Nigeria orders US experimental drug •As FEC advises against ‘unnecessary handshake’

THE Federal Ministry of Health has written to the United States (US) Centre for Disease Control, over the possibility of procuring the experimental serum believed to have caused improvement in the conditions of two US citizens stricken by Ebola virus.
Minster of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the weekly meeting of the Federal
Executive Council (FEC), presided over by Vice President Namadi Sambo, in Abuja, on Wednesday.
He said he wrote the request letter on Tuesday and was expecting response from the Centre.
According to reports, the two US citizens who contracted the Ebola virus in Liberia showed signs of recovery, after receiving the experimental treatment.
Chukwu, who briefed the media with his Information counterpart, Mr Labaran Maku, however, downplayed optimism over the drug, whose efficacy he said had not been completely verified.
According to him, "we don't know much about the experimental drug. We don't even know whether it cures. I have written, they will reply. Let's know whether they have enough quantity. The important thing is that we have requested," he said.
The health minister noted that Nigeria was faced with a national health emergency over the disease outbreak, which he said also had the whole world at risk.
He observed that the Nigerian experience had alerted the world that it took just one passenger by air to spread the disease, noting that though Nigeria had no land borders with Ebola's countries of origin, it had, however, found itself battling with the dreaded disease.
As part of effort to combat the spread of the virus, the minister revealed that the Federal Government was embarking on recruitment of additional health personnel to be deployed in Lagos.
In his remarks, Maku, who disclosed that the entire FEC meeting was devoted to the effort to tackle Ebola in Lagos, advised the public against the habit of "unnecessary handshake," in order to avoid contracting the disease.
While he said that there was no need for members of the public to wear hand gloves, Maku said a lot was already being done to sensitise Nigerians to what they could do to avoid the disease.
The minister advised Nigerians to imbibe the habit of washing their hands regularly and using hand sanitisers, while public offices should procure hand sanitisers for use at their receptions.