Lassa fever: NDDC donates protective kits, drugs to Delta

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has donated Lassa fever protective kits and drugs to support the Delta state government in its efforts to check the menace of the disease in the state.

Presenting the medical kits and drugs to the state government at the Ministry of Health in Asaba, the NDDC acting Managing Director, Dr. Joi Nunieh, said the commission is concerned about the outbreak of Lassa fever in the region.

Dr. Nunieh, who was represented by the NDDC Director, Health, Education and Social Services, Peter Edieya, said the commission is concerned about the well-being and healthcare of the people of the Niger Delta.

She said: “The recent outbreak of Lassa fever compels our intervention because our people must be healthy to enjoy the development we bring.

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“We must therefore, continue to promote good community hygiene, discourage invasion of rodents into our homes, and introduce effective measures, which include storing grains and other foodstuffs in covered containers.”

The NDDC boss emphasized the need for public enlightenment campaigns to sensitize people about the Lassa fever scourge and educate them on how to check its spread, stressing that “we must begin to enlightenment of our people now.”

Receiving the medical kits and drugs on behalf of the Delta state government, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Mordi Ononye, thanked the NDDC for the intervention, which he said, came at the right time.

The commissioner confirmed the detection of two cases of Lassa fever in the state and regretted that one of the victims died, while the other patient, a youth corps member is responding to treatment.

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He affirmed that the state government has opened an isolation ward at the Federal Medical Centre in Asaba, where infected patients would be attended to instead of going to Irrua in Edo state.

Dr. Ononye declared the willingness of the state government to collaborate with the NDDC and other agencies to check the spread of the disease, adding that “we are hopeful that the health sector in the state will benefit a lot from the NDDC in the near future.”