Ebola: Dearth of volunteers persist in Lagos despite N60,000 daily pay, insurance

LAGOS State is facing the problem of shortage of
volunteers to help care for the victims of the
deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). In spite of
a
life insurance scheme and N60, 000 daily
allowance being offered by the state
government, health workers and volunteers are
still not forthcoming.
This is coming as the Ebola disease saga in
Nigeria took a sinister twist with cases of Ebola
virus infection emerging among two spouses of
the health workers (primary contacts) that
attended to the index (first) case, Liberian-
American, Patrick Sawyer.
Minister for Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu,
who confirmed the development in an
announcement yesterday in Abuja, said the
new cases are among the secondary contacts
who have been under surveillance in Lagos but
were quarantined as soon as they developed
Ebola symptoms.
Disturbed by the dearth of volunteers, the Lagos
State Government has appealed to health
workers and volunteers to come forward to join
the state’s effort in the battle against the
dreaded EVD.
Lagos State Commissioner for Health Dr. Jide
Idris, said they were striving to save the lives of
confirmed Ebola cases but “our major challenge
in this regard is personnel with requisite
expertise, hence, our call for volunteers.
“We require experts in different medical fields
including critical care and infectious diseases
and these still need to be trained using the
World Health Organisation (WHO) protocol which
may require up to five days of committed
training before such experts can apply their
skills safely without risk to themselves. Our
international experts are currently providing this
training on site.”
This is coming on the heels of the donation of 30
body scanners by the United States of America,
USA, government to the Nigerian government to
check body temperature at the country’s various
ports of entry.’’
Speaking on the two new cases, Onyebuchi said:
“The two are spouses of a man and woman who
had direct contact with Liberian-American
Patrick Sawyer, who flew into the country last
month with the virus and infected 11 others
before he died in July, including the male and
female caregiver who both subsequently died of
Ebola.’’
“The last two cases bring the total number of
confirmed infections in Nigeria, including
Sawyer, to 14. This brings to four the total
number of EVD patients currently under
treatment at the isolation ward of the Ebola
Control unit of the Mainland Hospital, Lagos.
“The number of deaths still remains five while
the number of those successfully managed and
discharged also stands at five,” Chukwu said,
noting that Federal Government, is working
with the Lagos State government and other
partners, to maintain vigilance and continue to
strengthen containment of the dreaded Ebola
virus.
Along with Sawyer, the Lead Consultant at First
Consultants Medical Centre, Dr Ameyo Stella
Adadevoh, one other female doctor, a nurse,
and an official of the ECOWAS office in Lagos
have so far died of Ebola in Nigeria.
It was not immediately clear if the newly
confirmed cases are spouses of primary contacts
who are dead or alive even though Chukwu had
earlier in the week, hinted that with a good
number of secondary contacts yet to complete
the 21-day incubation period, the possibility of
more cases of Ebola could not be entirely ruled
out.
He reassured the global community that the
country would not relent until the very last case
of the disease is eradicated.The Federal
Government, Chukwu said, is working with the
Lagos State government and other partners, to
maintain vigilance and continue to strengthen
containment.
The Federal Government, last Thursday
approved the release of N200 million to Lagos
State to fight the disease.
However, the emergence of Ebola infected
secondary contacts is unprecedented and
heightens fears about the possibility of the
disease spreading beyond expectations.
It also raises questions about the validity of
assurance

See also

Pastor T.B. Joshua : Satan Manufactured The Ebola Virus Disease

How Female Herbalist Spread Ebola Into Sierra Leone

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