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There was gloom at the secretariat of
the Nigerian Medical Association,Lagos State chapter when the
association’s Chairman, Dr. Tope Ojo, disclosed that the matron of the
hospital where the Liberian-born American, Patrick Sawyer, was admitted
for treatment was showing symptoms of Ebola virus.
The matron is one of the health workers
at the Obalende, Lagos hospital who attended to Sawyer before he died of
the disease (Ebola) on July 25..
A female medical doctor, who also
participated in managing the Liberian- American was confirmed on Monday
by the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, to have contracted
the deadly virus.
Apart from the female medical doctor and
the matron, six other people suspected to have been infected with the
virus are being quarantined at the IDH, Yaba.
Ojo, who added that 30 striking doctors
had volunteered to attend to the medical needs of all those with
Ebola-related case, stated that the female medical doctor was stable.
He said, “We know that the infected
doctor is stable, however, the matron is showing symptoms too. But
everybody, including the experts from the World Health Organisation, are
doing all they can.
“Strike or no strike, we must respond to
emergencies. Our doctors are at the Yaba hospital where isolated
contacts are being monitored.”
Ojo however said the NMA was having a
challenge getting volunteers to be part of the Ebola Case Management
Committee because of the fear of contracting the virus.
The NMA chairman said, “There are seven
committees working on the management of the disease at the centre in
Lagos which our members are part of.
“ But the committee which we are having a
challenge getting volunteers is that of case management. This
committee comprises people that work directly with confirmed cases.
“Our doctors are worried about the danger it(Ebola virus) poses to their lives and they need to be reassured.
“We understand their fears and we are making moves to confirm the level of preparedness of the government for doctors.”
He stressed the need for the
government to put adequate measures in place to assure health workers of
their safety in stemming the virus.
“ Look at the protective measures that
doctors in Liberia and Guinea wear. They are well protected, yet some of
them still caught it,” Ojo said.
A doctor in one of the committees, Dr.
Babajide Saheed, said they were working closely with WHO and other
stakeholders to contain the spread of the virus.
Saheed said,” Not all doctors can attend
to an Ebola patient. In fact, you must limit the number of health
workers treating affected persons just to contain the risk.
“We will be escalating the situation if doctors rush to the Mainland hospital to attend to patients.”
A top official of the IDH said the
Lagos State Government should designate one of its hospitals to
accommodate more persons that might be isolated for monitoring.
“The mainland hospital may not be enough
if we are to isolate more persons who had contact with Sawyer and those
who have had direct contact with those people too,” he added.
He said that “ instead of using a ward
in an hospital, it is better to just designate a whole hospital and
evacuate patients from it.”
The Bloomberg Businessweek
reported on Tuesday that Nigeria was considering applying for a dose
of the experimental Ebola therapy to treat the Lagos female doctor.
“We will exploit the possibility of
getting some (ZMapp Experimental Drug),” the Lagos State Health
Commissioner, Jide Idris, said.
The San Diego, United States-based Mapp
Biopharmaceutical Inc.’s experimental ZMapp drug had only been tested on
infected animals before it was given to Kent Brantly and Nancy
Writebol, the two U S health workers who were infected with the virus in
Liberia.
Airline’s manifest with FG, says LASG
Also on Tuesday, the Lagos State
Government said Asky Airline had made the full manifest of passengers on
its flight KP50 available to the Federal Government.
The flight had brought the 40-year-old Sawyer into Lagos via the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The state government had last week said
it could not give the precise number of passengers in the flight since
the airline had not made the manifest available.
However, the Health Commissioner , Dr. Idris, said on Tuesday that the Federal Government had the list.
The commissioner, while updating
journalists on development on the virus in the state, said, ”The airline
has made the comprehensive list of the people on the flight available
to the Federal Government through the Federal Airports Authority of
Nigeria.”
Idris added that the government was
still compiling a list of all the primary and secondary contacts of
the Lagos female doctor who contracted the Ebola virus from Sawyer.
The Commissioner, who also dispelled the
rumour that the doctor had died, said the development was part of
measures to curb the spread of the disease.
According to him, contact tracing is one of the measures needed to curb the spread of the virus.
He urged the public to be vigilant, especially with regards to relating with ill people.
Idris said, “Contact tracing is
essential and very important to stop the spread of Ebola virus. In the
case of the doctor, who was infected, we have contacted her family and
have opened a comprehensive list of people that had contact with her.
“There is no panic as long as basic
precautionary measures such as handwashing, adoption of appropriate
waste management and enhanced personal/environmental hygiene are adhered
to. This is a call for everyone to be vigilant, especially with regard
to relating with people who are ill.”
The commissioner said it would be more difficult to control the spread of the virus if health workers were not around to help.
He said, “I appeal to the striking
doctors to return to work and to other health workers to sheath their
swords and embrace team work. We also count on the cooperation of the
people of Lagos State.”
A senior official in his ministry, who
pleaded anonymity because he was not competent to speak on the issue,
confirmed that the manifest was in the custody of the ministry.
The source however said he could not
confirm whether the Lagos state government had approached
the ministry
for a copy of the document.
“Only the minister, the coordinator of
the Centre on Ebola and the Lagos state commissioner for health are
competent to speak on the issue,”he said.
Flight manifest can’t be made public- FAAN
However, the Nigerian Civil Aviation
Authority has said that it cannot reveal to the public, the names of
passengers onboard the flight that brought in the late Sawyer into
Nigeria.
Reacting to request in some quarters
that the names of those onboard the flight be made public, the General
Manager, Public Affairs, NCAA, Mr. Fan Ndubuoke, told one of our
correspondents in Abuja that it was the duty of the agency to protect
the passengers.
He said, “If we mention your name as one
of the passengers on that flight, tell me, how will people see you?
This is not a plane crash that will require us to say that the
deseased’s relatives need to know those on the flight.
“These people are not dead; they are
alive and we have a duty to protect them while they are receiving
treatment. You can’t release such a manifest to the public because this
will cause stigmatisation. We have had reason to state that it is not
possible.”
On what is currently happening to those
onboard the flight, Ndubuoke said the FederaL Ministry of Health was
in contact with them.
He said, “The Minister of Health has
stated that there were 50 passengers onboard that flight apart from
Sawyer. He made it clear that the ministry was getting in touch with
all of them. The Health ministry had explained that it was in touch with
all of them and was monitoring and investigating them. Even the driver
that took Sawyer is being monitored.”
World Bank pledges N32bn to fight Ebola
Meanwhile, the World Bank Group on Tuesday pledged $200m (N32bn) to contain the spread of Ebola in West Africa.
The amount would also help communities
affected by the epidemic cope with the economic impact of the crisis,
and improve public health systems throughout West Africa.
The bank, in a statement it made
available to journalists on Tuesday, did not list Nigeria as one of the
beneficiaries of the fund.
Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are the three countries that would use the money to check the spread of the virus.
Ebola death toll in West Africa, according to WHO, is now 887.
The statement quoted the World Bank
President, Dr. Jim Kim, as saying the new financing commitment was in
response to a call from WHO and the three African countries hardest-hit
by the virus for immediate assistance.
Kim, who is also a medical doctor
experienced in the treatment of infectious diseases, added that the bank
would step up social safety net assistance for affected countries and
families of those infected .
The bank will also help to build up
public health systems in West Africa to strengthen the region’s disease
control capacity more generally.
Kim said, “I am very worried that many more lives are at risk unless we can stop this Ebola epidemic in its tracks.
“I have been monitoring its deadly
impact around the clock and am deeply saddened at how it has ravaged
health workers, families and communities, disrupted normal life, and has
led to a breakdown of already weak health systems in the three
countries.
“The international community needs to
act fast to contain and stop this Ebola outbreak. I believe this new
World Bank emergency funding will provide critically needed support for
the response to stop the further transmission of Ebola within Guinea,
Liberia, and Sierra Leone, which would prevent new infections in
neighboring at-risk countries.”
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