SAFETY FIRST: BE AWARE, BE CAREFUL, BE SAFE!

Today is World Safety and Health at Work day. A day set aside to emphasise the importance of  safety and health at different places of work and hustle for livelihood.

How much hazard are you exposed to or likely to be exposed at your work place and in your line of duty?

What measures are being taken by your employers, you, and all stakeholders to keep you safe from those hazards? 

How safe and healthy are you in your line of work, on a scale of 1-10? 

The above are pertinent questions that we need to answer for ourselves. 

Yes, Safety First, but sometimes due to economic challenges, people do not put safety first, it is more of Money First, Bills First, Stomach First. As such you see people throw caution to the wind in a bid to earn a living.

Some employers, leverage on people's desperation and put people in unhealthy and hazardous working conditions.  

I give shout out to all workers working in unhealthy environments, even as I call on Governments, regulatory bodies, labour unions, fellow activists(public health, human rights), to rise up and act! No one, None, deserves to work in unhealthy conditions; 

Factory workers exposed to toxic chemicals, without appropriate work gear and health insurance, 

Petrol station pump attendants who are exposed to leaded petrol and are paid peanuts without health insurance, 

Factory workers who stand on their feet working, for impossible number of hours,

Factory workers who are crammed into tiny unsanitary living spaces ,

Market men and women who carry out their business in extremely dirty market places, because the environmental agency responsible for keeping their environment clean do not live up to their responsibilities after collecting high sanitation levies from the market men and women. 

My heartfelt concern also goes to people who work with dyes, paints, pvc, other toxic substances and radio active substances. 

I'll not forget carpenters who climb heights to roof buildings, the hazard they face is in 3d( very real). 

Whatever Be Your Vocation.

Do Work Responsibly. 

MALARIA : ZANZIBAR's SUCCESS STORY.

Zanzibar, an archipelago in Tanzania, East Africa may not be famous or easily noticed on the world map but there sure are great lessons to learn from this small island settlement.  

Through Courage, Resilience, Team work, Cohesive Community Effort, malaria prevalence in Zanzibar   has dropped from 40% to 1%! 

The people of Zanzibar formed community vigilante(survelliance team), for malaria. The survelliance officers are trained on malaria prevention, detection and control, and are equipped with test kit, communication devices, anti-malaria drugs and motorbikes. 

They move round the community fishing out people who have malaria, and administer needed medication after carrying out tests on the spot, all free of charge. 

The survelliance officers constantly educate the members of their communities on malaria, it's prevention and control. 

They have an information centre where they send reports from the field for the purpose of monitoring and evaluation. 

Zanzibar sure has something to teach the rest of Africa. Africa really  has something to learn from Zanzibar. 

Zanzibar is not the richest, most popular, most developed state in Africa yet she has achieved such laudable feat. 

Africa Rise And Act.

Do Act Responsibly. 

MALARIA: HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW?

For people in Africa and other tropical countries like the Caribbean, malaria is endemic. As such there is widespread knowledge of the disease.  

However, there are myths and misconceptions about malaria. In some climes, malaria is accredited to excessive palm oil intake, long exposure to sunlight and so on. 

Here Are Facts About Malaria.

Malaria is a life threatening disease caused by parasite (plasmodium) that is transmitted to people through  bites from female Anopheles mosquito.

About 3.2 billion people, that is about half of the world's population, are at risk of malaria.

Malaria is preventable and curable. 

Measures for preventing malaria include: 

Keeping clean environment,

clearing stagnant water,which is the breeding place of mosquitoes,

clearing surrounding  bushes,

use of insecticide- treated  mosquito nets,

use of insecticide sprays.

If infected, malaria is very curable. There are variations of medications for malaria both for children and adults. However, it is needful to take the right treatment on time. 

We add our voice to the voice of other stake holders

 in the fight against malaria, this day, 

World Malaria Day.

Acknowledgement : World Health Organisation (WHO)

SPORTS: WEIGHT LOSS or WEIGHT GAIN.

In different if not all countries of the world, diverse types of sports enjoy support/ followership ; from Nigeria, to Poland, to Australia to Europe. Be it football, rugby, basketball, tennis, baseball and so on. 

It is general knowledge that engaging in sporting activities aid weight loss or maintenance of  weight and fosters healthy lifestyle. However, not much can be said about sports fans and supporters who can be said to be indirectly engaged in sport activities.  

While the players burn calories in the field/court/ pitch, their fans and supporters pack on calories while cheering them on, with their beers, pizza, hamburgers, isi ewu,sugary drinks, pastries ,and the likes. Some supporters even gulp down energy drinks and electrolyte-replacement drinks which are meant for athletes. 

Do Support Your Team.

Do Support Responsibly. 

           Be Fruitful in every good work. 
                                             
               Do Have A Nice Weekend.

BEWARE OF STRAWBERRIES.

Strawberries are great, for smoothies, in salads, as snacks, as meal replacement for weight watchers.

They are loaded with vitamins, fibre, cancer-fighting nutrients, unrefined sugars.

But you really should beware of strawberries. 

Strawberries are good but the big question is 'where do you source your strawberries'?

Department stores, fruit vendor, farmers market, locally or abroad?

There is a recent report that about 98% of strawberries in a certain industrialised country contains high dose of insecticide, which of course is detrimental to health. 

Most large chain department stores stock these insecticide-laden strawberries and probably other fruits with high insecticide content too.

If you can, source your fruits from farmers who use little or no insecticide for growing fruits, chances are, small scale farmers do not usually use high doses of these chemicals. 

In Nigeria, the Chaha people of Plateau State are growing strawberries, and to the best of my knowledge their strawberries are stomach friendly, healthy and very affordable. But unfortunately they are not making much sales because not many know about their strawberry farms. More so, some consumers in big Nigerian cities prefer buying insecticide-laden imported strawberries due to ignorance and as 'status symbol'.

Get all loved up with a bowl of strawberries.

Do Eat  Responsibly .

PREVENTING DIARRHEA.

Diarrhea and malnutrition are interrelated, in that diarrhea prevents complete digestion and proper assimilation of food nutrients leading to malnutrition. 

Here are some helpful tips for preventing diarrhea.

Regular hand washing with soap or ashes and water, after using the toilet, before and after eating, after diaper or nappy change, immediately you return home, before handling food especially foods that are eaten raw.

Wash toilet ,including the flush handle,with disinfectant after stooling, if you already have diarrhea.

Do not store raw food and cooked food closely to each other.

Keeps foods refrigerated. 

Do not expose foods to flies.

Cook foods properly.

Do not eat foods that you are unsure how hygienic their source is.

Be sure to keep re-hydrating during bouts of diarrhoea.

 See a doctor if it persists.

Do Eat Responsibly. 

Acknowledgements: OBPhil, NHS U.K.

COOL, CHARGED OR COWERING. 

See how emotions affect your health.

It is not really what people do to you or how life treats you that matters but how you respond.

Do React Responsibly. 

HEALTHY EATING : CASH OR INSIGHT? 

In my practice of public health nutrition I have gleaned opinions and conceptions of people as regards healthy eating. 

There's general misconception that eating right is a function of money. That one has to be rich or attain a certain level of income to eat healthy. 

I'd say no and yes.

No, because i have seen gross malnutrition in agrarian communities with arable lands and abundance of harvest. Now, in such scenarios food availability and food quality are not a challenge at all, yet there is high prevalence of malnutrition. The simple reason is dearth of knowledge,, lack of nutrition awareness. 

There are also instances of financially buoyant individuals who make wrong food choices out of low level of enlightenment as per adequate nutrition. Most times, malnutrition in this segment of the population (financially buoyant) is in the form of over nutrition (over weight and obesity) and micronutrient malnutrition. 

I will say yes, because poverty and malnutrition form a vicious cycle that even affects development. In cases of extreme poverty, malnutrition is highly prevalent, especially if there is no access to farmlands and there is  little or no involvement in agricultural practices. This is evident in refugee settings, crude oil producing communities, urban slums, areas ravished by wars and conflicts. 

Knowledge of adequate nutrition and a good source of livelihood indeed contribute immensely to healthy eating and healthy living.

Do Eat Responsibly. .

DO HAVE A FRUITFUL WEEK.