…Suggest 10 Ways To Contain Spread
SAN FRANCISCO, August 08, (THEWILL) – As the Federal Government declared a national emergency over the outbreak and spread of the deadly Ebola virus in the country, the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) has raised the alarm that commercial motorcycles operators popularly known as Okada riders could be at risk in the spread of the deadly virus through body contacts for those who commute on commercial motorcycles.
MDCAN in a statement Friday faulted government’s communication on prevention approaches that lay emphasis only on handshake and contact with body fluid of those who have already tested positive to the virus that has so far claimed over 900 lives in the West African sub-region.
MDCAN in the statement signed by its President, Dr. Steven Oluwole and Assistant Secretary General, Dr. A Adesokan, and made available to journalists in Abuja further put forward 10 ways for consideration by government to contain the spread of the virus.
The statement faulted the approach of prevention which centred only on avoidance of handshake but ignores that the modes of transportation in Nigeria, which include crowded buses and motor bikes which encourage intimate body contacts that exceed handshakes.
MDCAN further highlighted areas it regarded as knowledge and action deficit in dealing with the disease, saying, “Rigorous contact tracing were not instituted after the index case was identified in Lagos.”
The statement also faulted the following on the part of government: “Failure to model that infected health workers in Lagos may have transmitted to contacts whilst shopping, commuting, or recreating; Failure to model that contacts of Ebola cases in Lagos may have travelled to any other region in the country; No evidence of establishment of Ebola management centres in all regions of the country; No evidence of procurement and distribution of safety equipment to protect staff;
“No evidence of training of staff to effectively manage cases; No evidence protocols have been developed and circulated to staff for case identification ; No evidence protocols have been developed to specially transport suspected cases to treatment centres.”
In its recommendation of 10 ways to stem the spread of the virus , the statement said : “ The MDCAN will like the appropriate agencies of government to work on the assumption that the epidemic has potentially spread to all regions of Nigeria; Protocols to identify cases, and for self reporting should be developed; Centres for reporting of cases should be established; Centres for management of cases should be designated
“ Random management of cases in hospitals across Nigeria should be avoided; Special transportation facilities for identified cases should be established; Management protocols, training of special management staff, and adequate protection of staff should be ensured and ; The General Public is advised to avoid charlatans and opportunists, who offer unverifiable claims of cure of a disease they know nothing about, but seek information and clarifications.”
