MY WALL OF FAME: MARCH 2023: HEROES OF THE PANCEMICS: REMEMBERING STELLA ADADEVOH
REMEMBERING STELLA ADADEVOH
This
is dedicated to our frontline health workers who daily to keep us alive and
well. They stake their health, their livelihood and even their lives just that
we can live.
Stella
Adadevoh paid the supreme price to save Nigeria from the Ebola Pandemic
DR. STELLA AMEYO ADADEVOH
The
late Senior Consultant/Endocrinologist of First Consultant Medical Centre,
Lagos, Dr. Stella Ameyo Adadevoh showed bravery in stopping late
American-Liberian and index (first) Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, case Mr Patrick
Sawyer from attending the ECOWAS meeting in Calabar, Cross River State and also
took the initiative to promptly report his situation to the Lagos State
Government, despite the latter’s uncooperative attitude after being confirmed
to have the Ebola virus.
Former Lagos
Commissioner for Health, Jide Idris said it was at the instance of the late
medical doctor, who was a primary contact to Sawyer and substantially to her
credit, that the moderate containment achieved of the deadly EVD in the country
is owed.
It
was gathered that Sawyer insisted on being discharged from the hospital,
apparently to attend an ECOWAS meeting in Calabar, Cross River State but
Adadevoh, widely described as affectionate, insisted he stayed.
She
immediately contacted Lagos State Ministry of Health which took over the case.
Had Adadevoh discharged Sawyer according to his wish, he would certainly have
infected more Nigerians at the Calabar meeting, if he had managed to make it to
the venue.
He
could have infected more people at the airport, on his local flight, in the
hotel and at the meeting. This could have led to an unimaginable spread of the
disease.
Idris
described Adedevoh’s death as unfortunate as she had contact with the Liberian
victim, unaware of his status but refused to be deterred from her duty to
prevent the spread of the virus even at the risk of her own life.
ADADEVOH’S
PROMPT ACTION SAVED NIGERIA FROM A NATIONAL DISASTER.
She
led the team that attended to the index case. Her doggedness and commitment to
duty saw her personally reviewing the case even though the patient had earlier
been seen by another doctor.
“No
doubt, she and the other health workers are the heroes and heroines of the day.
The Ministry of Health commiserates with their families, co-workers, friends
and loved ones on these irreparable losses which was on the line of duty” Idris
remarked.
Also
commending Dr Adadevoh’s bravery, Nigeria’s Minister of Health at the time of the incident, Onyebuchi Chukwu
said if not for her actions, Nigeria would have had a wider spread of the
virus.
Regrettably
she lost her life to Ebola virus. Of course she contacted the disease from the
Liberian-American who exported the disease to Nigeria in the course of treating
that patient.
She
had to physically restrain this infected person from escaping from the hospital
when the latter attempted to do so, having been communicated that he was
Ebola-positive.
Indeed,
if that index case had escaped hospital at that stage it would have spelt
disaster for Nigeria as many more persons would have been very difficult to
track; and could have become primary contacts.
There
is no doubt that Dr. Adadevoh was not only a dedicated, committed and competent
doctor, but she showed rare courage, rare sense of duty, service and patriotism
to her country.
When
threatened by Liberian officials who wanted the patient to be discharged to
attend a conference, she resisted the pressure and said, “for the greater
public good” she would not release him.
Since
Nigeria’s health system was not prepared for an outbreak at the time, she
contracted Ebola and died alongside 3 of her colleagues. Her heroic efforts
prevented a major outbreak in the most populous African country and served as
the catalyst for successful government action to contain the spread of what
would have been a major outbreak in a country of more than 220 million people.
As a
result of her keen perception, courage, and steadfastness, all 20 Ebola cases
in Nigeria were traced to a single path of transmission originating with the
first (index) patient who took a flight from Monrovia, Liberia to Lagos. This
is what differentiated the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria from the outbreaks in
Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, where the index patients were not initially
diagnosed or contained.
The
World Health Organization declared Nigeria Ebola-free on the 20th of October
2014.
The
medical profession has many heroes who work on the frontline between us and
life-threatening diseases.
There
are three other living legends of the medical profession I have read about and
believe are worthy of mention.
DR. ROBERT EGOT
As
an anaesthesiologist at the National Hospital in Abuja, Nigeria, Dr. Robert
Egot places his life on the line for his patients every day.
“Facing
a pandemic and working as a frontline doctor is a landmark experience in my
career because it involves standing up to save the sick ones who have been
ravaged by a deadly virus that had no cure or vaccine available at the
beginning. This entailed passion to put others first even if it involves
risking your own life. I reflect that this moment is a defining moment for all
doctors.
“The
need for investing in the health sector cannot be over-emphasized as the
pandemic further revealed the frailty of the Nigerian health sector. Health
care workers are willing to give their best to save lives, but the motivation
and lack of equipment to work have been the greatest setback.
“Building
functional isolation centers, staff training, and intensive care units have
proved to be of immense relevance to critical care support. The provision of
ventilators and pulse oximeters by a few agencies including USAID through FHI
360 has made a great difference to critical care support for severely ill
patients. We’re indeed very grateful for the intervention.”
NURSE AWOTONA AJOKE
“COVID-19
has had no negative impact on my work, rather I see it as an opportunity to
make a difference in people’s lives.
Occasionally,
when there are challenges, my team and I go the extra mile to proffer
solutions. When there was scarcity of hand sanitizer, I collaborated with the
management to get raw materials [isopropyl alcohol, hydrogen peroxide,
glycerol, and aloe vera gel] for us to [locally] prepare hand sanitizers. This
local preparation of hand sanitizer ensured a constant supply of hand sanitizer
to every unit, ward, clinic, and office in the hospital throughout the period
of the lockdown until things got better.”
DR. IBRAHIM SALIM
ABDULLAHI
Dr.
Ibrahim Salim Abdullahi is a case manager and ICU service provider at Abubakar
Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital who practices his specialty with
passion.
“Being
at the frontline carries maximum risk of being infected and transmitting the
infection to my family. This is one of the most difficult challenges of being a
medical doctor at this moment. I had to make a voluntary choice of putting time
with my patients ahead of time with my family. This is because of my passion to
save lives.
I
also take the Hippocratic Oath seriously. Together with my colleagues, we work
around the clock and go extra miles to attend to patients’ needs. The toughest
time is losing a patient in spite of doing everything humanly possible to keep
the patient alive with the available resources. The good side is that most
patients survive; the smile on their faces as they leave the isolation ward
encourages me to push hard. This great sense of satisfaction derived from
recovered patients sustains my spirit.
Investment
in HCWs [health care workers] can never be overemphasized in the context of
achieving a disease-free nation. Empowering the HCWs with requisite knowledge
(through training and re-training), provision of much needed equipment, and
continuous supply of drugs and consumables will no doubt help curb the menace
of pandemics. Critical care in this country was [until now] a neglected
sub-specialty, but the advent of COVID-19 has underscored the importance of the
specialty.
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