Why we can’t tackle Lassa fever like Ebola – Minister

Prof. Isaac Adewole

Health Minister, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has lamented what he described as the culture of silence permeating the Nigerian society in reaction to the outbreak of Lassa fever pandemic in the country.
Speaking to State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa on Wenesday, the minister cited the case of Ebonyi State, which had so far records about five cases of Lassa fever but never cared to report his Ministry for necessary action.
The minister denied that cases of Lassa fever were hidden, but admitted there were not brought to the public knowledge until it became late. His words, “Not that they were hidden but they were never brought to public knowledge. There is also what we can consider to be culture of silence in some of our states. For example, we recognised Ebonyi State as one of the endemic states.
“And since the outbreak, Ebonyi has not recorded a single case or reported a single case. We despatched our surveillance team to Ebonyi and we discovered five cases.
“We are not having a resurgence. What we had over the years is a situation which Lassa is endemic in Nigeria. And as I said on numerous occasions, we have these outbreaks. In 2012, we had the highest. We have 1700 case and that declined.

“Last year, we had 441 cases. And what has happened is that for the first time in the history of the country, we are being transparent and open and we are telling the entire world what the situation is and that is what is different.
“We are also concerned. We want to find out why we are still having this Lassa fever in spite of human and material resources that we have in this country. We inaugurated a Lassa fever eradication committee chaired by one of the foremost virologists in this country and we are committed to signing the obituary of the Lassa fever this year.”
Explaining why the war against Lassa fever may not be fought the way the country tackled Ebola, the minister said the source of Ebola in Nigeria was traced to one person that imported it into the country.

According to him, “We can not win the battle against Lassa fever the same way we won the one against Ebola. Ebola happened to be a single importation to Nigeria. Lassa fever is endemic in Nigeria. In 2012, we had upsurge in 26 states. So, it is there but I can assure you that with what we put in place this year, we will sign it off.”
He said the federal government was determined to get to the root of the issue saying, “What we want to do is put across some innovative funding mechanisms, ability to manage and put to use 10,000 primary health care centres across the country over the next two years. In the next 100 days, we will flag off 110 of these centres.
“We will start with the one in Fuka where we first had this outbreak. We will do one per senatorial district, 109 to make 110 in 100 days. This year alone, we will do 5000.”