Editorial
Containing Monkey Pox Spread
Palpable fear and tension appear to have gripped Nigerians following the reported outbreak of Monkey Pox virus in the country. Consequently, no fewer than 31 cases have been reported since the virus first manifested in an 11-year-old boy in Bayelsa State, last month. With such a claim, panic inadvertently gripped the populace as reports indicate that the virus has spread in at least, eight states.
Confirming the outbreak of the disease, the Bayelsa State Government disclosed that 11 persons including a medical doctor were quarantined in a health centre at the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri in the State. The authorities explained that it took the action in congnisance of scientific report from the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control and Epidemological Unit of the State’s Ministry of Health.
Since the outbreak of the disease in Bayelsa State, similar reports have also been heard in some other states of the federation, including Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Anambra, Lagos, Enugu, Ekiti, Ogun, among others.
Responding to the urgency to contain the epidemic, the Senate urged the Federal Ministry of Health, State governments, local governments and community-based organisations to be proactive through sustained enlightenment of citizens on measures to take to reduce exposure to the virus.
Similarly, the House of Representatives penultimate Tuesday summoned the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole over the issue. Adopting a motion sponsored by Diri Duoye at plenary presided over by Speaker Yakubu Dogara in Abuja, the lawmakers mandated the House Committee on Health to probe the outbreak and report back next week for further legislative action.
On his part, the British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Lanre Beaufils said the British Government would support the Federal Government in its efforts to curb the spread of the disease in the country. “This outbreak is a very serious concern and the British Government is in support of the Government of Nigeria in addressing health, education and basic services in general and to ensure that the health of the population grows from strength to strength”, Beaufils said.
The Tide joins the National Assembly and other stakeholders to urge the Federal Government to take urgent measures to contain the disease from spreading further to other parts of the country. The case of Monkey Pox must not be handled with the lackadaisical attitude the present administration approached the meningitis epidemic which claimed the lives of over 3,000 Nigerians. The same commitment demonstrated by the Jonathan’s administration to checkmate the Ebola virus outbreak should be adopted to handle the Monkey Pox virus.
There is no gain saying the fact that the outbreak of Monkey Pox has added to the mountain of cases of diseases that have caused serious threat to the lives of Nigerians and exposed the Federal Government’s inability to provide adequate healthcare services that have the capacity to prevent the occurrence and spread of viruses such as this.
However, while we commend the Federal Ministry of Health for sending the samples of the virus to WHO’s laboratory in Dakar, Senegal for confirmation, we agree no less with stakeholders that the Monkey Pox outbreak is a wake-up call for government to establish quality laboratories for active medical surveillance and rapid case detection to contain the spread.
We note that the limited number of modern health laboratories in the country has left Nigerians at the mercy of other countries whenever there is an outbreak of diseases such as hemorrhagic fever, meningitis and other infectious diseases. Also, the globe trotting by Nigerians in search of laboratories at this time of our history is embarrassing.
We, therefore, hold that the British Government’s offer to assist in monitoring the situation closely with the World Health Organisation (WHO) through the Department for International Development where about 400 million pounds is provided as aids to Nigeria every year in support of poverty reduction, health and education, is a welcome development and should be embraced by the government.
It is, indeed, regrettable that the country has been battling for years to eradicate common ailments like Malaria, Polio, Measles, Meningitis, among others, as it would not augur well for the citizenry, if further ailments are added to the endless list of afflictions ravaging and plaguing the country.
Indeed, experts are agreed that preventive rather than curative measures are better in combating ailments, and this must be the case with the country’s healthcare delivery system. This is because adopting this policy would go a long way to not only saving lives but also saving scarce resources. Thus, the federal health authorities must handle the Monkey Pox disease with dispatch.
We also urge that the sensitisation of the citizenry on the need to adopt all the necessary preventive health measures including washing of their hands often, and avoiding contacts with animals in order to curb the spread and contain human casualties must not be compromised. Urgent step must be taken to combat the Monkey Pox virus before it becomes a national calamity.