There is a bacterial infection currently making people sick across Nigeria. It’s called diphtheria and so far 216 people have been infected and 40 have died in 4 states: Kano Yobe Osun Lagos Diphtheria is a serious infection caused by a bacteria called Corynebacterium diphtheriae which produces toxins that make people sick. The bacteria infects…
Supporting an Infectious Disease Unit and Their Colleagues
For the health system to thrive, health workers must be fit to be able to carry out their duties effectively and safely. To help achieve this goal, we train health workers in the area of infection prevention and control (IPC). We spent 3 days building the IPC capacity of doctors, nurses and hygienists from Lagos…
Standardizing Support for Our Frontline Health Workers
Did you know Nigeria has several Viral Hemorrhagic Fever (VHF) Treatment Centers across the country where health workers manage patients with Lassa fever, yellow fever, monkey pox, and other dangerous infectious diseases? For these VHF Treatment Centers to thrive and provide quality care, health workers must be able to carry out their duties effectively and…
Exploring New Developments for Top Infectious Diseases
On the 10th of October we attended the 2nd annual lecture and dinner of the Global Infectious Disease Initiative (GIDI) aimed to train, educate, and enlighten the medical community on new developments for top infectious diseases. In attendance were representatives from the Lagos State Ministry of Health, public and private health sector, medical students, local…
Lassa Fever Turns 50 Years Old
Did you know it’s been 50 years since Lassa fever was discovered in northeast Nigeria, in a town called Lassa in Borno State? For this reason, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) organized the Lassa Fever International Conference in Abuja from 16-17 January 2019 to better understand the history, current status, and how our…
Equipping Health Workers to Fight a Deadly Virus: Our FETHA Story
We just spent a week at Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki (FETHA) in Ebonyi State. What were we doing there? Helping health workers save lives (and save themselves too!) Health workers are often on the frontlines of infectious disease outbreaks. By simply doing their jobs, they are often exposed to patients infected with dangerous diseases, which…
Lagos Gets Prepared with a State of the Art Biobank
The room was full of top professionals ranging from medical doctors, nurses, biomedical and mechanical engineers to nurses, veterinary doctors, laboratory technologists and pharmacists, as we attended the Civic Engagement and Stakeholders’ Meeting on the Lagos State Biosecurity Initiative which was organized by the Lagos State Ministry of Health. So what is the Lagos State…
When a Hospital Wants to get Prepared, We’re There to Help
DRASA and the Lagos State Ministry of Health received a request from Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Ebute-Metta to train their staff. This request came after they heard about the training we did for Lagos state general hospitals. Why did they want training? Because of the ongoing Lassa fever outbreak across the country, FMC Ebute-Metta wanted…
The Impact of Viral Haemorrhagic Fevers (VHFs) on Society
Today we attended a Scientific Conference hosted by Lagos University Teaching Hospital’s (LUTH) Association of Resident Doctors (ARD). The theme of the conference was The Impact of Viral Haemorrhagic Fevers (VHFs) on Society; Perspective from a Patient’s Relative. We were happy to share information about our recently completed training on VHFs for general hospitals in…
Exploring Emerging Infectious Diseases & Biosecurity with GET Africa
From the 16th – 18th of August we attended the 3rd African Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity in Accra, Ghana. The conference was hosted by the Global Emerging Pathogens Treatment (GET) Consortium. Attendees included representatives from the biotechnology, biosecurity, and biobanking industries; health economists; bioethicists; engineers; government representatives from various African and European…