Lagos Waste Management Authority. Photo: LAWMA the Lagos Waste Management Authority has issued a precautionary advisory to health facilities and medical waste handlers across the state following the recent Ebola Virus Disease outbreak reported in parts of East Africa.
LAWMA disclosed this in a statement on Friday signed by its Director of Public Affairs, Mukaila Sanusi, and obtained by The PUNCH. According to the statement, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of LAWMA, Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, said that the move was necessary to ensure that health facilities, medical waste handlers, transporters, and treatment operators remained vigilant and fully compliant with established infection prevention and medical waste management protocols.
Gbadegesin stressed that there were currently no confirmed cases of Ebola Virus Disease in Lagos State or anywhere in Nigeria. He noted that the advisory was a precautionary measure aimed at strengthening preparedness and reinforcing medical waste management standards.
He explained that medical waste management played a critical role in preventing the spread of infectious diseases and protecting healthcare workers, medical waste handlers, patients, and the wider public. “Although there is currently no confirmed case of Ebola in Lagos or Nigeria, preparedness remains one of the most effective tools in disease prevention.
We are therefore urging all health facilities and licensed medical waste operators to strengthen infection prevention and control measures and ensure strict compliance with approved medical waste management protocols,” Gbadegesin said. Gbadegesin noted that LAWMA would continue to support preparedness efforts and maintain high standards of medical waste management across the state through ongoing monitoring, compliance activities, and stakeholder engagement.
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The LAWMA boss reassured residents that the state remained on high alert and continued to maintain robust surveillance, preparedness, and response mechanisms to safeguard public health. He added that LAWMA would sustain ongoing training, sensitisation, and compliance initiatives to ensure that medical waste management systems remained safe, effective, and responsive to emerging public health challenges.
The advisory directed health facilities to reinforce standard infection prevention and control practices, including proper hand hygiene, the use of personal protective equipment, the safe handling of medical specimens, environmental decontamination, and the strict segregation of infectious waste at source.
LAWMA also advised medical waste handlers and transporters to adhere strictly to approved collection, transportation, treatment, and disposal procedures for infectious waste while ensuring the consistent use of appropriate personal protective equipment during operations.
Earlier, The PUNCH reported that amid concerns over the resurgence of Ebola in parts of Africa, the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Jide Idris, appealed to governors across the 36 states to provide adequate funding for their health workers as part of measures aimed at preventing the virus from entering Nigeria.