As Health Workers Down Tools: Hope Dips For Ebola Patients’ Recovery
GEORGE OKOJIE and ARONKE OLAYOWOLA
— Aug 16, 2014 | 2 Comments
The hope of recovery by patients currently being treated for the deadly Ebola virus disease (EVD) appears dim, as the doctors and nurses attending to victims at the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Yaba, Lagos, yesterday downed tools.

Our correspondent learnt that their action was spurred by allegations of negligence levelled against them by the relatives and associates of the nurse who died and other Ebola patients in the hospital.

The relatives and associates of the female doctor and other health workers who contracted the EVD from the late Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer, had at a media briefing on Thursday in Lagos accused the federal and state governments of neglecting patients.

Reacting to the development, Lagos State governor Babatunde Fashola said he had appealed to the health workers on the need to go back to work, describing the reports as “disheartening”.

The governor, who also cautioned the media against sensationalising reports on Ebola, noted that it could cause serious panic amongst residents.

“The report reaching me about two hours ago was that some of the health workers at the centre felt unappreciated and they decided to stop work because of the media reports that they were not working effectively to save the lives of the victims.

“We do not need that at the moment. While we sympathise with the victims, the health workers are doing their best to care for the victims.

“My appeal to the people is that more health workers should sign up, and from what I was told by experts even if one is the best physician in the world, the person cannot enter the isolation ward. He or she has to be trained in how to kit up and how to get out of the centre, and the training takes between five and seven days to achieve,” the governor said.

He added that he appreciates what the media has been doing to help the government sensitise the public about the risks of and the precautions against the Ebola virus and the necessary developments against the outbreak of the virus in the country.

He said that because the virus is new in the country, the media must be very circumspect in how it publishes and publicises comments on the matter.

The governor explained: “At the moment, I am only able to speak about this because I receive a daily briefing from our team and, at the beginning of each day, I act on what they tell me.

“We sympathise with the victims who were affected by the virus. We understand the trauma and concern the family members are going through. But when all of that is taken into account, it is not true that that we are not taking care of the patients.

“The reality is that this is a difficult time; we are gaining capacity daily. This is not what we expected and it is not what we planned for, and getting people who are sufficiently knowledgeable and skilful to go into the isolation centre is quite challenging. It is a matter of monumental courage for those people who have signed up and we commend them for that.

“There is personnel capacity issue of those who can go into the centre and care for the patients, in a way that they will not be infected by the virus. The personally protective equipment (PPE) they use is real so that they are protected.

“The issue we have now is that teams are working flat-out and therefore there will be no opportunity to segregate any patients. There will be no such opportunity.

“The issue that the patients were not treated and there was no water at the isolation centre — it is not helpful but puts more pressure on the health workers.”

On the N1.9 billion intervention funds approved by the federal government to fight Ebola in Nigeria, Fashola said: “I believe that the president has approved some money. At the moment, we are yet to receive any money. What we have done is to work with our resources — the isolation centre and other facilities were done by our personnel working with officials of the federal health agencies in Lagos.

“This is not a money issue; at the moment it is a personnel, control, knowledge and system issue. It is only when we have put all these into place that we can now begin to say how much it costs.”



We’ve not neglected them – LASG

Amid an outcry by relatives and associates of Ebola patients being treated in Lagos that they have been neglected in the face of poor facilities, Lagos State government yesterday said the patients being treated in isolated facilities in Mainland Hospital, Yaba are being given adequate medical attention.

The Lagos State commissioner for Health Dr Jide Idris who disclosed this at a press briefing on Friday in Lagos, said the state government has not received a penny from N1.9 billion intervention fund approved by the federal government to fight Ebola in Nigeria.

According to him, “This is a collaborative effort between the federal, state government and other foreign partners. As at now, we are yet to receive a penny from the central government.

“All the money spent on the health of the Ebola victims were funds released by the state governor, Babatunde Fashola. He released the money immediately the first case was reported and that is the money we have been spending.

“Perhaps maybe the federal government will release later. But we are grateful for all the federal government has done-giving us technical support in the fight against the virus, releasing their staffs for contact tracing, case management, operation of the emergency operation centre and the rapid response team.”

Idris, who was flanked by the state commissioner for Special Duties, Dr Wale Ahmed, his Information and Strategy counterpart Aderemi Ibirogba and special adviser to Lagos State governor on Media, Hakeem Bello, argued that treatment of Ebola patients is different from that of other ailments.

He said,” To give the confirmed Ebola cases a chance to live, they have to be properly managed. Our major challenge in this regard is personnel with requisite expertise, hence our call for volunteers.

“We require experts in different medical fields, including critical care and infectious diseases and these still need to be trained using the World Health Organisation (WHO) protocol which may require up to five days of committed training before such experts can apply their skills safely without risk to themselves. Our international experts are currently providing this training on site.”

Debunking claims that the federal and state governments were not serious about the fight against Ebola Virus Disease, he said,” Contrary to the rumour currently in circulation that facility at the infection control centre has no basic amenities, it has a 40 bed- complex with male and female wards for confirmed cases; eight bed isolation wards upgraded to suspected cases, backed up by two emergency tents to hold additional 24 suspected cases.

“Dedicated borehole; dedicated 60 KVA generator backed –up by a 250 KVA unit for the entire; involvement of Lagos State Waste Management Authority(LAWMA); two 5000 litre septic tanks one each for urine and faeces, decontaminated prior to evacuation,” he added.

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