The Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria has asked the Federal Government to immediately revive the vaccine producing factory in Yaba, Lagos State, in order to assist in the fight against the Ebola Virus Disease.

The National President of AMLSN, Dr. Godswill Okara, said this during a press briefing in Abuja entitled, “Ebola Virus: Scientific Approach & Measures in Eradicating the Disease.”

Okara said, “We do know the issue of Ebola disease outbreak in Nigeria, which has caused a lot panic and scare in the country. We are aware that before now the production of vaccines, which is key in the control and eradication of infectious diseases, was very active in Nigeria. In fact the First National President of this association headed the Smallpox Vaccine production laboratory where millions of doses of smallpox vaccine were produced in Nigeria in the 1960s/70s, which was used in the eradication of smallpox in Nigeria and in the West African sub-region.

“We believe that if medical laboratory scientists could do this in the 1960s/70s, we should do much more with modern technology. So, the time has come and I believe that the Ebola outbreak is a wakeup call to our country for us to look inward and act on the potentials and capabilities inherent in our professionals. In the 60s and 70s, medical laboratory scientists produced yellow fever vaccine. It is sad to say that Nigeria is spending colossal amount of money importing yellow fever vaccines into Nigeria.

“The vaccine production laboratory in Yaba, where medical laboratory scientists produced yellow fever vaccines and rabbies vaccines has been allowed to fall apart.

“As we speak members of this association are involved in the production of animal vaccines in Nigeria. The enabling environment should be provided for medical laboratory scientists to perform optimally. There is no reason why we should not produce vaccines, either viral or bacterial, in this country.”

The AMLSN boss also called on the Nigeria Union of Teachers not to “overreact” regarding the decision of the Federal Government to delay the reopening of schools nationwide till September 22 on account of the outbreak of Ebola.

He cautioned NUT leadership against making provocative statements over the schools’ resumption date because the teachers’ union lacked the professional competence to speak on Ebola while also asking the government to “review evidence on ground” to decide what’s in the best interest of the country.

The Nigerian Medical Association and NUT have both opposed the proposed date for resumption of schools, citing concerns over the outbreak and managing large student populations.

Okara said, “Our country must not be allowed to come to a halt because of the outbreak of any disease. We call on NUT not to overreact. It is not the place of teachers to manage disease condition. Their reaction should be based on hard scientific evidence, not driven by fear and panic.”

He said hype and panic had made the Ebola situation confounding, despite public messages that had been carried in the media.

He noted that the country should be ready to return to normal “once evidence on the ground shows that the outbreak has been contained.”

“Whatever decision government is taking must be based on available professional and scientific evidence, not hearsay,” said Okara.

He added, “As scientists, we base decision on empirical evidence and we do know that the World Health Organisation is a technical and professional body that we all rely on globally as far as pronouncement on disease control, outbreak and disease treatment and mitigation are concerned.

“Whereas we would not like our country to be paralysed because of fear of Ebola or any disease condition, we would like to caution that we must be guided by empirical evidence. We must also be guided by scientific evidence and if the WHO technical people in the field are advising that it is not timely to reopen schools, we would like to appeal to government to review the evidence on ground and take decision that will encourage the achievements of the desired objectives.”