Minister of Health, Dr Ehanire flanked at the bi-monthly press briefing of the Ministry of Health in Abuja. Photo: Emmanuel Kutara
Nigeria has so far recorded 120 deaths from Lassa fever since the beginning of the 2022.
Director-General, Nigeria Center for the Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Ifedayo Adetifa who stated this at the bi-monthly press briefing of the Ministry of Health in Abuja urged Nigerians not to relent in being cautious of Covid-19 despite a seeming decline in case fatalities and the review of the travel restrictions.
“As at last week, we had 659 confirmed cases of Lassa fever in over 23 states and sadly with a case fatality rate of 19%, which is about 120 deaths so far. We also recorded about 2 cases and further deaths in healthcare workers which continues to be a form of distress to the response team,” Dr Adetifa said.
Executive Secretary, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, represented by a Director in the Agency, Dr Nneka Onu who gave an update on the vaccine drive, said there are over 28 million vaccine stock balance in the reserves.
She noted that the Primary healthcare summit held last week has started yielding positive results as most private sector organisations had began to respond to their commitments.
For the Coordinator, National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme (NTBLCP), Dr Chukwuma Anyeike, there was need to increase investment on the diagnostics platform to improve case findings.
On improving manpower in the health sector, the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, announced a new department of Public Private Partnership Diaspora Unit, headed by Lawal Bala to oversee the knowledge and skill repatriation from Nigerian medical practitioners abroad.
Reporting by Emmanuel Kutara; editing by Muzha Kucha