Lagos is the main commercial nerve center of Nigeria and with about 22 million residents that lack access to the modern health care delivery and proper sanitation. The one suspected case of Ebola that was reported in Lagos yesterday and it is now under medical evaluation both locally and internationally is a good step in the right direction.
The medical knowledge of the Ebola which is one of the most deadly diseases in the world today is still lacking amongst the millions of Lagos residents. The traditional culture of superstition and religious belief amongst Nigerians can be the biggest barrier and the most serious obstacle to any effective fight against Ebola in Lagos in particular and in Nigeria in general.
The successive Nigerian governments did not consider HIV/AIDS in the 1980s and 1990s to be a national health disaster at that time when a handful of cases of HIV/AIDS were medically identified in Nigeria. The government was late and reluctant in educating the citizens about the health dangers of HIV infection and those effective prevention measures against HIV/AIDS infection. Most Nigerians also rejected those suggested preventive measures, such as, sexual abstinence, the use of condom, sticking to one sex partner and HIV testing due to their traditional and religious beliefs.
The effect of this development has now resulted in the biggest health care crisis in Nigeria today with hundreds of thousands of deaths resulting yearly since the 1990s and with more than 4.5 million Nigerians who are now living daily with this HIV/AIDS. The infection rate in Nigeria is now the second highest number of new infections reported each year worldwide and with an estimated 3.7 percent of the Nigerian population who are living with HIV.
I hope the government of Nigeria and Nigerians who are at the risk of this Ebola infection will not treat it carelessly this time around in the same way and manner that the HIV/AIDS was treated in the past. The primary responsibility of the government is to continue to isolate the suspected cases of Ebola nationwide, aggressively educate Nigerians about the symptoms of Ebola and the preventive measures against Ebola infection. A stitch in time will always save nine in Nigeria. #ThePreventionOfEbolaIsBetterThanItsCure
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