Infectious diseases remain leading causes of death in Nigeria – Alonge

Prof. Temitope Alonge, the Chief Medical Director of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo state, says infectious diseases remain the leading causes of death in the country.
Alonge said this in Ibadan when he made a presentation on: “Mortality Statistics for 2013,” at a conference tagged: “Hospital-Wide Grand Round.”
The monthly forum had as theme: “Autopsy and Death Certification: Matters Arising.”
Alonge said the next killer ailment was cancer, adding that it was a great cause of death, particularly among women.
He advised women to seek immunisation for cervical cancer, saying it was a leading type of cancer among women.
A consultant pathologist at UCH, Dr. Olabiyi Ogun, said the use of the old Certificate of Death was no longer permitted and had been withdrawn from circulation by the World Health Organisation.
Ogun spoke on the topic: “Indication Consent and Challenges of Autopsy.”
He said people often disagreed on performing autopsy on their corpses because of suspicion and distrust among relatives of the deceased.
A forensic pathologist, Dr. Uwom Eze, said lack of formal education, poor information and mis-information were some the challenges being faced by pathologists at the UCH.
Eze said the UCH was one of the hospitals with WHO standard death certificates.
Eze enjoined medical practitioners to be on the lookout for fake Certificates of Death, particularly those signed with blue ink.
Niyi Ajayi of the Legal Department of UCH, who spoke on: “Rights of Health Institutions and Relations of the Deceased,” urged Nigerians to take the matter of next of kin seriously.
Ajayi said there had been challenges with regard to the release of corpses, adding that the law recognises only the next of kin as receiver.
A representative of the Chief Imam of UCH, Alhaji Liadi Adeniyi, who quoted from the Quran, said: “A human body is sacred even after death.
“Breaking the bone of a dead person is similar to breaking the bone of a living person, therefore it is unlawful to tamper with the corpse.”
A Catholic priest, Rev. Father Joseph Akanbi, said a corpse must be treated with respect and sanctity.
Akanbi, however, said donating the body organs of the dead to the living was acceptable.