THE VIRULENT TRIO, THREATENING OUR LIVES

It has been long proven that the quickest way to have your pictures on the front page of tabloids, as a commoner and without paying a dime is by commiting a very serious crime.  

The only exception to this is when you do something extraordinary, especially when you save lives in a dramatic fashion.

For the second time within the space of six years, pictures of Environmental Health Officers, EHO, graced the front pages of Newspapers in Nigeria. Not as criminals however, but as saviours of the Nation's health.

Unfortunately, both times were periods when we had outbreak of pandemic diseases. This is an indictment on the Nigeria Health sector.

First it was Ebola virus in 2014, now it is coronavirus in January 2020. In between the two we have had Lassa running the streets.

Environmental health is preventive health but it has been neglected for curative health which is celebrated by both the government and the governed.

In 2014 during the Ebola virus outbreak, some EHOs were brought to the fore to help as ad-hoc at the ports of entry.

These young guys and ladies risked their lives, even without proper health insurance to ensure that the likes of Patrick Sawyer does not come into the shores of Nigeria. They poured their heart into the work with the hope that they would at least be absorbed into the system at the end of the day. Till today, some of them were not even paid their stipends and like the proverbial handwash water, they were discarded after use by the various agencies.

Many of them weren't compensated in any way.

Here we are again today, with the outbreak of another deadly virulent disease and you know who the country wants to deploy to the ports again, EHOs?

In between Ebola and Corona, Lassa has become endemic here in Nigeria, rearing up it's ugly head every dry season to claim lives that hitherto would have been highly profitable to the Nation's productivity. This year alone, more than 30 deaths have been recorded, some of who are clinicians who work hard to save other people's lives.

All these just because we are a Nation that does not care to do the right thing at the right time.

When we had the major outbreak in 2015, Environmental Health Officers in Lagos and Ogun states expended their hard earned salaries to carry out massive deartisation exercises with huge successes recorded.

Rats running in several tens of thousands were eliminated from our various markets. Despite the reports from the media, the Various State governments didn't find it appropriate to engage services of more EHOs. They weren't concerned.

I could recall, how  one Medical officer ignorantly asked if killing of rats was the issue. I laughed and wondered what the issue would have been. Then I remembered that killing of rats will not bring money to their pockets just as drugs would do.

Hospitalisation and procurement of several facilities would yield more perquisites. And then it dawned on me! Some particular set of people feed on outbreak of diseases. They make inordinate financial gains from huge and pandemic diseases such as this. And that is why they are not supporting prevention of diseases.

What a shame! If indeed we are after the saving of lives, it's high time we refocus our health system to give room for prevention.

The nation needs to prioritize disease prevention above and over disease control.

Thank God that even as highly virulent and contagious Lassa, Ebola and Coronavirus are, simple sanitation is enough to put a stop to them.

Sanitation is cheap when compared to treatment of diseases. Sanitation saves lives and prevents loss of productive hours. If only we can be proactive. These diseases will remain huge threats to us if we continue the same way. We can't continue to act the same way and expect changes.

What should be done?

In situations like these, once again I'll advise the government at all levels to employ Environmental Health Officers especially at the Port Health Authority to man our border posts not only during emergencies but at all times as required by the International Health Regulations.

State and Local Governments should as a matter of urgency also employ EHOs to continue to be the watch over the environment.

These diseases can be checked even before their outbreak. Our food, water, premises, air and others need continuous inspections to curb incessant pollution that can impair our health and living.

As for the practitioners, we must Iive to our calling and be proactive, doing our jobs as if our lives depend on it. Our lives actually depend on it since we do not have another planet that we live in.

Do you work with a clear conscience and in the fear of God? Citizens should note that whatever they do to the environment, will surely come back to them. Keep your environment clean, practice hand hygiene always and stay safe.

As we are in the dry season, ensure you don't have junks that can habour rats in your house. Fumigate your home as frequently as possible and please engage the services of professionals.

A word, they say, is enough for the Wise. A o ni s'oriibu o. May we never be unfortunate.

Femi Abolade | LEHO | WhatsApp +234807 427 5257