Critical stakeholders on disease control have met with Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN in Akure on the effective check of lassa fever in parts of the state.
Addressing the meeting, Governor Akeredolu directed Chairmen of Local Government Councils to acquire land distant from city centres to be used as dump sites.
“Your environment must be made clean and dump sites should no longer be in the cities”, he said.
The governor who called for collaborative efforts to combat the deadly scourge of Lassa Fever through intense sensitization on environmental cleanness and hygienic living urged the residents of the state to report any suspicious case to the nearest hospital.
Governor Akeredolu urged the Council helmsmen to appropriately deploy their workers into contact tracing and surveillance so as to checkmate the spread of Lassa Fever in the state.
“Lassa Fever is a serious challenge, you therefore need to sacrifice to make people live . You must get your personnel properly deployed for contact tracing and surveillance”, he said
Earlier, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr Wahab Adegbenro informed that Lassa Fever is transmittable virus by a type of rat called multimammate rat, also known as Mastomys Natalensis which breeds in dirty environments.
Dr Adegbenro said though the treatment of Lassa Fever is free of any cost to affected persons at the Lassa Fever Treatment Centre at the Federal Medical Centre Owo courtesy of Ondo State Government advised that any feeling of malaria should be reported to the hospitals on time.
In his own intervention at the meeting, an official of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control from Abuja Dr Yahaya Disu appreciated the demonstrated concern of the Ondo State Governor and pleaded with Chairmen of Councils to support the fight against Lassa Fever across towns and villages in the state.
Dr Disu said in view of the fact that Lassa Fever has socioeconomic implications on the wellbeing of the people,all hands must be on deck to frontally confront the disease with uttermost priority.
The NCDC official who described as enormous the cost of treating Lassa Fever put at #300,000:00 per person for early response and a complicated case at #2,000,000:00, said the resources should ordinarily be used for the development of other sectors.
Responding on behalf of his colleagues, the Chairman of Ifedore Local Government who is also the ALGON Chairman in the State, Engr. Alex Oladimeji promised to deploy all human and material resources at making Ondo State free of Lassa Fever.
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