Following the recent confirmation of Lassa Fever outbreak in neighboring Delta State, the Anambra State Government on Sunday said there is no cause for alarm for residents of the state, as there is an effective disease management system on the ground to handle such emergencies when they occur.
Last week, the Delta State Ministry of Health raised alarm over Lassa Fever outbreak in Oshimili North Local Government, a development that created fear among the Anambra populace, due to the proximity of communities of both states and the free movement to and from both states.
TNC correspondent however took the matter to the Anambra State Commissioner for Health, Dr Afam Obidike, who said although the state is endemic to Lassa Fever, there is nothing to worry about.
“We are not only battling Lassa fever but also many other diseases because Anambra people are widely traveled.
“When monkey pox came, Anambra suffered it more than Lagos State but there was no mortality associated with it.
“Why was that so? When we came on board, we developed what we called the Disease Surveillance System.
“Every day, we know the disease reports in the state. We have what we call the Disease Emergency Preparedness Unit in our epidemiology unit. This is in all the local governments. They report every single disease every day.
“And the ones they report, we have our system in place already to tackle them.
“Our Disease Surveillance Unit is the best in the Southeast because we have strengthened the unit. This is verifiable with the World Health Organization, WHO,” he said.
Obidike insisted that the neighbouring state was making a noise about the Lassa Fever challenge because they either not endemic or they do not have strong system in place to address such emergencies.
“We have Lassa Fever because our people live in an environment that makes them vulnerable to such diseases.
“For Delta State to have just two cases and start shouting, it means they are not endemic.
“But Anambra is endemic especially the Anambra North axis, because they use old methods of food preservation where they dry foods outside and expose them to animals that transmit Lassa Fever.
“It is only when you don’t have a system that takes care of such challenges that you start shouting when you notice few cases.
“But when you have a system that works, you address the challenges when they come. That is what we have done in Anambra,” he noted.
The Commissioner also said the state government, on the other hand, is pushing out advisories on the ways to prevent Lassa Fever because that is the way to go.
“These diseases,” he said, “are not gotten from just anywhere. There are ways they are transmitted.
If you follow the procedures- covering what you are eating from rats and other rodents, cooking your foods to a certain temperature, and proper storage, there is no way you will get infected.”
Obidike said as part of a comprehensive health reform effort, the Anambra State Government has commenced automation of the State Health Systems.
He said; “We have done the pilot phase and some Primary Health Centres, PHCs are now under the Electronic Medical Record and other General Hospitals too.
“But we want to make it wholistic.”
The Commissioner while noting that most of the Health initiatives of the Chukwuma Soludo administration are targeted at helping the poor, said that is why they are facing stiff resistance from the Officers-in-Charge.
“This is rightly so because these people-centric policies have made it impossible for the OICs to exploit the poor masses.
“When the State Government introduced the free child delivery services, the OICs fought it vehemently because the era of them collecting money from patients is gone. Also, the era of them referring patients to their private hospitals for Caesarean Section and after they would give them kick-back is gone.
“But the government insisted because it is focused on helping the poor and disadvantaged break even,” he said.
Stressing that the government cannot ensure 100% implementation of such policies at a go, the Commissioner said it is a gradual process and the people must also provide the government with information on their experiences at the health centers.
“We have made our numbers pasted everywhere at the health centers for patients to call whenever they feel they are extorted unduly.
“And we have also pasted the cost of treatments so that the patients know when they are exploited,” he said.
