NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT CAUSED EBOLA OUTBREAK BY THEIR NEGLIGENCE When we say these crops of leaders are incompetent some empty heads says we are playing politics, now Ebola is in Nigeria as a result of negligence of those in authority. Our leaders could have stopped Ebola from entering Nigeria from the point of entering by placing well equipped medical personnel to check those coming in from the affected regions. But no, they did nothing. Indications have emerged that the Office of the National Security Adviser warned the Office of the Minister of Health of the grave implications of the Ebola virus to national security and the need for steps to be taken 10 days before the infamous visit of the Liberian, Patrick Sawyer, to Lagos. The NSA office in a letter dated July 10, 2014 alerted to the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, to the need to follow a guideline against the Ebola virus, which according to the letter, was at the ‘doorstep of the country.’ It was stated in the letter with ref. no. NSA/A/208/C, signed by a senior officer in the NSA’s office, Brig. Gen. TT Waya (retd.), that the guideline was meant to provide a working plan to guide the health ministry to take proactive steps to combat any possible outbreak of the disease in Nigeria. Waya stated further in the letter that the guideline was to further aid the minister to give necessary warnings and information to the citizenry as regards the Ebola threat. It was also learnt that the ministry, the NSA’s office and the Presidential Communication, Command and Control at the State House were to hold joint briefings on the Ebola issue. However, investigations revealed that the Plan of Action was yet to be followed 10 days before the sick Sawyer visited the country and infected health workers and others with the deadly virus. The guidelines, presented in a summary form under the topic ‘Crisis Management Guidelines for Pandemics- Ebola’, attached as Annex ‘A’ to the letter, included three major areas: General Information, Communication and Looking Ahead. Items listed under General Information include Introduction, History of Ebola, The West African Pandemic, Contingency Planning, Risk Analysis, Being Better Prepared, The Response Plans, Reinforcing the Crisis Response, Management of Information and Creation of Joint Communication Centre. The guidelines also include the national response, communications with stakeholders, the role of the social media and local and international media. The letter alerted the minister of the outbreak of the deadly virus and its high fatality figure in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Everyone has heard about Ebola, journalist has written about it but perhaps the health minister is the only one that did not read what the journalist wrote about having our point of entering under medical screening. The health minister sat back and waited until Ebola virus has entered Nigeria before putting preventive measures in place. To make matters worse, the minister is quoted as saying 48 passengers that came with Sawyer to Nigeria refused the invitation to be under surveillance, which according to him, further put the country at greater risk. According to him, “Some people against our advice have even left Lagos, primary contacts, to go to other cities. So, everyone can be at risk’’ The minister stated. The question is: how could any right thinking person have allowed that to happen? Does it mean our leaders dont think? Does it mean they dont plan? Now they are begging America to help, but they are all richer that the president of America by stealing funds that are meant for national development. Yet they are not planning on behalf of those they claim they are leading. So who wanted Ebola in Nigeria? To stop the spread, I suggest that while we are pushing for cure, part of the temporary measures to arrest the threat should include: The hand scanner should be made available in every health facility as part of their tool kit. The ministry of health should develop a set of rules and procedures for admitting and managing seek sick persons in health facilities across Nigeria. The ministry should set up a brain storming group to come up with those set of rules. The group should include health professionals and individuals who can offer critical thinking. The way people are received and attended to in the hospitals should change. This should be intended to secure care givers. Because health workers are not only at risk, it is risky for them to continue to get infected. The danger of health workers getting infected is enormous, it can trigger the spread of this virus because they are in contact with numerous and divers person on daily bases. And if health workers who are supposed to care for others become overwhelmed, it will be disastrous. Anybody coming to the hospital should be seen as a potential carrier until proven otherwise, not because we should discriminate but because we must take care. We should avoid emotions and deal with every unidentified health case as a possible EVD, so that critical care is taken. All health workers and hospital attendants must wear protective gears. Hospitals should collect data of in and out patients, including phone numbers, alternative numbers and home address. So that in the event that someone is infected, it could be easy to track his or her primary and secondary contacts. Government should also set up a taskforce that will ensure total compliance with the new rules. In addition to all what citizens are been told to do, like washing hands and avoiding contacts with people, citizens should also desist from handling health challenges on their own. People who are sick should be sent to the hospital immediately. And people should desist from handling corps; only trained professionals should handle it in a manner to avoid contact with fluid from dead bodies. And please don’t just bury dead bodies without reaching out to the health authorities first. This is in order to avoid planting the virus around your community. The cause of any death must be established from now on. It should be an offense for people to bury a person without a certification from government. We must be proactive and stop the spread of Ebola Virus. Thanks! Great Imo Jonathan, is a Good Governance Advocate and a Business & Personal Development Consultant
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 17:02:11 +0000
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