The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) is about to make a move that will ensure that Nigerian homes are safe again. The Chairman of the agency, Mohammed Mustapha Abdalla, revealed this on Friday 21st August, 2020, during the destruction of seized illicit drugs and substances in Maiduguri. According to him, drug testing will soon be made a compulsory prerequisite for the institutionalisation of marriages. He said that the major reason for putting up this requirement is to curb the use of drugs and other harmful substances among young ladies.

According to the NDLEA chairman, the number of young girls and married women that traffic and abuse drugs are on the increase. He said that this social ill was initially common among young men, but unfortunately, women are taking over the “business” from men. To discourage the further growth of this impending disaster, NDLEA chairman said, “As an extension of the proposed Drug Integrity Test Policy for the public servants, the agency is considering partnering with religious leaders to make testing a prerequisite for marriages in churches and mosques just as the case of HIV/AIDS and genotype tests.”

The good tidings this development will bring may not really be the total eradication of or a drastic reduction in substance trafficking and abuse. Why I said this is because most people don’t marry in churches and mosques. Besides, it is not compulsory that everyone should get married. So it is possible that a greater percentage of these abusers and traffickers may not be reached and discouraged if it becomes a marriage prerequisite. But I know we stand to gain a lot of benefits from it.

The good news I am seeing from this deliberation of NDLEA is that if it is brought into effect, our marriages will be safe again. With this policy in place, domestic violence and murder of spouses and children will reduce drastically. In fact, marriages will be left for the saner people alone.

But like I mentioned earlier, it is possible that people will still bypass this law even when they are getting married. A good instance is in the case of the double wedding system that exists in Nigeria, where you have to do the traditional marriage before going for the church wedding. A lot of couples usually stop at one level of the wedding, especially the traditional ones. Some do traditional weddings and then head to the court for the next one. How then does NDLEA plan to capture instances like this considering that there is no organisation that presides over traditional weddings?

Another problem here is that there is this possibility that people will start abusing substances after they get married. As the NDLEA chairman stated, drug testing will be given the same priority as HIV/AIDS screening before marriage is conducted. If I remember truly, marriage has not been able to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. I have read stories of and met people, whose spouses were infected with HIV when they were married. So, if people can contract HIV after getting married, it is possible that those that did not abuse substances before getting married can do so after their weddings.

As I stated earlier, it is not everybody that gets married. Since it’s only the people getting married that will be compelled to run drug tests, what about those that are unmarried? How will they be captured by this policy? What about the people that married before the policy was enforced? What plan does NDLEA have for them? Another thing is that the agency did not say anything about those going for court weddings. Or does it mean that they are exempted?

Of course, it might be impossible to stop drug and substance abuse and trafficking, but efforts should be made to discourage and bring them down. As a result, NDLEA should consider including more avenues for compulsory drug testing. But making it a compulsory prerequisite for marriages is a welcomed idea.

But then, NDLEA needs to come clear on certain aspects of the policy before enforcing it. For instance, if a person tests positive to the drug screening, what will be his fate?

As coronavirus exposes humanity to its most challenging health crisis in recent time, it inadvertently introduced an economic opportunity in the health sector.

Tech companies have been vying for stakes in medical-tech companies offering a range of health services including telehealth.

Google has become the latest big name to delve into the health sector economy. The web-search company’s cloud division is investing $100 million in Amwell, a company that builds technology for virtual doctors’ visits.

Amwell connects and enables providers, insurers, patients and innovators to deliver greater access to more affordable, higher quality care.

CNBC reported that the deal will require Amwell to move parts of its business from Amazon Web Services, which it currently uses, to Google cloud. Amwell, formerly known as American Well is choosing Google as its “preferred global cloud partner,” and will move some of its video performance capabilities to the platform, according to the statement issued by the company.

Amwell said it will be working with Google on technology to expand its footprints in the health sector through dedicated sales efforts.

The company has filed to go public and is counting on Google’s cloud partnership to provide efficient service to the increasing number of virtual healthcare seekers.

“Google LLC has agreed to purchase $100 million of our Class C common stock in a private placement concurrent with the consummation of this offering, with the price per share to be equal to the purchase price to the public in this offering,” the company said in its IPO statement.

With the pandemic still spreading in the United States, people are choosing telehealth over in-seeking medi-care at hospitals and clinics; companies like Amwell, Livongo and Teladoc are experiencing a revenue boom and need expansion.

Google Cloud’s Aashima Gupta, the director of global healthcare solutions said she’s expecting further growth in telehealth because of “more favorable reimbursement coverage and consumers looking into this as a viable.” She added that the two companies will introduce more machine learning to the service.

“Imagine you’re in a virtual waiting room, and instead of a clipboard there’s a conversational AI helping you,” she said.

CNBC reported Mayo Clinic and Ascension as Google Cloud’s largest customers in the $3.5 trillion medical sector. Some of their customers also use Amwell for their telehealth services.

Amwell said that coronavirus spurred a surge in the months ended June 30. The average monthly visit volumes and average monthly active providers delivering healthcare on its platform increase over 300% and 400%, compared to the first quarter of 2020.

The company said in its IPO statement that it has powered the digital care programs of 55 health plans as of June 30, 2020. And the plans support more than 36,000 employees and collectively represent more than 80 million covered lives, as well as 150 of the nation’s largest health systems, encompassing more than 2,000 hospitals.

Amwell has been partnering with remote monitoring device makers, such as Philips, to deliver targeted programs for chronic disease management and sleep therapy. It also partners with TytoCare to power an affordable home kit for patient-driven medical exams as part of a primary or urgent care visit.

The company said there is a huge market for its services that necessitated the partnership with Google Cloud.

“We estimate the current subscription revenue market opportunity for health plan and health system customers to be approximately $8.7 billion and $3.7 billion, respectively. There are over 290 million lives enrolled in insurance plans that we have identified as potential subscribers to our platform. We have also identified 802 health systems who would potentially benefit from Amwell platform,” the company said.

Amwell supported the Apple Heart Study conducted by Stanford University. The study produced the Apple Watch heart rate data which is being shared by more than 400,000 consumers for the detection of atrial fibrillation which AMG will follow in case of emergency to refer patients to needed care.

The company estimates the AMG urgent care and telepsychiatry visit revenue market opportunity to be approximately $18.2 billion and $3.9 billion, respectively.

The Lagos State Government has doled out N100 million grants to tech startups and science research initiatives. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had earlier announced N250 million for tech and innovative ideas in the State.

The Governor had outlined six pillars of development for the state that include developing innovative tech ideas and fostering scientific research. It is part of the government’s Smart City plan that is designed to transform Lagos into a 21st digital economy.

Under the care of Lagos State Science Research and Innovation Council (LASRIC), the grant is given to universities in the state with verifiable research pitches and innovators with cutting-edge tech ideas.

The first set of the beneficiaries are expected to proffer solutions to many of the challenges facing the State, including insecurity, environmental hygiene, agricultural technology and COVID-19 containment.

Sanwo-Olu said the initiative aligns with his vision of transforming the State into a Smart City, and urged the recipients of the grants to live up to expectation.

“In December 2019, seven months into the tenure of this administration, we inaugurated the Lagos State Science Research and Innovation Council, (LASRIC), with a seed fund of 250 million naira, in demonstration of our commitment to developing Lagos into a 21st century digital economy and Smart City.

“You are all aware the T.H.E.M.E.S agenda of our administration, which sets out the vision for the work that this administration has been elected to do on behalf of the people of Lagos State.

“The first ‘E’ and the ‘M’ represent ‘Education and Technology,’ and ‘Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy,’ the twin elements that underpin the network of the Lags State Research and Innovation Council.”

The Governor explained that science and technology remain key to his administration’s aim to make Lagos a Smart City and to develop the State in line with modern practices.

Candidates whose applications were unsuccessful were encouraged by the Governor to enroll again, as he promised to increase the fund with time to accept more innovators.

At the conception of the initiative, the state government had promised a transparent process of selecting the beneficiaries. Olatunbosun Alake, Special Adviser to the Governor on Innovation and Technology said only 23 applicants were selected out of hundreds. He explained that the process was transparent even though it’s highly competitive.

Among those selected were PricePally, a food aggregation platform, Doci-HealthCare, GiVo, a circular economy company that offers recycling solutions on IOT devices.

Vanguard listed the names of the research initiatives that include Bioprospecting for anti-COVID-19 remedies from indigenous medicinal plants, led by Abimbola Sowemimo at The African Center of Excellence for Drug Research, Development of Hydrogen Peroxide Biosensors for Detecting Post-harvest Deterioration and Preparation of Chitosan-Derived materials for Cassava Shelf-life Elongation, led by Wesley Okiel at the University of Lagos, and The Production of Fortified Municipal Solid Waste Derived Compost (MSW-C) for amending Soil to improve Nutrient Release and Plant Growth, led by Akeem Abayomi at UniLag, among others.

LASRIC Chairman, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, said the initiative is an evidence of the governor’s commitment to the State’s development through innovative ideas. He added that the event is also an evidence of the innovativeness of Lagosians.

However, as applause greeted the successful applicants upon receiving their checks, others worry if the initiative will be sustained. There has been a lot of concern about Lagos State policies on tech and innovative businesses recently that many believe that the future of innovative ideas is not assured in the State.

The ban on motorbike ridesharing business in the State and the recent taxation imposed on e-hailing taxis are regarded as anti-innovation policies capable of discouraging inventors from establishing their ideas in Lagos.

There is concern that, although the ideas have been funded through the state government’s grants, future policies may hinder the growth.