Gombe tasks religious leaders on monkey pox sensitisation

By Auwal Ahmad

Gombe

Gombe state Ministry of Health has sensitised religious and opinion leaders in the state on the deadly monkey pox disease, following the reported case of the virus in Kano.
State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Kennedy Ishaya, disclosed this while speaking with journalists yesterday, explaining that it had become necessary to use religious and community leaders in order to prevent any likelihood of panic among the public.
Ishaya also said government had isolated provided a ward at the Specialists Hospital exclusively for the isolation of victims in case of any infection in the state.
“With a reported case of monkey pox disease in Kano, Gombe state government is involving the leadership of markets in the state, who should be on the lookout for traders from such places, so
that they could report any suspected case on time,” he said.
Ishaya said the government had setup machinery through the state emergency response team to look into the issue and come up with a budget and logistics requirement with a view to tackling the disease.
He also said the emergency response team looked at the new epidemic and what to do with the government strategies in place, before going back to monitor the disease and finally come back again to give details of what the disease was all about.
The Commissioner said with the information they now had on the disease, the team would now convene a meeting, adding that the last meeting decided to separate award at the State Specialists Hospital that would serve as an Isolation Ward.
He said the State Response Team had also issued an advisory warning for the endemic states and encouraged the public to desist from self-medication but report to a healthcare facility, as soon as a patient felt the symptoms of the disease.
Dr. Ishaya said the next line of action would now be the convening of a meeting of the state emergency response team and make a budget line on the type of drugs to use, as well as the antiseptics to be used and logistics, so as to provide all the things to be used ready.
“Since the monkey pox is a viral infection, public should avoid places with reported case of the disease and when already there, the person should report any fever, which he called constituted signs, such as the fever itself, headache, common cold, should be reported immediately at any closest health facility”, Ishaya said.

 

 

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