The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) says it is working with the Federal Ministry of Health and other agencies to intensify efforts to control Lassa Fever in the country, as well prevent any case of the Coronavirus in the country.

NGF Chairman and Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, disclosed this while briefing newsmen at the end of the forum’s meeting held on Wednesday night in Abuja. Fayemi said that the forum at the meeting received updates on Lassa fever epidemic and the “coronavirus”, killing people in Chinise and it spreading to other parts of the world.

Following the announcement by China’s national health body that the new coronavirus can be transmitted from person to person, the World Health Organisation (WHO) will hold a meeting on Wednesday to decide if it (ailment) should be declared a global health emergency.

WHO, in a message via its Twitter account on Monday said the agency’s Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, will “convene an Emergency Committee on the novel #coronavirus (2019-nCoV) under the International Health Regulations”,

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed $10 million in emergency funds and technical support to help frontline responders in China and Africa accelerate their efforts to contain the global spread of novel Coronavirus.

The foundation in a statement released on its website on Monday said that it was committing $5 million to the coronavirus response in China, and was already working with a range of Chinese public and private sector partners to accelerate national and international cooperation. It said that international cooperation would be in the areas of critical need, including efforts to identify and confirm cases,

Seven doctors and five nurses have been quarantined at the Federal Medical Centre, Yola, Adamawa state, following their contact with a patient diagnosed with Lassa fever. A source at the hospital told TheCable on Monday that a pregnant woman who lost her fetus was the primary contact.

She said the woman was admitted at the labour ward, where the fetus was evacuated on Friday. “After the evacuation, it was observed that the woman had fever and was bleeding.

World Health Organisation (WHO) Goodwill Ambassador, Yohei Sasakawa, says early detection and treatment of leprosy will prevent patients from disabilities. Sasakawa, WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination, said this in his message posted on WHO website to mark the World Leprosy Day.

World Leprosy Day is observed internationally every year on the last Sunday of January to increase the public awareness of the Leprosy or Hansen’s Disease. According to Sasakawa, through the efforts of many people, leprosy is an easily curable disease and the drugs are distributed free of charge.

In a bid to tackle future disease outbreaks in the country, the Lagos State biosafety laboratory has began operations, the state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has said. Abayomi, in a statement issued on Monday, said the facility has the capacity to process, identify and store samples of infectious diseases such as Ebola, Lassa fever and Coronavirus, among others.

Abayomi said that the laboratory was built by the state government with support from the Canadian government to ensure effective management of infectious diseases for improvement of public health.“With this facility, which is the highest and most functional biosafety, biobanking laboratory in West Africa,

For the Health sector in Nigeria to experience that big shift and the much needed revolution, it is expedient for the federal Government through the federal ministry of health to immediately remove all bottle necks and release Basic health Care provision Funds to States to boast their health system as contained in 2014 Health act.

While some states have had the funds released to their CBN account only 2 states in Nigeria have accessed the funds, One year after it was launched by President Buhari. Cross River State which is one of the 35 states held by the several bottle necks has appealed to President Buhari to help facilitate the release of the basic health care provision

The Federal Government on Tuesday said there was high-level inter-ministerial consultation towards setting up a multisectoral committee to scale up surveillance and vigilance to detect suspicious cases of coronavirus and ensure containing it at all points.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General, Tedros Gbebreyesus, will be meeting with the Chinese government and health experts over the outbreak of coronavirus on Tuesday.

Mr Gbebreyesus, on his Twitter handle @Dr_Tedros on Monday, said he was on his way to Beijing to meet with the government and health experts supporting the coronavirus response in the country. “My WHO colleagues and I would like to understand the latest development and strengthen our partnership in providing further protection against the outbreak,” he tweeted.

The rapid spread of a deadly virus across China caused growing global alarm yesterday, with Germany advising citizens to avoid the country, Mongolia closing its border and other nations racing to evacuate citizens trapped at the epicentre of the epidemic.

The coronavirus has now killed 81 people and infected more than 2,700 across China, with cases found in around a dozen countries as far away as France and the United States. In a sign of the mounting official concern, Premier Li Keqiang visited ground-zero to oversee containment efforts in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people where the disease emerged late last month.The government has sealed off Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province, effectively trapping tens of millions of people,