Ebola Awareness Campaign Kick Off In UNICAL, As Don Calls For Government Intervention

by crossriverwatch admin

The spread of the deadly Ebola virus across Sub-Saharan Africa has been described as a tsunami that if not stopped early will eat up the world. This is according to Professor (Mrs.) Olubumi Dorothy Jacobs the Head of Department of Philosophy, University of Calabar during a one day campaign against the Ebola virus held in Calabar.

The campaign which kicked off at the University of Calabar through Mary Slessor to Watts Market to Millennium Park was organized by the Calabar School of Philosophy (CSP) to sensitize residents on the preventive techniques, symptoms and necessary course of action to take as regards the virus.

Speaking during the campaign, Prof. Olubumi called on the Federal Government and the world health organization (WHO) to take the Ebola virus serious before it becomes something that can’t be controlled, stating that the virus should be taken as a challenge that requires urgent attention.

The Professor of Philosophy used the occasion to condemn the use of salt and bitter cola as a cure for the virus, advising students to always wash their hands and avoid body contact with corpses.

In a similar development, Dr. Edet Mesembe while speaking stressed that the causes and transmission of the virus are as a result of suspected reservoirs and carriers of Ebola from fruit bats, and transmission to human is thought to originate from infected bat or primates that have become infected by bats.

In his address, Dr. Jonathan Chimakonam, a lecturer at the Department of Philosophy stressed that the campaign against Ebola has become necessary as we fight Ebola not with the power of our arms but with the power of information, since the greatest enemy of Ebola is information; its greatest weakness is its simplicity. He further added “that we are striving today to educate thousands of people about the cause and ways of preventing the virus which center on maintaining a simple pattern of self discipline”.

Dr. Chimakonam used the occasion to salute the courage of the men and women in Lagos and elsewhere who have risked their lives in the fight against this virus.

follow us on twitter @crossriverwatch