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Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, last week, engaged journalists in an interaction on Lassa fever and Coronavirus. He spoke on the risk and measures being adopted by the government in anticipation of any possible outbreak of coronavirus.
What are the risk factors that Nigeria faces vis-a-vis Nigerians that frequently visit China. Are you considering movement restrictions?
Actually, the risk factors of coronavirus are the same for every country of the world. However, as expected, countries with high air traffic volume have high risk factors than countries with low air traffic volume. For Nigeria, the risk is not as much as it should be in more developed countries like United States, United Kingdom or the likes for obvious reasons. But on advisory note, we have asked anyone who intend to visit China or countries with high risk of coronavirus to have a rethink or know what to do his or herself.
It is absolutely unwise for anyone to go to such places this period that people are running away from there. Even the Chinese government, as part of preventive measures, has placed travel restrictions to certain cities in China in order to protect people in other cities other than Wuhan and other affected cities from being infected. In the case of Nigeria, the Port Health Service of the Federal Ministry of Health and other relevant stakeholders has been strengthened to intensify surveillance at all entry points. Any case that do not manifest at the point of entry, states machineries have been advised to intensify advocacy and sensitization so that people can be aware of the situation.
Does Nigeria have equipped laboratories for quick test or are we relying on other laboratories aboard as was the case of Ebola in 2014.
No! Significant improvement has been made since 2014. We have good laboratories to carry out test in real time. Undoubtedly, the efficiency of our laboratories and manpower has improved significantly. The fact is that if you want to test a particular ailment, you have to have a reagent for it. The reagent we have on ground does not cover this new virus (coronavirus) yet. The implication is that, for now, the samples would be taken and sent to a particular laboratory that would be recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
What level of cooperation are you receiving from WHO
WHO has been helpful to us and other countries of the world as regards the coronavirus. They send us daily advisory through a dedicated communication channel. They have more real time information than anyone else in the world. We are relying on their expertise. As regards laboratory, they will advise all countries on what to do at each stage. But before that, I can confirm that our laboratories have the capacity to detect the virus but the reagent is not out yet, reason being that it’s a new virus and no one has the reagent to test it yet.
What is the strength of contact tracing system which was key to successful containment of Ebola in 2014?
Contact tracing is routine practice which was intensified during the Ebola outbreak in 2014. We have strengthened the system since then.
Nigeria Centre for Disease and Control (NCDC) is largely involved in it. Once there is a epidemic outbreak anywhere that requires isolation, NCDC officials inform states and relevant stakeholders on what to do regarding contact tracing. We have also asked people to practice self isolation and self reporting. It means that you don’t move or freely mingle during epidemic outbreak. In the event that someone displays symptoms of the disease, it is better that he or she report to appropriate health authorities for quick intervention. Personal and environmental hygiene is very important. It should be a regular practice among the people because it goes a long in preventing some of these diseases.
Do we have adequate number of trained health professionals that would respond to this outbreak whenever it comes?
We have but not adequate as mentioned. We need more health care workers on temporary basis, to participate in the response because the number of health professionals we have now cannot adequately respond to the situation when it eventually arrives (God forbid). We need them especially this period that we are on high alert in anticipation of epidemic outbreak. However, we consistently give advisory to health workers too so they can adequately protect themselves from being infected with the disease they are supposed to treat as it the case with Lassa Fever which has claimed lives of several health care workers.
What about financial resources. How much has been earmarked for the response?
We have made financial resources available but I can’t disclose the amount for now. For now, we don’t know how the challenge will be and the level of response that would be required. But whatever the case may be, we are ready and the government has assured us that resources would be made available to tackle the epidemic if it eventually arrive Nigeria (God forbid).
Besides airports and sea ports, do we have trained personnel on the land borders?
Remember that the disease was detected in Wuhan, China. So, we don’t imagine that anyone from there can enter Nigeria through any other means than air transport. You can’t come by land, and coming by waterways would take longer days. By then, the symptoms of the disease would have been obvious and necessary actions taken. For anyone to be that desperate to fly to neighbouring countries, and then enter Nigeria through the land borders, they should be aware that all countries have increased their security checks at the airports so that no one enters their country with the virus.
Many Chinese went home for holidays and they would soon start returning. In addition to that, they have a secluded community here in Nigeria that once they enter; it would be difficult to locate them. How would you manage that?
We have had series of meetings with the Chinese embassy in Nigeria and we agreed that we would cooperate with each other, particularly in information dissemination about any one that displays symptoms of the disease and for easy contact tracing. They have agreed to work with us to ensure that the disease is not imported into Nigeria by any of their nationals that may are turning to Nigeria from holidays in China. We must also know that coronavirus has spread beyond China. So, we should look beyond China to other countries that have detected a case. Howbeit, China embassy in Nigeria has also sent advisory to their nationals that traveled to China for holidays or other reasons that they should delay coming back to Nigeria as measures against importation of the disease into Nigeria.
