Following the outbreak of Lassa fever in the country, the Federal Government, yesterday, earmarked the sum of N140 million as funds to tackle the disease.
This was as a result of the total number of deaths from the disease, which rose to 41.
DAILY POST recalls that Wednesday’s confirmation of the death of one patient in Abuja, brought the total number of Lassa fever deaths to 41 in 10 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.
However, following the death of a doctor of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology department in the Braithwait Specialist Hospital in Rivers state on Thursday, who died after having contact with a patient of Lassa fever, the death toll as at today, rose to 42.
At a joint press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, and his Information and Culture counterpart, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated that efforts were being made by government to arrest further spread of the disease, which was now present in 10 states of the federation.
In its effort to step up the fight against Lassa fever, Adewole said, “With respect to the cost, we are currently handling it within our in-house resources, using drugs that we had in stock.”
He said they were trying to replenish stocks and estimated that N56 million will be spent to replenish the drugs and in order to mount the response, N140 million was the targeted amount.
“So everything is manageable within the budget of the Federal Ministry of Health; therefore, we need not panic for now.
“When we set up an inter-ministerial committee to ensure that we finally declare Lassa fever dead, and buried completely, we will come up with the budget,” the Minister of Health noted.
He, however, further explained that government would be discreet and transparent with any funds geared towards fighting the disease.
According to him, “We will also be very realistic in line with the posture of the present administration. We are not going to declare a bazaar, so no one should expect to feast on Lassa fever.”
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