‘Don’t abandon hygiene because Ebola is no more’
After Nigeria’s success with the Ebola epidemic, what has the NCDC been working on?We have been helping other countries to ensure that Ebola is out the West African region. Our volunteers just came back from Sierra Leone. We are mobilising to make sure there are no flare ups in Sierra Leone and Guinea. Liberia is […]
After Nigeria’s success with the Ebola epidemic, what has the NCDC been working on?
We have been helping other countries to ensure that Ebola is out the West African region. Our volunteers just came back from Sierra Leone. We are mobilising to make sure there are no flare ups in Sierra Leone and Guinea. Liberia is now free, but Guinea and Sierra Leone still have cases. Sierra Leone might soon end it up but we are afraid of what will happen in the rainy season.
Secondly we have a post-Ebola containment plan, which we have developed, so we are now in the phase of implementing it. That plan is based on: don’t celebrate, make sure you are ready in case of reintroduction, make sure that you can even fight other outbreaks, and strengthen the systems we built because of Ebola and ensure that they don’t slacken, but can effectively respond to any eventuality.
What’s the extent of Nigeria’s participation in the Ebola vaccine trials?
Nigeria is participating in the vaccine trials and development, and at the same time other drugs. We have Nigerian scientists working at Harvard, they are co-authors in the vaccines being developed. We have the Nigerian Armed Forces medical service participating in the trial of one of the Ebola vaccines. Our team has also developed, jointly with the UK group, a drug that can neutralise the virus in already exposed people.
Recently we have had outbreaks of strange diseases across the country. What has the centre done about their diagnosis and have there been any steps to deal with prevention of future occurrences?
Some of the so-called strange diseases occurred in Niger, and it was lead poisoning. NCDC went and confirmed it, and it was a very serious case. We have already initiated a response mechanism. We have identified so far 18 children heavily poisoned. Some are on the verge of dying. We moved all of them for treatment to Ana in Samara state.
Two have recovered fully, 16 on their way to recovery. None died. We are doing case control studies to confirm what really happened in each case. And we have a shocker: lead poisoning there is even more severe than the one in Samara.
Another strange disease appeared in Ondo. We informed the nation it wasn’t infectious. It was an intoxication, and we confirmed it was methanol. The same thing is happening in Rivers. The other strange disease killing children is measles. We have mobilized vaccines to make sure it is taken care of. It is not easy, but we are trying and we are on top of some of these problems.
How prepared is the NCDC to handle these outbreaks?
The budget is not there. We are using extra budgetary spending. The permanent secretary [Linus Awute] is trying but we are being empowered because we have in place sophisticated laboratories that will help us do many things. We have one in Aduwa Gaduwa District in the FCT, Abuja. When it is completed, it will be one of the best in Africa. We are hopeful that within the next four weeks, it should be ready. We have the emergency operations centre and the national surveillance centre we are starting at Jabi. When that is done, it will empower us to network all our surveillance systems across the country and even join West Africa.
The rains are here. What sort of illness might be recurring this period?
Water borne diseases: cholera is number one. That’s what gets us most. Because of the sewage and environmental system, people are still defecating outside. We could also get measles. And polio could escalate but luckily we don’t have any case and we are monitoring to see that by the end of June, Nigeria could be wild polio virus free. If we can attain that till July, then we should be moving. Other diseases associated with water include intoxication. People are drinking water from any sources, and such water could be contaminated with heavy metals being washed into ponds. Many people do come down with severe intoxication with heavy metals.
We have already seen cases of cholera. Are there any proactive measures that could be put to use?
The way to prevent that is not from the federal level, but from state and local government levels. One must make sure we enforce environmental laws. Lagos government was able to enforce some of them, so in areas that were perpetually coming down with cholera, it stopped.
Two, water treatment plants for most cities are broken down, so even the cholera can come from city supply. Chlorination is not done properly so occasionally we do get cases of escape of cholera bacteria. Open defecation is such a big problem. The best way to prevent cholera from occurring in some densely populated area is to mount health promotion around this period and let people know.
It has been done in the South East to bring cholera under full control. If the city government can’t do chlorination, the local government can start giving people chlorine to drop into their wells and other water sources. That’s working. We have told the local governments that they will pay more money if they allow cholera outbreaks to occur. You will lose lives and money. But if you can be proactive this can be stopped.
Secondly the federal government should help them with health promotion materials. Don’t forget hand sanitisation. People think hand sanitisation is effective only for Ebola. During the Ebola period, many other diseases were reduced by far because Nigerians were washing their hands. Diarrhoea and gastro intestinal [infections] cases have been reduced by far. Hand sanitisation is simple, cheap but very effective.