President of the Nigerian Academy of Science, Prof. Oyewale Tomori, has lamented the government attitude in the fight against the Lassa fever.
Bemoaning official attitude towards combating the dreaded disease, Tomori said despite enormous resources committed to fighting it, little has been achieved in terms of result.
Tomori, for a decade, was a Regional Virologist and Polio Laboratory Coordinator at WHO African Regional Officer in Harare, Zimbabwe.
He expressed his concern during the opening ceremony of the “West African Sub-Regional Workshop on Emergency Preparedness and Outbreak Response to Lassa Fever and Other Highly Infectious Diseases.
The event which held in Benin, Edo State, on Tuesday also witnessed the inauguration of the Mobile Polymerase Chain Reaction Laboratory.”
Tomori warned against the neglect of equipment donated by the Bernhard Notch Institute of Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany.
He also noted high mortality rate within the rank of technicians attending to infected persons and called for more commitment on the part of governments, especially in Nigeria.
He said, “A mobile laboratory is commissioned today and by the next month, a flat tyre or plug grounds the laboratory that is to help in the fight against this deadly disease.
“A minister comes to commission what, in essence, will help reduce the scourge, but as soon as he departs, the woes begin. And unless a powerful person dies as a result of the ailment, the lip service paid towards its eradication might continue.
“So, we need to examine ourselves, as we are responsible for the predicament.
“Available statistics shows how abysmal our efforts have been, in the area of how much is expended, and how much is deployed.
“Our efforts towards curtailing the infection has not yielded much, not for lack of research or want on the part of medical technicians in the field, but because of outright lack of the political will and ostrich-like burying of our heads in the sand, which I daresay cannot help the situation.”
Supporting Tomori’s submissions on the predicament of technicians in the field, Lassa Fever Desk Officer, Federal Ministry of Health, Mr. Adebayo Durojaiye, said no less than nine persons had lost their lives in the course of duty, in the last two years.
He said, “In 2012, six medical personnel – three doctors and three nurses were lost to Lassa fever. In 2013, two doctors were lost to Lassa fever and in 2014, at least one doctor has so far been lost to Lassa fever.”
Earlier, the Chairman, Local Organising Committee and former Chief Medical Director, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Prof. George Akpede, expressed optimism in the country’s effort in the battle against the disease.
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