In a bid to further create awareness on the need to practice healthy lifestyle particularly among the productive segment of the society, 9 Payment Service Bank (9PSB), Nigeria’s digital payment service bank, focused on financial inclusion, has advocated for a healthy lifestyle among staff members.

This was made known during a webinar session titled My Health, My Right, facilitated by a health expert, Dr Stephen from AXA Mansard Wellness Team. This was to commemorate this year’s Global Public Health Week, themed: Fostering Peace as a Prerequisite for Equitable Health.

The health week, marked with a series of activities, was designed to enlighten, and raise staff consciousness about healthy living and the factors that determine positive wellbeing.

This is expected to ensure quality of life to achieve high productivity through regular exercises, medical checks, eating healthy, attaining quality rest and the avoidance of toxins to attain improved life expectancy.

Commenting on this year’s theme, Branka Mracajac, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of 9 Payment Service Bank (9PSB), noted that, “Good health is an important aspect of life that is non-negotiable.

Achieving a worthwhile life-work balance is of utmost importance and cannot be handled lightly. The wellbeing of every individual is determined by the kind of choices made daily and intentional efforts accelerated with a mission, actions, and decisions for desired outcome”.

Branka further added, ‘’There is always a price paid for every good outcome. Self-discipline should be inculcated into our daily lives and right steps taken to avoid poor lifestyle that impact negatively on our health.

As the saying goes ‘’health is wealth”. Therefore, we have no reason not to take our health seriously. “As an organisation, we have made provisions for Health Insurance for all staff as required by law and in partnership with our designated Health Management Organisation to ensure access to healthcare for all staff members. We will continue to thrive and take adequate care of our human capital as they are key to the success of our organization”.

The health week activities came to a climax with a well-organized 42-minute walk by all staff members from the Head Office at Adeola Odeku through Saka Tinubu in Victoria Island, Lagos.

The activities were organised to instill in staff the need to indulge in frequent exercises as it improves mental alertness, cardiovascular functions, weight control, reduce risk of chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

Global Public Health Week (GPHW) is an annual event, organised by the World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) to mark a pivotal moment for the global public health community.

It aims to bring together institutions, communities, and public health actors from around the world to recognise the contributions of public health and its workforce and to engender discussions on the best practices and gaps fundamental to disease prevention and the promotion of health and wellbeing around the world.

This week, the incredible talents of Nigerian singer, songwriter, and actress Simisola Bolatito Kosoko, better known by her stage name, Simi, will be highlighted on African Voices Changemakers, an interview program sponsored by Globacom on Cable News Network (CNN).

Simi began her career initially as a gospel singer. Her debut studio album, “Ogaju”, was released in 2008. After she got a record deal with X3M Music in 2014, she released the album “Tiff,” which was nominated for a 2015 Headies Best Alternative Song award.

Her debut studio album, “Omo Charlie Champagne”, Vol. 1, was released to mark her 31st birthday on April 19, 2019, and her second album, “Simisola”, was also released the same year. She became the CEO of her own label, Studio Brat, which she launched in June 2019.

Simi was one of the judges of the Season 7 of the Nigerian idol TV show in 2022.

Mother of a girl named Dejare, Simi married popular musician, Adekunle Gold in 2019 having graduated from Covenant University in Ota, Ogun State. Some of her works include “Joromi”, “Know You”, “Jericho”, and “Duduke”.

On Saturday at 8.30 a.m., the 30-minute magazine show will air on the global channel. Reruns can be seen on Saturday at noon, Sunday at 4.30 a.m., and Sunday at 7:00 p.m. Another rerun will air at 4 a.m. on Monday of the following week, 8.30 a.m. and 12 p.m. on Saturday, and 7 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. on Sunday.

A series of pioneering projects by d.light, the global provider of transformational household products and affordable finance for low-income households, to distribute 600,000 energy-efficient clean cookstoves in Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda have been officially certified by global verification body Verra.

This certification confirms the d.light projects as trusted, verified sources of high-quality carbon credits in the voluntary carbon markets (VCMs).

The d.light projects aim to simultaneously reduce carbon emissions, tackle indoor air pollution, and reduce deforestation through the sale of highly efficient biomass cookstoves subsidized by the revenues from the sale of carbon credits.

Since their launch in late 2022, the projects have positively impacted more than one million lives and are projected to transform more than three million lives by 2025.

Commenting on the news, Karl Skare, d.light’s Chief Product and Strategy Officer, emphasized the projects’ positive impact, “With these projects, we’re not just addressing environmental concerns but also enhancing quality of life for millions.

“Each project underscores d.light’s commitment to practical, innovative solutions that address both environmental and social challenges, as part of our mission to transform the lives of one billion people by 2030.”

Each year, domestic cooking emissions contribute more than two percent of total global GHG emissions and up to 25 percent of anthropogenic black carbon emissions.

Highly energy-efficient cookstoves solve this problem by reducing biomass use by up to 70 percent compared to traditional cooking methods, cutting emissions of both carbon dioxide and black carbon.

The d.light projects are expected to reduce emissions by up to 12 million tons, contributing to climate change mitigation. These emissions reductions will be registered as carbon credits in the voluntary carbon market.

As well as reducing emissions, clean cookstoves are also a benefit to public health. According to the World Health Organisation, exposure to smoke from cooking fires causes an estimated 3.2 million premature deaths worldwide each year and is still one of the predominant causes of pollution-related illness and death in Africa.

In Uganda, for example, less than one percent of the population has access to clean cooking, household air pollution is the one of the largest risk factors for death and disability.

In addition, switching from traditional three-stone open fires to cleaner, energy-efficient cookstoves significantly reduces deforestation and reduces threats to wildlife and biodiversity caused by habitat loss.

Skare explained, “By subsidizing energy-efficient cookstove costs through carbon financing, d.light makes clean cooking accessible to more households, which in turn leads to healthier living conditions and conserves natural resources as well.

“Our projects in Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda are models of how sustainable investments can yield multiple co-benefits, aligning with global efforts to combat climate change and also promoting socio-economic development.

Skare added, “d.light now has projects certified by both Gold Standard and Verra, the world’s two leading certifiers of carbon credits. Organizations looking for ways to offset their own emissions can be confident that when they purchase carbon credits in d.light’s clean cooking projects in sub-Saharan Africa, they are investing in transformative initiatives that reduce harmful emissions, improve people’s health and quality of life, and help conserve the environment as well.”