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Tag: Kennedy Ishaya

  • Gombe advises residents to avoid monkey pox prone areas

    Gombe advises residents to avoid monkey pox prone areas

    The Gombe State Government has advised residents to avoid places with reported cases of monkey pox.

    The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Kennedy Ishaya, gave the advice in Gombe on Tuesday while briefing journalists on the state’s level of preparedness against the disease.

    “Since monkey pox is a viral infection, I am appealing to the general public to avoid places with the reported case,” Ishaya said.

    He also urged residents in the state to report any constituted signs such as fever, headache and common cold to health facilities and avoid self-medication.

    According to him, since the outbreak of the disease in some parts of the country, the Ministry of Health had set up machinery in place.

    The commissioner said that such contingency was always provided for in the state’s annual budget and N2 million had been released to the state Emergency Response Team.

    He said that one of the measures taken was to designate a place at the state specialist hospital to serve as an isolation ward in case of any outbreak.

    He added that drugs and antiseptics had been procured for treatment of those infected in case of any reported case in the state.

    Ishaya said that the state government had also launched a sensitisation campaign through the media, religious and opinion leaders to educate the people about the disease.

    NAN

  • Gombe approves N8m for anti-snake venom

    Gombe approves N8m for anti-snake venom

    Gombe State Government on  Monday said it had approved N8 million for the procurement  of anti-snake venom for the Snake Bite Treatment Centre, Kaltungo.

    Dr Kennedy Ishaya, Commissioner for Health, Gombe State, disclosed this to newsmen in Gombe.

    He said the state government would inform the public as soon as the venom arrive the centre.

    Kennedy said the centre provided free treatment, antibiotics as and surgical care to patients bitten by snakes.

    He said the Federal Government had  in July provided 100 ampoules to the centre, adding that all the drugs had been exhausted.

    He said patients from parts of the country,  Cameroun and Chad Republic were patronising the centre for snake bite treatment.

    He, however,  said that the new 250-capacity ward for snake bite treatment was furnished with modern equipment, adding that the ward would be inaugurated in November.

    The commissioner appealed to the federal government to supply additional ampoules.

    Dr Abubakar Balla, offiicer in charge of the Centre, that the centre had stopped  admitting patients because there was no drug.

    “We do not have drugs to treat patients at the moment. Currently there are only 10 persons on admission.

    “We can only treat those who can afford to buy drugs outside the hospital,’’ he said.

    Balla commended the state government for approving N8 million to  procure drugs.

    NAN

  • Gombe adopts proactive measures against Cerebro Spinal Meningitis (CSM)

    The Gombe State Government says it has adopted proactive measures against the outbreak of Cerebro Spinal Meningitis (CSM).

    Dr Kennedy Ishaya, the state Commissioner for Health, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe on Friday shortly after meeting with the state committee on Epidemic Rapid Response on health issues.

    Kennedy said the one of the measures introduced by the government was the vaccination of one to six year olds before the commencement of each rainy season. He said government would focus on that particular age group because they are the most vulnerable whenever an outbreak of disease occurred.

    The commissioner noted that with the rainy season fast approaching, there was usually CSM and other communicable disease outbreak.

    “Although we have not recorded any CSM case in Gombe state but we want to take precautions to curtail the problem in case it happens.

    “We have been receiving unconfirmed cases of CSM sporadically but they were treated even before their sample was taken for test.

    “Gombe people travel daily to the North West where cases of CSM were reported.

    “There are the likelihood of importing the case to Gombe hence the need to take preventive measures,” he said.

    “We want to make arrangements of adequate drugs ahead of time, we do not want fire brigade approach,” Kennedy said.

    The commissioner also said the state was considering the possibility of establishing a laboratory in Gombe, instead of taking samples to Lagos.

    He said the meeting focused on four health issues threatening human lives; namely, CSM, measles, Lassa fever and Polio.

    Kennedy advised residents against killing of cats “because they are a natural predator of rats”.

    “Stop killing cats, they are natural predator of rats, and we are all aware that rats cause Lassa fever,” he said.

    He added that the state government has secured about 200 ampoules of Lassa fever drugs in case of outbreak.

     

  • ‘Cats are natural allies in lassa fever fight, protect them’

    ‘Cats are natural allies in lassa fever fight, protect them’

    Gombe State Commissioner of Health, Dr Kennedy Ishaya on Friday cautioned against any act capable of reducing the population of cats in the state.

    Speaking to newsmen shortly after a meeting of the state Rapid Response Team on Epidemics, the commissioner described cats as natural allies in the fight against lassa fever, as such should be protected.

    He said the meeting focused on four health issues which were of threat to human lives, namely CSM, Measles, Lassa fever and Polio.

    According to him, cats are natural predators of rats, the carriers of lassa fever, as such dependable means of reducing the rat population in the state.

    “People should stop killing cats as they are natural predator of rats and we are all aware that rats cause Lassa fever,” he said.

    Ishaya also revealed plans by his ministry to commence vaccination of children below the age of six, to protect them against Cerebral Spinal Meningitis (CSM).

    He said they decided to focus on that particular age group because they were the most vulnerable whenever there was outbreak of communicable diseases.

    “Rainy season is fast approaching and usually CSM is associated with winds.

    “Although we have not recorded any CSM case in Gombe state, we want to take precautions,” he said.

    The commissioner said the state government was exploring the possibility of establishing laboratory in Gombe for screening of suspected cases instead of taking samples to Lagos.

     

  • NCNM grants full accreditation to School of Nursing, Gombe

    Gombe state College of Nursing and Midwifery had been granted full accreditation by the National Council of Nurses and Midwives (NCNM), State Commissioner of Health. Dr Kennedy Ishaya, disclosed this in Gombe on Friday.

    He said that the feat was attained after about 10 years of struggle to meet stipulated requirements.

    “We have never had it like this since the establishment of the school over 10 years now.

    “The first experience, they (NCNM) gave us things that we were expected to meet and they allowed us to admit only 30 in each class.

    “This time around, we met almost all the requirements; we are now permitted to admit 50 in each class and this is a great achievement.

    “With this development, shortage of manpower in the health sector will be a thing of the past,” he said.

    According to him, the institution is now a ‘College of Nursing’ and no longer ‘School of Nursing’ and will start awarding degree equivalent.

    “We are now looking for a university to affiliate to so that the degree will be coming from the university,” he said.

    The commissioner also said that maternal child health records of the state had been diluted following the influx of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

    “Initially, we had a very good record but with the influx of IDPs, our statistics has been diluted.

    “Most of the people coming have never attended antenatal clinics; some never took their children for immunization.

    “We are now fully back on mop-up immunization, advertising on media and asking pregnant women to come and access antenatal and post-natal services free of charge.

    “We have also designed an itinerary and will be going from house-to-house to give the best we can for nursing mothers and their babies” he said.