•  Dappa Maharajah

SEQUEL to the recent outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Democrat Republic of Congo (DRC), the Executive Director of Guaranteed Healthcare Foundation (GHCF), Dr Dayo Adeyanju, has urged the Federal Government to look beyond surveillance to curtail its spread into the country.
He, however, lauded the step taken by the Federal Government, which recognized that Ebola is in the neighbouring country and took the step of calling for surveillance such that any outbreak that is found can be tackled.
But Adeyanju, while speaking with The Guardian in Akure yesterday on how such outbreak can be effectively forestalled, identified some loopholes in the momentous approaches employed to fight disease outbreaks by the FG.
“I think is more important is the fact that the FG must recognize that we are already at what they call Incidence Level One, meaning that when Ebola is in our neighbourhood, but it hasn’t got to us, it has the propensity and tendency because of movement and migration.”

The GHCF boss said the surveillance approach at tackling the deadly disease could be scaled up, urging the FG to convoke an Ebola Outbreak Control meeting among the 36 states of the federation; and include other stakeholders.
“It is very imperative that this is the time to really call an emergency on Ebola Outbreak Control meeting where we now ascertain the level of readiness of the state because when outbreak is going to occur, it doesn’t occur at the central.”
“It starts from the states, the borders, the local government and grassroot levels. So, one will expect that the state should be covered, they should interface with them to find out how ready are they.
“What have they got in terms of personnel, in terms of consumables, in terms of infrastructure to be able to contain any outbreak. We will now see how the partners can link us up; the FG can support, and of course, what the state government has got on ground.

“All of these are things that should be happening now. Nobody prays for an outbreak, but it will make all of us comfortable if we are hearing things like this like the sound much articulated Boy Scout Spirit in the health sector,” he said.

Adeyanju, who is also a consultant to Realistic Health Care Revolution (REHCARE), warned that an outbreak in Nigeria could be very devastating because of the population, expressing fears over the upcoming friendly football match in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“I am not worried about those who are going to play the football because those ones can be considerably taken care of. But what about those who are leaving here to watch the friendly match? We have no control over that and what they bring back.
“As a result of that, I think this should make us sit up and begin to be more proactive beyond surveillance,” he said.

He mentioned that if Lagos State had not taken precautionary measures and not up to the task during the late Patrick Sawyer outbreak in 2014, “we wouldn’t be saying the same story now. What baffles me most is that we always fail as a people to learn from experience.”
The immediate past Commissioner for Health in Ondo State and advocate of ‘Boy Scout Spirit’ in the health sector, Adeyanju, decried the momentous approach embarked upon by government at all levels to combat virulent outbreaks in the country; referring to the Lassa Fever malaise too.
“It is a very bad way of managing disease outbreak. It shows we don’t have a system; and I must say very quickly that it is high time that the nation developed a strong and viable system. I think that has been the reason for the efforts to strengthen the CDC.”

“But what I love to see more is the outbreak control meeting. The CDC at all times must have prepared the states to be ready so that they will just give their helping hands in terms of emergency, not that each time there is an outbreak they now call a meeting.
He stressed that the CDC and FG should embark on widespread advocacy and sensitization of the states and other stakeholders “so that others too can show their own concerns and join in whatever they are doing.
“This is the better way of doing it rather than waiting for when there is an outbreak or perhaps at incidence level four before they begin to act. The Federal must be more proactive,” he said.
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Akingboye Joseph Oluwaseun