South African Doctors Successfully Transplant Penis - World's Third Success

JOHANNESBURG, May 24 (BERNAMA-NNN-AFRICANEWS) -- World's third penis transplant has been successfully performed on a 40-year-old man in South Africa by doctors from Stellenbosch University (SU) and the Tygerberg Academic Hospital in Cape Town.

This is the second successful penis transplant performed in South Africa after the first operation in December 2014 by the same team.

The 40-year-old recipient is reported to have lost his penis 17 years ago due to complications after traditional circumcision.

It took the doctors, led by Professor Andr� van der Merwe, nine and a half hours to perform the transplant on April 21, local news portal Health24 reported.

"He is certainly one of the happiest patients we have seen in our ward. He is doing remarkably well � There are no signs of rejection and all the reconnected structures seem to be healing well," Van der Merwe said.

Within six months, the recipient will regain full functions of his new organ which has a colour discrepancy because he is a black man and the donor is white.

"Unfortunately we could not find a donor of the same race. In this case the donor is white and the recipient is black," one of the team members Dr Amir Zarrabi told Health24, adding that the colour discrepancy will be later corrected with medical tattooing.

He expressed confidence that they will perform more successful transplants in the future.

"The loss of a penis from traditional circumcision is big, and we want to create sustainable programmes to help these people," he added.

The second penis transplant in the world was performed in May 2016 on a 64-year-old man at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston in the United States.




SOURCE: bernama.com

'First ever African' to lead World Health Organization'

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus from Ethiopia to take charge of UN health agency from July 1

                              FILE PHOTO- Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

By Fatih Erel

GENEVA 

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus from Ethiopia was elected as the new director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva on Tuesday.

Ghebreyesus will be the first African ever to lead the UN health agency. He was Ethiopia’s foreign minister from 2012 to 2016 and also served as the country’s health minister between 2005 and 2012.

He will begin his five-year term as WHO head on July 1.

The delegates chose Ghebreyesus over U.K.'s Dr. David Nabarro, in the final round of election. He received 133 votes while Nabarro got 50, with two abstentions.

The third candidate from Pakistan, Dr. Sania Nishtar, got eliminated in the first round.

The election took place during the 70th World Health Assembly in Geneva, which will continue until May 31 to discuss global health issues.

Ghebreyesus will succeed Dr. Margaret Chan from China, who has been WHO’s director-general since Jan. 1, 2007.

Ethiopia Foreign Ministry spokesman termed Ghebreyesus’ election to the top post as a “victory for Africa and Ethiopia”.

*Addis Getachew Tadesse from Ethiopia contributed to this report.

SOURCE: aa.com.tr

APC lists reasons Goodluck Jonathan’s presidency was “a total disaster”

By John Owen Nwachukwu 

The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has agreed with a statement credited to the governor of Bayelsa state, Seriake Dickson that the six years of former President, Goodluck Jonathan was a total waste for Niger Delta people.

The party submitted various reasons why “Jonathan’s Presidency was similarly a total disaster for Rivers State and her people.”

This was part of a statement issued on Tuesday and signed by the State Chairman of the party, Chief (Dr.) Davies Ibiamu Ikanya.

The statement reads in part, “Rivers APC aligned itself also with the historical statement credited to Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa – the home State of former President Jonathan – that his six years in Aso Rock was a waste for the Ijaw Nation.

“The party declared that Jonathan’s Presidency was similarly a total disaster for the Rivers State and her people for the following reasons: Jonathan failed to muster the courage and political will in a PDP-controlled National Assembly to see to the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) in the over six years of his administration to demonstrate his hatred for the Niger Delta region, knowing that communities in Rivers State will benefit from the bill.

“The East/West Road, especially Eleme-Onne axis in Rivers State, was abandoned and became a nightmare to travellers. He refused to refund to the State Government over 110 billion naira used in the dualisation of Ikwerre-Owerri Road approved by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and other Federal Roads in the State executed by the State to ease the sufferings of the people of Rivers State.

“He wickedly stopped the Train 7 at NLNG Bonny, resulting in the loss of jobs to Rivers people and revenue to the State Government.

“Refused to implement the UNEP Report on the clean-up of Ogoni land despite all the pleas by our people and the International Community – just to punish the Ogonis and “Rivers State irrespective of their overwhelming support for him during the 2011 elections. Jonathan duly acknowledged that he has no project to point as was executed by his administration for the six years he was Abuja as President.

“Most wickedly, he ceded oil wells belonging to Rivers to Bayelsa and Abia states to ensure that the revenue accruing to the State is reduced to nothing.

“Abandoned construction of the Port Harcourt International Airport after completing other airports started at the same time with it.

“The airport was described as the worst sixth Airports in the world during Jonathan’s administration.

“Posting and encouraging the excesses of the tyrannical Police Commissioner Joseph Mbu during his inglorious days in the State.

“Supporting every imaginable act of impunity in the State, including the plot by five State Assembly members to impeach the Speaker in a House of 31 members.

“Seizing and grounding the planes of the State for no just cause.

“Harassing and intimidating the duly elected Governor of Rivers State then for no just cause and even supporting the splitting of the Governors’ Forum into two just to ensure that former Governor Amaechi, who was duly elected by his colleagues, did not have an easy reign as the Chairman of the Forum.

Another PDP Reps member, Adamu Kamale decamps to APC

“Though what Rivers State suffered in the hands of Jonathan is so enormous we hand over his case and that of Wike to God to handle.”

Buhari’s health: Presidency to address Nigerians today

SOURCE: dailypost.ng

Nigeria will be out of recession in 3rd quarter of 2017 – CBN

By Freda Okhiria 

The Central Bank Governor, Dr Godwin Emefiele has assured Nigerians that the country would be out of recession in the 3rd quarter of the year following the positive economic indicators.

The governor stated this while briefing newsmen after the conclusion of that apex bank’s Monetary policy meeting in Abuja.

Emefiele noted that the positive indicators such as inflation moving upwards and GDP moving up from negative aggregate are indications that by the third quarter of the year, the country will be out of recession.

The governor, however, noted that the committee voted to keep the MPR at 14%, CRR at 22.5% and the liquidity ratio at 30%.

SOURCE: dailypost.ng

Nigeria: Senate wants lower Naira notes changed to coins

Hassan Adebayo

                                       Naira notes and coins [Photo credit: Oyibos OnLine]

The Central Bank of Nigeria should convert the country’s lower currency notes into coins to facilitate “highly repetitive” retail transactions, the Senate said Tuesday.

The advice came after a Senator spoke on the implications of rejection of the existing coin denominations for the economy.

“The local retailers keep rejecting the coins because commercial banks won’t accept them as deposit, even when they are reflected on paper, and the CBN still recognizes them as legal tender,” said Mustapha Bukar, the APC Senator representing Katsina South.

Given the rejection, plus the loss of value of the coins due to inflation, Mr. Bukar, therefore, suggested conversion of the the lower notes into coins to “cater for highly repetitive transactions” which “overwhelming majority” of Nigerians are engaged in due to “location and income”.

“Since the three coin denominations of 50 kobo, one kobo and 10 kobo have lost their values due to inflation, the conversion of lower currency notes to coins will facilitate retail transactions in the economy, like we have in developed countries,” the senator said.

“Despite the huge budget by the CBN on sensitising Nigerians on the need to accept coins, the transaction chains were broken and banks and customers reject the currency, thus, promoting corruption and escalating inflation to the extent of diminishing the value of the coins.”

Quoting unnamed “experts”, he said coin denominations were important in helping control devaluation of country’s currency. Taking an instance from the U.S.A, he said a reason why one cent had not phased out “is due to inflationary ramifications of such a move”.

He observed that coins were still being used in advanced countries, including the United Kingdom, Japan, the European Union and the United Arab Emirates, but lamented Nigeria has now become the only country in West Africa “where there is a total absence of the coins in the economy.”

“In Nigeria, there are two types of retail payments; the highly repetitive small value transactions, such as urban transportation, sweets, cigarettes, kola nuts, sachet water, vegetable etc., as well as, less frequent but high value transactions like clothing, footwear, raw foodstuff, electronics etc.

“Coin currencies are designed globally to cater for highly repetitive transactions because of the nature and conditions under which they happen, such as crowded markets, bus stations, congested traffic, and varying weather conditions, including rainy, sunny and humid conditions in which notes are ill-suited for them.

“Countries regularly upgrade their coinage to keep pace with the prices of this category of retail items,” Mr. Bukar explained.

Following the motion, the Senate, led by Ike Ekweremadu, resolved to urge the CBN to intensify efforts to bring coins back to the economy; and convert lower currency notes into coins to be used “side-by-side with the notes” to facilitate highly repetitive retail transactions in the country.

The Senate also urged the CBN to impose sanction on any commercial bank that rejects coins as deposit.

Nigeria’s current currency notes are: N5, N10, N20, N50, N100, N200, N500 and N1000.

Mr. Bukar did not mention exactly which ones he defined as “lower notes”.

SOURCE: premiumtimesng.com