MAAUN Public Health Students Host Seminar to Combat Drug Abuse and Preventable Diseases
Junior students in the Department of Public Health at the Maryam Abacha American University of Nigeria (MAAUN) hosted a major enlightenment seminar on Monday, September 29, 2025, aimed at promoting critical health awareness among young people and the wider community.
The student-led seminar, themed “Drug Abuse, Understanding Cancer, Genotype Matters, Measles and Rubella,” featured expert lectures, presentations, and dramatic performances, emphasizing the role of education in tackling Nigeria’s most pressing social and medical challenges.
Curbing Scourge and Protecting Children
Speaking at the event, Professor Ahmed Maigari Ibrahim, Acting President of MAAUN, commended the students for addressing such timely themes, particularly given the rising incidence of drug abuse in the region.
“Research has revealed that Kano tops the chart in cases of drug addiction in the country. You have a duty to help curtail this scourge and sensitize the youth about the dangers,” he said, pledging the university’s full support for their advocacy efforts.
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A major focus of the seminar was the threat of preventable childhood illnesses. Keynote speaker Dr. Hadiza Magaji Mahmoud, a public health specialist from the Department of Community Medicine, warned that measles and rubella remain major causes of child mortality in Nigeria. Dr. Mahmoud stressed the need for vaccination, citing that measles alone claims approximately 10,000 Nigerian children annually.
A student presentation dramatized the dangers of rubella during pregnancy, which can lead to congenital disabilities such as blindness and deafness, reinforcing the urgency of vaccination campaigns.
Transforming Knowledge into Practice
The seminar, which was entirely coordinated by the students as part of their coursework, was praised by faculty for instilling practical health communication and advocacy skills.
Their lecturer, Dr. Musa Sufi, noted that the program’s vision is to “empower students to transform knowledge into practice and address real health issues in society.” Dr. Habib Awais Abubakar, MAAUN’s Vice President (Administration), also described public health as “all about awareness, advocacy, stakeholder engagement, and prevention.”
Other presentations covered the dangers of drug abuse and its link to social instability, the importance of genotype testing for preventing sickle cell disease, and the need for early detection and lifestyle changes to combat the rising prevalence of cancer. The event concluded with a spoken word performance, with the student performer declaring, “We are not just public health students, we are the future of public health.”
By PRNigeria
