Health care facilities around the nation are being ordered by the federal government to take precautions against the potential spread of the Ebola virus disease (EVD), including bolstering their isolation centers and stocking up on protective gear and medical supplies.
This was revealed in an interview with newsmen by Dr. Yunus Mohammed Eze, who is the Deputy Head of Clinical Services at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) in Birnin Kudu, Jigawa State.
As he explained it, the Federal Ministry of Health had issued an order mandating that hospitals implement emergency response protocols to handle suspected cases of Ebola as soon as they were diagnosed.
The Federal Government, through the Ministry of Health, communicated with health facilities across the country and directed them to prepare their isolation units and ensure that everything required to protect healthcare workers and manage affected patients was available,” he said.
“We received the directive, and the management immediately swung into action.” He added that FMC Birnin Kudu had strengthened its isolation unit and placed healthcare workers on alert in compliance with the directive. We have reinforced our isolation unit and are ready to separate any patient with suspicious symptoms and send them to the appropriate authorities if needed.
Whenever it was deemed appropriate, he elaborated, the hospital has also established protocols to transfer proven or suspected cases to certain treatment centers.
Eze, who was speaking about public awareness, stated that the hospital’s Infectious Diseases Unit and Community Medicine Unit had ramped up health education to make people more aware of infectious diseases and how to prevent them.
Moreover, he mentioned that the hospital was working with the Jigawa State Media Corporation to disseminate information on the significance of early case reporting and disease prevention to the general population.
According to the medical expert, healthcare providers often teach patients and visitors about important health information and encourage them to spread the word to their loved ones and neighbours.