Posted by Dr. Ahmed Isaiah, a physician from Nasarawa State, passed away as a result of lassa fever.
Tuesday saw a march for the deceased in Lafia organized by Nasarawa State members of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA).
At the National Hospital in Abuja, the physician passed away on December 31, 2022.
Dr. Peter Attah, the state’s NMA chairman, verified that Dr. Isaiah’s death was caused by occupational hazards, notably Lassa fever.
“As an association, we received information after he had passed away, but according to our inquiry, the illness began as a fever, yet he continued to work even while receiving treatment.
On December 24, 2022, he was on call and while performing surgery on a patient, he passed unconscious in the operating room. His family had to rush him to the National Hospital in Abuja.
Attah stated, “Unfortunately, we lost him.
He continued by saying that a post-mortem revealed Dr. Isaiah passed away from Lassa fever.
Since there were only two doctors on staff at the General Hospital, Garaku, Nasarawa State at the time, Attah bemoaned the fact that the dead had to go to work and attempted to do surgery on a patient while being sick.
How can a municipal government with more than 150,000 residents be served by just two doctors? The task was obviously excessive.
“Government should hire more doctors and institute incentives to stop the state’s brain drain,” he said.
Attah stated that the deceased, who graduated five years prior, passed away in his prime and was survived by a wife, kids, and other close family members.
The NMA chairman requested the Nasarawa State government to start paying call duty allowances right away and to boost doctors’ hazard allowances as well.