Jide Idris, Lagos State Commissioner for Health
As Nigerians continued to mourn Dr.
Stella Adadevoh on Wednesday, another sad news broke on
Wednesday that five fresh suspected cases of Ebola
Virus Disease had been reported in Lagos State.
The state Commsioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, who
announced this shortly after the Federal Government gave an
indication that it might immortalise Adadevoh, said another Liberian was among
the new suspected cases.
Adadevoh, the first confirmed Nigerian to be diagnosed with
the EVD , died on Tuesday evening.
She contracted the disease while treating the
index case, Mr, Patrick Sawyer, at the First Consultants Medical Centre, Lagos
where she served as the Lead Consultant.
Before her death, Adadevoh was one of the three patients
that were left at the Lagos isolation centre as of Monday.
Idris, who addressed journalists in Alausa, Ikeja, said
before the five fresh cases were brought in, the Lagos isolation centre had two
suspected Ebola patients.
He was however quick to explain that the Liberian, who was
one of the five new cases, was allowed to go after getting a clean bill.
He said, “The fresh suspected cases
have increased the number of those in isolation wards from two to six.
“Till date, we have recorded eight suspected cases, five of
which were brought in yesterday(Tuesday). We have 12 confirmed cases on the
whole out of which five have died and five have been discharged.
“We are currently following up on 213 contacts. Sixty two
have completed the 21-day follow-up.”
The commissioner described Adadevoh and other health workers
at the FCMC as heroes.
He said, “Yesterday (Tuesday), we recorded the death of the
Senior Consultant/Endocrinologist of First Consultant,
Dr. Adadevoh.
“She, it was, who took the initiative to intimate the
ministry concerning the index case and subsequently to her credit, the moderate
containment achieved.”
Idris said the state Ministry of Health was continuing with
contact tracing which has now shifted from primary to secondary.
He added, “This is call for vigilance as human transmission
is only achieved by physical contact with a person who is acutely and gravely
ill from Ebola virus through body fluids such as blood, urine, stool, saliva,
breast milk, semen and vomitus.
“Burial ceremonies where mourners, including family members,
have direct contact with the corpse have also played a role in the spread.
Direct contact with dead bodies should be minimised at this period.”
He insisted that the state was still not convinced that, a
controversial trial drug, Nano Silver, could cure the virus.
FG may immortalise Adadevoh
In Abuja, the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi
Chukwu, said the Federal Government was considering a
way of immortalising Adadevoh for her bravery and sense of patriotism.
He briefed State House correspondents on the highlights
of the update on the virus which he presented at the weekly Federal Executive
Council meeting presided over by President Jonathan.
Chukwu said but for the efforts of
Adadevoh, Sawyer would have escaped from the
FCMC and caused a disaster for the country.
He said, “Indeed, she had to physically restrain this
infected person from escaping from the hospital when the latter attempted to do
so having been communicated that he was ebola positive.
“Indeed, if that index case had escaped from the hospital at
that stage, it would have spelt disaster for Nigeria. As many more persons
(many of whom) would have been very difficult to track, could have become
primary contacts.
“There is no doubt that Dr. Adadevoh was not only a
dedicated, committed and competent doctor, she showed rare courage,
sense of duty, service and patriotism to her country.”
Jonathan okays N200m for LASG
The minister also announced that Jonathan had approved the
immediate release of N200m to the Lagos State Government as Federal Government’s
direct support in the efforts aimed at containing the spread of the
EVD.
He also said he had written to a Canadian firm to see
whether it could extend another trial drug, TKM Ebola, to Nigeria.
Chukwu was joined at the press conference by the
Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku; Minister of State, Power, Muhammed
Wakil; Minister of State, Health, Khaliru Alhassan; and the Director-General of
the Bureau of Public Procurement, Emeka Eze.
The minister said any drug received would be made to pass
through the nation’s Health Ethics Committee before it could be administered on
any patient.
He said, “Presently, we have not stopped requesting for
drug, I have requested from a company in Canada and a lot of Nigerians
including the High Commissioner in Nigeria to Canada are making that request to
see whether the other drug being manufactured in Canada called TKM Ebola would
also be extended to Nigeria.
“It is an experimental drug. For whatever drug and if the
patient gives us the consent, I want to stress this point that Nigeria as an
organised country, the drug will have to pass through our Health Ethics
Committee to approve.
“The minister can decide to deploy it but that is not the
way to go, we have to do the correct thing and deal with that committee.
“Even ZMapp has now become Case One Clinical Trial; it has
not been subjected to clinical trial. That they are using it to treat patients
in US and Liberia is part of the clinical trial.
“Even at that, nothing is yet clear even though it is a fact
that two medical doctors are getting better. In Nigeria, the five patients who
were treated and got discharged were never given ZMapp. It tells you something.
Let’s cooperate and work together, we will surely get there.”
He added that Nigeria currently had only two established
cases of the virus made up of a doctor and a nurse who came into
contact with Sawyer.
The minister said all those under surveillance were
secondary contacts who did not have symptoms of the virus yet.
Chukwu said that the incubation period for that category of
people is 42 days from the day the index case was reported.
He said the rumoured cases in Kaduna and Kwara
states had tested negative.
The minister added, “As of today(Wednesday),
Nigeria has had a total number of 12 cases of Ebola which include the index
case and 11 Nigerians who were primary contacts with the one index case.
“Of this 12, the the total number of successful cases who
have been discharged stands at five but the total number of deaths including
the index case stands at five.
“Currently, the total number of established Ebola cases in
Nigeria are two, made up of one doctor and one nurse who had managed the index
case and they are presently on treatment at the isolation centre .
“The latest death occurred Tuesday evening and that is the
death of the most senior doctor, senior consultant/physician/endrocologist at
First Consultants Hospital Lagos, Dr. Adadevoh.”
He explained that the five persons discharged after being
certified to be Ebola-free no longer constituted danger to the public and hence
should not be stigmatised.
Chukwu also said that the Federal Government had received a
letter from the Osun State Government asking that it be allowed to host the
annual Osun Osogbo Festival.
He said the government was still studying the request
technically and would make a pronouncement on it soon.
He also said the Minister of Tourism, Culture and National
Orientation, Chief Edem Duke, had already ordered the indefinite postponement
of the National Festival of Arts earlier scheduled for September in Ebonyi
State.
He added that consultation was also ongoing between the
Ministry of Health and the Nigeria Bar Association on the planned NBA general
conference.
Chukwu said the United States will this week donate 30 body
scanners to the Federal Government as its contribution to fighting the virus.
He also said that the equipment which would be
used to measure body temperature would be deployed in the nation’s borders.
Chukwu disclosed that a foundation belonging to Mr. Atedo
Peterside had offered to assist all private hospitals where cases of the virus
had been established to the tune of N100,000 per bed.
He said since the FCMC where the index case was reported had
40 beds, it would get N4m from the foundation.
He said the support become necessary because the affected
hospitals, even after their decontamination, could not open for business
immediately .
The minister said the Federal Government was also working
out ways of assisting the affected hospitals.
He added that theTony Elumelu Foundation had pledged N50m to
the cause while the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited had
donated an ambulance.
He said the six months timeframe to conquer the virus as
stated by the World Health Organisation was not applicable to Nigeria,
expressing the hope that the country would soon eradicate Ebola.
Chukwu denied insinuations that the Federal Government
sacked resident doctors, saying it was a matter of interpretation.
He said since the doctors had not been working for about two
months, it would be wrong to say that they were sacked.
He likened their case to a situation in aviation that
airlines describe as “no show.”
Chukwu however promised that the situation would soon be
re-appraised so that residency programme could resume.
He said, “They (resident doctors) were not sacked; it is a
matter of interpretation. For example, if someone while still working actively
dies or whether that person resigned or was dismissed or retired or had his
appointment terminated, they all mean different things in the public service.
“But the end point is that the person is no longer working.
I want us to put things in proper perspective. Government did not sack anybody.
It is true that they themselves have not been working for almost two months,
except those in private hospitals.
“Resident doctors in both federal and state hospitals have
not been working for almost two months now and they have not participated in
the control of this EVD; they have not played any role.
“So even if government had not taken any decision, they are
not there, they are not working and I don’t know why suddenly the media starts
taking interest in them. They are not part of this success story.
“What happened is like in the aviation industry where when
you buy a ticket and you fail to show up they say ‘no show’ and they even
penalise you. So there is ‘no show’ of the resident doctors and even government
is still paying them.
“People who are unemployed even some doctors will be asking
government a question, is it because we did not have an appointment letter?
What is the difference, you are paying people who are not working, we too are
not working, why are you not paying us?
“Sometimes we need to think deeply about what we do to
ourselves. Government says why can’t we use this period to appraise properly
the residency programme and come up with something that can help the country?’’
“This clarification follows reports of few new cases in
Lagos State. This should be disregarded please.
“The Minister of Health reiterates that he has the sole
authority to announce confirmed cases of disease epidemics in Nigeria. The
minister reassures Nigerians that any new confirmed case of EVD in Nigeria will
be announced by his office promptly.
“Any doubtful information on the outbreak of EVD should be
verified from the office of the Minister of Health.
“Minister of Health restates that at present, today, now,
Nigeria has only two confirmed cases of EVD.”
He also stated that there was no evidence that discharged
patients could transmit the disease, adding that a Liberian whose name he did
not mention was treated for malaria “having tested negative for EVD.”
UN Ebola coordinator to visit Nigeria, others
Meanwhile, a public health expert coordinating the United
Nations fight against Ebola, David Nabarro, has said he would be
visiting West Africa to determine the strategies that the global body can
deploy to support people, communities and governments affected by
the disease.
Nabarro, at news conference, said he would have
“intensive interactions” with the World Bank, experts from the U S
Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and others before flying to Dakar,
Senegal.
He said he would from there travel to Liberia,
Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria.
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