Gov.
Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta has announced the designation of seven hospitals as
isolation centres for identified cases of Ebola disease in the state.
Speaking
at a meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholders in the Delta
North and Delta South senatorial zones in Asaba, the governor said there was no
case of Ebola in the state.
We
have designated seven hospitals in the state as isolation centres where any
suspected case will be managed.
Every
local government area has a contact person and there is a contact phone number
32815 where messages (SMS) can be sent to report any suspected case in the
state, Uduaghan said.
Uduaghan
said the government had also set up a committee to educate and sensitise the
people about the prevention and management of the virus.
He
said the committee, which comprised the commissioners in the ministries of
health, information and environment, had been inaugurated and would brief the
people about the measures already taken to ensure that the virus did not get
into the state.
There
is no Ebola virus in Delta State and it will not come to the state. We are doing
everything possible to deal with the scourge. We have
set up an inter-ministerial committee comprising thecommissioners for health,
environment and information to sensitise andbrief the people on the measures in
place to tackle any outbreak in thestate, said the governor.
He
urged politicians to take the message to the nooks and crannies of the local government
areas in the state to sensitise the people on how to maintain personal hygiene
and to regularly wash their hands.
The
governor also cautioned those who had relatives in any of the West
African countries where Ebola had been reported and who needed to bringin any
corpse from there to alert the state to ascertainthe cause of death.
On the
stakeholders meeting, Uduaghan said it was called to resolve various issues
surrounding the forthcoming local government primaries, and to ensure that the
elections were peaceful and violence-free.
He
appealed to the aspirants to shun all forms of violence and ensure peaceful
primaries and election in the state. It
is only the PDP aspirants that you cansee now moving around the state seeking
support for the localgovernment election and when they win, people will come up
to contest their success.
We
are working hard now and l know we will win, he added.
Uduaghan
also reminded the stakeholders that the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) would commence distribution of the permanent voter cards on
Aug. 15 in all the polling units in the state.
He
enjoined them to mobilise their people at the grassroots to collect thecards to
enable them vote in the forthcoming elections and subsequent ones. Similarly,
the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, on Thursday began the
training of its health workers to curtail the possible spread of Ebola virus.
Mrs
Hope Nwololo, the LUTH Public Relations Officer (PRO) said: Health workers are
occupationally exposed to a variety of infection in the performance of their
duties.
The
training is to promote the health and safety of all the health workers against
the deadly virus. The
training maps out the standard precautionary measures health workers are
expected to observe in the control of infectious diseases and awareness on the
risk factors of Ebola.
We
are all encouraged to apply, in addition to standard precautions, other
infection control measures and strategies on proper and prompt response in the
occurrence of an Ebola case, she said.
Nwololo
said that the training would include all employees of the institutions from the
doctors to the administrative personnel and the cleaning crew.
The
delivery of healthcare services requires a broad range of workers such as
physicians, nurses, technicians, clinical laboratory workers, security and
administrative personnel.
Also
in Sokoto, the former chairman of Shagari local government council, Alhaji
Abdullahi Maigwandu,called for full participation of traditional rulers in
sensitising the people on the do sand dont against the deadly Ebola virus in the
country.Maigwandu said that the involvement of the royal fathers would go a long
way in mobilising the people to work towards preventing the spread of the virus
in the society.
He
said that there was urgent need for the people to be proactive in taking
preventive measures against the disease. He
also called for active participation of the mass media in sensitising the
people on the dangers involved in eating bush meat.
Maigwandu
urged media organisations to adopt an elaborate public enlightenment strategy on
preventive measures to be taken against the spread of the epidemic.
He
said that the campaign would enable Nigerians observe the dosand dontsagainst
the spread of the scourge in the country. He
explained that it was only by so doing that, Nigerians would complement the
effort of the Federal Government in preventing the epidemic before it gotout of
control.
Headvised
residents against indiscriminate consumption of bush meat considering the
dangers involved. Maigwandu
said that the scale of Ebola outbreak and the persistent threat it pose
requireda holistic sensitisation among Nigerians, especiallyrural dwellers.
He
explained that massive awareness drive would go a long way in preventing the
spread of the virus. (NAN)
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