Ebola: We’ve Activated Measures — Nasarawa Govt

The Nasarawa State Government has put in place measures to prevent the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease in the state, including the reactivation of isolation centres and the circulation of a public health advisory.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry for Health, Dr Ibrahim Alhassan,l disclosed this in an interview in Lafia.

He said the department has developed an advisory which has been circulated to healthcare professionals and to the general public.

According to him, the state is setting up a task team to be led by the State Epidemiologist for continuous awareness creation.

He explained that the team will engage the media as part of a sensitization programme that will be flagged off by the Commissioner for Health at a press conference later in the week.

“The press conference will kick-start awareness and sensitization on what the disease is, what are the symptoms, how it is transmitted, and what people need to do to prevent themselves,” he said.

The permanent secretary said the government is also procuring Personal Protective Equipment and prepositioning them across healthcare facilities in the state.

He said the ministry is working to improve the index of suspicion among healthcare workers, with directives to promptly respond to suspected cases, isolate where possible, and refer cases across the three tiers of healthcare — primary, secondary and tertiary.

He added that health workers have been directed to obtain detailed travel history and contact history from patients presenting at facilities to ensure early identification and appropriate response.

On isolation facilities, Dr Alhassan explained that the state already has identified centres from the COVID-19 period that are still in existence.

“We have the Federal University Teaching Hospital Lafia, we have the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital in Lafia, we have the Federal Medical Center in Keffi, we have the Medical Center in Maraba. Those facilities are still in existence and some of our general hospitals also,” he said.

He noted that the facilities only need to be prepped for use in case suspected cases are recorded.

He said in the coming weeks, the ministry will intensify public enlightenment to ensure residents know what to do to prevent infection.