Against the backdrop of the news that hit the airwaves today regarding the nurse that died of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Lagos, a pall has been cast on our collective response and approach to the seeming emergency which the virus is threatening to throw up. In truth, I am saddened at the news of the confirmation of death of the Nigerian nurse, as contained in today’s press statement by the honourable minister of health, Professor C. O. Onyebuchi Chukwu; and I wish to reproduce here a paraphrased excerpt from that statement for the purposes of information, and awareness of the clear and present danger posed by the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), as well as measures taken so far by the Honourable Minister. - Nigeria has now recorded seven (7) confirmed cases of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). The first one was the index case - the imported case from Liberia of which the victim is now late. - Yesterday, 5th August, 2014, the first known Nigerian to die of the EVD was recorded and this was one of the nurses that attended to the Liberian. The other five cases are currently being treated at the Isolation ward in Lagos. It is pertinent to note that all the Nigerians diagnosed of the EVD were primary contacts of the index case. - The 24/7 Emergency Operations Centre will be functional by tomorrow and it will be headed by Dr. Faisal Shuaibu as the Incident Manager. He will later today lead a 6-man inter-agency team drawn from National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), the US CDC, the WHO, UNICEF and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to Lagos to complete the setting up of the Centre. They will be joined by the other personnel from the Lagos State Government and the federal hospitals in the Lagos area as well as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. - I have also appointed a Director of Communication and Community Mobilization who will be based in Lagos- Prof. O. Onajole of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital. - We are embarking on recruiting additional health personnel to strengthen the team who are currently managing the situation in Lagos. - We are making arrangements to procure Isolation tents to quicken the pace of providing isolation wards in all the states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory. - We are also setting up a special team to provide counselling and psychosocial support to patients, identified contacts and their families. In my personal capacity, I implore all Lagosians and Nigerians in general to be more health-conscious than ever. Unusual cases of fever, tiredness, headache, nausea, vomiting (may contain blood), diarrhoea (may contain blood) bleeding (mostly from nose and mouth) should be promptly reported to the health authorities. God bless Nigeria.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 17:44:20 +0000
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