We have curtailed Yellow Fever outbreak in Edo, says UBTH CMD

Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Professor Darlington Obaseki, yesterday said no fewer than 30 yellow fever patients have been treated at the isolation ward of the facility.

He disclosed this during UBTH 2018 staff award ceremony and end of year party in Benin City, Edo State, where he stated that the outbreak of the disease has been tackled with the provision of free vaccines and deployment of community health personnel to affected communities.

Obaseki, who commended the prompt response of the hospital’s management team in tackling the disease in the wake of its outbreak, said to ensure safety of lives, UBTH provided free vaccines to staff, students and members of the public.

He said the outbreak has been managed effectively, particularly with the deployment of personnel from the department of community medicine to the worst hit communities in the state with the yellow fever epidemic.

“In UBTH, we have provided treatment for about 30 patients who were brought in from communities mostly affected by the yellow fever outbreak and opened an isolation ward where the patients were treated.

“Also UBTH provided the vaccination free-of-charge to our staff and members of the public. Our community Health and Medicine Department partnered with the Edo State government and World Health Organisation (WHO), which sent workers to the villages worst hit by the disease to help curtail its spread,” Obaseki said.

The CMD, who explained that the vaccination was a continuous exercise, said the vaccine is available but would attract a token, as the period of free vaccination has lapsed.