Doctor from Nasarawa State dies from Lassa fever

On December 31, 2022, in the National Hospital in Abuja, Dr. Ahmed Isaiah of Nasarawa State passed away from lassa fever.

Tuesday saw a march for the dead in Lafia organized by Nasarawa State members of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA).

Dr. Peter Attah, the state’s NMA chairman, stated that Dr. Isaiah’s death was caused by health hazards, notably Lassa fever.

“As an organization, we only learned of his condition after he had passed away, but according to our inquiry, the illness began as a fever, and despite receiving medication, he continued to work.

On December 24, 2022, he was on call and while doing surgery on a patient, he passed unconscious in the operating room. His family had to get 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 unwell.

How can a municipal government with more than 150,000 residents be served by only two doctors? The task was obviously excessive.

“Government should hire more physicians and provide incentives to stop the state’s brain drain,” he added.

Attah stated that the deceased, who graduated five years before, 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 now and to boost physicians’ hazard allowances as well.