Six people, who had contact with the nurse who escaped from Lagos to Enugu, have been certified free of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).
Health Commissioner Dr George Eze spoke yesterday at the opening ceremony of a two-week certificate course organised by the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu in collaboration with the West African College of Nursing at Nondon Hotel, Enugu.
The nurse had contact with the late Liberian-American Patrick Sawyer, who brought Ebola to the country.
She sneaked out of the quarantine centre in Lagos to visit her family in Enugu.
Eze, who was represented by the Director of Medical Services in the Ministry of Health, Dr Ndubuisi Ejeh, stressed the need for the people to keep their environment clean.
He warned that there was need to continue the sensitization on the dreaded Ebola virus, saying that presently it has no known cure.
He advised people to ensure that they washed their hands after handshakes or as they retire home.
The Medical Director of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu Dr. Jojo Onwukwe said they have continued with the culture of organising in-house seminars and workshops, adding that the development had so far repositioned the members of staff towards effective service delivery.
Onwukwe said it was no longer arguable that their staff welfare had been given unprecedented attention going by the huge “ongoing constructions in the hospital”.
He said: “Since the inception of my assumption of office, we have reiterated our vision and mission statement for Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, New Haven Enugu, not only in words, but in all actions. The events that have unfolded in the past year are enough evidence of our commitment in lifting this institution to an olympian height.
“Being the first Eastern Neuropsychiatric Hospital in the country long before some of these other hospitals, we have a prestigious pedigree respected all over the country. Indeed, our products are our pride: properly tutored, well-baked, sound and knowledgeable, with 12 consultants, 24 readers and more than 315 senior nurses as well as students undergoing training in this hospital.”
Delivering his inaugural lecture entitled Psychiatry and Mental Health in Nigeria: Challenges and Prospects, for the week, Abia State governor, Theodore Orji, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Nkpa Agu Nkpa disclosed that his administration had given priority to the health sector.
Orji pointed out that there was need to properly equip the psychiatric health providers as the work they do is challenging.
He said that no nation can effectively manage mental ill health except by managing well first the service providers.
Orji therefore advised governments at all levels to place treatment of mental illness on top priority.
[The Nation]
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