Ebola: Spare a thought for health workers at risk

Ebola, the dreaded disease that has no known cure has come knocking on the door of the Nigerian nation and thus the dilapidated health system has no choice but to answer.


For years the Nigerian health system has been left to crumble into a state of disrepair as brain drain, corruption and the dearth of modern facilities has robbed the largest economy in Africa of a standard health system.

As Nigerians scamper to take pre-emptive measures as the fear of Ebola is deemed the beginning of wisdom, by stockpiling their households with Kola nut, Bitter Kola, and even Coca Cola as folklore spreads the myth that these remedies might stem the spread of this deadly virus. Others are avoiding shaking hands like the plague and some have abandoned their favorite bush meat delicacies for fear it spreads the virus while hand sanitizers are selling like hot cake.

Apprehension
In the midst of all the apprehension and commotion one should spare a thought for the young female doctor in an isolation ward in Lagos, alone and suffering beyond the rustic environments of the media frenzy. Her hopes and dreams are at a standstill as Ebola ravishes through her body. The mortality of a doctor is once again made bare as the frailty of the human species is placed on pedestal by an organism of minute proportions.

As the doctor lies in the isolation ward her thoughts are Legion.Did she take the virus home to her family and friends? What about her coworkers?

Is she going to live or die or is some miraculous cure going to materialize from the United States to curtail her sufferings?

And, alas, under this new threat, one must x-ray the state of Nigerian hospitals. Indeed most Government facilities are not equipped to handle such a crisis. Biohazard suits are nonexistent. Protocols for treatment and referral of Ebola cases are nowhere to be found. Test kits are in short supply. Even simple ancillaries like gloves and syringes are a premium in Nigerian hospitals.

And the current system obtainable in most Government Hospitals where patients are obliged to wander from one pay point to another in a bid to access care is only a harbinger of doom likely to precipitate the spread of the virus en-masse by a potential sufferer who is striving to access care.

Indeed providence has smiled on Nigeria for if not for the ongoing Doctors nationwide strike, it is highly likely that the Liberian Mr. Sawyer the first case of Ebola in Nigeria, would have been taken to one of the teaching hospitals and before one could say Jack Robinson scores of Doctors, Medical Students, Nurses and even Laboratory Scientists would have contracted the deadly disease with the exponential spread to their families, friends and other patients. Ebola is indeed the game changer for the Nigerian health sector whether the Government likes it or not and it calls for urgent action.

Deadlier than Boko Haram

Ebola is far deadlier than Boko Haram for neither security details nor bullet proof armored SUVs and fortified villas can keep it at bay. Only a virile health system that works can curtail it.

Indeed Ebola is no respecter of persons, inflicting both the high and low so the onus is on the leadership of the country to curtail its spread at all costs.

It is quite unfortunate that the foot soldiers in the vanguard against this scourge are currently on strike; for it is 5 weeks since Medical Doctors in Government employment downed tools in an indefinite strike action. Maybe now the omnibus of Ebola and the drama it brings will at last force the Government to come down its high horse and secure the survival of the Nigerian Medical Doctor but alas the prospects look doubtful as the gregarious Minister continues to stoke the embers of disenchantment.

Alas if the Government can spend trillions to equip the military to fight Boko Haram, isn’t it sheer stupidity to deny Doctors the few Billions needed to save the Nigerian health system which will collapse if a full-fledged Ebola outbreak becomes a reality which has the capacity of grounding the nation to a halt faster than Boko Haram can ever achieve?

Already in Sierra Leone and Liberia countries schools are shut, scores of airlines have operations to both countries and even football leagues suspended as they battle with this apocalyptic nightmare of immense proportions. Can Nigeria cope under such strain? Doubtful at our current rate of bureaucratic delays instigated by instituting beautifully christened committees who spend more time in air conditioned offices than at the war front; battling security crisis and disease at the zenith has become our undoing!!!

Meanwhile some are already smacking their lips as they dream up Ponzi schemes to fleece Government funds under the cover of fighting Ebola as they did previously with the non- existent Bird Flu scare of some years ago. Well Ebola is one disease that will expose these deficiencies inherent in a corrupt system and the world media will be clipping at the Government’s toes in anticipation, ready to broadcast via syndication any slip up.

Meanwhile, Patient No 1 lies in her hospital bed fighting for her life from the high fever, bleeding from every orifice in her body and the unending pain that seems like tormentors have been unleashed from hell to work their magic on her frail body.

Our prayers go out to her and her family. She is an unsung hero who risked her life to save a dying man only to become a victim herself. May God grant her a speedy recovery, Amen.

Culled from Vanguard

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