The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has blamed the failure of the Goodluck Jonathan administration to implement a roadmap on health drawn up in 2012 as the cause of the Lassa fever viral disease that is currently ravaging the country.
He stated this when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Health seeking information on the Lassa fever epidemic which has reportedly killed 41 persons out of 93 reported cases across 10 states of the federation.
The Senate Committee was headed by Sen. Lanre Tejuosho (APC – Ogun Central).
”We will concentrate on prevention because currently there is no vaccine, but as of today I have been notified of a candidate vaccine which we will put through chemical trial to find out if it would work. We call it a candidate vaccine and we would want to run it through trials and that takes some time.
“’Hopefully we will do that this year, once we consider it to be effective and safe then we put it to use. If it works then that means that we would be able to immunise people in the affected areas but for now we will continue with our surveillance,” Adewole said.
Also, he said the number of reported cases had risen to 129, while stressing that there was no cure for the virus presently.