Health

Met police tweets may encourage young people to carry knives, research finds

Young people may be nudged into carrying knives by the police, research has found, as a new count showed the Metropolitan police circulated more than 2,100 images of seized knives on Twitter in a year.

In the same period, three leading violent-crime prevention charities – Hope Collective, the Ben Kinsella Trust and Dwaynamics – circulated two images of knives between them, according to research by the Green party in the London assembly.

“It’s deeply worrying to see police sharing such frightening images of knives when the charities involved in reducing knife harm don’t do this at all,” said Caroline Russell, a Green party assembly member who sits on London’s police and crime committee. “The disparity of approach is staggering, with the mayor’s own violence reduction unit sharing no images of dangerous knives.”

According to the Greens, between July 2020 and August 2021, images of knives were published 612 times by Met borough accounts, 229 times by the Met taskforce, 82 times by the roads and transport command, 16 times by the firearms command and 15 times by the main Metropolitan Police Service account.

Based on the average number of knife images posted by a sample of ward accounts from various boroughs, they estimated that local policing teams published a total of 1,176 images of knives.

There has been a long-running debate around sharing images of weapons on social media. The Met says it publishes pictures of seized weapons to reassure the public that its officers are committed to tackling violent criminals.

“We aim to include images of our officers in action showing the breadth of policing, alongside any images of weapons,” a spokesperson said. “This is not always possible. We always include wording which explicitly discourages weapon carrying and violence to accompany any imagery.”

Critics have said the images contribute to a sense that the carrying of weapons is widespread. At a youth violence summit in London, an adviser to the city’s violence reduction unit said photos of blades could prompt young people to consider “upgrading tools”.

That assessment seems to be backed by research published as a pre-print this month that suggests knife seizure images “potentially encourage knife-carrying”. Young people in Glasgow shown images of seized knives told researchers led by the University of Strathclyde that they thought the pictures contributed to a climate of fear and perpetuated negative stereotypes of certain groups and areas – although all said they were personally opposed to knife-carrying.

Dr Charlotte Coleman, a psychologist at Sheffield Hallam University who was involved in the study, said the researchers questioned young people in high- and low-crime areas. “For those young people that were living in high-crime areas, they felt quite stigmatised by the volume of knife imagery that was flooding their area,” she said.

Such images had the potential to frighten susceptible young people into carrying knives for self-defence, but equally others could be excited by them, prompting them to carry a knife because they thought doing so was “cool”, Coleman said.

Regarding the Met’s use of images of seized knives, she said: “I find it concerning that so many images are used. It’s not just the 2,100 times that they are posted by the police, because they are posted and reposted. So, actually, the exposure becomes amplified by the number of shares.” People more worried or excited by knives were more likely to share, she suggested.

There was a 31% year-on-year fall in knife offences recorded in London in the year to March. But an increase in the severity of attacks in early 2021 led to a rise in the number of killings by a quarter, and police have warned London could be on track for its worst year of young homicides since 2008.

A Met spokesperson said: “The Met is an evidence-driven organisation, and that extends to the way in which we communicate with Londoners. We look forward to the results of this research being published in the coming months, which will help inform our approach moving forward.”

Health

NCDC records 832 Lassa fever, Mpox cases, 135 deaths

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has confirmed the country has recorded 832 confirmed cases of Lassa fever and Mpox.

Speaking during a press briefing on Friday in Abuja, the agency’s Director General, Dr. Jide Idris, revealed that 132 fatalities were recorded from Lassa fever and three from Mpox.

While acknowledging a recent decline in Lassa fever infections during epidemiological week 16 (ending April 20, 2025), he warned that the overall risk remains high, particularly in endemic regions.

“Cumulatively, as of week 16, Nigeria has reported 4,253 suspected cases of Lassa fever, 696 confirmed cases, and 132 deaths, resulting in a case fatality rate of 19.0 percent,” he stated.

Dr. Idris attributed recent improvements to intensified surveillance, treatment efforts, and enhanced community engagement. He emphasized, however, the continued need for vigilance and collaboration to sustain progress.

Regarding Mpox, the NCDC boss disclosed that three deaths have been recorded in 2025—two in Abia and Ebonyi States in week 10, and one recently in Rivers State involving a patient co-infected with HIV and tuberculosis. As of week 16, 723 suspected cases and 136 laboratory-confirmed cases of Mpox have been reported across 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The national case fatality rate currently stands at 2.2 per cent.

“The epidemic curve reveals multiple peaks in Mpox cases, indicating ongoing transmission. While most states have reported suspected cases, confirmed infections are heavily concentrated in Nigeria’s southern and central regions,” Dr. Idris noted.

To address these outbreaks, the NCDC has activated its Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), deployed National Rapid Response Teams to affected states, and prepositioned essential medical supplies, including personal protective equipment and laboratory consumables. Five additional Mpox diagnostic laboratories have also been optimized in Bauchi, Kano, Cross River, Rivers, and Enugu States.

“Healthcare workers are undergoing specialized training in infection prevention, case management, and cerebrospinal meningitis (CSM) care. Community outreach is being reinforced through public awareness campaigns, media engagement, and targeted health communication strategies,” he added.

On cerebrospinal meningitis, Dr. Idris reported a consistent decline in new cases and fatalities over the last three weeks.

He attributed the improvement to effective vaccination, early treatment, and adaptive surveillance strategies tailored to real-time data.

“Although the situation remains serious, strong national and state-level coordination is showing positive results. The response will continue until full containment is achieved and states take full ownership of the CSM Incident Action Plan,” he said.

Dr. Idris also expressed concern about the rising Mpox trend since its reemergence in 2017, with significant spikes recorded between 2022 and 2024, positioning Nigeria among the most affected countries globally. He warned that underreporting and delayed data entry remain challenges that need urgent resolution to ensure accurate and timely outbreak response.

A national mortality review for the recent Mpox deaths is being planned to further assess response effectiveness and identify areas for improvement.

The NCDC reaffirmed its commitment to safeguarding public health through timely surveillance, transparent reporting, and coordinated national response mechanisms aimed at reducing disease burden and preventing future outbreaks.

Health

Only 89 doctors left in Kwara Govt hospitals amid ‘Japa’ crisis – Health Board

The Executive Secretary of the Kwara State Hospital Management Board, Abdulrahman Malik, disclosed that there is an acute shortage of medical doctors in the state-owned hospitals.

Speaking at the state interministerial press briefing for the first quarter of 2025 on Tuesday, April 29, Malik said that due to the ‘Japa’ syndrome, doctors do not want to take up appointments with the state government, even when the government is ready to recruit them.

He lamented that while between 180 and 200 doctors are required in the government service, only 89 of them are available in the service.

He said the number of available doctors only recently became 89 from 86 when three who had left the service returned after the government introduced a new and improved salary for the doctors’ services.

The hospital board’s boss said the government had been trying to attract doctors to the state service with improved salaries and facilities that could encourage them to stay, especially in the rural areas where many of them do not want to go.

He also disclosed that the government has introduced an intern nurses programme for the training of nurses who would replace many nurses who had left the service for abroad.

“The mass exodus of health professionals is severely affecting our capacity to provide adequate care,” the official said.

“Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has approved an upgrade in the salaries of our doctors to match federal pay in a bid to retain the few we have left.

“The revised salary structure has led to the return of three doctors who had previously resigned, bringing the total number on the state’s payroll to 89.

“However, the figure still falls short of the estimated 180 to 200 physicians needed to serve the state’s population effectively.

“Nigeria’s doctor-to-patient ratio is currently estimated at one doctor to over 5,000 patients, far below the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommended one doctor to 600 patients.”

Health

Wike approves recruitment of 34 resident doctors for FCT hospitals

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, has approved the recruitment of 34 resident doctors for a seven-year residency training to enhance health-care delivery in FCT.

Mr Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant to the minister on Public Communications and Social Media, made this known in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday.

Olayinka explained that the 34 doctors would be the first batch of 60 medical doctors approved for residency training in eight specialities in FCT Administration hospitals.

He said that five out of the 34 doctors would work in the psychiatric department, four in internal medicine and one in general surgery.

Others, he said would comprise one in anesthesiology, eight in family medicine, six in ophthalmology and nine in obstetrics and gynaecology.

“This is the first time this is being done outside employees of the Health Management Board, thereby, giving doctors more opportunity and bringing more competent hands into healthcare delivery in the FCT,” he said.

The spokesman added that the remaining 26 doctors would be recruited in due course by the FCTA Civil Service Commission.

He said that the 26 doctors would comprise one for psychiatry department, four for internal medicine, eight for general surgery, five in anesthesiology, and eight paediatrics.