The Ngeria Centre for Disease Control(NCDC) says it has begun a nationwide training of healthcare workers on case management, laboratory diagnosis, prevention and control of Lassa fever.
The Chief Executive Officer of the centre, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, made the announcement on Saturday during a press briefing on Lassa fever in Abuja.
Ihekweazu said that after the training, officers would be held accountable for the response and management of subsequent lassa fever outbreaks in their respective states.
”By the end of the training across the country, we hope to have build the capacity of frontline clinical, laboratory and public health workers on case management, laboratory diagnosis, prevention and control of Lassa fever.
”We are working to improve the knowledge and skills of surveillance officers and healthcare workers for effective response, we will be in the south-east Nigeria by May 22 and subsequently complete all zones in Nigeria,” he said.
According to Ihekweazu, the Ebola group have been reactivated and meeting with all responsible organisations are ongoing.
”The good thing about the out break in Congo is that we now have vaccine for Ebola so combating it will be easy and in case of an outbreak in Nigeria, we are fully prepared and we want Nigeria to remain calm,” he added.
He however called for more funding to tackle outbreak of diseases in Nigeria.
The Chief Medical Director, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Prof. Sylvanus Okogbenin, said that during the outbreak, nearly 85 per cent of confirmed case were from Edo, Ondo and Ebonyi state.
Okogbenin noted that the Institute of Lassa Fever Research and Control in the hospital managed the largest burden of Lassa fever cases in Nigeria and globally.
He further said that the hospital had set up collaboration with NCDC to implement a nationwide training of health workers on Lassa fever clinical diagnosis and management.(NAN)
