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 at the Ministry of Health in Asaba, NDDC acting Managing Director, Dr Joi Nunieh, said the commission was concerned about the outbreak of Lassa fever in the region.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the NDDC Director of Corporate Affairs, Charles Odili, the interventionist agency also expressed concerned about the well-being and healthcare of the Niger Delta people.
Represented by the NDDC Director Health, Education and Social Services, Mr Peter Edieya, Nunieh said: “The recent outbreak of Lassa fever compels our intervention because our people must be healthy to enjoy the development we bring.
“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.”
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The NDDC boss emphasised the need for public enlightenment campaigns to sensitise people about the Lassa Fever scourge and educate them on how to check its spread, stressing: “We must begin to the enlightenment of our people now.”
Receiving the medical kits and drugs, Delta State Commissioner for Health, Dr Mordi Ononye, thanked NDDC for the intervention which he said came at the right time.
He confirmed the detection of two cases of the Lassa Fever in the state recently and regretted that one of the victims died, while the other patient, a Youth Corps member, was responding to treatment.
Ononye affirmed that the Delta State Government had opened an isolation ward at the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, where he said the residents of the state would be attended to, instead of going to Irrua in Edo State.
He declared the willingness of the state government to collaborate with NDDC and other agencies to check the spread of the disease, adding: “We are hopeful that the health sector in the state will benefit a lot from NDDC in the near future.”
