The Federal Government said on Tuesday that Lassa fever has claimed 63
lives out of 212 suspected reported from 62 local government areas in
affected states.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole,
confirmed this at the emergency National Council of Health meeting in
Abuja on the outbreak of the disease.
Adewole listed the 17
affected states as Bauchi, Niger, Taraba, Kano, Rivers, Oyo, Ondo, Edo,
Plateau, Gombe, Nasarawa, Lagos, Delta, Ekiti, Ebonyi, Zamfara and Kogi
as well as the FCT. He said there is high level of denial and conspiracy
across some states, adding that health managers
should not deceive
executives by the pretence and silence.
The minister described
the denial of Ebonyi to report five suspected cases and one death as
conspiracy of denial. He said every state should consider itself at risk
and put measures to contain and prevent the disease.
Adewole
said the federal government would maintain high level of alert all year
round to celebrate Lassa fever obituary next year. “With the resources
available we will collectively eliminate the disease in Nigeria soon.
“We have special facilities around us and we have adequate human
resource to address the challenge.
“We will strengthen the
Primary Health Care Centres across the country to enhance the
surveillance mechanism,’’ he said. The minister said 5,000 Primary
Health Care centres would be activated before the end of 2016.
“A
committee had already been set up to map out health care centres across
the country would benefit from the programme. “At least one primary
health care centre will be functional in a ward,’’ said Adewole. In a
related development, the minister announced that six most affected
states will have Lassa fever diagnostic centres. He said the states are
Niger, Nasarawa, Taraba, Plateau, Bauchi and Ondo states; this is in
addition to the six existing Lassa fever treatment centres.
According
to him, the centres are Lassa fever Treatment Centre, Irrua, Edo;
University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri, Borno; Aminu Kano
Teaching Hospital, Kano. Others are Lagos University Teaching Hospital
(LUTH), University College Hospital Ibadan, and the National Centre for
Disease Control, Asokoro, Abuja.
Source: The Nation
0 Comments