The Federal Government has said that 29 million Nigerians are at the risk of Lassa fever, while 26 states are exposed to the disease.
The government also said the recent outbreak of the disease in the country was a signal that it had not received the expected attention.
The Minister of State for Health, Dr. Khaliru Alhassan, spoke on Friday in Abuja during a press briefing to coincide with the National Lassa Fever Day and public presentation of 5,000 safeguard soaps to the ministry by Procter & Gamble, Nigeria.
Alhassan said in 2012 alone, the country recorded 1,944 cases with 207 deaths, adding that the majority of the deaths occurred among the health care providers.
He, however, stressed the need for health workers to be protected while treating Lassa fever patients.
The minister stated that protecting the health workers would go a long way in the campaign to halt the communicable disease.
The Managing Director, P & G Nigeria, Mr. George Nassar, represented by the company’s Government Relation Director (Sub-Saharan Africa), Ms. Temitope Iluyemi, said the donation was meant to support the Federal Ministry of Health and hygiene campaign through hand washing aimed at curbing the transmission of communicable diseases.
*PUNCH
