Health is a critical aspect of life. Without good health, there will be no workforce, no productivity and population diminishes. Hence, the health and wellness of any society reflects in its thriving state. Nigeria cannot be said to be booming following the ravaging Lassa virus, gradually spreading across states in the federation 
Although, not a first time occurrence, the virus which is predominant during the dry season broke out few weeks ago and has recorded over 200 cases and about 29 deaths.
What is however alarming is our drive towards ensuring that similar cases no longer occur, even though it is less deadly than the Ebola virus that shook the country in 2014. The aggressive mechanism adopted in ensuring that the disease was properly contained and eradicated shows that when we put our minds to work, we achieve results.
However the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) activated a National Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on the 24th of January, to respond and contain the spread. This move is rather slow and reactive to this virus that has gradually become a recurring phenomenon.
A quick reminder of what Lassa fever is about. Lassa fever is a viral haemorrhagic fever and belongs to the same family as the Ebola and Marburg viruses but is much less deadly. The disease is endemic to West African countries and its name comes from the town of Lassa in northern Nigeria where it was first identified in 1969.
Previously, cases of the disease have been reported in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Togo and Benin – where it killed at least 9 people in 2016. The virus is transmitted to humans from contact with food or household items contaminated with rodent faeces or urine. The disease is endemic in the rodent population in parts of West Africa.
The virus, which has an incubation period of between six to 21 days, can also be transmitted through contact with an infected person via bodily fluids and excretions: blood, urine, saliva, sperm, vomit, faeces.
Symptoms of Lassa fever is asymptomatic in 80 percent of cases but for some, it can cause fever, physical fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, headaches, abdominal pains or sore throat. Swelling of the neck or face can sometimes be observed.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the antiviral drug ribavirin appears to be an effective treatment for Lassa fever “if given early on in the course of the clinical illness”.
Unfortunately, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with over 200 million people, has five laboratories with the capability to diagnose Lassa fever. The number of Lassa fever infections across West Africa every year is between 100,000 to 300,000, with about 5,000 deaths, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Last year, the disease claimed more than 160 lives in Nigeria. The number of cases usually climbs in January due to weather conditions during the dry season. This means that our proactive guard should be on.
Government health agencies should work in collaboration with private organisations to achieve maximum results. We should also intensify our efforts in engaging medical practitioners and trained healthcare experts, thereby expanding the nation’s budget to cater for these ‘life savers’.
Most importantly is taking personal hygiene more seriously. This is not dependent on whether one is rich or poor, simply hand washing hygiene is key to eliminating these viral infections.
Nigeria, as a populous nation has about 90 million people – roughly half Nigeria’s population – live in extreme poverty, according to estimates from the World Data Lab’s Poverty Clock. Around June 2018, Nigeria overtook India, a country with seven times its population, at the bottom of the table. Put in another context, if poor Nigerians were a country it would be more populous than Germany. Almost six people in Nigeria fall into this trap every minute.
It is our vision that concerned stakeholders and policymakers can assist in the efforts to achieve the first of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – to end poverty, hence food, shelter and more especially healthcare which are basic necessities will receive adequate attention.
