Lagos government announces end of 5th COVID-19 wave

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, on Friday, said that the state had exited the fifth COVID-19 wave, noting that severe complications from the disease had ended.

Abayomi said this during the launch of a Lithotripsy Machine donated to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in Lagos on Friday. 

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control on July 8, in a public health advisory, warned of the onset of the fifth COVID-19 wave arising from increasing daily infections.

According to the commissioner, though COVID-19 infection is still present, many residents have developed immunity against the disease from natural infection or vaccination.

“Now that we’ve weaned ourselves out of the fifth COVID-19 wave, it’s still rumbling around, but most residents have enough immunity from natural infection or vaccination. 

“We are not seeing the severe complications of COVID-19 infection anymore,” Abayomi said.

He said that the Lithotripsy Machine, donated by Mr Idowu Obasa, would assist many patients who would have otherwise gone through painful and dangerous medical procedures.

He said that the donation made LASUTH the first Lithotripsy Machine recipient in Nigeria’s public health facilities.

According to him, Lithotripsy is a noninvasive (the skin is not pierced) procedure that uses shock waves or lasers to break down stones in the kidneys, bladder or ureters.

He explained that kidney stones occur when minerals and other substances in the urine crystallise in one’s kidneys, forming solid masses or stones too large to pass through the urinary tract.

He commended the donor, noting that the machine would further assist LASUTH in raising the standard of healthcare in the state and also the country. 

Obasa said he was inspired to purchase the machine when he heard about the equipment gap.

“In 2009, I used this machine in India for a procedure in a typical hospital, not private, not expensive and honestly it’s shameful that we have to go to India to get things that we ought to get here. 

“I’m a chronic Kidney disease patient, among other things. I’m one of the people that medical practitioners call, ‘with many underlying conditions’. 

“I’m like a chemist when I start using my drugs.

“I have been privileged to be attended to in so many hospitals all over the world and I want to say that our doctors are better qualified than most of the people we meet. 

“My experience in India inspired me and I said, why should India have these machines scattered all over the place and we don’t have any here?” Obasa said.

The lawmaker noted that adequate equipment was critical to quality healthcare service delivery and commended the state government for maintaining excellence in the health sector.

Also, Prof. Adetokunbo Fabamwo, Chief Medical Director, LASUTH, disclosed that the Lithotripsy Machine cost between N40 million and N50 million.

Fabamwo commended Obasa for the generous donation, saying that the machine that the hospital usually rented for procedure, got spoilt and that created gaps. 

He pledged to ensure proper and judicious use of the machine to promote citizen’s health.