Obaseki’s Efforts to Rein in Lassa Fever in Edo

One. Two. Three. The news came in small drops. Reports of high fever, deaths and mourning and then more deaths. Lassa Fever, a tropical disease that originated from Lassa, Borno State, had resurfaced.

Deaths from the disease grew in numbers, jolting Nigerians by the day. From Ebonyi to Nassarawa to Kogi, cases of infection and deaths spread. In Edo State, it was a peculiar case.

The sleepy town of Irrua, which hosts the Irrua Specialist Hospital, where the Institute of Lassa Fever Research and Control is domiciled, may have witnessed outbreaks of the disease in the past, but this year’s case proved to be different.

Records show that every year, Nigeria records at least 100 Lassa Fever cases, which often makes the institute at Irrua a Mecca of sort, as it is the only available centre for management of the ailment in West Africa.

But this year, in January alone, over 80 cases were recorded in the center and the number of deaths was mounting across the country.

A public health emergency was upon the people and the center became a beehive of activities. The people in the state – being the go-to place for sufferers of the disease – became scared, most panicked, waiting for help from the scourge that now afflicts them.

It became a challenge of who should bear the burden. The Irrua institute was overburdened, a number of the equipment had gone bad; worse still, the borehole in the facility had gone under: no water.

It was no longer a matter of responding to the emergency, it was a case of how quick can the authorities get a hang of the situation and deploy human and material resources to curb the spread.

When he got wind of that the outbreak had spilled to Edo State, Governor Godwin Obaseki was one not to pass the bulk or dillydally.

He immediately summoned an emergency executive council meeting and called in everyone in his cabinet, who is remotely connected with ensuring that the spread is checked in the state.

At the meeting, an in-depth situation analysis of the outbreak was undertaken, detailing the state’s preparedness to confront health emergencies, availability of human and materials at the Institute of Lassa Fever Research and Control and existence of a mechanism to drive enlightenment campaigns.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr David Osifo, who was mandated to report on the state of preparedness of the institute at Irrua came back with a gloomy verdict.

He reported that much as the Institute had requisite manpower to contain the outbreak, critical equipment and resources had gone bad.

It was gathered that the borehole facility at the center was faulty, and of the two dialysis machines available, one was non-functional. The fever puts a lot of pressure on the lungs, hence there was need for a ventilator, but the Institute didn’t have such a machine.

After the EXCO meeting, a marshall plan was rolled out. The state government released N100m as first tranche fund release to contain the outbreak and reactivated its rapid response team and commenced contact tracing for confirmed cases of the disease. Its officials were working closely with the Lassa Fever Institute, Irrua, and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for case management and disease surveillance.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr. David Osifo, speaking after the meeting, said that the prevention and control of Lassa Fever in the state was multi-sectoral “involving the Ministries of Health, Environment, Agriculture, Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and Information, who are working together to put measures in place that will stop the further spread of the current outbreak.”

According to him, “Edo State and some other parts of the country are currently experiencing the outbreak of Lassa Fever with significant proportion of the Local Government Areas in Edo Central and Edo North senatorial districts of the state already involved in the outbreak while the others are at risk of being affected.”

He cautioned residents in the state to keep their environment clean, eliminate rats from homes and communities, avoid bush burning that can drive rats into homes, protect their food stuffs and wash their hands properly and regularly. The approach was quite methodological. According to him, the measures taken to stem the spread include: “awareness and sensitisation campaign reactivated with the Ministry of Information and deployment of radio and television jingles on Edo Broadcasting Services radio and television; written letters to all the 18 Local Government Areas to intensify mass awareness creation and sensitisation; reactivation of the state rapid response team and the commenced tracing of all contacts with confirmed cases, among others.”

He said all cases of Lassa Fever in the state are treated in specialised centres, chief among which is the Institute of Lassa Fever Research and Control in Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, which was established to treat Lassa Fever cases.

An aggressive market storm was also activated. Information, Educational and Communication (IEC) materials were prepared and circulated in markets, with a team of canvassers who went to Oka, Ikpoba Hill and others in the Benin metropolis to sensitise the people on the spread of the disease and preventive measures to adopt. Similar campaigns were launched in the Edo North and Central axis of the state, where the incidence of the outbreak was high.

Two days after the release of the funds and a marching order was given for the purchase of the equipment, two dialysis machines and a ventilator were procured and installed, the borehole at the centre was fixed and Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) were available.

This drastically led to the drop of infections, such that less than 10 cases were recorded by the second week of February, and the center was better prepared to check the spread.

At the recent emergency National Council of Health meeting, Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, commended the rapid response of Governor Godwin Obaseki to the Lassa Fever outbreak, noting that the state showed greater level of preparedness.

Commenting on the performance of states in curbing the outbreak, he said, “Edo State Government is a good example and other states should emulate them.”