FG orders emergency care reforms at FMC Abuja

The Federal Government has directed immediate reforms in the emergency care services at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Abuja.

Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Salako, gave the directive during an unscheduled visit to the facility on Sunday.

Dr. Salako also revealed that the government would soon launch a nationwide emergency care training programme aimed at standardizing and improving emergency response capacities across public hospitals.

The directive for immediate reforms at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Abuja, followed a public outcry over a viral video showing delayed medical attention to accident victims at the hospital’s emergency unit.

The video, which circulated widely on social media, sparked outrage and allegations of negligence, prompting the Federal Government to set up an investigative panel to probe the incident.

Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Salako, said he received the panel’s report during an unscheduled visit to the hospital on Sunday.

On-the-spot assessment of emergency unit 

During the visit, Salako inspected the emergency department, engaged with frontline medical staff, and assessed the facility’s readiness to handle emergencies, including workforce capacity, infrastructure, and operational coordination.

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“You are in the eye of the storm, responsible for saving lives. Even if you’ve done one million things right, one mistake is what the public will remember,” the minister told the staff.

Dr. Salako has directed the emergency team at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Abuja, to provide consistent and prompt care to the public.

As part of immediate corrective measures, he ordered the hospital management to increase the number of casualty officers per shift from two to at least four.

According to him, the directive is aimed at improving response time and ensuring the integration of newly recruited health assistants into clinical operations.

Infrastructure and security challenges highlighted 

Salako also identified several infrastructure gaps within the emergency unit and called for urgent upgrades, despite recent improvements in electricity and water supply.

He stressed that such improvements must be ongoing and focused on patient needs.

On security, hospital officials reported that they are currently collaborating with private security firms and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to manage access to the emergency area.

The minister emphasized the need to strengthen surveillance systems, citing past cases where CCTV footage played a crucial role in investigations.

Responding to the minister’s inquiries, Head of the Emergency Unit, Dr. Timothy Sama’ila, acknowledged existing challenges, including limited space, high patient load, and staff shortages.

The minister’s visit, prompted by public concern, signaled a renewed commitment by the government to ensure that all Nigerians have access to timely and quality emergency care.

FG orders emergency care reforms at FMC Abuja

Loneliness kills over 871,000 people annually – WHO

No fewer than 871,000 people die worldwide annually from loneliness, the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed on Monday.

According to the WHO commission, one in every six persons globally suffers from loneliness, which, combined with social isolation, can lead to physical sickness.

It claimed that loneliness raises the risk of strokes, heart attacks, diabetes, depression, anxiety, and suicide.

According to the World Health Organisation, lonely teenagers are 22% more likely to get lower grades than their peers, and lonely adults have more difficulty finding or retaining a job.

The impact is societal as well as individual, with billions of dollars in healthcare bills and job losses.

Vivek Murthy, the commission’s co-chair, defines loneliness as “a painful, subjective feeling that many of us experience when the relationships that we need do not match the relationships that we have.

“And social isolation, by contrast, is an objective state of having few relationships or interactions.”

The survey estimates that one in every three elderly individuals and one in every four adolescents are socially isolated.

Its reasons include disease, inadequate education, low money, a lack of opportunity for social connection, living alone, and the usage of digital technologies.

Murthy observed that humans have communicated for millennia using not only words but also facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, and silence.

When people rely primarily on cell phones and social media, they lose touch with traditional modes of communication.

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The WHO cited Sweden as a positive example. Swedish Social Minister Jakob Forssmed said that the country has adopted a national strategy to combat loneliness.

Sweden believes that loneliness is a societal problem rather than an individual one.

Efforts are being made to develop social ties in shops, restaurants, neighbourhoods, and clubs.

Soon, all children and teenagers in Sweden will be given prepaid cards that can only be used to book group recreational activities.

According to Forssmed, Sweden aims to ban mobile phones in public schools.

According to studies, this improves social interaction while decreasing cyberbullying.

Children and teenagers sleep better and find it simpler to put their phones away during leisure time.

Forssmed said that youngsters are frequently frustrated when their parents are continually preoccupied by their phones.

While digital technology brings benefits, such as permitting previously unthinkable video calls.

The commission stressed the necessity of providing spaces in life where people can communicate face-to-face without being distracted by technology.

Murthy said, “Having places and spaces in our lives where we can interact face-to-face with other people without the distraction of technology is very important.”

Loneliness kills over 871,000 people annually – WHO

Revolution in fertility: AI uncovers sperm missed by labs, enables IVF success

A revolutionary breakthrough in fertility treatment has given new hope to couples struggling with male infertility. Scientists at Columbia University Fertility Center in the United States have used artificial intelligence (AI) to detect viable sperm in a man previously diagnosed with azoospermia, a condition marked by an extremely low or non-existent sperm count.

The couple had been trying to conceive for 18 years without success. But in March 2025, the woman became pregnant after receiving an embryo fertilised with sperm identified through the cutting-edge AI system.

From Zero to Forty-Four: AI Sees What Labs Couldn’t

According to Dr Zev Williams, lead researcher and director of the fertility programme, traditional laboratory methods failed to detect any sperm even after two days of examination. But the AI-powered system located 44 viable sperm cells in under an hour.

“Labs searched for two days and found nothing. We ran the same sample and found 44 sperm within an hour,” Williams said. “That changes everything for a couple who thought they had no path forward.”

How the STAR System Works

The system, called Sperm Track and Recovery (STAR), combines advanced AI with a fluidic chip. As the semen sample flows through a tiny plastic tubule, a high-speed camera captures millions of microscopic images. The AI software, trained to spot viable sperm, scans these images in real time flagging healthy cells that would otherwise be missed.

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Once detected, the sperm can be frozen or used in intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), an IVF method where a single sperm is injected directly into an egg.

This approach reduces the need for painful and invasive surgical sperm retrieval, offering a far less traumatic option for men diagnosed with azoospermia.

Experts React: “It Could Be Life-Changing”

The innovation has sparked excitement across the medical community. Dr Robert Brannigan, president-elect of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, described the breakthrough as “promising.”

“Even the discovery of a single viable sperm can be life-changing,” he said.

Dr Allison Rodgers, a fertility specialist in Illinois, added, “It’s amazing and shows that what we thought was advanced still has a long way to go. I believe AI is going to absolutely revolutionise IVF.”

However, not everyone is ready to celebrate just yet. Dr Gianpiero Palermo of Weill Cornell Medicine urged caution, warning that the technology still needs further validation.

“You are attracting patients who have been told they have no sperm and offering what may turn out to be false hope,” he said.

What’s Next for AI in Fertility?

Dr Williams and his team are now working on expanding the technology’s capabilities to identify not just healthy sperm, but also viable eggs and embryos potentially transforming the future of reproductive medicine.

Revolution in fertility: AI uncovers sperm missed by labs, enables IVF success