The Lagos State Government is set to distribute thermoscans to schools for proper monitoring of health status of students as a measure to contain the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).
Dr Yewande Adeshina, the Special Adviser to Gov. Babtunde Fashola on Public Health, gave the assurance on Friday in Lagos.
Adesina spoke at an EVD sensitisation programme for teachers in the state ahead of the Sept. 22 school resumption.
She said that the thermoscans were meant for simple and efficient temperature reading to aid early detection of illnesses.
According to her, high temperature which is refered to as fever, is not a disease, but a symptom often associated with other illnesses such as pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, headache and fatigue.
“The essence of the thermoscans is to equip school health centres.
“Government ensured that infected corpses were either cremated or cleansed in hypochlorite before burial as measures to eliminate EVD.
“The thermoscan is not meant to detect EVD but to detect high temperature which might be a symptom for other forms of illnesses so that prompt treatment can be given to any child with high temperature.
“If your body temperature is consistently above your normal temperature range, you are said to have fever. Fever is a defence mechanism the body uses to fight infections, and is therefore frequently associated with illnesses.
“ However, fever alone is not an illness, it is a symptom,“ she said.
Adeshina urged the teachers to closely monitor their students especially those who travelled outside the country during the vacation.
Responsing on behalf of the teachers, Mr Adeniyi Kehinde from Local Government Primary School, Ipesu, Epe, said that the move by the government would make schools safer.
Kehinde, however, urged the government to put more measures in place in the interest of pupils and teachers.
He listed such measures to include provision of pipe-borne water and health workers.
“ There are more to be done to make schools safer,’’ he said