The Chief Medical Director of the First
Consultant Hospital where the first case of
Ebola was diagnosed in Nigeria, says as an
organization, they are struggling to float after
reopening for business last month. In an
interview with Tribune yesterday, Dr Benjamin
Ohiaeri said himself, his staff and their
families still face firsthand stigmatization even
after being certified free of the Ebola virus
"Since re-opening, we have witnessed
firsthand what it means to be stigmatized. At
a time when you would think we would be
appreciated for our professionalism in
containing Ebola, we are enduring a
significant depletion in patient-turn up. We
are down on numbers by a factor of about
90%. But for the generosity of friends and
family, Aledo Peterside, Tunde Ayeni,
Diamond Bank, etc., this business would have
collapsed. Even now, we are struggling to
stay afloat. It has been very tough indeed."
"The loss of Dr Adadevoh, Dr Abaniwo, Evelyn
Uko and Ejelonu, four key members of our
team, the first two of who were the most
senior of our medics and members of the
Hospital Executive Committee, has been
hard. They were colleagues, they were family.
We are talking of a lifetime of working as a
close team - as confidantes, as family. So,
yes it’s been very tough. As well as our fallen
heroes, we have many of the survivors here.
Medics, who placed their lives on the line to
avoid Ebola spreading to the general public;
they suffered the trauma of threats to their
lives and the horror of rejection, in many
cases, simply because they once had Ebola.
The families of our people have suffered
horrendous victimisation too. Children of the
dead hounded out of rented homes just when
they needed compassion; the husband of a
sufferer thrown out of his job simply because
the employer learned of his wife’s condition.
The pain, the suffering, the horror goes on
and on. Still, our people are back at work,
doing what they do best - caring for the ill.
For the hospital, we are inching back to life.
As you know, the place was shut down for
nearly three months while it was
decontaminated by the WHO. So, our
business was essentially shut in all that time,
though our expenses, salaries, among others,
continued to run" he said.
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