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LASG Wants to Build International Infectious Disease Research Centre at Yaba

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Plans by the State Government to construct a purpose built International Infectious Disease Research Centre at the Mainland Infectious Disease Hospital Yaba is on top gear, the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu said on Sunday.

He said it is part of Lagos COVID19 response and other infectious disease preparedness in post COVID19 era.

He said: “Our Infectious Disease hospital is seeing a lot of brand new things coming up and we are have committed that this hospital post COVID19 would see a purpose built international infectious disease research center; the designs are out already.

We will also be building a purpose built isolation wards, we will ramp up our infrastructure and capacity and not wait for a pandemic to come on us again. We will be building doctors’ quarters in this facility as part pof our global plan for the Yaba Infectious Disease Hospital”

While commending CACOVID for donating the state-of-art 150 bed Isolation centre to Lagos for COVID19 response, Sanwo-Olu noted that the facility will certainly add to the State capacity and enable it do a lot more in the war against COVID19.

“This is the sixth or the seventh dedicated isolation centres that we have. Several other facilities we are using for quarantine and holding bay but this is the sixth or seventh structured isolation centre. I want to on behalf of the people and government of Lagos State thank the coalition for this facility”, the Governor said.

Sanwo-Olu however noted that beyond putting up isolation facility for COVID19 case management, it is important for citizens to understand that the need take responsibility against the pandemic.

“It is not a function of how many isolation bed that is built but a case of ourselves taking responsibility, understanding that this virus knows no race, colur or age. Indeed we need to take responsibility because of our loved ones. Covid19 is real and we owe it a duty to tell our people to be very cautious and take precautionary measures and ensure that it is only when we do all of this things that this pandemic can be defeated”.

“When we say that if you feel unwell and you’ve been tested that you isolate yourself even if you don’t have severe symptoms, it is really so that you can protect your loved ones and the vulnerable in your family and vulnerable in the society so that we can slow down the morbidity and fatality that might come out from a raging pandemic such as this. That is why we cannot lose this opportunity to reiterate the importance of wearing your face mask at all times, practicing hand hygiene and physical distancing”, the Governor stated.

Earlier in his remarks, Lagos Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi explained that the 150-bed isolation facility has a fully contained PCR laboratory, a routine laboratory, a bouquet of administrative and ancillary facilities, a water treatment plant, a waste management system and three power generators for case management.

“Today we are opening the 6th of our isolation centres in Lagos specifically committed to COVID19. This isolation centre is donated by a consortium known as CACOVID and we have been working together now for almost four months to design, to build and to complete this fabulous structure which is going to add 150 more isolation beds to our central isolation capacity”.

“This is an extension of facilities at main infectious disease hospital at Yaba where we have about 120 isolation beds and well established intensive care unit (ICU) for patients with severe to critical case. The donated facility by CACOVID will serve as an additional 150 beds for us to manage the more moderate to severe cases of COVID19 and if any of them needs intensive care, they would be moved across to our ICU”, Abayomi said.

The Commissioner noted that the new policy shift in Lagos is that patients who test positive and require close monitoring will be managed at the State central isolation facilities.

In his remarks the Managing Director Access Bank PLC, Herbert Wigwe commended the State government and the Governor for the timely and good response against the COVID19 pandemic. He noted that a lot has been done by Lagos State in its response against the disease that deserves commendation.

“We are proud to have worked very closely with a very strong team to set up what is a model state-of-the-art isolation centre here in Lagos. I must commend the State team with the level of transparency, painstaking attention to detail which we have to go through to make sure that the facility we have here is what can be compared to any other in other parts of the world.

“I must commend you for the leadership you’ve shown and commend you for manner with which you have tackled the pandemic. When we compare what is happening in Lagos to other part of Africa and other part of the world with similar demography, we must say that a lot of work has been done out here and we are extremely proud of the great job that is coming out of here particularly in Lagos.”, he said.

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Cybercriminals Successfully Encrypted Data in Ransomware Attacks on Nearly 75% of Healthcare Organizations, Sophos Survey

Only 24% of Healthcare Organizations Were Able to Disrupt a Ransomware Attack Before Attackers Encrypted Their Data. This is the Lowest Rate of Disruption in 3 Years, reports SANDRA ANI

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Chester Wisniewski, director, field CTO, Sophos
Chester Wisniewski, director, field CTO, Sophos

Sophos, a global leader in innovating and delivering cybersecurity as a service, today shared its sector survey report, “The State of Ransomware in Healthcare 2023,” which revealed that, among those organizations surveyed, cybercriminals successfully encrypted data in nearly 75% of ransomware attacks.

 This is the highest rate of encryption in the past three years and a significant increase from the 61% of healthcare organizations that reported having their data encrypted last year.

In addition, only 24% of healthcare organizations were able to disrupt a ransomware attack before the attackers encrypted their data—down from 34% in 2022; this is the lowest rate of disruption reported by the sector over the past three years.

“To me, the percentage of organizations that successfully stop an attack before encryption is a strong indicator of security maturity. For the healthcare sector, however, this number is quite low—only 24%. What’s more, this number is declining, which suggests the sector is actively losing ground against cyberattackers and is increasingly unable to detect and stop an attack in progress.

“Part of the problem is that ransomware attacks continue to grow in sophistication, and the attackers are speeding up their attack timelines. In the latest Active Adversary Report for Tech Leaders, we found that the median time from the start of a ransomware attack to detection was only five days. We also found that 90% of ransomware attacks took place after regular business hours. The ransomware threat has simply become too complex for most companies to go at it alone. All organizations, especially those in healthcare, need to modernize their defensive approach to cybercrime, moving from being solely preventative to actively monitoring and investigating alerts 24/7 and securing outside help in the form of services like managed detection and response (MDR),” said Chester Wisniewski, director, field CTO, Sophos.

Healthcare Organizations Were Able to Disrupt a Ransomware Attack
Sophos report

Additional key findings from the report include:

  • In 37% of ransomware attacks where data was successfully encrypted, data was also stolen, suggesting a rise in the “double dip” method
  • Healthcare organizations are now taking longer to recover, with 47% recovering in a week, compared to 54% last year
  • The overall number of ransomware attacks against healthcare organizations surveyed declined from 66% in 2022 to 60% this year
  • Compromised credentials were the number one root cause of ransomware attacks against healthcare organizations, followed by exploits
  • The number of healthcare organizations surveyed that paid ransom payments declined from 61% last year to 42% this year. This is lower than the cross-sector average of 46%

“In 2016, the Red Cross Hospital of Córdoba in Spain suffered a ransomware attack that reached servers and encrypted hundreds of files, medical records and other important patient information. It was a major disruption to our operations and interfered with our ability to care for our patients. The stakes are high in ransomware attacks against healthcare organizations—and attackers know that—meaning we’ll always be a target. After this ransomware attack, we worked hard with Tekpyme to bolster our defenses, and now we have reduced our incident response time by 80%. I think the industry as a whole is making improvements, but there is still work to do, because of the constantly changing nature of cybercrime. Hopefully healthcare organizations can leverage the help that is available from security vendors such as Sophos to prevent a very real ‘threat to life’ if systems go offline due to a ransomware attack,” said José Antonio Alcaraz Pérez, head of information systems and communications at Cruz Red Andalusia in Spain.

“Cyberspace today is ripe with technically sophisticated actors looking for vulnerabilities to exploit. What all this translates to is a multidimensional cyberthreat of actors who have the tools to paralyze entire hospitals. Partnering with the private sector is critical to our mission. The information [they] share has real-world impacts and can save real businesses and real lives,” said Christopher Wray, FBI Director.

Sophos recommends the following best practices to help defend against ransomware and other cyberattacks:

  • Strengthen defensive shields with:
    • Security tools that defend against the most common attack vectors, including endpoint protection with strong anti-ransomware and anti-exploit capabilities
    • Adaptive technologies that respond automatically to attacks, disrupting adversaries and buying defenders time to respond
  • Optimize attack preparation, including regularly backing up, practicing recovering data from backups and maintaining an up-to-date incident response plan
  • Maintain security hygiene, including timely patching and regularly reviewing security tool configurations

To learn more about the State of Ransomware in Healthcare 2023, download the full report from Sophos.com.

*The State of Ransomware 2023 survey polled 3,000 IT/cybersecurity leaders in organizations with between 100 and 5,000 employees, including 233 from the healthcare sector, across 14 countries in the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific.

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LUTH Doctor Slumps And Dies After 72hrs Call In The Neurosurgery Unit

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Outrage As LUTH Doctor Dies After 72-hour Non-stop Shift

Tweeps have taken to X to share their thoughts on the death of a young doctor, identified as Dr. Umoh Michael, who died on Sunday after allegedly working 72 hours straight.

According to reports, Michael died during a church service at the United Evangelical Church on September 17. He was said to have worked a 72-hour non-stop shift at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, where he was a resident doctor.

Doctors under the aegis of the Association of Resident Doctors, LUTH chapter, in a letter addressed to the Chief Medical Director, LUTH, Prof. Wasiu Lanre Adeyemo, attested to the fact that the young doctor was overworked.

They claimed Michael returned home at about 3:00 a.m. Sunday after a 72-hour shift in the hospital, adding that he had barely slept in their apartment before that day.

The statement partly read, “We the house officers are in deep grief over the loss of our colleague, a co-house officer (Dr Umoh Michael) who died on 17th September, 2023, after having a 72hrs call in the Neurosurgery Unit.

“He is said to have been on call 72hrs before arriving home on Sunday morning to get set for church service, reaching his worship center (United Evangelical Church) where he slumped in the church at about 11 am.”

“His roommate attested to the fact that Umoh Michael had barely slept in their apartment over the past one week as he was always on call or the day he returned home was around 3 a.m. after surgeries and other activities in the Neurosurgery Unit.”

Reacting to the sad incident, LUTH’s Public Relations Officer, Omolola Fakeye, who spoke on an online platform (not PUNCH) Online said, “It is not true that anybody worked for 72 hours. I have not been briefed about his death.

“We were at a programme yesterday (Monday), but I will find out; I can’t say anything now. I will check the medical report of what could have happened because anybody can say anything, but the medical report will show us what happened.”

May his soul rest in peace.

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Why You Need To Drink More Water Than You Use To

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Hello! It’s the weekend, And as usual, We want to share some quick important healthy living tips with you.

Today, We will be sharing on the IMPORTANCE OF DRINKING ENOUGH WATER.

Do you know that Adult humans are 60 percent water, and our blood is 90 percent water? Now, There isn’t an agreed quantity of water that must be consumed daily. You only need to drink as plenty as you should.

Water can be said to be one of the highest natural medicines to man, As it helps avoid a lot of sicknesses like kidney stones, And it also helps in their healing process.

Here are a few importance of drinking enough water;

1. It boosts skin health and beauty: With dehydration, the skin can become more vulnerable to skin disorders and premature wrinkling.

2. It cushions the brain, spinal cord, and other sensitive tissues: Dehydration can affect brain structure and function. It is also involved in the production of hormones and neurotransmitters. Prolonged dehydration can lead to problems with thinking and reasoning.

3. It regulates body temperature: Water that is stored in the middle layers of the skin comes to the skin’s surface as sweat when the body heats up. As it evaporates, it cools the body. In sport.

4. The digestive system depends on it: The bowel needs water to work properly. Dehydration can lead to digestive problems, constipation, and an overly acidic stomach. This increases the risk of heartburn and stomach ulcers.

5. Adequate water flushes body waste easily: For sweating and removal of urine and feces.

6. The airways need it: When dehydrated, Airways are restricted by the body in an effort to minimize water loss. This can make asthma and allergies worse.

7. It helps maintain body blood pressure.

8. It prevents kidney damage: The kidneys regulate fluid in the body. Insufficient water can lead to kidney stones and other problems.

9. Consuming enough water instead of sweetened drinks helps with weight loss.

10. Joint Lubrication: Cartilage, found in joints and the disks of the spine, contains around 80% water. Dehydration can reduce the joints’ shock-absorbing ability, leading to joint pain.

Please drink enough water!

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