Breaking News: Nigeria Should Still Watch Out For Ebola, Lassa Fever

Concerned that Africa, particularly Nigeria, is still
vulnerable to emerging epidemics such as the
Ebola Virus Disease, Lassa fever, Zika virus and
others, a public health expert based in the
United States, Dr. Babajide Sadiq, has warned
that government at all levels must introduce
adequate steps to prevent a re-occurrence.
Sadiq, who is currently the Health Equity
Epidemiologist for the State of Texas, said he had
developed a strategy called the Evidence-Based
Model that would assist the country in checking
disease outbreaks.
He said, “The Evidence Based Model in public
health is what they use in developed countries. It
involves employing the disease surveillance
system in Nigeria, data collection and the
healthcare management system. Following the
absence of a proper health data system in
Nigeria, my team and I want to design a good one.
“If we have the model in place, we would have
adequate information on certain diseases,
epidemics and the region or persons who are
most vulnerable to contracting it. Our plan is to
run the programme for two to three years in
Nigeria.”
Working in partnership with the Bill Gates
Foundation and similar non-governmental
organisations, Sadiq, who is also the co-founder of
Genii ‘Geniuses’ Associates, a global health
consulting outfit, said the research would start in
communities and rural areas of the country.
Sadiq said Nigeria was chosen to execute the
project due to its laudable efforts in checking the
EVD. He called on Nigerian scientists in the
Diaspora to contribute their quota to the health
sector.
“I have worked for the Centre for Disease Control
and I have managed over 10 million data sets in
Florida. But if everybody keeps saying they don’t
want to come back home, who is going to fix the
problem?
“The reports from the World Health Organisation
about developing countries are not favourable.
There are always cases of cholera, malaria,
diarrhoea and so on. I have my family members
who live in Nigeria and if somebody calls me to
say that someone is knocked down by any of
these diseases, it would affect me
psychologically. I’m working with some experts
with over 35 years’ experience.”
The scientist said the organisation was set to
convene a health summit in December, which will
focus on the management and prevention of
disease outbreaks.
“This conference will enable experts from
different countries to exchange ideas on how to
detect epidemic, how to develop our capacity for
rapid diagnosis and how we can develop our
capacity for rapid case detection.
“Other aims include contact tracing, disease
surveillance, biosecurity and biosafety, detecting
biological trace, vaccine strategy and preventive
measures,” Sadiq added.