Health
Met police tweets may encourage young people to carry knives, research finds
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
Oyo confirms 4 deaths in suspected Lassa fever outbreak
The Oyo State Rapid Response Team, on Thursday, confirmed four deaths linked to a suspected Lassa fever outbreak in the Saki West Local Government Area of the state.
A statement by the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Dotun Oyelade, in Ibadan, the state capital, quoted his counterpart from the Ministry of Health, Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, saying the fatalities consisted three males and one 32-year-old female who was preparing for her marriage.
The report was that an owner of a hospital, alongside three others, died in the town mysteriously.
Following numerous calls reporting deaths in the town, the commissioner tasked the team to Saki to investigate.
“The background information gathered that one of the apprentices at the hospital who had returned from Iwajowa and fell ill about two weeks before the incident was suspected to have introduced the infection.
“She likely transmitted it to her co-workers and the hospital owner.
“Three of the deceased exhibited typical symptoms of Lassa fever, including craniofacial bleeding, while the hospital owner showed fatigue and self-medicated with antimalarials and antibiotics.
“His condition only prompted hospital admission when his self-treatment failed,” the statement read.
It added, “Extensive contact tracing was conducted, with particular focus on high-risk contacts who had been involved in the bathing and burial of the deceased.
“The hospital where all the deceased were associated was closed down for decontamination.
“The hospital that admitted the deceased health facility owner, without being informed of the deaths from an ‘unknown’ illness, was also shut down for decontamination, and the doctor was placed under surveillance.
“Public awareness campaigns were held to educate the community about Lassa fever, its transmission, symptoms, and preventive measures.
“The RRT provided on-the-job training to health workers in the affected areas to reinforce Infection Prevention Control protocols and prevent further spread of the disease.
“Sample collection was also carried out on a person exhibiting symptoms, pending laboratory confirmation. The line listing of contacts is still in progress, focusing on individuals at high risk”.
The government team also conducted an advocacy visit to the palace of the Okere of Saki, who was represented by his second-in-command, and was briefed on the outbreak and the necessary containment measures.
“Local government authorities within Saki West were equally informed and aligned with the efforts to manage the situation”, the statement added.
Investigation, according to the commissioner, also revealed that the outbreak initially involved the council, but had extended to Iwajowa and Kajola local government areas.
He said the State Disease Notification Officer in the respective areas had been instructed to begin preliminary containment efforts while awaiting the full deployment of the State RRT.
The team, comprising the Director of Public Health, the State Epidemiologist, DSNOs, State Laboratory Focal Persons, representatives from the World Health Organisation and Red Cross, as well as the PHC Coordinator of Saki West and the LGA DSNO, embarked on a comprehensive investigation to the scene of the incidence.
Health
NCDC issues public advisory on Lassa Fever, warns of increased spread
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, NCDC has issued a public health advisory on Lassa fever warning of increased case detection and spread of the viral infection.
The Director General of the NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, raised the concerns following increased reporting of the outbreak by its surveillance teams across the country.
At a press briefing in Abuja, Dr Idris said the death toll from Lassa Fever in Nigeria has risen to 174 out of 1,035 confirmed cases across 28 states and 129 LGAs as of October 13, 2024.
”Lassa fever outbreaks are highly virulent and the loss of human lives resulting from disease are not just statistics but represent the death of beloved family members, spouses and parents.
”In 2022, Nigeria reported 1,067 confirmed cases across 27 states and 112 LGAs. In 2023, 28 states and 114 LGAs reported confirmed cases, with 9,155 suspected cases, 1,270 confirmed cases, and 227 deaths.
”While we continue to intensify efforts using an all-of-society approach, the public is hereby advised to note that the virus spreads through direct contact with urine, faeces, saliva, or blood of infected rats. Contact with objects, household items, and surfaces contaminated with the urine, faeces, saliva, or blood of infected rats.
”Consuming food or water contaminated with the urine, faeces, saliva, or blood of infected rats or person-to-person transmission through body fluids of an infected person.
Dr Idris also warned health care professionals to be alert as Lassa fever presents like other common illnesses accompanied by fever, headache, general body weakness, cough, nausea, vomiting,
While noting that early diagnosis and treatment of the disease greatly increase the chances of patient survival, Dr Idris highlighted the economic cost of Lassa Fever to communities and the healthcare system.
”The disease is also associated with significant loss of livelihood in the communities it ravages. Heads of households are unable to work when exposed to Lassa fever and when other household members are infected, the cost of care and treatment of the disease strains existing household income pushing households toward poverty.
”Healthcare workers are also vulnerable and the loss of experienced medical personnel due to infection further strains the country’s limited healthcare workforce.”
Health
Ayedatiwa rolls out free health services for Ondo residents
As parts of efforts towards ensuring residents of Ondo state are in good health at all times, the state government has concluded a three-day free medical outreach across the 18 local government areas of the state.
The medical outreach approved by Governor Aiyedatiwa was implemented the Ondo state Primary Healthcare Development Agency, OSPHCDA under the leadership of the Permanent secretary, Dr Francis Adegoke Akanbiemu and was effectively monitored by primary healthcare coordinators at the council areas.
During the programme which ran simultaneously across the 18 local government areas between Thursday 7th and Saturday 9th of November, 2024 across the eighteen local government areas, beneficiaries including artisans, civil servants, traders, farmers among others were screened for both communicable and non-communicable health conditions.
The beneficiaries were checked for Hepatitis B, Hernia, hypertension, Diabetes and malaria.
Those tested to be having the medical conditions received free drugs and counselling on how to successfully manage the ailments while those that required surgical intervention had been slated for the procedure in tertiary health facilities free of charge.
Some of the primary healthcare coordinators who supervised the exercise were Dr Poghikumo Iduwoni in Ese-odo, Debo Oyewole in Ose, and Dr Olawanle in Irele local government areas.
Speaking with journalists, the coordinators described the turn out of residents for the free medical outreach as impressive.
They said the programme would further lower morbidity rate among the people of Ondo state.
Some of the beneficiaries, Mrs Ebunoluwa Oke, Modupe Ayelomi and Mr Ugochi Benedict who confirmed that they were screened for some ailments and treated at no cost appreciated Governor Aiyedatiwa for giving priority attention to the health of Ondo state people especially at this time when some Nigerians with health challenges could not afford their drugs due to economic hardship.
They expressed their support to the administration of Governor Aiyedatiwa so that they could continue to enjoy free healthcare services.
In a remark, the Permanent Secretary, Ondo state healthcare development agency, OSPHCDA Dr Francis Akanbiemu explained that the free medical outreach was approved by Governor Aiyedatiwa towards ensuring that residents of the state have access to free healthcare services as part of dividends of democracy.
Dr Akanbiemu said the governor had also approved that the programme would now be carried out every three months to make it go round the nooks and crannies of the state.
The permanent secretary restated the commitment of the state government in leading a healthy state through various free healthcare services programmes already being implemented by his administration.
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