Metro
FG raises alert as Lassa Fever deaths hits 41
The federal government has raised the alert level, and moved to stem the spread of Lassa Fever especially in Ondo, Oyo and Nassarawa states by earmarking N140 million to tackle the scourge, even as the death toll from the disease rose to 41 from the three states.
Speaking at a joint press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday the Minister of Health, Prof. Issac Adewole and his Information and Culture counterpart, Alhaji Lai Mohammed both reiterated governments efforts to arrest the spread of the disease which is now present in 10 states of the federation.
“With respect to the cost, we are currently handling it within our in-house resources, using drugs that we had in stock. But we are trying to replenish our stocks; we estimate that we will spend N56 million to replenish the drugs. And in order to mount the response, we are looking at N140 million. Prof. Adewole said.
Read also: Lassa fever outbreak leaves 1 dead, 2 quarantined
Continuing, the Minister of Health said; “So everything is manageable within the budget of the Federal Ministry of Health, therefore we need not panic for now. When we set up an inter-ministerial committee to ensure that we finally declare Lassa fever dead, and buried completely, we will come up with the budget.”
Giving a run-down of the current status of the disease across the federation Adewole said; “As at today, records from our surveillance show that the number of suspected cases is 93, number of laboratory confirmed cases is 25 and the number of reported deaths is 41, with a case fatality of 44.0 per cent.
Prof. Adewole said he had constituted a four-man expert committee headed by Prof. Michael Azuzu of the University of Ibadan, a professor of Community Medicine and President of Society of Public Health Practitioners of Nigeria (SPHPN) to map out strategic roadmap to completely curtail further spread of the disease.
RipplesNigeria …without borders, without fears
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...