Bitter Kola and Ebola: What Nigerians must know— Health Minister

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/08/bitter-kola-ebola-nigerians-must-know-health-minister/

on August 10, 2014 / in Ebola Outbreak 12:42 am / Comments


*Explains how Sawyer beat security to enter Nigeria
*‘Our problem with monkey, bat eaters’

By Jide Ajani

In this interview, Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, bares his mind on the deadly ebola virus. He also speaks on the strike by doctors, passionately appealed to them to call it off.

PROF. ONYEBUCHI CHUKWU


On diagnosis
We have expanded the facilities for diagnosis in the country. I am in touch with our development partners and they seem to be impressed with what we have in the country but I think we can still improve the scale. Regarding the borders, at Seme, for instance, people are being screened and we are using infrared to detect any rise in temperature; we have reviewed our forms that travelers must fill before they land at our airports and we have temperature screening at the international airports too.

Just two days ago, through the appropriate ministry, we directed the Customs Service to ensure that corpses are not just brought in indiscriminately. What do we mean by this? We are saying that before any corpse is brought into the country, the necessary death certificate must be provided and certified as genuine and true before any such can happened and we would be very stringent with this.

You have to prove the case but we want to maintain a tight control over movement of corpses. In Anambra for instance, we are working with the state government and once the result comes out we will alert members of the public. In Imo State, the corpse issue there has already been decided because they had a proper certificate of death and we are saying the body can be buried because it is not Ebola.
On Monday, we sent a team to Akwa Ibom to investigate a case that was brought in from one of these countries that was reported to us. We are working round the clock to tackle the challenge.

What about the infrastructure to manage this problem?
That is one area I must say we are a bit slower than what we anticipated. In Lagos, the state government has done well by providing a place for us to quarantine and treat patients and we are asking for more. Given the way the state government has acted pro-actively, I want to commend the authorities and I believe the state government can do more. On our own part, we want to move ahead and provide isolation tents within our hospitals, so that we can have add-ons. We have trained the workers.

Personal protective equipment is being provided through the Federal Government and our development partners, especially WHO. Other states appear slow but with the emergency on our hands, we cannot wait; so the Federal Government is moving ahead, though quite a number of governors are beginning to cooperate and we need to move a lot faster.

But how fast can you move?
It is immediate – very immediate. Once I’m through with you now, I’m off to another meeting. Since this thing started, I’ve not slept earlier than 4am everyday. But we are all working together.

How much of cooperation are you getting from the local authorities?
We have some challenge there. Once a council chairman, when he heard that we got space for isolation, they began to incite the youth to say ‘we don’t want Ebola in our community’ – this was also a problem in other countries. The people need to understand that all of us are at risk because there is no person on whose passport is written EBOLA CARRIER. People need to understand what we are doing.

The family of the infected nurse, now dead, are they part of those under surveillance?
Yes, they are under surveillance. None of them has been symptomatic yet, but whenever we notice that, we would quarantine such a person. But we are counseling them at this stage and everybody really needs counseling. About delicacies like bats and monkeys. About peoples eating habits, even when you bar people from eating certain things, they go underground and it is even worse because you are not monitoring them. And I know people who have accosted me at the airport or at functions to say since I spoke about bats and monkeys they’ve stopped. What that tells us is that information is key.

But let me make this point. It is more dangerous for those who are processing the meat and who may have cuts because when it is raw those in contact with it are more in danger. The best thing to do is since we have other forms of protein, we can do without bats and monkeys for God’s sake. We have goat meat; we have chicken. Must it be bats? What is needed is enlightenment and appeal. We are at risk and we don’t need to mince words about it. How soon do we expect the striking doctors to come back?

We’ve tried to do our best by addressing almost all they demanded. But that is a question you should ask the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, because even the Senate and the House of Reps have intervened, and after appearing to have dealt with all the issues, they refused. Elders in the profession have intervened, the governor of Delta State (a medical doctor) intervened; even Mr. President had a one-on-one on two occasions with the leadership of NMA; so I don’t know who else to help us appeal to them. I think the strike should be called off; we are appealing to them because we need them to be there, but if they don’t, we will take the second best thing.

What level of collaboration exists with the private hospitals as a secondary option for people since the doctors are on strike?
Let me tell you, the index case was discovered at the airport and, because government doctors were on strike, he was taken to a private hospital. I guess if doctors were not on strike, he may have been taken to LASUTH or LUTH. We are engaging them and our people are holding meetings with different groups of private practitioners. We identified that the students need to be enlightened more because of the school environment.

How do we man the illegal entry points?
That is one of the reasons it has been difficult to just close the borders because what it then means is that when you close the designated borders, you leave room for people to use the illegal entry points which are totally off our radar. Mind you, we don’t have gates round the country; so it may even be more inimical to close the borders because of those illegal points, so we should encourage people to come in through the 22 designated entry points but once there is a consensus on that, we may then move.

Are we in touch with the American government regarding that serum that was administered on their doctors who got infected with the virus?
Yesterday, I inaugurated the treatment research group and one of its terms is to collaborate with similar such groups all around the world and they are getting in touch with the Americans. They also have the opportunity of looking at their own options and we should not underestimate the intelligence of Nigerians, that’s why that committee was inaugurated.

There is no time frame because it is a standing committee on Ebola and possibly other diseases. This is just the beginning. Part of our measures also is to screen in-bound and out-bound passengers just as the passengers too would be screened in their countries of disembarkation. For local flights, internal restriction of movements is counter-productive. What is important is to follow up on contact tracing because there is not enough resources anywhere in the world to do that. But for airports that we know could serve as connection points we are taking care of that.

Now, what about Professor Maurice Iwu’s thesis regarding bitter kola and Ebola?
One of the things we decided to focus on by setting up that committee is to streamline claims of possible scientific cure, not a situation where pastors and imams claim they can cure Ebola. We might even go to the extent of making laws to arrest people with such bogus claims. We would take every suggestion seriously. About Professor Iwu, we know that quite a number of Nigerians accessed his article through the internet.

What Professor Iwu and his research team proved in America is that in the laboratory test-tube – not in an animal or a human being – bitter kola extract was able to hinder the growth of Ebola virus, that it was able to slow it down or kill it. That research was not concluded according to Professor Iwu himself and he says he is disappointed that the research was not taken to its logical conclusion.

We need now to work with him and that is why we need him. He is a distinguished world renowned professor of pharmacognosy; and he is someone we value in this country because of his professionalism and working with others; we would be able to put all ideas to the test and see how far we go.
This is a serious business.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/08/bitter-kola-ebola-nigerians-must-know-health-minister/#sthash.iCrVhszC.dpuf

Ok

This is wat OBJ should have done but no rigging elections was better

So OBJ is now a pharmacologist. Hmm we should be using our head oh. Let us allow our head to serve us oh

overhypedsteve: So OBJ is now a pharmacologist. Hmm we should be using our head oh. Let us allow our head to serve us oh

I think your head is the one that needs to be used. You didn't even understand the poster above you before jumping to comment. What he meant is that OBJ should have used Iwu in his field rather than using him in INEC.

chimoz:
I think your head is the one that needs to be used. You didn't even understand the poster above you before jumping to comment. What he meant is that OBJ should have used Iwu in his field rather than using him in INEC.

10gbosa... Someone that has a brain. Sir u a rare in nairaland
.

overhypedsteve: So OBJ is now a pharmacologist. Hmm we should be using our head oh. Let us allow our head to serve us oh

No is a useless farmer that Nigeria gave presidency. Unqualified!

dontjealousme:
No is a useless farmer that Nigeria gave presidency. Unqualified!

Nigerians blame GEJ for everything but the truth is the problems started a very long time ago.

How can a president elected in 1999, on discovering a Nigerian Scientist based in the US had made ground breaking medial discovery derailed the entire project via offering him a job as Inec chairman. I suppose Nigeria don't do medical research or the position of health minister was obsolete.

GEJ is the best thing to happen to Nigeria, no GEJ no more Nigeria. GEJ till 2019.

dontjealousme:

10gbosa... Someone that has a brain. Sir u a rare in nairaland
.

Thank you sir!!!!

e[size=15pt]BOLA[/size] and b[size=15pt]KOLA[/size]

Yoruba ..... just kidding

saintneo: e[size=15pt]BOLA[/size] and b[size=15pt]KOLA[/size]
Yoruba ..... just kidding

hahhahah! funny! maybe dat is why SW was a choice location to enter Nigeria for Patrick.

This is wat the Minister had to say about Maurice Iwu.


[b]Now, what about Professor Maurice Iwu’s thesis regarding bitter kola and Ebola?
One of the things we decided to focus on by setting up that committee is to streamline claims of possible scientific cure, not a situation where pastors and imams claim they can cure Ebola. We might even go to the extent of making laws to arrest people with such bogus claims. We would take every suggestion seriously. About Professor Iwu, we know that quite a number of Nigerians accessed his article through the internet.

What Professor Iwu and his research team proved in America is that in the laboratory test-tube – not in an animal or a human being – bitter kola extract was able to hinder the growth of Ebola virus, that it was able to slow it down or kill it. That research was not concluded according to Professor Iwu himself and he says he is disappointed that the research was not taken to its logical conclusion.

We need now to work with him and that is why we need him. He is a distinguished world renowned professor of pharmacognosy; and he is someone we value in this country because of his professionalism and working with others; we would be able to put all ideas to the test and see how far we go.
This is a serious business.[/b]