Health
THE Centre for Redemption of Yoruba Civilisation Art (CRYCAT) has called on Lagos State Government to intensify the enforcement of its environmental law to prevent outbreak of Lassa fever in the state.
Its Coordinator, Mr Wole Ogunlolu, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
The death toll from Lassa fever in Nigeria since the beginning of January had risen to 41 as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed more cases in some states.
The centre said on Tuesday that from Jan. 1 to Jan. 26, a total of 258 cases, including five health workers, were reported across 19 states.
According to Ogunlolu, the laws are always there; at least we are all in Lagos State during the administration of former Gov. Babatunde Fashola.
“That was when Lagos State became a reference point, even up to the international level then. So, enforcement of the law is what we now require,” he said.
Ogunlolu also advised residents to change their attitude as everybody needed to be reoriented on environmental sanitations and take precautions in the waste disposal to avert outbreak of such diseases.
“People need to be reoriented; in the past, people knew it is good to take care of their environment, because if you take care of your environment, it will give you good success.
“So, that alone, give us the need to take care of our environment,” he added.
Ogunlolu said that most Nigerians do not treat their environment as something that belongs to them, talk less of taking care of it.
“The few people that are conscious of it are now segregated, they no longer leave within the larger community.
“They now leave somewhere we call estates, separated areas where they fill they can organise themselves.
“But at that, there is a challenge, because you cannot live, work and die within that area; you will still have a cause to mix with the larger society.
“I think it is better that instead of segregating themselves, they should encourage people and let them realise the need to take care of their environment,” he said. (NAN)
– Jan. 29, 2020 @ 16:15 GMT |
Tags: Lassa fever: Intensify enforcement of environmental law in Lagos – Group
