For Nigerians to defeat non communicable
diseases and live long, they must avoid excessive
or continuous intake of smoked fish, roasted corn,
roasted plantain and other enticing, but unhealthy
foods, the Managing Director, Integrated Medical
Centre, Dr. Damilola Familoni has said.

She notes that though these were hard to resist
delicacies for Nigerians, they were ladened with
cancer causing effects and other disease risk
factors which manifests much later in life, stressing
that one of the surest prevention methods against
cancer, diabetes, hypertension and obesity was
adopting a healthy lifestyle which includes healthy
living.
Speaking at the celebration of AVON Health
Management Organisation at Three, and the launch
of its online service in Lagos, she said Nigerians
must be educated on what types of foods to be
avoided or eaten, as education was key to tackling
the rising health indices in the country. “For
instance, anyone with Blood type O has no reason
eating plantain at all,” she adds.
According to her, “disease burden was becoming
prominent in Nigeria, hence it was best to adopt
healthcare provision that would make them spend
less while getting adequate and appropriate
diagnosis, treatment and management of their
various health issues.

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer, AVON HMO,
Mrs. Adesimbo Ukiri said with the launch of the
online service, Nigerians can now buy and enroll to
health plans from the organisation’s website via
their mobile phones, laptops and tablets.
She said: “When we started three years ago, our
belief was that Nigerians from all walks of life
should be able to access good quality healthcare
services when they need it, without financial
constraint leading to unnecessary complications
and fatalities.
She sad with the innovation, the current three to
four per cent of Nigerians using health insurance
will increase.

“All these can’t be addressed by out-
of-pocket health provision as majority
of Nigerians are living below the
poverty line and are unable to afford
healthcare. But with health insurance,
it is easier to maximally take
advantage of healthcare provision.
Organisations, governments and
individuals should adopt this model if
we must reduce incidence of health
issues in the country,” Familoni
added.