10th September, 2014
Kazeem Ugbodaga
The Lagos State Government says it will prosecute employers of labour for sacking two patients who survived the deadly Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, in Lagos, southwest Nigeria.
Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris disclosed this on Tuesday at a news conference at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, Alausa, Lagos, saying that it is sad that some employers and landlords would want to stigmatise people who were identified with Ebola and survived the disease.
He also said the First Medical Consultant Centre had been certified Ebola-free and that the hospital had been given the clearance to re-open for business, urging Lagosians to patronise the facility as it is safe.
According to Idris, two cases of stigmatisation by employers had been referred to the Ministry of Justice for prosecution, saying that the case would only be dropped if the employers withdraw their stigma cases against the two Ebola survivors.
The commissioner noted that being Ebola-free did not mean that the people should lose their jobs, while appealing to the public not to stigmatise people with Ebola-related cases.
“The social problem being faced by discharged cases has being reported severally. This ranges from stigmatization, eviction from their accommodation, being asked to stay away from work and termination of employment.
“We’ve had cases of employers just terminating the employment of their staff who were just mere contacts, not even suspected cases. We believe this is unfair and we feel this impedes on their fundamental human rights. I wish to implore all Lagosians once more not to stigmatise all cases and contacts that have been given a clean bill of health and passionately urge all of us and all employers inclusive to facilitate their reintegration to the society,” he said.
Idris stated that stigmatisation would further make contacts and suspects to go underground and continue to reverse the gains so far made in the containment and management of this outbreak.
He added that people felt they would be stigmatized once they submitted themselves for scrutiny might not want to come out because of this.
“Even when they come up with symptoms, they may not come out and jeopardize not only their lives, but their family members and other people they come in contact with. That’s why it is essential that people should stop that,” he said.
He emphasised that the Ministry of Justice would take the case of those victimised by their employers, saying that anybody, whether a discharged patient, or a contact followed up who felt stigmatized could petition the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney General of Lagos State as their matters would be taken up on their behalf “because it is not fair and it is not right.”
Idris also urged those on contact list or under surveillance not to travel out of state and should alert the rapid response team on manifestation of symptoms or signs.
“Lagosians are also enjoined to report any case or cases that may want to embark on this kind of dastardly misadventure. We’ve also had very serious meeting with mortuary operators because this is another area that might facilitate the spread of the disease.
“We have given them protocols they need to follow when they are dealing with suspected cases, like what they should do and what kind of precautions they should take so that we can reduce the spread. We also want to urge operators to adhere to their professional best practices when handling such corpses,” he said.
However, the commissioner urged those who use the First Medical Consultants Hospital to support them as the centre remained a flagship medical centre, especially with government given the hospital a clean bill of health.