By Bashir Mohammed
Kano
Kano state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Kabiru Ibrahim Getso, has confirmed that there was no single case of Lassa fever and cerebral meningitis in Kano as the two killer diseases were fought to a standstill, courtesy of the measures put in place by the state government to combat it.
Speaking at the discharge ceremony of two cured Lassa fever patients held at Yargaya Isolation Centre in Kano yesterday, Getso said out of the seven confirmed Lassa cases fever, five died and the remaining two kept under intensive medical care for two months.
He added that they were all managed and all their treatment and other medical expenses were provided free of charge by the Kano state government.
He said curing Lassa fever was the first in the history of the Ministry of Health which was a great achievement in Kano health system, affirming that it was a clear testimony of the effort the Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje administration put in place to ensure the provision of qualitative heathcare services.
He said the Ganduje administration had taken bold steps to curtail the spread of Lassa fever which included, the release of N19 million to respond to the outbreak and the activation of the Isolation Centre at Yargaya in addition to the deployment of Rapid Response Team for outbreak investigation and sensitisation of health workers among others.
He said additionally the Ganduje administration was providing some form of empowerment to the two survivors comprising two complete set of new clothes, shoes soap, detergents, body cream and cash of N25, 000 to each of the two survivors of the Lassa fever.
“Let us use this opportunity to emphasise that the survivors have been cured and they don’t have Lassa fever and they should be accepted in their communities. The public should also know that Lassa fever is curable if the affected persons reported early to the hospital. People should go to health facilities nearest to them whenever they are sick so that they can get prompt attention,” he said.
