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Ebola: Nigeria Declares Emergency On Hand Washing
Nigeria’s Minister of water resources, Mrs Sarah Ochepke Monday urged Nigerians nationwide to maintain clean hygiene by frequently washing hands in a bid to stop the spread of deadly Ebola Virus.
Nigeria has 12 confirmed cases of the Ebola virus, up from 10 at last week’s count, of which five have almost fully recovered, the Health Ministry said on Monday. It added in a statement that 189 people in Lagos and six others in the southeastern city of Enugu were under surveillance. The death toll remains four, it said.
But as fears grows over the epidemic, Minister Ochepke who flagged off the National Emergency hand washing campaign to prevent the spread of Ebola at Jabi park Abuja asked motorist to enlighten commuters on the need to always wash their hands.
The Ebola virus has killed more than 1,000 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia since the outbreak began in March, and four people have died in Nigeria since it was brought to Lagos by a Liberian man on July 20.
Speaking in pidgin, the water resources Minister said since the outbreak of the deadly virus brought to Nigeria by Liberian Patrick Sawyer, the Minsiter and President of the Federal Republic have been worried.
She asked motorist not to assume that black men don’t die of diseases hence the continuous non-chalant in hygiene as Ebola for now has no cure . She however promised the management of the park to provide a borehole for the their use as they had earlier complained of poor water in the motor park.
Fighting the disease in Nigeria is complicated by the fact that doctors are on nationwide strike. The ministry of health sacked 16,000 doctors on Thursday after they refused to end their strike in the midst of an Ebola epidemic.
The representatives of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW who addressed members in the major Nigerian Languages, Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba promised to sensitize members about the need to maintain healthy hygiene.
The union members promised to assist government to stop the spread of the dreaded Ebola disease.
The minister then moved the sensitization train to the busy Wuse Market Abuja where she asked Nigerians to take the issue of hand washing seriously. Highpoint of the event was the hand washing exercise, [pictured above] by the minister and and members of Nigeria’s road transport workers.
