The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ebola

  • Re: Ebola? Close the borders…Now!!!

    “In an Article published today titled “Ebola? Close the borders…Now!!!” our columnist, Hannatu Musawa  wrote that Patrick Sawyer, a victim of Ebola, may have travelled from Liberia to Nigeria because of a directive from his employers, ArcelorMittal SA. In fact, ArcelorMittal SA had no knowledge of his travel and did not send Mr Sawyer to Nigeria. They had referred Mr Sawyer to the Ministry of Health to be held in quarantine with daily monitoring and had requested him not to return to work until he had safely passed through a 28-day period. We apologise for the error. ”

    Editor

  • Ebola death toll passes 1,200

    Cases in West Africa’s Ebola outbreak this year have risen to 2,240, including 1,229 deaths, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday, reporting the toll in four countries including Nigeria.

    The WHO said it was working with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to ensure food delivery to one million people living in Ebola quarantine zones in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

    “Food has been delivered to hospitalised patients and people under quarantine who are not able to leave their homes to purchase food. Providing regular food supplies is a potent means of limiting unnecessary movement,” the WHO said in a statement.

    The WFP is stepping up emergency food deliveries to the quarantined areas, which include severely-affected cities such as Gueckedou in Guinea, Kenema and Kailahun in Sierra Leone and Foya in Liberia.

    While Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and No. 1 oil producer, appears to be containing its smaller outbreak, Liberia and Sierra Leone are struggling to halt the spread of the deadly Ebola virus among their populations, Reuters says.

     

  • Impunity writ large

    Impunity writ large

    Nigerians ought to be alarmed at the emerging symptoms of political Ebola in Nassarawa State given its implications both for the health of our badly scarred democracy and the future of Africa’s most populous nation. I refer to the alleged plan by Nassarawa lawmakers to re-open impeachment proceedings against Governor Tanko Al-Makura after an earlier attempt was botched. While Nigerians may claim to have seen enough of the disease of impunity in the sundry acts of institutional abuses by an out-of-control federal government; there is something in the latest attempt that speaks to a potentially more ravaging, debilitating malignancy.

    Of course, we know the story. Late last month, 20 PDP members of the 24-member Nassarawa House of Assembly decided that the APC governor’s time was up. In all, they listed 16 offences– the usual stuff (contrived?)– to justify their bid to remove him.  Armed with a resolution, they directed the Chief Judge to constitute an impeachment panel.

    Problem Number One was that the House intended the Chief Judge to function as a mere undertaker – as against the constitutional role impartial constitutional arbiter – to finish the job. Problem number two was that the Chief Judge, Suleiman Dikko couldn’t imagine playing the errand boy for a group of unruly lawbreakers pretending to be lawmakers.

    A looming clash of titans? You bet. And so, the Chief Judge chose a panel of seven, who in his opinion would do the job according to the law. The lawmakers smelt a rat. They ordered the respected Chief Judge to disband his panel alleging that one or two was not qualified. They also made clear their preference for another panel either of their own choosing or one to be approved by them. The Chief Judge wouldn’t be persuaded that anything was wrong with the panel and so refused to bulge. The House fulminated. No matter. The panel went into business.

    To be sure, it was not a question of the law being ambiguous about who had the authority to exercise the discretion. Indeed, it appears to be the one instance where constitutional provisions do not lend to any ambiguity. While it is the lot of the lawmakers to kick off the process, nowhere in the law is the House conferred with absolute discretion on the process. This, unfortunately, the House chose not to understand.

    In the end, the panel returned NOT GUILTY verdict on the man that the House would rather have his head on a platter!

    Under the law, the case was deemed permanently closed: it was clear that the lawmakers had not only blown the chance to oust the governor, they had fully exhausted the provisions of the law in the bid.

    That however has since turned out to be one bitter pill that the House would rather not swallow hence the fresh bid to oust the governor. Indeed, it would appear that the Nassarawa lawmakers see themselves as not just above the law, but far beyond the niceties of checks and balances ingrained into the political process hence their latest gambit to draft a vacation judge to finish up the job left by an unwilling Chief Judge!

    The implication of this must be seen as truly frightening. First is the danger in the desperate resort to self-help by the PDP lawmakers; the idea that the House is prepared to have its way by any means no matter how illegitimate – or treasonable – and that there is nothing that anyone – not even the electors of Nassarawa – can do about it!

    The other is the signal being sent out – that PDP would only accept its preferred outcome – even that means undermining a vital institution of democracy like the judiciary. Why not go to court if the issue is that Justice Dikko actually breached the law in the setting up of the impeachment panel? Would the drafting of the vacation judge to do their bidding automatically set aside the earlier proceedings? Would the trial of the governor by another panel for the same offence not amount to double jeopardy?

    And finally, would it not amount to a usurpation of the power of the chief judge – a clear breach of the constitution? How would that pan out with the constitutional provision which confers finality to proceedings in the event that the panel returns the no guilty as in the present case?

    Nigerians are watching how this plays out. However, with General Elections barely six months away, they must wonder at the game plan; the interests being served by the activities of the bunch of delinquent lawmakers sworn to truncate an orderly process. While it seems clear that the sponsors of mayhem cannot see the danger signals in the precipitous descent into the famed Hobessian jungle, Nigerians have a lot to worry about in what the development portends for their democracy.

    And where do we go from here? From hooded democracy to the rule of might? And where does that lead? Your guess is as good as mine.

  • Ebola crisis: Liberia confirms West Point patients missing

    Ebola crisis: Liberia confirms West Point patients missing

    Following earlier denials, Liberia has admitted that 17 suspected Ebola patients are “missing” after a health centre in the capital was looted.

    The government had sought to reassure people, saying all the patients had been moved to another health facility.

    But Information Minister Lewis Brown told the BBC that 17 inmates had gone “back into their communities”.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for exit screenings on all travellers from affected countries.

    It wants checks at airports, sea ports and major land crossings.

    Several airlines have already stopped flying to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – the countries worst affected by the world’s most deadly outbreak of Ebola, which has no known cure.

    It has killed 1,145 people this year, the World Health Organization says

    Assistant Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah said protesters in the West Point district attacked a quarantine centre on Saturday because they were unhappy that patients were being taken there from other parts of the capital, Monrovia.

    Other reports suggested the protesters had believed Ebola was a hoax and wanted to force the centre to close.

    Mr Nyenswah had said that all the suspected patients had been transferred to an Ebola treatment centre in the John F Kennedy Memorial Medical Center in Monrovia.

    But on Monday, the information minister said 17 of the 37 patients were unaccounted for.

    He said the authorities were now trying to track them down but said he was confident they would return.

    “Most of the people that went into this holding facility came there voluntarily,” he told the BBC.

    “So our impression is that they still want to be [there], but they were forcibly removed by vandals and looters, not because they wanted to leave; so we are sure that they will return.”

    He said the attack on the quarantine centre was Liberia’s “greatest setback” since the Ebola outbreak began.

     

     

     

     

     

  • ‘Fear of Ebola can cause mental stress’

    ‘Fear of Ebola can cause mental stress’

    For Nigerians, the fear of Ebola is the beginning of wisdom. But the growing  fear about the disease has its down side. It can cause mental stress, report OYEYEMI GBENGA-MUSTAPHA and WALE ADEPOJU.

    Since the late Liberian-American Patrick Sawyer imported the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) into the country, Nigerians have been living in fear. Worried stiff about the disease, they are taking various precautions. But, experts warn that their undue worry may trigger a condition called Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD).

    According to the National Information Officer, United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), Lagos Centre Mr Olusoji Soremekun, Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak being experienced in Nigeria could give many people mental illness, if care is not taken, especially GAD.

    GAD is a long-term condition  that causes people to feel anxious about a wide range of situations and issues. People with GAD often struggle to remember the last time they felt relaxed. GAD can cause psychological (mental) and physical symptoms. These vary from person to person, but can include restlessness or worry and having trouble concentrating or sleeping.

    Already, The Nation has observed that bankers and other workers in banking have started putting on gloves when attending to customers. Also at the arrival lounge at both domestic and international airports officials wear gloves. Some are perpetually using hand sanitisers.

    But Soremekun insisted that it is needless for the citizenry to put on gloves and other personal protective equipment (PPE).

    A source, who would not want to be named, said: “This is more of waste of money because it is not as effective as water and soap. More so, there are now fake and substandard hand sanitisers in circulation. Even the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is yet to realise that or swung into action in mopping up these products. Should people end up with fake or substandard hand sanitisers,it is as good as not caring for the hand at all.”

    A mother, Mrs Adamma James, said she is happy schools are on holiday, “if not, pupils and students would have contracted and shared same. I like it as it is. No school should resume until this Ebola is ended,” she stated.

    Soremekun said Nigerians should improve on their personal hygiene, such as the proven simple but effective precautionary practice of hand washing.

    “Hand washing with soap and water is necessary. But hand sanitizer with 60 per cent alcohol is also effective or any alcohol-based sanitizer. Regular bleach can also offer good hand hygiene if hands are washed thoroughly,” he said.

    Poor hand hygiene, he said, may predispose people to the disease because its transmission is through contact.

    He said the World Health Organisation (WHO) did not recommend home care, as people should not treat serious infections, such as Ebola, by themselves. They should go to recommended health facilities, he said.

    Soremekun said people need to cook meat very well before eating it.

    Besides, they should listen to health officials on the necessary steps to take.

    Meanwhile, doctors under the aegis of Medical Guild, Lagos State, have urged the Federal and state governments to equip all hospitals to prevent the spread of Ebola.

    They said this is necessary because patients reserve the right to choose the hospitals where they want to access treatment. Hospitals should, therefore have anti-Ebola equipment.

    The Guild’s chairman, Dr Biyi Kufo, said global practices demand that certain protocols must be put in place in all facilities to protect workers from contracting the disease.

    “We are not sure there is adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) on ground. It is the foot soldiers on the field who feel the presence of battle. We work in these facilities and we are aware of the situation on the ground,” he said.

    Besides, proper approach in combating the disease should not exclude the doctors.

    He appealed to the government to ensure that measures are put in place to protect doctors and other health workers, saying this will reduce obvious anxiety in the sector. Then doctors can treat patients without fear, he added.

    The outbreak, he said, will test the level of preparedness of any country to respond to an emergency, especial its public health.

    He said doctors and other health workers, outside their immediate family members, are the group at the greatest risk of contracting the disease.

    Kufo said there is no cure for EVD but there is supportive care, such as treating diarrhoea and weakness, among other symptoms.

    He said no doctor is aware of what the life insurance coverage is, adding the government needs to be clear about it.

    Former President of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr Osahon Enabulele has condemned the Federal Government’s sacking of 16,000 resident doctors across the country during the period of Ebola outbreak.

    He described the situation as“the most appalling by the use of an extreme, unwarranted and retrogressive measure by the present Federal Government.  This is so, particularly at this time of public health emergency when members of the Nigerian Medical Association across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are visibly in the field contributing their quota towards the containment of the Ebola virus disease outbreak, irrespective of the non-provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and a miserable hazard allowance of N5,000 per month.”

    Meanwhile, there are collaborative efforts to contain Ebola epidemic in the ECOWAS region.

    In Conakry, Guinea, there was a three-day workshop on synchronised cross-border interventions to contain the Ebola hemorrhagic fever epidemic in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

    It was organised under the aegis of the West African Health Organisation (WAHO). This was a follow-up to the WAHO proposed recommendations which were approved at the end of the Summit of the Heads of State and Government in Accra.

    There were 30 participants. It comprised of health officials, civilian administrators, community leaders in border districts, and national disease control officials from affected countries, such as Guinea and Sierra Leone, including implementation partners such as RESAOLAB, Fondation Merieux and the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC).

    The meeting was headed by WAHO Director General, Dr. Xavier Crespin.

    Programme Officer in charge of Disease and Epidemic Control, Dr. Felicité Chokki-Laleye said several challenges have persisted since the outbreak.

    Dr. Crespin said no intervention to contain Ebola epidemic should be left unexplored until the West African region effectively brings it under control.

    “This workshop is yet another opportunity for us all to share experiences, identify bottlenecks in our response efforts and come up with appropriate strategies to better contain the epidemic especially across our common borders” he concluded.

    Guinean Minister of Public Health & Public Hygiene, Dr. Colonel Remy Lamah said the workshop is a testimony of the concern that the Ebola epidemic represents in the region.

    He said: “We are aware that Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone do not individually possess response capacities to contain this epidemic without harmonising their efforts”. The cross-border nature of the epidemic, the risk of propagation within our different countries and beyond requires us to take adequate and harmonised measures.”

  • Rivers College of Health to fight Ebola

    Rivers College of Health to fight Ebola

    As part of the measures to fight Ebola, the Rivers State College of Health Science and Technology has introduced Ebola Virus Disease into its curriculum.

    The Deputy Provost, Academics, Dr Clement Nyenke, broke the news in his office while speaking on preventive measures against the deadly disease.

    Nyenke said the college could not sit on the fence, watching the outbreak, without initiating sensitisation, prevention and control measures.

    He said the school did not need any approval from the ministry but to inform various departments of the college and direct the lecturers on their resumption next month to start teaching Ebola as one of the courses.

    “We are on break now; as soon as we return, all the lecturers will be directed to start teaching. All we are doing now is to include Ebola as part of our curriculum in the college to enable students and the general public create more awareness about the disease.

    ”This is a health institution, all we have to do is to inform the departments in the collage, you know we have three types of skinless that fall into this category, we have  Marburg fever,  lassa fever  and Ebola fever  all these will be  included in the curriculum to be taught to students as we resume by next month.

    “It will be part of the topics to be taught in our communicable deceases course. There are courses which we call communicable decease in this institution.  First, to give the student the firsthand knowledge of Ebola disease, the source, prevention, control and mode of transmission and other ways of the disease.”

    Explaining why the college took the step, Nyenke said the college must take its rightful place to sensitise the students and the public on the deadly disease which has become an important issue for the college.

    He said: “Many people are not aware of the disease, and one of the things we are trying to do is to launch a serious awareness campaign and we cannot do that without sensitizsing and teaching our students about the disease so that they can go out well-equiped about the information relating the disease to educate the public.

    “So it is the primary responsibility of this college to train health workers and these workers we have  trained we also have the primary responsibility of informing the public what we intend  to achieve.”

     

  • Ebola: Airlines count losses

    Ebola: Airlines count losses

    For the third week, air transport in some parts of West and Central Africa has been disrupted; no thanks to the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), which has led to flight bans and restrictions in parts of the sub-region. With the suspension of flights into and out of Nigeria by some carriers, KELVIN OSA-OKUNBOR reports that the losses are enormous.

    These are not the best of times for airlines operating flights into West and Central Africa.

    The carriers are recording low passenger traffic, unimpressive busineses and, in worst cases,  losses.

    Aside airlines, aviation authorities and ground handling firms are also counting their losses.

    Officials of the airlines and other agencies have declined to state how much has been lost.

    They said containing the spread of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease is more important than any commercial considerations.

    The outbreak of the EVD has led to the death of over 1,000 persons in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria.

    Three carriers Arik Air, ASKY Airlines and Gambia Bird have  been affected by the disease.

    The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), in the wake of the spread  of the disease, suspended the operations of ASKY Airline.

    The Togolese carrier flew in the Liberian passenger, Mr Patrick Sawyer, who brought the disease into Nigeria.

    ASKY Airline is an important player in West, East and Central Africa, operating 80 flights into Lagos and Abuja weekly.

    Connecting flights into some countries in the sub-regions has become difficult due to the suspension of its operations.

    The suspension of Arik Air flights into Monrovia, Freetown and Banjul in The Gambia has affected its hub and network, forcing passengers to explore other options to access airports in the countries.

    Amid these, the NCAA has rolled out new guidelines for airlines for the screening of passengers.

    Worried over its suspension, the management of ASKY Airlines protested to the regulatory body, which caused it to review the sanction. The Director-General, ASKY Airlines, Yissehak Zewoldi, faulted the suspension of its operations  by NCAA.

    The airline said the suspension was having serious impact on passenger movement within the West African sub region, urging the authority to reconsider its stand.

    The ASKY boss argued that since the initial outbreak of the Ebola virus in Conakry last February, the airline has taken measures to avoid its spread.

    He said he had written to the  NCAA chief twice on the measures taken and his commitment to working with all authorities, governments and organisations in the fight against the spread of the disease.

    He noted that ASKY is determined to keep its passengers and staff safe during this unsettling time, adding that the carrier is following the situation closely and will issue updates as the situation changes.

    He said: “Considered to be the biggest carrier with a very large network within the West and Central Africa region, the carrier has constantly followed up all developments in collaboration with airport authorities, the World Health Organisation (WHO), Ministries of Health and the civil aviation to implement collective preventive measures against the spread of this deadly disease – Ebola – in suspected areas.”

    He listed steps so far taken to include stoppage of food uplift, stoppage of overnight for crew, re-enforcement of aircraft disinfection, implementation of sanitary items, such as gloves, antiseptic liquids as well strict control of the transportation of perishable goods and food items.

    But the Acting Director-General of NCAA, Benedict Adeyileka, who spoke through the General Manager Public Affairs, Mr  Fan Ndubuoke, said the lifting of the suspension followed the steps by the airline to abide by its rules and regulations to curtail the spread of the deadly virus.

    He said NCAA was collaborating with other airlines to curtail the spread of the virus, assuring that everything possible would be done to ensure safety.

    Last week, the Minister of Aviation, Mr. Osita Chidoka, restated the Federal Government’s commitment to controlling the spread of EVD at airports.

    The minister said this in Lagos at the end of an inspection of projects at the Murtala Muhammed Airport.

    He said part of his visit to the airport was to review the medical procedures, including the screening of  passengers, that had been put in place, and to assure travellers and other airport users that the government would do its best to ensure their safety.

    For three weeks, officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ( FAAN) and Federal Ministry of Health have been screening inbound passengers with infra ray equipment at the arrival halls of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport , Lagos.

    This is to avoid body contact with passengers who arrived the country.

    The screening includes the filling of forms to ascertain their health status and checking of the aircraft with infra red equipment before they embark on immigration protocols.

    Facilities have been provided at the airport for passengers that manifest unusual body temperature and other symptoms of the disease.

    Scores of Port Health personnel, attached to the Lagos International Airport, wearing white gloves, are stationed at varous units at the arrival hall before immigration protocol to carry out body temperature tests on the arriving passengers.

    The  General Manager, Corporate Communication, FAAN, Mr Yakubu Dati, said the screening was part of efforts by the government to curtail the spread of the virus.

    He said isolation facilities had also been put in place to quarantine passenger who tests positive to the deadly virus.

    Dati said the mandatory screening  was imperative for in-bound passngers. He said the relevant agencies  working at the airport, including, Customs, Immigration,  Port Health, Police, FAAN security, have been sensitised to step up efforts to detect any possible spread of the virus into Nigeria.

    Dati said airlines had been sensitised to ensure adequate screening of both in bound and out bound passengers to step up efforts to curtail the spread of the virus.

    His words: “We have given instructions that airlines should carry out their screening and make sure that anybody that has virus should not be allowed to travel. The second stage is that passengers are given forms in the aircraft to fill in their health status; then thirdly is on arrival, we also have Port Health staff that is there to carry out preliminary checks which they do with infrared facilities, which does not involve contact and that is done even before Immigration Counter.

    “For any case that require further checks we have a holding area where the passenger or passengers will be taken to and if it is a case that needs closer attention we have given them a space for quarantine where the passenger will quarantined. So ours is to provide the facility and the area for Ministry of Health to carry out their functions and we are doing that all across.”

    Kenya is shutting  its borders against  travellers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the three countries worst hit by the Ebola outbreak, the government said.

    Kenya Airways announced that it would suspend its flights to Freetown and Monrovia when the government travel bar on passengers comes into effect.

    Kenyan Health Minister James Macharia said the measure was also aimed at travellers who have passed through the affected countries.

    “In the interest of public health the government has decided to temporarily suspend entry into Kenya of passengers travelling from or through the three West African countries affected by Ebola, namely Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia,” he said.

    Kenyan Airways would continue to fly to Nigeria, despite a much smaller Ebola outbreak in its largest city, Lagos, the company said in a statement.

  • Ebola: Filipino seafarers banned from landing in Nigeria, others

    Filipino seafarers will not be  allowed to disembark in Nigeria and other countries in West Africa with confirmed cases of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease. The measure is intended to prevent further spread of the deadly disease that has killed over 1,000 persons, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), has said.

    POEA administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said the agency has issued guidelines for seafarers and ship manning firms to arrest the spread of the virus.

    “There will be no shore leave for seafarers and no crew change in the ports of these countries in the meantime,” he said.

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the Ebola outbreak as a “public health emergency of international concern” after confirmed cases in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria reached 1,776 as of August 6, this year.

    The death toll hit 961, prompting the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to issue the guidelines aimed at protecting seafarers who would dock at those infected countries.

    “The guidelines are issued for our seafarers’ welfare and protection. They could be vulnerable to the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) due to the unavoidable circumstance where they have to interact with shore-based personnel who come on board ships to perform their respective duties,” DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said in the statement.

    DOLE had also previously banned the deployment of new hires after the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) raised crisis alert level 2 (restriction phase) on July 2.

    POEA guidelines also state that crewmen should be given protective equipment.

    Any signs or symptoms of the disease must be immediately reported to the ship’s medical officer.

    “They shall report those who have fever, headache, intense weakness, joint and muscle pains, and sore throat to their principal/employer who, in turn, are required to coordinate with appropriate international marine medical providers to seek their guidance on ways to manage an EVD contamination on board,” Cacdac said.

    Cacdac further urged ship manning agencies to adopt the following guidelines from several international maritime workers’ organisations:

    The Master must ensure that the crewmen are aware of the risks, how the virus can be spread and how to mitigate the risk;

    The ISPS Code requirements on ensuring that unauthorised personnel are not allowed to board the ship and should be strictly enforced throughout the duration of the ship’s stay in port; and after departure, the crew should be aware of the symptoms and report any occurring symptoms immediately to the persons/authorities in charge of medical are onboard.

    Philippines is the largest supplier of seafarers in the world. There were 460,000 Filipino seafarers as at the end of 2013.

    Filipinos are employed as seamen worldwide, more than any other nationality.

    One out of every five seamen in the world is a Filipino.

  • Ebola: Lagos begins public enlightenment

    The Lagos State Ministry of the Environment has moved to sensitise the public on the dangers of Ebola disease.

    According to the Commissioner, Mr. Tunji Bello, “our environment is ours, Ebola is an alien and we must eject it out of our land, through clean and hygienic ways of life”.

    At the “Train the Trainers Programme” organised by the Ministry for Environment Health Officers, known in local parlance as Wole Wole across the 57 Local Government (LGs) / Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs), and Scientific Officers in the State Areas, Bello urged residents to desist from  pollution, such as defecating and urinating in the public, and embrace proper environmental hygiene standards to curb the spread of the disease.

    The theme of the seminar was “Creating an army of advocacy to curb Ebola Virus through effective enlightenment at the grassroots.”

    Bello, who said the state government had embarked on actions to control the spread since the announcement of the outbreak, especially in the state, explained that  the ministry, was concerned that an unhygienic environment and healthy sanitation practices by the public could further aggravate the situation, decided to organise the training.

    ”To complement other efforts of the government, the Ministry of the Environment has packaged educative programmes for Lagos residents starting with the training after which an army of those trained  would embark on mass public enlightenment campaigns to markets, motor parks, and schools in all the 57 LCDAs to create awareness on how to prevent the spread of the dreaded disease,” he said.

    The Commissioner noted that as Lagos is home to all with a population of over 21 million constituted by diverse tribes across the country, the state government needs the support of the health workers who are professionally trained and scientific officers to act as health and end environmental police to assist in maintaining hygienic environmental standard across the state. He therefore charged the citizenry to cooperate fully with the state government and take necessary precautionary measures to contain stop Ebola virus Disease in their communities.

    “EVD is considered an international public health emergency according to world Health Organisation (WHO). Ebola is a very terrifying disease, a killer,” said Bello. According to him, the only way out of this is for the public to embark on preventive measures which is what all environmental health officers and scientific officers will be preaching across the state.

    “This message to Lagosians is that we should embrace strict personal hygiene not only for ourselves, we should extend the message further to the grassroots, other members of the public, our families, our friends and colleagues. If they are safe, we are safe; if they are not, we are not,” Bello charged.

    An epidemiologist and a Director in the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Olubunmi Enigbonkan, said it was impossible to identify an infected person at the early stage as the incubation for the Ebola Heamorrhagic Fever takes about 21days to manifest. He advised Lagosians to ensure basic sanitary hygiene as these could help to prevent the spread of the disease, adding that Ebola uses medium, such as sweat, saliva and blood to spread faster.

    Similarly, Toyin Awosika, director Public Enlightenment Department, state Ministry of Information and Strategy, highlighted the importance of public enlightenments as a tool for sensitising the people on the dangers of the disease, stressing that the environmental health officer/scientific officer must adopt use of simple language in communicating and where necessary to communicate in local language. He urged them to be patient, friendly and see themselves as agents of change.

    Other speakers were Jonathan Godonu Ogun, retired Head, Environmental Health Unit, Office of Environmental Service, Ministry of the Environment and Dr.  Abiodun Denloye, a lecturer at the Department of Zoology, Lagos State University (LASU).

    They recommended the following steps to curb the spread of the disease: imbibing the practice of good handwashing with soap and running water/use of hand sanitiser; ensuring personal hygiene and proper sanitation and cleanliness of sanitary facilities such as hand washing with soap and water after visiting the toilet, not urinating and or defecating in open places, disposing of solid waste, do not discharge water/feaces into public drains, and being careful when using railings, door knobs, and other public facilities.

    Others were regular fumigating and disinfecting the environment; ensuring that contaminated materials, such as blood, sweat, emesis, faeces and body secretions are well handled; avoiding eating of bush meat and desisting from discharging faecal effluent into the drain or the ground.

  • Osun gets Investors for tourist sites

    Local and foreign investors have shown interest in partnering the Osun State government to develop some of its tourist sites.

    The Chairman of its  tourism board, Abimbola Daniyan, announced this yesterday at a media briefing to herald this year’s edition of Osun Osogbo festival.

    He said Olumirin Water Falls in Erin-Ijesa and Ayikunugba Water Falls, Oke-Ila were among the sites the state government is planning to raise to international standard.

    Daniyan, who said the state could not alone fund tourism because it is capital intensive, said that the  Olumirin Water Falls has been declared the most popular tourist site in Nigeria.

    He added that no fewer than 40,000 tourists visit the site yearly.

    His words: “As parts of efforts to harness tourism potentials, our board has been implementing Osun Tourism Master Plan (OTMP) in the last one year. Already, we are negotiating with some private investors to hand over Oluminrin Water Falls, Erin Ijesa and Ayikunugba Falls, Oke Ila, to them for further development.”

    On the events lined up for the festival, Daniyan said the board would organise Osun Talents in-Culture, as parts of efforts to fight poverty and empower the youths.

    He added that Oodua Fashion and Beauty Fair would also be organised, including a film show on Yoruba culture.

    On concern about Ebola Virus Disease, he said proper measures have been taken by government to ensure its prevention during the festival.