HEALTH HEROES SERIES

02 October, 2015 — Week 1 Health Hero

Dr. Stella Ameyo Adadevoh

The incessant strike actions embarked on by medical doctors in public hospitals are a grave injustice to members of the public and a far cry from the high expectations of the people, a view held by many. Doctors on the other hand believe they need to make profound statements if and when sensitive agreements are breached and demands are not met. After all, they have their own lives, families and responsibilities. Whichever party is right or wrong does not matter to the ones that bear the brunt of these arguments – the embattled patients who just want to be well looked after. These tussles notwithstanding, the contributions of doctors to public  Dr. Adadevoh was a health are engraved in gold and some are not just bound by oath but by member of the genuine love for others and by nationalism. Such was the case of Dr Nigerian Medical Stella Adadevoh Ameyo- or what love could be greater than laying down Association, one’s life for a fellow man?  M e d i c a l W o m e n Association of Nigeria, Dr. Adadevoh was born on the 27th of October 1956, the great-grand  B r i t i s h - N i g e r i a n daughter of Herbert Macaulay and the daughter of former vice Association, chancellor of the University of Lagos. On the 4th of August 2014, she was confirmed positive to Ebola virus disease after placing Patrick Sawyer in  Endocrine and Metabolism Society of quarantine. She however, died in the afternoon of 19th August 2014. Nigeria, Putting herself in harm’s way and working shifts after shifts to save lives  Association of General was the colourful routine that painted the life of Dr Ameyo Adadevoh, a and Private Medical consultant endocrinologist at First Consultants Medical Centre, Lagos. P r a c t i t i o n e r s o f The Hippocratic Oath was not just a motif that rounded off all the many Nigeria, and years of studies at medical schools; for her, it was an oath to live by.  National Postgraduate Nationalism and piety flowed in her veins having descended from Medical College. Herbert Macaulay, a foremost Nigerian nationalist and Samuel Ajayi  She served as a Non- Crowder, the first African Anglican Bishop; little wonder then why her Executive Director of passion was to serve humanity. And in service, she excelled greatly till Learn Africa Plc and her final breath.  A writer for the first- In a 140,000,000 populated Nigeria where health systems are just ever “Ask the Doc” picking up pace, a stop to the spread of Ebola Virus Disease would have column in Today’s been thought impossible given the nature and virulence of the virus. An Woman Magazine, incidence that would have exploded into a disastrous epidemic was accomplishments. averted by the sheer will of a woman who knew her onions well and would not cower to the powers that be. If not for her, the rest of the WHO Ebola Facts country would definitely have been consumed with nursing the wounds The incubation period, of the disease. She was so given up to that singular goal of preventing that is, the time the spread of the disease that all attempts to force her to release Mr interval from infection Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian-American ECOWAS official who brought the with the virus to onset virus into the country, were met with stiff resistance. of symptoms is 2 to 21 Twenty cases of the infection were linked to Mr Sawyer. He had infected days people with whom he had contact in Lagos and was set to infect more The virus is transmitted on his way to Calabar; we can easily imagine the damage that would to people from wild have been done. Of the twenty infected patients, 8 people died. animals and spreads in the human population At the time of the outbreak, the Nigerian Medical Association was on an through human-to- industrial strike action to make demands and voice concerns about their human transmission. safety at work. Doctors deserted public hospitals, patients were dying. Given the gravity of the case, she could have referred the patient to a The average EVD case fatality rate is around tertiary hospital but she quarantined him instead. And thank goodness, 50%. Case fatality rates the doctors in the public facilities were on strike. It was a blessing in have varied from 25% disguise, the hands of providence. Like Confucious, the Chinese to 90% in past philosopher, said “there is good in everything but not everyone sees it”. outbreaks. It is however certain that most Nigerians saw the good in the strike The first EVD outbreaks action. Otherwise, the contacts with Mr Patrick could have increased occurred in remote and the doctor in-charge may not have been as strong willed as villages in Central Adadevoh. Africa, but the most The index patient’s symptoms were suggestive of malaria and confirmed recent outbreak is in by laboratory tests but the patient was not responsive to treatment. West Africa. Instead, signs indicative of haemorrhagic fever were seen and Dr There are currently no Adadevoh suspected the patient had Ebola. Quickly, she swept to licensed Ebola vaccines action, downloaded information on the disease and informed her but 2 potential nurses, doctors and ward maids. It was not the first time she had c a n d i d a t e s a r e provided the staff of the hospital with reading materials to keep them undergoing evaluation. informed. She understood the gravity of education. The Ebola epidemic was one incidence that perturbed the unsettled equilibrium of the world. We were certainly not prepared to face yet another crisis- an epidemic with almost a hundred percent mortality rate- and most certainly, Nigerians were never prepared. An indelible mark lies surely in the heart of humanity and especially of Nigerians for the sacrifice she made, for her courage and selfless service. If you are reading this, you probably were not infected but could have been.

For her the family, what compensations would be enough to match the love of a wife, the care of a mother and the companionship of a sister? What could be used to honour Adadevoh. The labours of our heroes past must not be in vain, for they served with all their heart and might when the call came

InSiGHt Team Lagos Office: 13A Oguntona Crescent, Gbagada Phase I, Gbagada Lagos. Abuja Office: House 3, 16 P.O.W. Mafemi Crescent, Off Solomon Lar Way, Utako, Abuja www.insighthc.org @InSiGHtHCL [email protected]