World Health Day Celebrated Worldwide

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon marked the World Health Day with a strong call for stepping up global efforts to stop the rise in diabetes and improve the lives of those living with this dangerous but preventable and treatable disease.

Diabetes is currently responsible for about 1.5 million deaths a year.

In her video message, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said the agency decided to devote
this year's World Health Day to diabetes for many reasons. “The prevalence of diabetes is alarming and is rapidly getting worse. This is a worrying worldwide trend,” she said, calling for healthier lifestyles.

Make healthier life choices. Eat right and exercise regularly to live a longer, more fulfilling life.

Happy #WorldHealthDay!

GlobalGiving Partners With Save Our Needy To Provide Clean Water and Toilets In Disadvantaged Schools

UNICEF states that 50 million Nigerians do not have access to toilets hence resort to open defecation. The need for better sanitation in Nigeria is clear.

Poor sanitation is the leading cause of child illness and death. Diseases like cholera, diarrhea and Ebola are contracted due to poor hygiene.

Access to clean toilets and water can help save millions of children from dying.

Support Save Our Needy to build school toilets and provide clean water in low-income schools. The pupils of Abiodun Nursery and Primary School, Mushin, Lagos, deserve to study in a more hygienic environment so that they can thrive. The situation is dire. The school not only needs to be rehabilitated, three schools located in the same complex comprising more than 1,000 pupils are forced to use the same make-shift toilet facility having no door with just provision for urinating and not defecating.

Please check this link to donate: https://goto.gg/23476

You can also check our website: www.saveourneedy.org

THANK YOU!

10 FACTS TO SHOW POVERTY IS SEXIST

It is incredibly difficult to be a woman living in some of the poorest parts of the world. The report below shows that poverty indeed has a female face:

1. UNAIDS estimates that by fast-tracking investments between now and 2020, nearly 21 million deaths from HIV/AIDS and 28 million new HIV infections could be averted over the next 14 years.

2. At current rates of progress, women in sub-Saharan Africa will have to wait more than 160 years before they have the same chances as women in rich countries of their babies being born alive.

3. In sub-Saharan Africa, women and girls spend roughly 40 billion hours a year collecting water—the equivalent of a year’s worth of labor by the entire workforce in France.

4. Of all maternal deaths, 99 percent occur in developing countries.

5.In many sub-Saharan African countries, more than half of young women report not having a final say in critical healthcare choices. 

6. Globally, 120 million girls are raped or sexually attacked by the age of 20.

7. In sub-Saharan Africa, 45 percent fewer women than men have access to the Internet.

8. If an additional 600 million women and girls gained access to the Internet in the next three years, GDP across 144 developing countries could be boosted by up to $13-18 billion!

9. Of all still-births that happen in the world, 98 percent happen in low- and middle-income countries.

10. Half a billion women couldn’t read this list.

Do you need any more reasons to convince you that Poverty Is Sexist? Spread the word! Visit www.one.org to sign the petition and make life worth living for millions of marginalized women and girls. We must do all we can to ensure Poverty Is Made History. #PovertyIisSexist
 

   

Empowering Women To Build Nations

Yesterday, March 8th, was International Women's Day. Every year, it is celebrated all over the world marked by an incredible range of activities, events, projects and traditions.

The meaning of this day is as diverse as the individuals and groups who mobilize around it. Activities range from celebration, to call for action, demonstrations, marches, recognition of inspirational women, reflections on past struggles and achievements, plans for goals to accomplish in the future...

Save Our Needy celebrates the millions of women around the world who are making incredible contributions to global development. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) cannot be achieved by 2030 if women are not empowered. SON theme this year for Women's Day is: ''Empowering Women To Build Nations.''

When women and girls can exercise their rights and live in good health and dignity, their families, communities and nations will prosper. Today, it is a known fact that women are the backbone of the rural economy particularly in Africa.

Early/forced marriage, violence against women and girls, gender inequality, human trafficking and female genital mutilation are some of the very important issues that need to be tackled if women are to contribute wholesomely to nation building and economic development.

Supporting women and girls is not just about good governance, it is also about smart development.

Happy #IWD2016!!!

ONE Members Campaign For Health Reform

Last Saturday, February 20^th, some ONE members took to the streets of Lagos, Nigeria to raise awareness on the need for reform in the health sector. The campaign drew a lot of interest from members of the public, some of whom joined the ONE members to urge the government to allocate more resources to the health sector in order to tackle the many issues plaguing the sector.They want a #PeoplesBudget2016.

Millions of women particularly in the rural areas still die during childbirth in Nigeria today. Another sad fact is that Nigerian children under the age of 5 are among the most malnourished children in the world today even though Nigeria’s economy is one of the largest in Africa.

ZIKA VIRUS DECLARED GLOBAL HEALTH EMERGENCY

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Zika virus and its suspected link to birth defects an international public health emergency and given countries tools to fight it.

WHO Director- General, Margaret Chan called Zika "an extraordinary event" that needed a co-ordinated response.
"I am now declaring that the recent cluster of microcephaly and other neurological abnormalities reported in Latin America following a similar cluster in French Polynesia in 2014 constitutes a public health emergency of international concern." 

She said the priorities were to protect pregnant women and their babies from harm and to control the mosquitoes that are spreading the virus.

Zika virus is an emerging mosquito-borne virus that was first identified in Uganda in 1947 in rhesus monkeys through a monitoring network of sylvatic yellow fever. It was subsequently identified in humans in 1952 in Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania. Outbreaks of Zika virus disease have been recorded in Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific.

Currently, there is no vaccine or medication to stop Zika. The only way to avoid catching it is to avoid getting bitten by the Aedes mosquitoes that transmit the infection.

The WHO has already warned that Zika is likely to "spread explosively" across nearly all of the Americas. More than 20 countries, including Brazil, are reporting cases.

Key facts

• Zika virus disease is caused by a virus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes.
• People with Zika virus disease usually have symptoms that can include mild fever, skin rashes, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise or headache. These symptoms normally last for 2-7 days.
• There is no specific treatment or vaccine currently available.
• The best form of prevention is protection against mosquito bites.
• The virus is known to circulate in Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific.

Transmission

Zika virus is transmitted to people through the bite of an infected mosquito from the Aedes genus, mainly Aedes aegypti in tropical regions. This is the same mosquito that transmits dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.

Diagnosis

Infection with Zika virus may be suspected based on symptoms and recent history (e.g. residence or travel to an area where Zika virus is known to be present). Zika virus diagnosis can only be confirmed by laboratory testing for the presence of Zika virus RNA in the blood or other body fluids, such as urine or saliva.

Prevention

Mosquitoes and their breeding sites pose a significant risk factor for Zika virus infection. Prevention and control relies on reducing mosquitoes through source reduction (removal and modification of breeding sites) and reducing contact between mosquitoes and people.
This can be done by using insect repellent; wearing clothes (preferably light-coloured) that cover as much of the body as possible; using physical barriers such as screens, closed doors and windows; and sleeping under mosquito nets. It is also important to empty, clean or cover containers that can hold water such as buckets, flower pots or tyres, so that places where mosquitoes can breed are removed.
Special attention and help should be given to those who may not be able to protect themselves adequately, such as young children, the sick or elderly.
During outbreaks, health authorities may advise that spraying of insecticides be carried out. Insecticides recommended by the WHO Pesticide Evaluation Scheme may also be used as larvicides to treat relatively large water containers.
Travellers should take the basic precautions described above to protect themselves from mosquito bites. 

The WHO alert puts Zika in the same category of concern as Ebola.

Y.E.S Express Supports Save Our Needy

The year has started on a good note for us as the management of Y.E.S Express supermarket, Festac Town, donated food items and toiletries.

The donated items will be distributed to disadvantaged and marginalized families particularly children during SON projects aimed at fighting hunger and poverty. We support #ZeroHunger by 2030.

A big thank you to Y.E.S Express.