The Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola, has urged traditional rulers and religious leaders to help in the on-going campaign to increase personal hygiene among the members of their congregation.
Mr Fashola also held a closed door meeting on Tuesday with members of the diplomatic community based in Lagos, Chairmen of all Local Government Councils, Development Areas and Health officers, the Local Government helmsmen, urging them to provide adequate protective kits to all the medical staff at the Primary Health Care Centres and hospitals across the State.
In an interactive session with the religious and traditional leaders at the Banquet Hall of the Lagos House at Ikeja, Governor Fashola emphasised that contacting the virus does not mean certain death. He stressed that the chances of the patient’s survival depends greatly on steps that would be taken after the discovery of the virus in the victim.
“It does not mean automatic death sentence, but whether the patient survives or not depends on what we do,” the Governor said.
He expressed regrets that the opportunities of preventing the virus from entering the country were not explored before it entered the city of Lagos, pointing out that the country would have taken precautionary measures like air travel monitor to ensure that all those coming into the country, especially from the already infected countries, were properly screened at the airports.
The Governor also pointed out that the Liberian man, Mr Patrick Sawyer, who brought the disease into Nigeria, should have been isolated at the Airport instead of bringing him into the city.
Battle Against Ebola Virus
The Special Adviser, to the Governor on Public Health, Dr. Yewande Adesina, advised citizens living in Lagos that any person suspected of having the virus should not be moved around but left in the place, while the State Emergency Operation Centre, should be contacted to send an ambulance to carry out the test.
“If the patient is confirmed through the test, such a person would then be taken,” Dr Adesina said.
According to her, the most critical symptoms of the disease are high and sustained body temperature of up to 38 degrees Celsius and severe Malaria while other symptoms could be severe headache and sore throat. “Vomiting could also manifest but it could be Typhoid or Malaria,” she further explained.
The Governor, who urged the workers not to entertain any fear about their safety, assured them that they would always have full protection with the Personal Protective Equipments (PPE), provided in the hospital, stressing that they would always stay outside of the isolation centre.
He also expressed delight that some doctors and health workers were showing up to help in the battle against the Ebola Virus, maintaining that Nigerian medical personnel would be the first line of defence.
The Governor also advised the Local Government and Local Council Development Chairmen to clamp down on the indecent acts of public defecation and urination which he said was not only unhygienic but could aid the spread of Ebola.
