… As board drills health workers on safety measures against Ebola virus

By Stanley Onyekwere

In view of the ravaging outbreak of Ebola virus disease, one of the most deadly diseases known to mankind, some health workers across the 215 primary healthcare facilities in Abuja, were yesterday sensitized on precautionary measures against the scourge.

Specifically, they were drilled on how to effectively detect, prevent and handle patients showing resemblance of symptoms of deadly virus.

Peoples Daily reports that the latest figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) records reveal that Ebola’s death toll is now at 932 with over 1,700 reported cases.

It would be recalled that on Tuesday, Nigeria recorded first casualty, following the death of a nurse who attended to Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian man who died of Ebola disease,two weeks ago in Lagos. He died shortly after he arrived on a flight from Liberia with symptoms of Ebola disease.

As a result, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) through its Primary Health Care Development Board (PHCDB) held an orientation workshop for area councils’ PHC team and workers on the ebola outbreak, as part of its precautionary measures against the dreaded epidemic.

Speaking at the event, the Board’s executive secretary, Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed, said although there is no outbreak of the disease in the country, but the FCTA considered it apt to educate its health workers on it.

He said, health workers should ensure adherence to best practices while handling patients with symptoms of serious fever and other similar Ebola virus appearances at various clinics.

“For us in the FCT, we cannot afford to wait until there is an outbreak in Nigeria before we will effectively prepare our health workers and the public against the deadly virus.

According to him, there are about 1003 health workers across the 215 primary healthcare centres in the FCT, therefore knowing that medical personnel are the most vulnerable group “and the fact that some Nigeria Nigerians have contracted this deadly disease, we should be worried about it.”

Similarly, the Director, FCT Public Health Department, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe, stressed the need for health workers to make sure they observe strictly necessary medical precautionary strategies so that they can protect themselves and their families.