As the federal government of Nigeria put concerted efforts in place to contain the spread and treatment of Ebola virus disease in the country, the management of Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital said it is working with its German partners to find a possible solution towards addressing the scourge.
BusinessDay reports that Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital is reputed for the treatment of Lassa fever and the only one in the West Africa sub-Saharan. Lassa fever like Ebola virus is said to be a zoonotic disease transmitted by rabbit. It is estimated to have caused the death of over 100,000 persons since it was first discovered in Lassa town in 1969 in the present Borno state, North East of Nigeria.
Dan Asogun, consultant public health physician, Irrua hospital made the disclosure during the inauguration of Edo State Rapid Response Committee on Ebola outbreak by the state government in Benin City.
According to Asogun, “As I am talking, our partners from Germany are already in our laboratory right now. They are putting in place things so that by the end of this week they should be able to test samples and confirm Ebola virus treatment at Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital.
“On the part of the management of Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital we have deployed two nurses already to Lagos to join other team of medical and healthcare personnel in the treatment and prevention of the spread of the virus in the state. Ebola virus is a different ball game despite the fact that we have been managing Lassa fever we are sufficiently positioned to withstand Ebola virus disease.
He commended the Edo state government for steps taken to collaborate with the hospital, other health facilities and agencies in the state such as University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations International Children Education Fund (UNICEF), and Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) among others to promptly contain the outbreak of the disease.
Asogun however urged the state government to put necessary machineries in place towards upgrading the hospital Lassa fever isolation wards assuring that some laboratories are sufficiently ready to be used for the treatment of any disease without the exception of Ebola virus disease.
Omoti Afekhide, chairman, NMA Edo state said the body has inaugurated 16 committees and over 30 doctors have so far registered as volunteers to participate in the prevention and treatment of any suspected cases of the disease in the state.
Afekhide added that more volunteers would be registered especially now that the state government has inaugurated a committee as well as promised to provide the necessary protective medical facilities and incentives.
He stated that members of the NMA would fully participate in the prevention and treatment of EVD patients in spite of the nationwide ongoing strike embarked on by the body.
Afekhide however called for the immediate establishment of isolation centres across the state and the provision of life insurance scheme for medical and health personnel that would be involved in the treatment of the deadly disease virus in the event of any possible outbreak.
naugurating the committee, the state commissioner for health, Aihanuwa Eregie, who commended various bodies and organizations on their personal efforts in containing EVDs, dismissed insinuations in some quarters that the state government was not proactive enough to putting in place preventive measures to contain the virus in the state.
