President, National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Jubril Abdullahi has described the decision by the government of President Goodluck Jonathan to sack 16,000 of them, who have been on nation-wide strike as illegal.

Reacting to the sack which was communicated through a circular from the federal ministry of health yesterday, Abdullahi said that the President’s directive for their sack is illegal, adding that the decision shows that President Jonathan yielded to the demand of the Joint Health Workers Union (JOHESU).

“The action of Mr. President is illegal because there are several Acts that recognize Residencies in Nigeria and his action speaks volume of the government’s decision to follow the dictates of the Joint Health Workers Union. This is one of the issues the union is asking for.

“Whatever the government has done in itsr reaction to the NMA’s strike means it is not ready for dialogue because while we are engaging them, the government has resorted to this.”

Another resident doctor, who spoke on anonymity condemned the decision, saying he is now officially unemployed.

The doctor, a staff of a teaching hospital, said a colleague of his had just sent him another circular ordering all resident doctors to surrender hospital property in their possession.

The circular from the ministry of health said the doctor’s salaries and allowances for one month has been paid in lieu of the notice as they ordinarily are not entitled to any salaries for the period they have been on strike.

“In compliance with this order, I am to regrettably inform you that your appointment in this hospital is hereby terminated forthwith,” the letter issued residents doctors in a teaching hospital in the South South region of Nigeria stated.

Only yesterday, a circular, dated August 13, 2014, signed by L. N. Awute, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, on behalf of the minister said the president’s directive was given following an appraisal of the challenges facing the health sector.

“Mr. President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR has suspended the Residency Training Programme for Doctors in Nigeria indefinitely for the purposes of appraising the challenges facing the health sector,” Mr. Awute said.

He said the Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, has also directed that “letters of termination of residency training” be issued to all affected resident doctors in hospitals immediately.

The memo asked the management of all public hospitals to take necessary measures to restore full medical services in the hospitals, even without the resident doctors.

In what appears to show the reason for government’s action, the permanent secretary said the hospital could employ part time doctors who must be of ‘good behaviour.’

“Note however, this is without prejudice to the employment of Locum Physicians on six (6) months renewable contract tied to productivity and good behaviour,” Mr. Awute said.

Such recruitments must, however, “be approved by Mr. President through the Honourable Minister of Health.”

The Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, of which the resident doctors are members, has been on strike since July 1.

One of the demands of the NMA was that the Federal Government through the Ministry of Health should formalize and implement the report of the inter-agency committee on residency training.

The NMA also asked the FG to release a uniform template on the appointment of resident doctors and a funding framework for residency training established while overseas clinical attachment be fully restored and properly funded.

Resident doctors are doctors being trained to become specialists/ consultants in different fields of medicine. During their 4 to 5 years training to become consultants, they work in different government hospitals and make up the majority of doctors in teaching hospitals. [myad]

Another nurse, Obi Justina Ejelonu, who attended to Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian-American Ebola carrier who flew to Nigeria on his way to attend a conference in Calabar, has died.

Justina was reported dead today in Lagos where she was returned and quarantined after fleeing the observation centre to meet her husband with whom they newly married, in Enugu. Her husband too is now under observation.
Until her death, the outdpoken nurse was at the center of a campaign to get the Zmapp experimental drugs to Ebola victims in Nigeria. John Okiyi-Kalu started the Internet campaign a few days ago.

Meanwhile, the minister of health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu has clarified issues surrounding the Ebola disease in the country. The statement from the minister goes thus:

Nigeria has now recorded ten (10) confirmed cases of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). Out of these, four (4) have died and eight (6) are currently under treatment. (It is important to note that the number of confirmed cases remains ten (10) as at today and not eleven (11) as earlier announced this morning. We regret the error which arose from double counting in the process of communicating the additional death from the operational centre in Lagos to the Federal Ministry of Health). The fourth death recorded today was a Nigerian nurse who participated in the initial management of the index case.

The total number of persons under surveillance in Lagos is now 169. These are all secondary contacts as all the primary contacts have completed the 21-day incubation period and have been delisted to resume their normal lives.

Enugu State now has 6 persons under surveillance as 15 after complete evaluation were found not to have had contact with the nurse, a primary contact of the index case who became symptomatic and tested positive and is one of the 10 confirmed cases. The nurse who had been placed under surveillance in Lagos disobeyed the Incidence Management Committee and travelled to Enugu. At the time she made the trip, she was yet to show any symptom and did not infect anyone on her way as transmission of the disease is only possible when a carrier of the virus becomes ill. However, she has since been brought back to Lagos. Before the return journey, she had become symptomatic and had to be conveyed to Lagos with her spouse in special ambulances. The husband is not symptomatic neither is he positive for Ebola Virus Disease but has been quarantined given the intimate contact with her while in Enugu.

It is therefore important to emphasise that there is no Ebola Virus Disease in Enugu. All cases are still confined to Lagos State. Also, reports of Ebola Virus Disease in Abia, Imo, Akwa Ibom and Anambra States as well as the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja have all been investigated and none of them was found to be Ebola Virus positive.

On Monday the 11^th August, 2014 the Honourable Minister of Health convened an Emergency National Council on Health (NCH) Meeting as Chairman, with the Minister of State for Health, the Commissioners for Health in the 36 States and the Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja. The meeting reviewed the state of preparedness of the country to contain the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease and resolved on actions to be taken.

In furtherance of the national containment efforts, President Goodluck Jonathan himself convened a meeting of the 36 State Governors and the Minister of the FCTA, Commissioners for Health and the Secretary of Health of the FCTA on 13^th August.  The meeting was briefed by the Minister of Health, the Project Director of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), and the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Nigeria. The Governor of Lagos State also briefed the meeting on the situation in Lagos. Each State of the Federation and the FCTA reported on the status of their preparedness to prevent and mitigate the disease through their Commissioner of Health and the Secretary of Health in FCTA. The vast majority of the States were fully prepared while a few others are  in the process of completing all the requirements.

Since the last press briefing, the Minister of Health and the Minister of Labour and Productivity have met with the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to secure their buy-in on the strategy to contain the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak.

The private sector stakeholders and Foundations are also showing interest in containing the EVD outbreak and here today, there will be a special announcement by the Dangote Foundation.

It is also important to note the laboratories where specimen can be taken for laboratory analysis. They are:

a.     NCDC Laboratory at LUTH, Idi-Araba Lagos

b.    NCDC Laboratory at Asokoro, Abuja

c.     Redeemer’s University Laboratory, Lagos-Shagamu Express Way

d.    UCH Laboratory, Ibadan

Let me once again reassure Nigerians that the Government is working hard to ensure the containment of the outbreak. [myad]

Leaders across the country converged on the Presidential Aso Villa, Abuja today to martial out strategies for the control and fight against the deadly Ebola Virus Disease.
The meeting which started at about 2pm dovetailed into late evening, after which the Lagos governor, Babatunde Fashiola, the governor of Enugu state, Silver Chime, minster of Health, Professor, Onyebuchi Chukwu, representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Nigeria and others briefed the newsmen.
They disclosed that as part of the efforts to tackle Ebola, laboratories have been earmarked in some parts of the country to test the disease.
The laboratories are located in Lagos, Asokoro in Abuja, Ibadan, the Redeamed University Lab on Lagos-Ibadan Express way just as more are to be opened in Enugu, Jos and Kano.
The meeting also reinfrced the decision of the ministary of health to prohibit transportation of corpses from one state to the other and from another country to Nigeria, adding that there could be waver if the ministary is contacted and it satisfies that such corpses are safe to be so transported.
They cautioned against being panicky about Ebola disease, observing that panick could be as deadly as Ebola itself, even as the meeting made it clear that medical officers would be well equipped with the best facilities as obtained in advanced technology to saveguard them. [myad]