Federal Ministry of Health has said 97% of health related issues are caused by the environment, saying that vaccines are a preventable disease from variants, flu and other disease outbreaks.
The Minister of Health Dr Osagie Ehanire made this assertion on Monday in Abuja, while briefing the press on updates on COVID-19 and other developments on public health situation across the country.
According to Ehanire, the ministry is here to educate the citizens on information about health adding that people should be vaccinated, and the vaccines are available.
Speaking on vaccines being rejected, the minister said the ministry and its agencies were doing diligently by checking all arrivals from outside the country.
“I will say that the Ministry of Health finds it odd and strange, when there’s an outbreak of any flu or disease anywhere. We’ll hear from the World Health Organisation.
“The World Health Organisation has not said anything about such a flu. We also hear from the US Centre for Disease Control. There’s nothing like that also to do with anything from the Chinese people.
“Usually, the embassy will send somebody to come and inform us if there’s anything so you have to wonder about the authenticity of that paper going around.
“Because we haven’t seen optimally, no confirmation or anything like that. If you look at it you listen to the news, but as BBC or CNN you don’t hear anything about it.
“This is the season when people generate stories, and throw them into the media and everybody starts panicking. So we’re still watching the situation. Everything we hear we take seriously but I want to assure you that any outbreak of such a character who first of all is spotted by the World Health Organisation.
“They will diagnose it, they will announce they will send us advisory, they’ll send us information or very alert also, the US CDC, the equivalent of CDC in the UK, in Europe, they have not said anything. So reports of that nature.
Giving an update on COVID-19 response,
Dr.Ifedayo Adetifa, Director General of NCDC, represented by Dr. Priscilla Ibekwe Director/Special Duties reiterated that most isolation wards in the FTHS have no patients for obvious reasons and that the number of reported confirmed cases have become fewer with little or no symptoms while very few cases meet the criteria to be managed via home-based care.
“Oxygen demand at the isolation wards is at lowest since there are no threatening cases. Oxygen is available at most of the Federal Tertiary Hospitals due to the increasingly already completed Federal Government driven PSA oxygen plants.
“The Department of Hospital Services, through the Case Management Pillar in collaboration with NACA and CHAI are carrying out the following:
“Planned meeting to utilize the Covid-19 Response Mechanism funds for training of Health Care Workers (HCWs) on diagnosis and management of infectious diseases, emergency preparedness, scenarios and mitigation,” she stated.
Dr. Okatubo Geoffrey, Director of Port Health, represented by Dr. Bosun Fasulu, said since the presidential steering committee announced the realization of the COVID-19 in Nigeria some few weeks ago, that the reported upsurge in the cases of COVID-19 in China, Japan, US and other countries. Adding that Port Health services have continued heightened surveillance at our point of entry.
“Port Health Services are to resume checks on passengers and we provide traffic data inbound passengers from all over the world.
“All international travellers arrive in Nigeria now to provide evidence of vaccination at the point of entry. And of course, consequently, it was agreed that vaccinated passengers arriving from older countries have to be vaccinated at the airport.
“The Minister of Health also recently approved that Port Health Services should meet with other stakeholders, such as the NCDC, the Ministry of Aviation. Over the use of rapid diagnostic testing for any suspected passengers and has appointed agents and officers to position on offshore platforms to screen all passengers coming to the country.
“We want to reiterate the fact that the division remains committed to the maintenance of appropriate public and major responses at designated airports, seaports and ground ports,” he added.