Health & Wellness
Nasrallah’s Apparent Successor Killed In Beirut Strike
Israel’s army said it had killed the cleric tipped to succeed slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an air strike on Beirut three weeks ago that targeted commanders of the Iran-backed militant group.
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Hezbollah has not issued a statement about the Israeli claims to have killed Hashem Safieddine.
“It can now be confirmed that in an attack approximately three weeks ago, Hashem Safieddine, the head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council, and Ali Hussein Hazima, the head of Hezbollah’s Intelligence Directorate, were killed along with other Hezbollah commanders,” the Israeli army said in a statement Tuesday.
The army said the air force had hit Hezbollah’s main intelligence headquarters in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, Hezbollah’s stronghold in the Lebanese capital, and that more than 25 Hezbollah militants were present at the time.
Longtime Hezbollah leader Nasrallah was killed on September 27 in an Israeli air strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Safieddine, tipped to succeed his distant cousin as leader of the Lebanon-based group, had been out of contact since Israeli strikes on Beirut weeks ago, a high-level Hezbollah source said at the time.
“We have reached Nasrallah, his replacement and most of Hezbollah’s senior leadership”, Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said in a statement after the confirmation of Safieddine’s death.
After nearly a year of war with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza, Israel shifted its focus to Lebanon in late September, vowing to secure its northern border threatened by cross-border fire from Hamas’s Lebanese ally.
Israel ramped up its air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds around the country and sent in ground troops late last month, in a war that has killed at least 1,552 people since September 23, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures.
– Blinken presses for Gaza aid –
Israel’s announcement of the death of Safieddine came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seize on the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza last week to work towards a ceasefire in the Palestinian territory.
Blinken is on his 11th trip to the Middle East since Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war, and his first since Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah escalated in late September.
During his meeting with Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Blinken “underscored the need to capitalise” on the death of Sinwar, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
This would be done by “securing the release of all hostages and ending the conflict in Gaza in a way that provides lasting security for Israelis and Palestinians alike”, he added.
Netanyahu told Blinken that Sinwar’s death “could have a positive impact on the return of the hostages” seized by Hamas during the October 7 attack last year, according to a statement from the Israeli leader’s office.
Blinken also pressed for more aid to be allowed into besieged Gaza as concerns rise for tens of thousands of civilians trapped by fighting in the hard-to-reach north.
Blinken later met with Defence Minister Yoav Gallant who said they discussed the army’s “achievements in its mission to destroy Hezbollah’s attack infrastructure”.
In a post on X, Gallant said he had “emphasized the importance of standing together against Iranian aggression — amplifying deterrence across the region”.
Gallant told Blinken Israel expects Washington’s support “following our attack on Iran”, his office said earlier.
Israel is weighing its response to Iran’s October 1 missile attack, which Tehran launched in retaliation for the killing of Nasrallah in Beirut and of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.
Previous US efforts to end the Gaza war and contain the regional fallout have failed, as did a bid spearheaded by President Joe Biden and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron to secure a temporary ceasefire in Lebanon.
After Israel, Blinken will visit Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, a US official said.
– South Beirut evacuation orders –
Fighting meanwhile raged in Lebanon, with the Israeli military again striking the southern suburbs of Beirut Tuesday evening, after issuing new calls for residents to evacuate the area.
On Tuesday, an Israeli strike on the eastern Hermel region killed five people, while five more died from a separate strike in the southern city of Nabatiyeh, the Lebanese health ministry said.
An Israeli air strike near a Beirut hospital killed 18 people, four of them children, according to the ministry.
The strike flattened four buildings near the Rafic Hariri Hospital, Lebanon’s biggest public health facility which is outside Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds, an AFP correspondent reported.
Resident Ola Eid said she was tossing children chocolate and candy from her balcony when her neighbourhood was bombed.
“Before they could even catch them, the first strike hit, then a second. I saw the children ripped apart,” she told AFP.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk said he was “appalled” by the strike.
Hezbollah also continued to fire into Israel through Tuesday, launching about 140 “projectiles” from Lebanon, the Israeli military said.
– ‘Bodies lying on the streets’ –
In the Gaza Strip, Israel launched a major air and ground assault in northern Gaza this month, vowing to stop Hamas militants from regrouping in the area.
Despite the exodus of tens of thousands of civilians, around 400,000 have been trapped by the fighting, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees warned last week.
The only medical facility still partially functioning in the targeted area of northern Gaza has “no medicine or medical supplies”, warned Kamal Adwan Hospital director Hossam Abu Safia.
“People are being killed in the streets, and we can’t help them. Bodies are lying on the streets.”
The war was sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 last year, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed 42,718 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry which the UN considers reliable.
AFP
Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors have issued a 10-day ultimatum to all relevant government agencies on Monday, warning that its members would embark on a nationwide strike if the demands were not met.
NARD disclosed this in a communiqué signed by its President, Dr. Tope Osundara; the General Secretary, Dr. Oluwasola Odunbaku; and Publicity and the Social Secretary, Omoha Amobi, issued after its Extraordinary National Executive Council meeting, which was held virtually on Sunday.
In July, NARD had issued a three-week ultimatum, but in the interest of industrial harmony, the NEC granted the National Officers’ Committee an additional three weeks to engage with all relevant stakeholders, after which it would reconvene to reassess the extent of implementation of its demands.
In Sunday’s meeting, the E-NEC condemned the failure of the Federal Government to fulfil its promises, noting with dismay that a substantial number of resident doctors remain unpaid for their 2025 Medical Residency Training Fund, and the refusal to pay the outstanding five months’ arrears arising from the 25 per cent/35 per cent Consolidated Medical Salary Structure review, as well as other longstanding salary arrears.
It also condemned the government’s failure to pay the arrears of the 2024 Accoutrement Allowance.
“The E-NEC expressed displeasure over the unjust downgrading of the membership certificates of the West African Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, as well as the persistent non-issuance of membership certificates by the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria.
“The E-NEC condemned in strong terms the failure of the Kaduna State Government to honour its commitments to members under ARD Kaduna and Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital, despite earlier agreements and signed Memoranda of Understanding. The E-NEC condemned the failure of the Oyo State Government to address the challenges faced by members of ARD LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Ogbomosho, despite an ongoing indefinite strike action in the hospital,” it noted.
It, however, commended state governors who have demonstrated commitment to the welfare of doctors by paying the 2025 MRTF.
Meanwhile, the doctors said that if their demands are not met by September 10, 2025, they would embark on a nationwide strike.
E-NEC, however, demands the immediate payment of the outstanding 2025 MRTF to all eligible resident doctors by the Federal Government, as well as the settlement of the outstanding five months’ arrears of CONMESS, alongside other longstanding salary arrears.
The Council also demands, “The immediate payment of the arrears of the 2024 Accoutrement Allowance. The E-NEC demands the commencement of payment of specialist allowances to all doctors without further delay, given their indispensable role in delivering specialist medical care across the nation. The E-NEC demands that the MDCN immediately restore the recognition of the West African postgraduate membership certificates to their rightful status and calls on the NPMCN to commence without delay the issuance of membership certificates to all deserving candidates, in line with international best practices.
“The E-NEC demands the immediate implementation of the 2024 CONMESS and resolution of all outstanding welfare concerns in Kaduna State, noting that the indefinite strike by our members has already resumed and will continue until these demands are met. The E-NEC demands that the Governor of Oyo State, His Excellency Governor Seyi Makinde, immediately resolve the welfare concerns of resident doctors under the employment of the state government, particularly those at LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Ogbomosho.
“The E-NEC urges all State Governors to prioritise the welfare of doctors in their state-owned hospitals and training institutions, ensure the timely payment of MRTF to their resident doctors, and take proactive steps to curb emigration while maintaining industrial harmony.
“The E-NEC extends the ultimatum by a final 10 days to all relevant government agencies to meet these demands. Failure to do so within this period (expiring on Wednesday, 10th September 2025) will leave the NEC with no other option than to embark on a nationwide strike action.”
President Bola Tinubu has authorized a reduction in the cost of kidney dialysis at federal hospitals nationwide, lowering the fee from ₦50,000 to ₦12,000.
The Special Adviser to the President on Policy Information, Daniel Bwala, disclosed this on his X handle on Monday.
He noted that “with this intervention, the price of each dialysis session has been reduced from N50,000 to just N12,000, bringing relief to thousands of citizens battling kidney-related diseases.”
According to Bwala, the subsidy is already being implemented in major federal hospitals across the six geopolitical zones.
The hospitals include the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Ebute-Metta, Lagos; Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi, Abuja; University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan; and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owerri.
Others are the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), Maiduguri; the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Abeokuta; Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos; Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Azare; University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin; and the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), Calabar.
He disclosed that more federal medical centres and teaching hospitals will be added before the end of the year to widen access nationwide.
Bwala recalled how Tinubu also approved free caesarean sections (C-sections) for pregnant women in federal hospitals, a bold step aimed at boosting maternal healthcare and reducing preventable maternal deaths.
“Together, these measures demonstrate the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda in action—ensuring that no Nigerian is denied healthcare because of cost,” he said.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has weighed in on the ongoing discourse surrounding genetically modified organisms (GMOs), assuring Nigerians that GMO foods are safe for consumption, provided they are properly labelled to ensure consumer awareness and choice.
“GMOs are genetically modified foods when it comes to food, and they are not bad for us. They are not bad for us, depending on what type of foods they are and whether the safety considerations have been taken,” NAFDAC’s Director-General, Mojisola Adeyeye, affirmed.
Adeyeye, a pharmacist and professor, believes proper labelling of GMO foods by marketers is essential for the consuming public.
“The National Biosafety Management Agency—NBMA—is the agency charged with ensuring the safety of foods that have GMOs. We work in collaboration with them,” the NAFDAC chief said.
Asked what Nigerians can do to ensure that the food they consume is healthy for them, Adeyeye explained, “I’m a food freak. I want to know what I’m eating is going to give me a good health outcome.
“I look at the label. I want to be sure that NAFDAC’s label is on it, or if I’m outside the country—well, I don’t do a lot of shopping now, but before my time in NAFDAC, when I had all the time — I would look at the label. And it’s supposed to have ‘genetically modified food’ written on it.
“We work in collaboration with the Biosafety Management Agency. We have an MoU with them. They are mandated to ensure that the foods that have GMOs are of quality, they are safe, and they are efficacious.
“So, when you look at the food on the table in the market—especially grocery stores— you will see foods labeled organic. You put labels [on foods] that are not organic, and people have the choice to buy which one they want.”
Her comment followed concerns among Nigerians about GMO foods in the country, with debates over the quality of items sold in markets across Nigeria making headlines.
While NAFDAC has a role to play in the monitoring and certification of food items consumed in the country, Adeyeye said other agencies at the state level had a part to play in such issue.
“But for NAFDAC, we are mandated to ensure that the food that we approve for the market is safe, is of quality, of course, and it is efficacious.
“So that is the reason why the collaboration between us and the NBMA is very solid.
“Without them certifying that they have done their due diligence in their laboratory for desk review or whatever, we cannot approve,” the professor said.
Last month, the National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency (NBRDA) allayed fears over the safety of GMO foods.
The agency’s Director General, Abdullahi Mustapha, told members of the House of Representatives Press Corps that GMO crops are key to tackling the country’s food challenges and boosting agricultural productivity among others in Nigeria.
“In today’s digital age, the distortion of facts has become a major barrier to the acceptance of science,” the NBRDA told the participants who attended a sensitisation workshop in Abuja.
“False claims about GMOs have contributed to public skepticism and slowed down the adoption of technologies that can transform lives.”
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