FG Dismisses Military Involvement In Monkeypox Vaccination

The Federal Government has refuted insinuations that the military was vaccinating to spread the monkey pox virus nationwide through the Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, who made the clarification yesterday in Abuja. Adewole declared that the military was only carrying out a campaign to win the hearts of Nigerians through one of its numerous outreaches, even as the virus reportedly spreads to 11 states with 74 suspected cases.

 

He said his ministry was carrying out an advanced test at the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics and Infectious Disease ‎to properly understand the genomes of the virus.

“Laboratory attendants should be able to tell us what exactly they are. We will also be able to locate and identify the origin so that we can take adequate precaution,” the minister stated.

Addressing State House Correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, Adewole ‎said the vaccination in the South-South and South-East was routine. He said the military, in consonance with its corporate social responsibility (CSR), engages in many things, including road construction and blood measurement. Noting these were normal exercises, the minister said the military had, in the past, assisted government in accessing hitherto no-go areas in Borno State with a view to broadening the polio campaign.

 

“There are doctors in the military, there are nurses and when you go abroad, some of the best institutions are those ones managed by the military,” he added.

The minister also dismissed as untrue the reports that the Federal Government was carrying out vaccination nationwide, saying what the ministry is doing was ‎a campaign against yellow fever in Kwara, Kogi and Borno states. He noted that government would not conduct any such exercise vaccination ‎without the active participation of the ministry.

 

On the speculated illegal cartel of kidney and other organ traffickers, Adewole urged Nigerians to patronise only accredited medical institutions, just as he hinted that government was making move to rebuild health infrastructure in the country to check medical tourism. To the growing abuse of tobacco and other drugs by youths, the minister ‎said government was working with the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria to educate people on the danger.

 

“We are part of the campaign against tobacco. We are implementing the framework convention to prevent smuggling and raise taxes on the products,” he stated.