Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Isaac Adewole, led other panel of experts recently to brainstorm on the latest scientific information on the nature of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), how it spreads, its signs and symptoms and how it can be prevented.
It was the maiden town hall meeting organised by the University of Ibadan Committee on Ebola Prevention and Preparedness in conjunction with the McArthur Centre for Control and Prevention of Zoonoses, held at the Trenchard Hall of the institution.
The meeting provided an opportunity to dispel rumours about how Ebola is transmitted and educate people on the consumption of bitter kola and bush meats, use of hands sanitizers, handshakes, washing of dead bodies, sleeping with dead bodies overnight, and to tell members of the public that the disease is preventable, though not curable at the moment.
Welcoming participants to the town hall discourse, Dean, Faculty of Public Health, Professor Ademola Ajuwon, said: “The University of Ibadan, under the leadership of our vice chancellor, Professor Isaac Adewole, has responded appropriately to the Ebola crisis by inaugurating on August 15, 2014, the committee on prevention and preparedness of Ebola virus.
“The committee is multi-disciplinary in composition and selfless in its commitment to organise activities to prevent Ebola
the U.I campus. The mandate of the committee is to prevent the spread of Ebola into U.I community, and strengthen our preparedness in fighting the epidemic. We thank the vice chancellor for this initiative.”
In his opening speech, the vice chancellor, Adewole, who presided over the meeting, stated that the programme was designed to re-assure members of the institution’s community that Nigeria “is still safe, though we suffered a biological attack when Mr. Patrick Sawyer came into Nigeria from Liberia.
“The virus was first discovered in 1976. Yet, I am not too sure if we have the accurate response to this problem. What started as a disease that is self-limiting, largely confined to the rural areas is now an urban problem, that has necessitated the World Health Organisation (W.H.O), declaring an international public health emergency. I am told that has only been done three times in the history of W.H.O.”
Adewole stated that the university would go into research towards spearheading the drive to produce an effective vaccine for the virus, adding that institution would soon inaugurate the Institute for Infectious Disease, apart from the virology lab of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan that would be expanded.
“The UCH is ahead on the drive to contain Ebola. UCH has actually gone ahead with preparing for a disease many years back. We have also not gone to sleep. We have nurtured a plan to expand our virology lab, which I am sure in the next couple of months, will be actualised. We want to develop the capacity to diagnose and look into how we can develop a vaccine and I am sure the virology lab will play a lead role.
“So, for us in the University of Ibadan, we are ahead of the epidemic. Though we did not prepare specifically for Ebola virus, we have prepared for infectious disease. So, we are ready. Our efforts will go beyond just the prevention slogan. I have challenged the committee to get involved more with science,” he said.
Adewole also described the mandate of the university as a research that would produce vaccine for the disease, adding: “Those who survived the infection are candidates for further studies. Can we look at the immunity that they have? Can we clone those anti-bodies that they have been able to produce in order to generate am effective vaccine against Ebola.”
Adewole also asked the security agencies to investigate the bank accounts of the late Liberian-American, Mr. Sawyer, who imported the EVD into Nigeria towards ascertaining whether he was paid to terrorise the country with the virus.
He said as at August 22, no fewer than 15 cases had been recorded in the country while five deaths, comprising four Nigerians and the index case have also been recorded. As at the morning of August 21, he said 2, 473 cases and 1, 350 deaths, that gave a case fatality of 55 per cent, had been recorded.
Adewole also urged Nigerians to discard the traditional practices of washing dead bodies and sleeping with corpses overnight in order to control the spread of the virus.
Chairman of the University of Ibadan Committee on Ebola Prevention and Preparedness, David Olaleye, a professor of virology, took over the gauntlet from there, with a keynote lecture entitled: Ebola Virus Disease: An International Public Health Emergency in West Africa.
Olaleye, former Dean, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, commended the Federal and the Lagos State Governments for their efforts geared towards containing the spread of EVD and the appropriate information management to get rid of the myths about the disease.
He urged people to desist from putting their hands on contaminated surface. He averred that the infectivity of the EVD has remained two to 21 days, and mortality rate 50 to 90 per cent.
As at morning of August 21, he revealed, Liberia had recorded 972 cases and 576 deaths, Sierra Leone recorded 907 cases and 374 deaths, Guinea recorded 579 and 396 deaths while Nigeria recorded 15 cases and four death.
Speaking on prevention of the virus, he urged members of the public to maintain good personal hygiene, regular hand washing with soap and running water and use of hand sanitizers. He also enjoined hospital personnel to wear protective clothing, and report any questionable illness. He also appealed to hunters, game rangers and farmers to avoid picking self-dead animals from the forest.
The lecture was followed by panel discussion, which provided an avenue for people to ask various questions on the EVD. Ten academics formed the panel of experts, including the Dean Faculty of Pharmacy of the university, Professor (Mrs.) Chinedum Babalola; Dean, Faculty of Public Health, Professor Ademola Ajuwon; Director, Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Professor Benjamin Fagbemi; and Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Professor Jesse Otegbayo.
Others are: Dean Students’ Affairs, Professor Akinola Alada; Head of Department, Communication and Language Arts (CLA), Dr. Ayobami Ojebode; Head of the Virology Unit, Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Parasitology, Dr. Daniel Oluwayelu; Director of the University Health Services, Dr. Olufemi Akingbola; Dr. Olufemi Popoola of the Department of Community Medicine, UCH; and former Director of the Distance Learning Centre of the university, Professor Francis Egbokhar, who anchored the questions and answer sessions.
The panel said bitter kola has no scientific proof it can cure EVD, though it is good for the body based on the facts that it reduces cholesterol, destroys cancer cells and has anti-viral properties. But they urged people not to abuse consumption of the bitter kola. Also, they noted that hands sanitizers must have 70 per cent alcohol before it can kill the envelope-based virus. They called for suspension of the traditional practices of washing and sleeping with dead bodies overnight.
On whether bush meats are safe for consumption, the panel told Nigerians that the virus could not survive in well-dried or well-cooked bush meats, adding that the institution had trained many hunters on safe practices. They also described as untrue the speculations that mosquitoes could spread the virus.
While warning people that drinking of warm water mixed with salt could lead to high blood pressure, stroke and other complications, they also advised people to seek medical help instead of going to spiritual healing centres for miracles.
The panellists raised the alarm that veterinary doctors were at great risk of contracting the virus from animals and human beings. They advised people that have domestic animals in their houses to register them with veterinary clinics.
The erudite scholars noted that once a person has been certified to have been free from the Ebola Virus, the person is free and there should be no stigmatisation against him or her.
In his closing remarks, the vice chancellor urged the stakeholders to love with sense, adding that they could love without hugging and exchanging saliva. He also urged Nigerians not to fraternise with sick people and not abandon them either.
The registrar of the institution, Mr. Olujinmi Olukoya, in the vote of thanks, enjoined the participants to share the knowledge they gained from the town hall meeting to other people in their families and communities so that the virus.
0 Response to "University of Ibadan mobilises against Ebola "
Post a Comment