The Nigerian Medical Association on Monday faulted the
Federal Government’s directive to schools to resume on
September 22 as against October 12.
It said through its National Secretary-General, Dr. Olawunmi
Alayaki, that all schools ought to remain shut till all those
under surveillance for the Ebola Virus Disease in the country
had been certified free.
“We are not happy with this decision on the resumption of
schools. Schools should be shut till the last suspected case
or patient is certified free of the virus,” the NMA said.
Before the association made this known the Rivers State
Commissioner for Health, Dr. Sampson Parker, had disclosed
that an 18 month-old baby had been quarantined in the state
for showing symptoms of the deadly virus.
The NMA suggested that the resumption of schools could be
shifted till December or early part of next year because if
Ebola should spread to any school, it would “assume another
dimension.”
It said, “ We can shift the resumption date till next year or in
the next three months if that is the time it will take.
Government should have enough time to follow the standard
procedure for containing the virus.
“Parents have no reason to be in a hurry because if Ebola
should enter any school, it will assume another dimension.
Children cannot survive isolation like adults.
“Nigeria is peculiar because of her large population and we
should be pragmatic and proactive. It will not augur well for
the country if we have another outbreak due to carelessness.”
Also, the Lagos State chapter of NMA said that the Federal
Government should have postponed the resumption date till
the completion of surveillance and monitoring of contacts in
the affected states.
It said through its chairman, Dr. Tope Ojo, that many of the
public and private schools in the country lacked basic
hygiene and sanitary facilities that could help prevent the
spread of the EVD by pupils.
It stated, “It would not have cost the Federal Government
anything to have waited till those under surveillance have
completed the 21 days in all the states where they are being
monitored.
“The government knows that it takes a longer time for
children to get used to the idea of hygiene and sanitation.
They are even more vulnerable because they would play with
each other whether they are sick or not.
“How many children know that they should use hand
sanitisers or avoid contact with anybody that has fever?
“Waiting till October when at least the situations in Rivers and
Lagos states would have been conclusively managed is
another safety measure the government should have taken .
These kids are not studying to get a degree, so we are sure it
would not have affected schools’ curricula.”
Also the immediate president of the NMA, Dr. Osahon
Enabulele, expressed concern about the September 22
resumption date, wondered about the safety parameters
government used in fixing the date.
Enabulele said that the grouse of many parents with the
resumption date stemmed from the fact that they were not
convinced that schools had met the safety standards for the
prevention of Ebola.
He added that if the government was bent on schools
adhering to the date, it should begin now to check the
sanitary facilities put in place by their proprietors to ensure
the safety of pupils.
Enabulele said, “We must know the parameters that the
Federal Government used to arrive at the resumption date in
the first place. Has the Federal Government carried out a
safety assessment in registered schools in the country? There
should be a checklist and only those who meet it should be
certified fit to reopen.
“The minimum standard is that all schools should have a
dispensary, a sick bay where sick children, especially those
with fever, are properly managed and tested.”
Saying that he knew that such facilities were not available in
many schools, he asked: So, why the rush for their
resumption?”
Also, a consultant paediatrician with the Lagos University
Teaching Hospital, Idi- Araba, Prof. Edamisan Temiye, called
on the three tiers of government to ensure that schools had
access to water on their premises.
The former Lagos NMA chairman, also warned parents not to
force sick children to go to school as this could expose them
to infections.
Temiye said, “Governments must ensure that clean water
flows on schools’ premises so that children can wash their
hands regularly. Water is important for sanitation and it is the
duty of government to ensure that citizens have access to it.
“Also, parents should take sick children to hospital. Don’t give
them drugs and force them to go to school. Ebola can only be
caught from a sick person. School authorities should watch
out for and isolate sick children from others.
“Again school owners should give hand sanitisers to their
pupils before allowing them into their premises. They should
also have thermal thermometers to check the temperatures of
their pupils before allowing them into their school premises.”
The Minister of Health had before the doctors spoke with one
of our correspondents in Lagos, said that there was nothing
to fear over the directive to schools to resume on September
22.
Chukwu, who gave an update of EVD in Nigeria, said, “We
have contained the situation. Ebola is no longer in the streets
anywhere in Nigeria.
“We are working with the Federal Ministry of Education and
we made it clear that in institutions having students returning
from outside Nigeria, they should let us know.
“We will work with them and we have questionnaires which
we are already using on airlines and ships coming into
Nigeria as well as other means of transport. They will fill
questionnaires. We will ask questions and conduct tests to
see that they don’t have fever.”
The minister also revealed that a fiancé of one of Patrick
Sawyer’s contacts who was confirmed positive for EVD had
since recovered.
He added, “So far, all the cases that have been confirmed in
Nigeria are traceable to the index case (Sawyer). As of this
(Monday) morning, the total number of confirmed cases of
EVD in Nigeria is 19. Fifteen were in Lagos and four in
Port Harcourt.
“The 19th case is the fiancé of one of the primary contacts of
Mr. Sawyer who died of the disease. The test results were
equivocal but further tests established the disease. He had
only mild symptoms and he has since recovered from the
illness. He was quarantined but because of the equivocal test
result he was not placed on active treatment.
“The total number of deaths from EVD in Nigeria stands at
seven . Five of them died in Lagos, one in a private hospital,
the index case, and the other four in the isolation ward in
Lagos State.
“Two of the seven died in Port Harcourt, the medical doctor
who died in a private hospital and the contact, a patient in the
hospital at the time the doctor was also on admission, who
died in the isolation ward in Rivers State.”
According to him, the total number of patients who have been
successfully managed and discharged stands at nine.
He added that the latest was the sister (Chinyere) of the late
Port Harcourt doctor who was discharged from the isolation
ward in Rivers State on Sunday.
“It should be noted that the nine patients successfully
managed and discharged are among the total number of 11
survivors of EVD in Nigeria. At the moment, only one person,
the wife of the late Port Harcourt doctor, is on treatment at
the isolation ward in Lagos.
“She no longer has any symptoms and is undergoing a series
of tests preparatory to her discharge from the isolation ward
this week.
“Regarding contacts currently under surveillance, Lagos has
27 contacts surveillance as of now. A total of 339 contacts
who were previously on surveillance have been discharged
having completed the 21 days of observation. Port Harcourt
has 477 contacts under surveillance. It is a mixed group
consisting of tertiary and quaternary contacts of Sawyer.
Five contacts have already been discharged from surveillance
in Port Harcourt having completed the 21 days of
observation.”
In Port Harcourt, the Health commissioner, Parker, also
confirmed that Chinyere had been discharged. But as
journalists expressed joy over Chinyere’s recovery, he
announced that an 18 month-old baby, who showed
symptoms of Ebola had been quarantined for observation.
The commissioner however did not provide further
information as he returned to Chinyere’s recovery and
discharge.
“I am cheerful today because we have successfully treated an
Ebola patient. She (Chinyere) has been effectively treated,
cleared and discharged from our isolation treatment centre.
She deserves to be celebrated as a success story,” he said.
Parker, who explained that the state government had
reached about 479 contacts, said, “I can assure you that the
disease has been covered. People should not cause panic.
The number of deaths from Ebola is lower than deaths from
road accidents.”

Source: Punch

Human lives is not cherished in this country and that is the fact

When I saw the new resumptiom date as 22nd sept, that was when I knew that our health minister and most of our top govt officals are actually heartless! what is a term compared to the lives of thousands of kids? Another sure proof of our over hyping of education even when its obvious that its taking us nowhere!

Government should learn to be firm when taking decisions. I strongly believe they changed their minds after opposition and private individuals who own schools and perhaps, are servicing loan facilities with school fees put pressure on them. Children may be more prone in this situation and given the level of hygiene we see in both public and private schools today, I think it would have been better to keep the schools closed.