×

Ebola: Health Minister Says Disease Will Soon Be Stamped Out In Nigeria

The Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, has said that he is confident that the Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria will be taken care of. Professor … Continue reading Ebola: Health Minister Says Disease Will Soon Be Stamped Out In Nigeria


Ebola

EbolaThe Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, has said that he is confident that the Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria will be taken care of.

Professor Chukwu, who led a delegation from the Ministry of Health to Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, on Friday to ascertain the level of work done by the Ebola response team in the state, said that doctors were assisting Ebola virus patients by replacing their lost fluid to get well .

“The electrolyte you have lost is replaced. We need to ensure that if you need blood, we give you blood transfusion. Ebola virus can be managed, it is not a death sentence,” Professor Chukwu said.’

Chukwu added, however, that the virus does not have a specific drug yet and that many diseases were like that.

“We have not been able to get a reliable vaccine. So, all the vaccines are going through clinical trials.

“Hopefully, we will get one soon. But, for now, we don’t have,  but we do manage,”  he said.

Received by members of the Ebola response team in the state led by the Commissioner of Health, Samson Parker, the Minister’s first assignment was to visit the treatment centre at Oduha, Emohua Local Government Area, before proceeding to the National Disease Control Centre in the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital in Choba to take a look at the mobile testing laboratory centre where blood samples could be tested for the virus.

He said what he saw was of world class standard.

The Minister confirmed that it was just one case of Ebola virus patient that was in the treatment centre in Rivers State, who is the sister of the late doctor.

He further stated that 18 cases of the disease were registered in the country so far, eight of which have been discharged

“The government is on top of the situation and we will do our best to make sure that we stamp out the disease,” he said.

“Ebola is not a death sentence and can be managed.” That is the message the Ministry of Health in Rivers State and the Federal Government hope will get to Nigerians, as the fight against the virus intensifies.