FG Earmarks N 140 Million to Fight Lassa Fever as Death Toll Rises to 41.

In its effort to step up the fight against Lassa fever, the federal government yesterday earmarked the sum of N140 million as funds to tackle the disease.This came as the total number of deaths has now risen to 41.

Meanwhile, the Ondo, Oyo and Nasarawa State governments on Tuesday confirmed cases of the disease  in their respective states.

At a joint press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, and his Information and Culture counterpart, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated that efforts are being made by government to arrest further spread of the disease, which is now present in 10 states of the federation.

Adewole said: “With respect to the cost, we are currently handling it within our in-house resources, using drugs that we had in stock. But we are trying to replenish our stocks; we estimate that we will spend N56 million to replenish the drugs. And in order to mount the response, we are looking at N140 million.

“So everything is manageable within the budget of the Federal Ministry of Health, therefore we need not panic for now. When we set up an inter-ministerial committee to ensure that we finally declare Lassa fever dead, and buried completely, we will come up with the budget.”

The minister explained that government would be discreet and transparent with any funds geared towards fighting the disease, adding: “We will also be very realistic in line with the posture of the present administration. We are not going to declare a bazaar, so no one should expect to feast on Lassa fever.”

On the current status of the disease, Adewole stated that: “As at today, records from our surveillance show that the number of suspected cases is 93, number of laboratory confirmed cases is 25 and the number of reported deaths is 41, with a case fatality of 44.0 per cent.”