best unbeaten run in English football. Being a United fan that is very sad.

“So the next time Liverpool play, please make them lose.”

Read Klopp's Response >>

Churches in Zambia have called on citizens to act to lower the country’s divorce rate.

Infidelity, drunkenness, gender-based violence, difficulty conceiving, weight gain, and lack of access to marriage counselling were among key factors cited by the more than 20,000 couples who divorced last year.

More women than men initiated divorce, and the average age of couple was between 25 and 45.

Other reasons for divorce quoted in a report published by the state-owned Zambia Daily newspaper included the failure of some men to support their families and “the abuse of social media”.

“Those statistics are disappointing and defeat the biblical principles on marriage which says ‘only death should do us part,'” said Reverend David Masupa, president of the Independent Churches of Zambia.

Noting the prevalence of couples reporting adultery in their grounds for divorce, Rev Masupa said people needed to be reminded that “adulterers will not inherit the Kingdom of God”.

More Stories >>>

DonFreshmoney:
Imagine committing Dangote whole networth to fight climate change.. Disrespect of the highest level

Money pass money shaaa..

LMAO, you get problem sha

Jeff Bezos announced the formation of the Bezos Earth Fund on Monday, saying it will provide $10 billion in grants to scientists and activists to fund their efforts to fight climate change.

“Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet,” Bezos said in the announcement on Instagram. “I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change on this planet we all share.”

The Amazon founder and CEO said the grants, which will be issued this summer, will go to individuals and organizations from around the globe, adding that the effort will “take collective action from big companies, small companies, nation states, global organizations, and individuals.”

The fund builds off prior commitments that Bezos has made in recent years to reduce Amazon’s impact on the environment, including signing a “climate pledge” last year that commits the company to operate on 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030.

Bezos signed the pledge one day before company employees — members of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice — planned to walk off the job in protest, saying the retailer and tech giant needs to do more to reduce its carbon footprint. (Bezos also owns The Washington Post.)

Amazon has a massive environmental imprint, delivering what some experts estimate is more than 1 billion packages a year to customers in the United States. The company’s Amazon Web Services is also the leading provider of cloud computing to corporate customers, consuming massive amounts of electricity to power its giant data centers, including one in Northern Virginia.

In January, Amazon warned at least two employees who publicly criticized the company’s environmental policies that they could be fired for future violations of its communications policy.

A lawyer in the e-commerce giant’s employee-relations group sent a letter to two workers quoted in an October Washington Post report, accusing them of violating the company’s external communications policy. An email sent to Maren Costa, a principal user-experience designer at the company, and reviewed by The Post warned that future infractions could “result in formal corrective action, up to and including termination of your employment with Amazon.”

Read more: Amazon Owner Commits $10 Billion to Fight Climate Change

Jane’s* husband likes breast milk. “He says he likes the taste of it, and that it helps him in terms of his health. He feels good afterwards,” said the 20-year-old from Uganda, who has a six-month-old baby.

Jane said her husband started asking for her milk the night she came home from the hospital after giving birth. “He said it was to help me with the milk flow. I felt it was OK.”

Men drinking their partners’ breast milk is not uncommon in some areas of Uganda, and in parts of Tanzania and Kenya. It is now being linked to gender violence and coercive behaviour and there are concerns over the impact on babies’ nutrition. Little was known about the practice until Uganda’s minister of state for health, Sarah Opendi, broke the silence in parliament in 2018 and warned against “a growing culture of men demanding to suckle, which was becoming a problem for some breastfeeding mothers and their babies”.

The reasons for the phenomenon, and its consequences, are now the subject of what is believed to be the first preliminary study into the practice, by Kyambogo University in Kampala and Britain’s University of Kent, supported by the Global Challenges Research Fund.

“It was very much an exploratory mission. We didn’t know if we would find anybody willing to talk to us who admitted to doing it. We didn’t even really know if it was real or not,” said Dr Rowena Merritt, a British behavioural scientist who specialises in public health, and a lead researcher on the project.

Read All: Ugandan men demanding to be breastfed

There is no evidence to suggest that a particular technique works best, but checking your breasts regularly is vital; the sooner breast cancer is diagnosed, the more effective treatment may be.

All breasts are different, so women are encouraged to get to know their own breasts over time. Follow this simple advice: touch, look and check (TLC). Some breasts have natural bumps or nodular breast tissue, and women often have one breast larger than the other. Changes can also occur to the breasts during women’s cycles.

Read Also: Only 34% of Nigerians use condoms during sex – Survey

There is no special training needed and no rule as to how often you should check. You could be in the shower or bath, or moisturising your body or in bed – whenever you are relaxed. It is important to check all over the breast tissue, including the nipple area, up to the armpits and up to the collarbone.

Looking is useful, too. Is the nipple red? Is there discharge? Most nipple discharge is not caused by breast cancer, but you should tell your GP if it is new for you. If a lump is large, sometimes you can see it. Stand in front of the mirror with your hands on your hips and see if anything is distorting the breast. If there is a lump inside the breast, it can pull on the breast and cause an orange-peel appearance.

Most lumps, bumps and changes will not be breast cancer, but tell your GP if you find something that is unusual for you. It might be benign but need treatment and some women are prone to cysts.

Read More: Child rapists shot by firing squad in Somalia

Prostate cancer is now the most commonly diagnosed cancer in England, overtaking breast cancer for the first time, latest figures show.

In 2018 there were nearly 50,000 registered cases – around 8,000 more than in 2017.

Public Health England says it is because more men are getting tested.

And that is thanks to celebrities, like Stephen Fry and Bill Turnbull, raising awareness by speaking out about their own experiences.

Read Also: Lassa fever: Environment ministry sensitises Nigerians

‘Fry and Turnbull effect’

In 2018, there were 316,680 cancers of any kind diagnosed, the equivalent of 868 cases a day.

Prostate was the most common type – 49,029 cases – followed by breast – 47,476 cases.

Lung and bowel cancers were the next most commonly diagnosed.

Former BBC Breakfast presenter Bill Turnbull went public with his prostate cancer diagnosis in March 2018, encouraging others to get tested, saying: “Maybe if I’d got it earlier and stopped it at the prostate, I’d be in a much better state.”

He said his cancer had spread to his bones, including the pelvis and ribs.

TV comedian and presenter Stephen Fry revealed in February 2018 that he was recovering after having prostate cancer surgery, saying it was “thankfully caught in the nick of time”.

According to the head of the NHS, the coverage of Fry and Turnbull’s treatments led to an increase in men getting checked.

Read Also: Coronavirus: Death toll rises to 81 as WHO boss visits China

Lucy Elliss-Brookes, Head of Cancer Analysis at Public Health England, said: “Our world-leading cancer data is crucial to help us understand the picture of cancer in England, to ensure the right people are getting the right support.

“Although we are seeing a continued rise in cancer diagnoses, it’s encouraging that we are also seeing increases in survival, as well as an overall decrease in emergency diagnoses of cancer.”

Lynda Thomas, Chief Executive of Macmillan Cancer Support, said it was good news that more people are seeing their doctor to check for cancer.

But she said the increasing numbers came at a time when the NHS and social care services were under pressure, with long waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Read more >>

donbachi:
Spiritual assignment

LMAO, which assignment?

A man sleeps along Ibrahim Babangida Way, by Herbert Macaulay Way, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja

Read more >>

Campaigners are urging the government to outlaw “virginity repair” surgery.

Many Muslim women risk being outcast, or in extreme cases killed, if their spouses or families discover they have had sex before marriage.

And some are opting for a medical procedure in which doctors restore a layer of membrane at the entrance to the vagina.

But there are concerns a ban would increase the dangers to Muslim women by driving the procedure underground.

Guidelines from the General Medical Council (GMC) state a patient’s consent to undergo a procedure should come into question if it is suspected of being “given under pressure or duress exerted by another person”.

‘Living in fear’

Halaleh Taheri, founder of Middle Eastern Women and Society Organisation told BBC News of a Moroccan student in hiding in London after being told her father had hired someone to murder her.

After coming to the UK in 2014 to study, the woman, now 26, had met a man and they had moved in together.

But when her father had found out about their relationship, he had demanded she return to Morocco, where he had taken her to a clinic for a “virginity test” and discovered her hymen was no longer intact.

She fled back to London but now lives in constant fear her father will find out where she lived.

A Moroccan-born assistant teacher, 40, told the BBC that after being forced to go through with the procedure in her 20s, she could not imagine pressuring her children into doing the same.

“I would never, ever do such a thing to them. I try to teach them to be free.”

Wedding night

There are currently at least 22 private clinics across the UK offering hymen-repair surgery, according to a recent investigation for The Sunday Times.

They charge up to £3,000 for the surgery, which takes about an hour.

Women’s rights campaigners say that such clinics are profiting from Muslims afraid of what could happen to them if they are not “pure” for their wedding night.

And many detail the procedure on their websites, with London’s Gynae Centre telling women who visit its site “some marriages are even annulled” when a husband discovers his wife’s hymen has been broken.

BBC News contacted the clinic for comment but has not received a response.

‘Dreadful practice’

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he would be investigating ways to end this “dreadful practice,” but the Department of Health declined to comment on how a potential ban would be enforced.

But Miss Taheri said: “Girls could end up dying if banning this procedure isn’t done with proper care.”

Dr Khalid Khan, professor of Women’s Health at Barts and the London School of Medicine, who has witnessed the procedure first hand, said a ban “isn’t an appropriate response”.

And as long as “good quality information” was made available to patients, the decision should be left up to individual women.

“I believe doctors’ motives are genuinely for protection against abuse,” he added.

‘Zero benefit’

However, Dr Naomi Crouch, who chairs the British Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology, worries about women and girls being coerced into a procedure with “zero medical benefit”.

“The duties of a doctor are made clear in standards set out by the GMC,” she said.

“We as healthcare professions are bound by an oath to do no harm to patients and any reputable service engaging in these procedures is open to audit and scrutiny.”

Colin Melville, medical director and director of education and standards at the GMC said that it’s vital that doctors consider the “vulnerabilities and psychological needs of their patients” first.

“If a patient is under undue pressure from others to take a particular course, their consent may not be voluntary. If a doctor judges that a child or young person does not want a cosmetic intervention, it should not be performed,” he said.

Other cosmetic genital procedures, such as labiaplasty, which involves the lips of the vagina being shortened or reshaped, have become increasingly popular, especially among younger women, from all types of background in the UK.

And campaigners say there is little known about the long-term effects of these procedures and are concerned women are not receiving enough psychological support before opting for surgery.

Miss Taheri said: “These women on some level don’t see themselves as anything more than an object to be desired, rather a human being.

“For Muslim women, the drive is feelings of shame and the fear of punishment.

“For others, it is down to a lack of satisfaction with their own bodies, being fuelled by what society is telling them is normal.”

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This man is serious o

A 19-year-old housewife, Rabi Shamsudden, has been arrested by police for allegedly stabbing her 25-year-old husband, Shamsudden Salisu, to death in Danjanku Tasha village of Malumfashi local government area of Katsina State.

Dateline Nigeria reports that the Katsina state incident is coming on the same day Maryam Sanda was convicted by a court for killing her husband Bilyaminu Bello.

The spokesman of the Katsina State Police Command, Gambo Isa, who confirmed the incident to journalists, said it happened at about 4am on Monday.

“Neighbours of the deceased heard him shouting and calling for help, but when they rushed inside the house immediately, the met the front door locked and they decided to climb over the wall,” Isa said.

He added that those who were able to scale the fence into the house “met the deceased crawling out of his room with knife wound on his stomach” he said.

The victim was taken to Malumfashi hospital and was confirmed dead by the medical personnel.

The police said the suspect has been arrested even as investigation continues.

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Fifteen members of the security forces have been killed in Mali by suspected Islamist militants, officials say.

The attack came on Sunday at the Sokolo military camp in the central Segou region.

An official speaking to AFP news agency said the gunmen arrived on motorbikes and that all those killed were gendarmes or paramilitary police.

Militants linked to the Islamic State group or al-Qaeda often carry out attacks in Mali and the wider region.

Late last year, 24 soldiers were killed by militants in eastern Mali. Only weeks earlier, 54 troops had died in another attack.

In the latest incident, witnesses said the militants stole military equipment. The scene was described as “complete chaos”.

Mali has been blighted by violence since 2012 when Islamist militants took over a Tuareg separatist rebellion in the north and seized several cities.

Malian forces managed to regain control of territory taken by militants with military help from France, which has 4,500 troops deployed in the region. The UN has 13,000 peacekeeping troops in Mali.

But thousands of lives have been lost as Mali struggles to contain the violence, which has spread to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

Combating militants in the Sahel region is seen as important for maintaining security further afield, including Europe.

France’s Foreign Minister, Florence Parly, is heading to Washington for talks aimed at persuading the Americans to continue their logistical backing – drones, intelligence and transport – for the French operation.

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A jealous man, simply identified as ‘Solomon,’ has stabbed his girlfriend, Patience Zakkari, to death for picking a phone call from another man.



The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the incident occurred around 1.30 am on Friday in the house of the deceased located at gwallameji area of Bauchi metropolis.

A source, who pleaded anonymity, recounted how the deceased narrated the incident to him before she died.

He said the deceased and her boyfriend (Solomon) who were known to be in a romantic relationship by most people in the area, had a heated argument when the deceased received a phone call from a male friend in the middle of the night.

“She narrated to me before she died that everything happened at about 1:30 am on Friday morning.

“She said she received a phone call from just an ordinary male friend and her boyfriend (Solomon) got jealous, started harassing her verbally, and that as she was trying to explain to him, he pounced on her and started hitting her.

“She took a bottle, hit him on the head in self defence because the beating was too much for her, and the man picked up a knife in response and stabbed her at the back.

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“She said she lost a lot of blood before she was rushed to a clinic in the morning where she was treated and brought back home in the evening, when she narrated the incident to me.

“Unfortunately, when I left the place, I heard that the wound degenerated and she was rushed to a hospital where she eventually gave up,” narrated the source.

Another source, Mercy Cirfat, told NAN that Solomon, who was living two blocks away from his girlfriend’s, had taken to his heels after carrying out the heinous act, and is now at large.

She said that the deceased was a National Diploma (ND) graduate from the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi.

DSP Kamal Abubakar, the state Police Public Relations Officer confirmed the incident to NAN, adding that the owner of the clinic where she died, had been arrested.

He also assured that the command was on the trail of the culprit and would soon be apprehended to face the wrath of the law.

“I can confirm to you that the incident is true; we got the information from a good samaritan that this was what happened in Gwallameji.

“When the incident happened, without informing the police, her friends took her to a clinic for treatment because the boyfriend stabbed her twice.

“However, the clinic also treated her without informing the police and discharged her the same day.

“When the thing became worse, they took her back to the clinic where she was put on a drip and eventually gave up.

“We have arrested the owner of the clinic and the staff that treated her because they did not inform the police.

“We have swung into action and the case is under investigation; we are on the trail of the suspect and anybody involved; they will all be brought to justice,” said the PPRO.

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Kannywood stars are very active on Instagram, a popular photo and video-sharing social networking platform, but only 10 of them have at least a million or more followers as at January 25, 2020.

Of the number, seven are female while the remaining three are male.

Top on the list is Rahama Sadau, who has starred in many Hausa and English films. The actress, who celebrated her 26th birthday last December, has over 1.8 million followers. She is also an entrepreneur.



She is followed by Hadiza Aliyu Gabon, a mulita-lingual actress with 1.5 million followers. The 30-year-old Hadiza acts in Hausa, English and Fulfulde movies.

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While the study didn’t look at the reason for the link, the authors said that the physical cues of sex may signal to the body that there is a possibility of getting pregnant. But for women who aren’t having sex frequently in midlife, an earlier menopause may make more biological sense.

“If you’re not going to reproduce, there’s no point ovulating — you’re better off using that energy elsewhere,” said Megan Arnot, the lead author of the study and a PhD candidate in evolutionary anthropology at University College London.

During ovulation, a woman is more susceptible to disease because the immune system is impaired, Arnot said. If pregnancy was unlikely due to a lack of sexual activity, that means it wouldn’t be beneficial for the body to allocate energy to the ovulation process.

Instead, she said, the findings support the “Grandmother Hypothesis,” a theory that suggests the menopause originally evolved in humans to reduce “reproductive conflict” between different generations of women and to ensure their grandchildren survived and thrived.

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“There may be a biological energetic trade-off between investing energy into ovulation and investing elsewhere — such as keeping active by looking after grandchildren,” Arnot said.

The research is based on the US Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation, a unique look at women’s midlife health that started in 1996. The nearly 3,000 women in the data set had an average age of 45 when the study started, had two children on average, and were mostly married or in a relationship or living with their partner. Some 45% of the women experienced a natural menopause at the age of 52. Interviews were carried out over a 10-year period.

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In his second inaugural address, Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President of the United States, said: “We are to beware of all men who would turn the tasks and the necessities of the nation to their own private profit or use them for the building up of private power.” This is precisely what is transpiring under the administration of a perceived morally superior being who rode to power on sanctimonious holier-than-thou speeches. To re-establish a strong conception of duty, it’s not enough to preach from the holier-than-thou position.

Anyone who thinks that there is a desire to get things right in this feral or perhaps morass nation initially and universally recognised as the federal republic of Nigeria which unfortunately turned out to be the federal republic of demons lacked the simple wisdom to spot the difference between genuinely progressive leaders and political clowns — absolute zeros who get to leadership position to perform tricks rather than to govern, and who had already lost the ability to have the sequential arousal of symbols — here, I mean logical thinking. I do not believe that we still have around us those who have forgotten to pay for their brain bills until when the daughter of President Buhari, Hanan Buhari landed at Bauchi airport with presidential jet.

This sad and unfortunate scenario confirm to anyone who still has a high regard for this government that Nigeria and Nigerians are in the loose hands. No one can defend or justify such gross abuse of power except psychopaths who are not just mentally different but their brains are physically deformed to prevent them from feeling mortify, fear or guilt.

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Nevertheless, this group of people can be excused due to their mental retardation. I am so glad that president Buhari has now unveil himself as the spoiler of our system who is incapable of managing a diverse country like Nigeria; even his dimwits apologists conceded that their idol, Buhari is bastardising our system. Professor Farook Kperogi once accurately said that: “Buhari has lowered the bar of governance.” That is absolutely factual.

As president Buhari’s self-acclaimed righteousness reached its crescendo, I pray that he is not swayed by his fake integrity and form the favourable impression that anything he does: Wrong, illegal or inappropriate has become morally right or correct and he will still have the immunity henceforward or afterlife, and he is the most pious man in our midst. This is because any arbitrariness, corrupt action or decision taken by him goes, and it will be justify by those whose consciences have been deadened by fiendish act. It’s hard to imagine something more cynical than the way Buhari has bastardised and abused the meaning of good governance to make the rest of us look the other way while he shortchanged the entire country. Under him, the phrase ‘democracy’ is sadly being bastardised to such a degree that it’s losing its meaning.

What is really disturbing and still worries me is the precedent president Buhari is establishing for the future of this nation. One wonder whether this seemingly infallible man thinks or still remember shortly before retiring to bed the enormous trust Nigerians vested in him. Does he really recalled how many people died because of him. Should he remembers the sacrifices many Nigerians made to ensure that he gets to presidential Villa Abuja, many things wouldn’t have been happening under his watch. Now he is paying good with evil; everything that should work in this country doesn’t, everything that can get broken under his administration has.

His endless recklessness impelled me to raise the following questions: How will nigeria looks like in post-Buhari administration? How will his successor runs his own government? How much would he approve for the renovation of National Assembly? How many billion dollars foreign loan would he collects? How many days would he spend in London while receiving medical attention before telling us to stop going abroad for medical treatment? How many billion Naira would he wastes on a vague project like National Career?

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How many trillions would he inject in electric power sector to give us darkness? Would he be patient enough to wait for the approval of National Assembly before he pays US in case he places an order for weapons? How many children would be out of school? How many months will it takes him to appoint his cabinet? How many days would he spend outside Nigeria all in the name of wooing ghost foreign investors? How many billion would he waste to conduct inconclusive elections? How long would service chiefs stay? How many soldiers would loose their lives in the cause of fighting Boko Haram?

Nonetheless, how many ministers would welcome his son back to Nigeria in case he went to receive medical treatment in abroad? How many years would he spend in office before he can be able to inaugurate board of agencies? How many children would he travels with when travel to attend an official function such as UN General Assembly meeting? How many Mamman Dauras would he comes along with? How many Yusufs, Zaras and Hanans will he present to us? How often does his own Hanan travel with presidential jet? One can’t imagine the number of Aishas would accompany him to the presidential Villa as his wives and the trouble they may foment, and the distraction they may cause!

Leadership is a results business; it is defined by results not attributes; after almost five years in power, president Buhari failed to provides essentials such as security of lives and property, constant electric power supply, pipe borne water etc that make life easier for common man. Any leader that can’t provide the aforementioned — produce a meaningful results such a leader is a great burden on citizenry. I think it was Jim Rohn who said that: “The challenges of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; to be kind, but not weak; to be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid, be proud, but not arrogant; have humour, but without folly.” Out of the aforesaid, no one knows which one of the positive qualities our own President possesses.

But we certainly know that we have a president who is so timid and weak, his inability to take the bull by the horns and be decisive in matters of great importance accentuated his impotency and weakness. President Buhari, boost your management capacity in order to leave a beautiful legacy.

Amiru Halilu writes from Kaduna and can be reached through haliluamiru@gmail.com Follow me @AmiruHalilu

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The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) says it has intercepted 42 bags of foreign rice at Kankara axis of Katsina State.

The Service Public Relations Officer (SPRO), Mr Sunday James, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja on Saturday.

He said that it was concealed in a vehicle, adding that the officers were on routine patrol along the Kankara axis when they apprehended a vehicle carrying the contraband.

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He said that the Command Comptroller Nigeria Immigration Service, Katsina state command, Yakubu Umar, handed over the 42 bags of rice to the Nigeria Customs Service.

The Comptroller General, NIS, Mr Muhammad Babandede congratulated the officers for a well-coordinated outing imploring them to be more dedicated to the national course and keep the border secured for a safe nation.

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The Kaduna State Urban Planning and Development Authority (KASUPDA), which is in charge of the planning and development of all urban areas within Kaduna State, has finally opened up on the demolition of the defunct Durbar Hotel.

“Abandoned Durbar property situated at Independence Way, Kaduna, was legally demolished by KASUPDA. The structure, has been a nuisance and a hideout for criminals which is against the laws regulating urban planning in Kaduna,” the agency said in a statement.

It added that the demolition followed an assessment it carried out which showed that the property did not meet the safety standards set by the Authority’s regulations. “This is to protect the lives of citizens living around the area and also the road users,” it said.

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Dateline Nigeria reports that another “abandoned property” was demolished at Katuru Road, Kaduna by KASUPDA, which noted that the structure had also been a nuisance and a hideout for criminals “which is against the laws regulating urban planning in Kaduna.”

We’ll get justice – Abacha family

A lawyer of the Abacha family, Mr. Reuben Atabor, had earlier kicked against the demolition of the structure.

He said: “The Durbar hotel belongs to the family of Late Head of State, General Sani Abacha. They have been court with the Federal government since 2001. The family won the case against federal government. The Federal Government appealed and lost at the Appeal Court.

“As I speak with you, the case is at the Supreme Court, and it has not been decided. So, why should anybody demolish the hotel. We saw KASUPDA equipment demolishing the hotel, and since KASUPDA is Kaduna State government agency, all we know is the State government that is behind the demolition. The Abacha family will get Justice because we are filing court motion against the demolition.”

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The musical group known as Yaran North Side (YNS) has released a new track titled ‘Da So Samu Ne’ (If wishes were horses), which is generating massive views across social media platforms.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQYGJfJ1TLY

Members of the YNS include DJ Abba, Mr Kebzee, Geeboy, Zayn Africa, Tee swag, Lil Prince, Jigsaw, Feezy, Marshall and Deezel.

The about four-minutes video generated over 10,000 views in 15 hours on YouTube.

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Azman Airline has celebrated one of its pilots simply identified as Captain Sylvester N. Dadi who is retiring from service after 43 years of flying.

The airline, in a posting on its twitter handle, said “After 43 years of Flying High, Capt Dadi operated his Last Flight today from #Lagos to #Kano

He was welcomed with a Water Salute and Standing Ovation from the Management and Staff @AzmanAir who came to rejoice with Him

Congratulations and We wish him all the Best.”

His son Alexis also celebrated Capt Dadi, describing him as not only his father but his mentor as well.

“We, your family THE DADIs, friends and well wishers wish you all the best and even greater life fullfilling purpose.

“Farewell to the skies.” The lives you have affected for your dedication, commitment and passion for what you do, awes me. I am sure glad to be your son,” Alexis added

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A principal of a secondary school in Lagos, Samson Adeyemo, has admitted before an Ikeja Special Offences Court that he had sexual relationships with two 17-year-old twin students of his school.

Adeyemo, 41, who resides at No. 8, Odesanya St., Abule Egba, near Lagos, is the principal of Legati College, Abule Egba.

He is facing a two-count charge of defilement of a child.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that while being cross-examined on Monday by State Prosecutor, Ms M. I. Oshodi, the defendant, who has a National Certificate in Education (NCE), admitted to defiling the underage students (Twin A and Twin B).

“I had a relationship with Twin A and Twin B. I’m married to Twin A. The marriage was not conducted in the church or registry. I had her consent and her parents were aware.

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“Marriage is done between a male and a female and it is for life. What is between me and Twin A is marriage and the one people do in the church or registry is wedding.

“The relationship with Twin A started in 2016 and I had sexual intercourse with her in 2017. I did not start the relationship with Twin B until I met their mother and also had sexual intercourse with Twin B after I met her mother.”

Adeyemo admitted that the school he operates had not been fully registered with the Lagos State Ministry of Education.

He, however, denied having sexual relationships with other students in the school.

Earlier, while giving his evidence-in-chief, the defendant admitted impregnating Twin A while she was under his care.

Led in evidence by the Defence Counsel, Mr R. O. Akande, Adeyemo said that Twin B had become jealous when she discovered that her twin was in a relationship with him.

“Twin B came to me that why was it her sister that I was dating. I told her that it was Twin A that I wished to date. She said she was having other relationships, but she wanted me because I am her twin’s boyfriend.

“In 2017, Twin A got pregnant and I decided to cater for her but Twin A’s parents refused (insisting) that the pregnancy will be aborted. I refused because I wanted the baby and I wanted to marry her as well.

“I gave her some upkeep money and her parents collected the money from her and terminated the pregnancy,” he said.

The principal said the father of the twins asked him to pay N200, 000 or be punished.

“Two days after the twin’s uncle, named Kayode alias Kokoro, led some thugs to beat me up and on April 26, 2017, I was called by Kayode that I should meet him to sign an undertaking that the twins shall collect their WAEC results.

“I went to meet him not knowing that he had laid ambush for me and he handed me over to the police. Twin B was 14-years-old when I met her and Twin A was 15-years-old when we met,” Adeyemo stated.

According to the prosecution, the principal defiled the twins sometime in 2016 within the school premises, located in Abule Egba.

The offence contravenes Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

Justice Sherifat Solebo adjourned the case until Feb. 24 for adoption of final written addresses.

NAN reports that while testifying on Oct. 8, 2019, Twin A, who was allegedly impregnated by Adeyemo, had told the court that the principal had a camp bed in his office which he used to have sexual intercourse with her.

“I was still in SS1 when the incident happened. On that day, I was in my classroom when the principal entered and asked if my class teacher was around. I said no.

“He then ordered me to follow him to his office. When we got to his office, he started calling me sweet names before removing my school uniform. He, thereafter, had sexual intercourse with me and instructed me not to tell anyone.

“He continued having sex with me over a long period of time until I became pregnant. I was unaware that I was pregnant until one of our neighbours noticed some changes in my body and informed my mother.

“When my mother confronted me with a slap, I told her that the principal had been having sex with me inside his office,” she said.

Also testifying on Oct. 7, 2019, Dr Oyedeji Alagbe, a consultant with the Mirabel Centre (a sexual assault referral centre) had told the court that while making efforts to terminate the pregnancy, it was revealed to the parents that Adeyemo was also defiling the other twin.

[NAN]

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