NAF
NAF Creates Awareness
NAF
NAF Creates Awareness on Yellow Fever
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has stepped up its campaign on
Yellow Fever awareness by holding a sensitisation lecture on the
ailment at the 211 Quick Response Group (QRG) in Owerri, Imo
State.
The awareness lecture which was held yesterday, 14 November
2019, is in furtherance of the quest by current leadership of the
NAF, headed by the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal
Sadique Abubakar, to ensure that the healthcare needs of personnel
of the Service and its host communities are well catered for.
The event, which took place within the premises of the NAF
Hospital in Owerri, witnessed a large turnout of community heads
and members of not less than 4 communities sorrounding the Unit,
namely Umuotuke Umowa, Nekede, Agbala and Naze.
The lecture majorly addressed the causes and mode of
transmission of the disease as well as the risk factors, clinical
presentations, management and prevention.
While making his remarks during the event, the Commander 211
QRG, Group Captain Elisha Bindul, stated that due to the increasing
spread of the disease in other parts of the Country, it became
necessary to enlighten personnel and their families as well as host
communities on necessary preventive measures, which include
vaccination as well as maintenance of high levels of hygiene and
elimination of conditions amenable to the breeding of mosquitoes.
He noted that the awareness programme, which also featured the
distribution of insecticide treated mosquito nets to over 300
participants, would facilitate the design of appropriate control
strategies.
IBIKUNLE DARAMOLA
Air Commodore
Director of Public Relations and Information
Nigerian Air Force
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NAF PLEDGES COMMITMENT TO ENSURING PERSONNEL COMBAT READINESS AS
IT HOLDS VIRAL HEPATITIS AWARENESS LECTURE, SCREENING IN ABUJA
In a bid to prevent the spread of Viral Hepatitis among its
personnel and their families, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) today,
15 November 2019, held an awareness lecture on Hepatitis B (HBV)
and Hepatitis C (HCV) at Headquarters NAF (HQ NAF) in Abuja.
Apart from the awareness lecture, personnel were also screened
and those who tested negative to the virus were vaccinated. The
lecture, which was themed “Empowering Personnel to Eliminate
Hepatitis out of the Nigerian Air Force”, was delivered by
Professor Adamu Samaila, a professor of Gastroenterology/Hepatology
from Bayero University, Kano State.
While declaring the lecture open, the Chief of the Air Staff
(CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, who was represented by the
Chief of Policy and Plans (COPP), Air Vice Marshal Napoleon Bali,
emphasized that the programme was aimed at adequately sensitizing
participants on the HBV and HCV viral diseases which are capable of
degrading the capacity of the Service to deploy affected personnel
for necessary trainings and operations. According to him, the
Service has since discovered that there is no better way to fight
Hepatitis than to prevent its spread through regular screening and
sensitization programmes.
The CAS recalled that the reasoning behind the upgrading of NAF
Medical Services from a Directorate to a Branch status was to
ensure enhanced healthcare delivery for NAF personnel, their
families as well as host communities of the NAF. This, he said, was
born out of the realization that the combat readiness of the NAF
does not only depend on the employment of sophisticated
aircraft or advanced weapon systems, but also on sound mental
and physical fitness of the personnel who operate the various
platforms and equipment. He remarked that this had also
necessitated the upgrading of existing NAF Hospitals and
Medical Centres as well as the construction of new Reference
Hospitals equipped with state-of-the-art facilities to provide
better preventive and curative medical services.
In terms of preventive services, Air Marshal Abubakar noted that
the NAF had emplaced measures to ensure that Hepatitis and similar
diseases do not pose a challenge to NAF operational readiness.
According to him, such measures included rigorous screening to
ensure that only medically fit individuals are recruited into the
Service. In addition, he noted that NAF units conduct regular
enlighthenment campaigns, while the Service continues to
build the capacity of its Medical personnel and improve
facilities in various NAF Hospitals to screen, detect, treat
and manage Hepatitis and other ailments. He added that the Service
would continue to enlist more medical professionals, provide better
infastructure and procure more advanced equipment.
In his welcome address, the Chief of Medical Services (CMS), Air
Commodore Gideon Bako, stated that, despite the tremendous strides
made in public health, infectious diseases control and preventive
medicine during the past century, infectious agents remain a
significant threat to the operational capacity of military forces.
This, he said, underscored the need for continuous sensitization to
prevent the spread of causal viruses. He reiterated that the
provision of relevant information as well as preventive measures,
such as vaccination and treatment, when necessary, were valid ways
of empowering personnel to eliminate Hepatitis from the NAF. The
CMS used the opportunity to thank the CAS for his immense support
and investment in the Medical Services Branch, stating that the
Branch would continue to reciprocate by ensuring enhanced
professional performance and excellent service delivery. He urged
all personnel and their families to endeavour to present themselves
for screening and vaccination at any NAF Medical Facility.
Professor Adamu Samaila’s lecture, which was very well received,
addressed the causes of Hepatitis as well as the risk factors,
clinical presentations, management and prevention of the disease.
The highlight of the event was the screening of participants at the
HQ NAF Clinic.
IBIKUNLE DARAMOLA
Air Commodore
Director of Public Relations and Information
Nigerian Air Force