Lassa Fever Survivor Dr Jamila Shares Experience
By Murtala Muhammad
A female survivor of Lassa Fever, also a Medical Doctor with the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital ATBUTH Bauchi Dr Jamila Sulaiman says the disease is real and a deadly one.
Dr Jamila Sulaiman stated this in an interview with Radio Nigeria in the sideline of the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA Ordinary General Meeting, OGM.
The OGM which focused on Lassa Fever detection, management and preventive measures among healthcare workers was Co-sponsored by USAID funded Breakthrough Action Nigeria.
She said her experience was a bad one and that it started after having contact with a Lassa Fever patient that was brought to the hospital unconsciously with severe fever sometime in 2014 while serving her one year housemanship training.
The Bauchi State Coordinator, Breakthrough Action Nigeria, Usman Inuwa said the organization was collaborating with the NMA to raise awareness on the importance of Infection Prevention and Control of the disease particularly among healthcare workers.
Usman Inuwa who noted that Bauchi was one of the most prevalent states in the country in terms of reported Lassa Fever cases last year, said awareness creation around prevention, treatment and care was paramount towards curtailing the disease.
In an address, the NMA State Chairman, Dr Bashir Faruq said the choice of Lassa Fever as the theme for the OGM was not because Bauchi was one of the hot zones when it comes to the disease and medical workers were at high risk of contracting it.
The OGM witnessed paper presentations on Infection Prevention and Control and Communicating with Empathy towards Addressing Stigmatization.
