From Umar Dankano, Yola
The management of the Federal Medical Centre Yola has officially disclosed that the hospital has not recorded any patient as a result of the recent outbreak of Ebola Virus in some parts of the country as being speculated in Adamawa state.
The Chief Medical Director of the Centre (FMC, Yola), Dr. Aliyu Danburam, made the development known during an interactive session with members of correspondents’ chapel at his office in Yola yesterday, saying in the interim, the management has set up a committee aimed at serving as the rapid response team to monitor victims with the Virus.
Dr. Danburam also disclosed that the committee is also saddled with the responsibility of identifying group of medical staff that would handle such cases in the event it occurs.
Already, he says, the FMC has procured protective dresses for that purpose and liaising with the media for awareness campaigns. “We are also liaising with the supervising ministry so that chances are not taken”, he stated Responding to a question on the widely use of salty water as a preventive measure against the Ebola Virus which happened some days back, Danburam said it was just the imagination of people.
Says the Director, “if Nigerians can be that alert on Ebola and report such things like the insurgency we are having, then things would have been better”.
Speaking further, he disclosed that there were no victims of the salt bath in his hospital but that is not to say that people with high blood pressure haven’t felt the effect and their BP upped.
On the effect of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) strike action, Dr. Danburam called for a truce, appealed to the striking Medical Doctors and the government to reach an accord by going back to the round table and talk.
“You see, the earlier they talk, the better”. He said.
He disclosed that there are twenty six patients left in the hospital including one soldier injured while in a fight against insurgents despite the on-going strike.
According to him, “we have had to receive patients from elsewhere and we had no choice but to put in more stamina to cope”.
