Dirty Environment: The Root Cause of Lassa Fever Pandemic and Other Reemerging Diseases

Nuhu Anyegu lay bares the nitty-gritty of a healthy and sustainable environment in an interview Live and Direct on Nigeria Television International (NTAi). The interview is an eye opening type tagged : Issues of The Moment : Surveillance on Coronavirus and Containing Spread of Lassar Fever 

Anyegu is the current Provost College of Health Sciences and Technology Idah, Deputy National President Nigeria Environmental Health Officers Association and President Kogi State Chapter

Nuhu Anyegu has a plethora of achievements which is unmatchable among his contemporaries as an Health Officer of International repute, A friend of the Youth and Elder statesman.

 

 

Here is an excerpts from the mind blowing discussion

... “to measure the effectiveness of environmental health services in any nation or state is a drastic reduction in the incidence of common communicable disease and if possible a total elimination.”

“Now with the outbreak of common diseases in our nation that is already a pointer to us. It is a major index to showing us that we are not doing well. If we are doing well, we will not have these diseases very common every where. A look at Lassar Fever now is spreading very fast. You will ask one why it is spreading? It is  because, there is proliferation, multiplication of Rats. The major factor causing it is dirty environment. 

There is indiscriminate waste dump everywhere in the nation. And that is making the rat to continue to multiply. Such unprecedented rise in the number of rats in our environment can easily cause disease to us. So, environmental services, we have a long way to go. 

I still remember in South Africa in 2008, there is this African Ministerial Conference that was held where different African Countries attended. This is with a view to critically a appraise the state of environmental services in the nations respectively. 

The conference pointedly said we are not doing very well. They came up with a declaration......... The essence is that individual participant in the conference should return to their respective countries and be committed to sanitation and hygiene in particular. It was mentioned that , a minimum of 0.5 % budgetary allocation should be devoted to sanitation. And today that is not going on. It is not taking place. And that is why the different States of the country ste not seeing waste recycling pan being established.

We are not seeing enough numbers of Environmental Health Services Officer. According to World Health Organization (WHO) specifications, it stipulates that  one Environmental Health Services Officers to 8 thousands population. And in some Local Government, you will not even see up to 5 environmental Health Officer taking charge of over 8 thousand , or 25 thousand population. So there is a problem. 

Talking about water sanitation is very low. So many people still result to drinking  water from polluted, contaminated water sourced. And that is why there is outbreak of common communicable diseases ,water related diseases, water borne infections in this particular country. 

NTA : Talking about individuals now, going down to individuals behaviour is a major factor in the spread of these diseases, dirty environment etc. At this critical moment what aspect of behaviour of individual do you think should be discouraged the most?

Nuhu Anyegu : All behaviour that does not promote hygiene should be discarded. It should be thrown away. There are individuals that will go to toilet without washing their hands and return to food. 

Individuals are found to be indiscriminately littering the environment etc. These are habits and behaviour that is inimical to health. And again people don’t wash their hands regularly. They also eat this species of rats, the one we are talking about some people eat them. These are habits that should be avoided at this time . 

Each time you kill a rat. You will handle it with your bare hands. Remember, one of the ways an individual can contract this infection is fluid to fluid contact. This particular parasites can be transmitted to your body through open parts of your body. 

The fluid of the infected rat getting in contact with your fluid becomes infected. So we should avoid handling rat, eating rat, at this point in time. And people should observe very regularly personal hygiene, washing of your hands regularly with soap water. Everyone should endeavor to use alcohol based hand sanitizers. Even when the virus come in contact with your hands through the application of that hand sanitizers, alcohol based – the virus can easily be killed.