Lassa Fever: Ondo Govt charges MDAs to be proactive

Ondo State Government has charged relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to take proactive measures to break the chain of Lassa fever transmission in the state.

The state Head of Service, Mr Bayo Philip, gave the charge while receiving a team from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and relevant state MDAs in his office in Akure on Thursday.

Philip said the outbreak had featured in all recent meetings of the State Executive Council, stressing that Gov. Lucky Aiyedatiwa was committed to winning the fight against Lassa fever and other diseases.

He urged the state Ministries of Health, Agriculture, and Environment, as well as other relevant MDAs, to fast-track measures to stem the tide of yearly recurrence of Lassa fever.

“I expect concerned Permanent Secretaries to come up with what needs to be done as an immediate measure and what we must do to sustain this year-in-year-out.

“Is it in terms of drug supply, in terms of collaboration, in terms of public enlightenment and education, or in terms of environmental cleanness?

”All these must be integrated and everyone must do his or her part to achieve success in the fight against the disease,” he said.

The Head of Service also urged the team to collaborate with private health practitioners on prompt referral of patients for treatment in appropriate facilities across the state.

Philip called on traditional and religious leaders to partner with the government to ensure residents adhere to hygienic handling of food items to be consumed by the public.

Earlier, the Permanent Secretary of State Ministry of Agriculture, Mrs Foluke Tunde-Daramola, who led the delegation, said the synergy with NCDC was to urgently address the outbreak of Lassa fever in the state.

According to Tunde-Daramola, the Ministries of Health, Agriculture, and Environment will work with the NCDC team to reduce transmission of the disease in communities.

Similarly, Dr Olubunmi Olopha, Leader of the NCDC team, said the centre had deployed a team of experts to provide necessary support to the state in response to the outbreak.

Olopha said 90 out of about 200 suspected Lassa fever cases had been confirmed in the state.

She urged healthcare providers to desist from delaying referral of suspected cases to appropriate facilities within the state, saying this would reduce mortality from the disease.