The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu
has announced that President Goodluck Jonathan had approved the immediate
release of N200m to the Lagos State Government as Federal Government’s direct
support in the efforts aimed at containing the spread of the EVD.
He also said he had written to a Canadian firm to
see whether it could extend another trial drug, TKM Ebola, to Nigeria.
The minister said any drug received would be made
to pass through the nation’s Health Ethics Committee before it could be
administered on any patient.
He said, “Presently, we have not stopped
requesting for drug, I have requested from a company in Canada and a lot of
Nigerians including the High Commissioner in Nigeria to Canada are making that
request to see whether the other drug being manufactured in Canada called TKM
Ebola would also be extended to Nigeria.
“It is an experimental drug. For whatever drug
and if the patient gives us the consent, I want to stress this point that
Nigeria as an organised country, the drug will have to pass through our Health
Ethics Committee to approve.
“The minister can decide to deploy it but that is
not the way to go, we have to do the correct thing and deal with that
committee.
“Even ZMapp has now become Case One Clinical
Trial; it has not been subjected to clinical trial. That they are using it to
treat patients in US and Liberia is part of the clinical trial.
“Even at that, nothing is yet clear even though
it is a fact that two medical doctors are getting better. In Nigeria, the five
patients who were treated and got discharged were never given ZMapp. It tells
you something. Let’s cooperate and work together, we will surely get there.”
He added that Nigeria currently had only two
established cases of the virus made up of a doctor and a nurse who
came into contact with Sawyer.
The minister said all those under surveillance
were secondary contacts who did not have symptoms of the virus yet.
Chukwu said that the incubation period for that
category of people is 42 days from the day the index case was reported.
He said the rumoured cases in Kaduna
and Kwara states had tested negative.
The minister added, “As of
today(Wednesday), Nigeria has had a total number of 12 cases of Ebola which
include the index case and 11 Nigerians who were primary contacts with the one
index case.
“Of this 12, the the total number of successful
cases who have been discharged stands at five but the total number of deaths
including the index case stands at five.
“Currently, the total number of established Ebola
cases in Nigeria are two, made up of one doctor and one nurse who had managed
the index case and they are presently on treatment at the isolation centre .
“The latest death occurred Tuesday evening and
that is the death of the most senior doctor, senior
consultant/physician/endrocologist at First Consultants Hospital Lagos, Dr.
Adadevoh.”
He explained that the five persons discharged
after being certified to be Ebola-free no longer constituted danger to the
public and hence should not be stigmatised.
Chukwu also said that the Federal Government had
received a letter from the Osun State Government asking that it be allowed to
host the annual Osun Osogbo Festival.
He said the government was still studying the
request technically and would make a pronouncement on it soon.
He also said the Minister of Tourism, Culture and
National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke, had already ordered the indefinite
postponement of the National Festival of Arts earlier scheduled for September
in Ebonyi State.
He added that consultation was also ongoing
between the Ministry of Health and the Nigeria Bar Association on the planned
NBA general conference.
Chukwu said the United States will this week
donate 30 body scanners to the Federal Government as its contribution to fighting
the virus.
He also said that the equipment which
would be used to measure body temperature would be deployed in the nation’s
borders.
Chukwu disclosed that a foundation belonging to
Mr. Atedo Peterside had offered to assist all private hospitals where cases of
the virus had been established to the tune of N100,000 per bed.
He said since the FCMC where the index case was
reported had 40 beds, it would get N4m from the foundation.
He said the support become necessary because the
affected hospitals, even after their decontamination, could not open for
business immediately .
The minister said the Federal Government was also
working out ways of assisting the affected hospitals.
He added that theTony Elumelu Foundation had
pledged N50m to the cause while the Shell Petroleum Development Company of
Nigeria Limited had donated an ambulance.
He said the six months timeframe to conquer the
virus as stated by the World Health Organisation was not applicable to Nigeria,
expressing the hope that the country would soon eradicate Ebola.
Chukwu denied insinuations that the Federal
Government sacked resident doctors, saying it was a matter of interpretation.
He said since the doctors had not been working
for about two months, it would be wrong to say that they were sacked.
He likened their case to a situation in aviation
that airlines describe as “no show.”
Chukwu however promised that the situation would
soon be re-appraised so that residency programme could resume.
He said, “They (resident doctors) were not
sacked; it is a matter of interpretation. For example, if someone while still
working actively dies or whether that person resigned or was dismissed or
retired or had his appointment terminated, they all mean different things in
the public service.
“But the end point is that the person is no
longer working. I want us to put things in proper perspective. Government did
not sack anybody. It is true that they themselves have not been working for
almost two months, except those in private hospitals.
“Resident doctors in both federal and state
hospitals have not been working for almost two months now and they have not
participated in the control of this EVD; they have not played any role.
“So even if government had not taken any
decision, they are not there, they are not working and I don’t know why
suddenly the media starts taking interest in them. They are not part of this
success story.
“What happened is like in the aviation industry
where when you buy a ticket and you fail to show up they say ‘no show’ and they
even penalise you. So there is ‘no show’ of the resident doctors and even
government is still paying them.
“People who are unemployed even some doctors will
be asking government a question, is it because we did not have an appointment
letter? What is the difference, you are paying people who are not working, we
too are not working, why are you not paying us?
“Sometimes we need to think deeply about what we
do to ourselves. Government says why can’t we use this period to appraise
properly the residency programme and come up with something that can help the
country?’’
Chukwu also said in a tweet on Wednesday by his
Special Assistant on Media and Communication to the Minister of Health, Dan
Nwomeh , that there was no new confirmed case of Ebola in the
country.
In an email, Nwomeh referred one of our
correspondents to twitter @DanNwomeh, where he explained that Chukwu said that
there were needs for “updates and clarifications of
(mis)information on the fight against EVD in Nigeria.
The tweet read,“Meanwhile as of today(Wednesday),
the status remains the same. Disregard all rumours of new cases please.
“This clarification follows reports of few new
cases in Lagos State. This should be disregarded please.
“The Minister of Health reiterates that he has
the sole authority to announce confirmed cases of disease epidemics in Nigeria.
The minister reassures Nigerians that any new confirmed case of EVD in Nigeria
will be announced by his office promptly.
“Any doubtful information on the outbreak of EVD
should be verified from the office of the Minister of Health.
“Minister of Health restates that at present,
today, now, Nigeria has only two confirmed cases of EVD.”
He also stated that there was no evidence that discharged
patients could transmit the disease, adding that a Liberian whose name he did
not mention was treated for malaria “having tested negative for EVD.”
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