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have always wondered if Nigeria would be able to handle a real health epidemic if it ever occurred. My concern stems from the fact that Africa's most populous nation lacks well equipped and state of the art health infrastructures. Many Nigerian-trained medical professionals have left the country in search of greener pastures. Many of those still in the country practice with one hand tied behind their backs. They lack the necessary equipment and drugs for accurate diagnoses and treatment.

Furthermore, the environment, which no administration (military or democratic) has cared to take care of or protect, will even help exacerbate an epidemic. The ubiquitous presence of open sewers, especially in the cities where people are packed like sardines, has in itself become an epidemic. In these cities like Lagos, Aba and Kano, it is not uncommon to see hawkers selling food items next to open sewers with all manners of flies and insects dashing from the sewers onto the food items and back to the sewers. In the process, they pollute the food that people buy and eat. The bigger problem is that those who patronize these sewer-side hawkers see these things and yet continue to buy the food to the detriment of their health.

The so-called manufacturers do not make things any better. They discharge their toxic wastes wherever they can. Some incinerate theirs and in the process release toxic fumes into the air for people to breath. The prevalence of wafts or plumes of toxic smoke, hanging over the horizon, sometimes casting a reddish brown haze over the areas in question, cannot be overemphasized. Others discharge their effluent onto farmlands and even roadways with attendant health implications. All these barrage of toxins that people take in on a regular basis break down their body defense mechanisms. The result is that we have a population of people with reduced immunity to face the challenges brought on by diseases including the AIDS virus. Matters are made worse by inhabitants who dump their refuse right next to residential areas. The thrash decay and emit unhealthy fumes as well as breed mosquitoes and insects that pass disease from person to person.

In addition to all the above troubling scenarios, the AIDS virus has now muddled things up. In medical parlance, the presence of a disease like AIDS is not termed an epidemic unless it has affected al least 5% of the population. Well, during a health forum, organized in May, the Lagos state commissioner for health, Leke Pitan, announced that one million people now live with the virus in Lagos state!Considering the fact that the population of Lagos state is placed at about 16 million, it means that 6.5% of the population of the state is living with the virus! That is an epidemic.

What is the Nigerian government doing about this disturbing news? What is Lagos state doing to contain the scourge? What is the Obasanjo administration doing to save Nigeria from turning into one of the East African or Central African countries where the virus claims the lives of more than 30% of the population? What is the country doing to avoid turning out a whole generation of orphans in Nigeria as we see in most of the African countries where the disease has seriously taken hold? These are very legitimate questions that need immediate answers by way of action.

As if the news was not bad enough, the Nigerian minister of health had earlier announced that about 2.3 million Nigerians have already died from the virus. This is even more troubling because it means that many of those deaths in Nigeria that are commonly attributed to diabolism and other minor ailments, may have been caused by the deadly virus. If family members and friends or even health officials do not realize that their loved ones or patients have the virus, they would not be able to take the necessary precautions to avoid being infected. The result? - Proliferation of the scourge by the leaps and the bounds from family member to family member of from patient to doctor and more.

Not long ago, the former president of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr George Okpagu, asked Nigerian barbers to begin taking more seriously, the idea of sterilizing their clippers in between cutting hairs. He made the suggestion as part of preventive measures that need to be in place to help check the proliferation of the AIDS virus. He was speaking during the WAHL 12th barbing competition organized by J. Green Mbadiwe and Sons Ltd. in collaboration with WAHL clippers USA. Infact, he categorically stated that the disease could be spread, "through barbing or contact with un-sterilized sharp objects"[Vanguard, May 14, 2004]

It is easy to dismiss the doctor's assertion that AIDS could be passed on through the barber's clipper. But one has to remember that during a hair cut, depending on how low the hair cut is intended, the clipper could actually dig into the skin and draw microscopic amounts of blood. If the clipper remains unsterilzed and is used on somebody else that equally desires a lowcut, there lies the problem. This scenario simply buttresses the argument of the doctor. Dr. Okpagu went as far as saying that he would have liked to canvass that every one that gets hair cut should own a clipper. According to him, this was the best way of preventing the spread of AIDS. I must chime in here and say that with or without legislation, many people living in the Diaspora, who travel back and forth to Nigeria, carry their own hair cut kit, including clippers. Infact, a relative of mine personally gives his children their haircut, even though he is untrained. The kids do not like it because of the inherent imperfection but he tells them that desperate times need desperate measures.

Dr. Okpagu's admonitions are in order. He is simply employing the principle of common sense. For a scourge that has ravaged many communities, especially in Africa, all conceivable steps should be taken towards prevention. Prevention is better than cure.

In his closing remarks, during the barbing competition, Dr Okpagu said to the barbers, who took part in the WAHL competition, "I must take time to educate you that for proper results, you must give five minutes from when a clipper is treated with the sterilizer before attending to the next person," stressing that 'within such time, any possible HIV/AIDS bacteria in it would have become weak and inactive." [Vanguard, May 14, 2004] The way I see it, this is a wise counsel coming from someone who should know. It could be argued though that because of the affiliation with WAHL, a maker of clippers, his statements may carry some commercial undertone. But if one employs the use of the biblical winnowing fork, one could easily remove the chaff from the wheat. No matter how it is sliced, his admonitions make a lot of sense. The next time you go to a barber for hair cut or take your child to the barber, whether in Nigeria or in the Diaspora, take time to observe what the person does in between clients. Does he stop and spray approved sterilizing chemicals and then waits for a while for it to flow through and dislodge any bacteria before proceeding to the next? Does he wipe down his clippers in addition? One must remember that a stitch in time saves nine.

In conclusion, I must reaffirm my relative says that desperate times require desperate measures. The Nigerian government must wake up to its responsibilities. The amount of money earmarked for the health sector is simply not enough to fight the AIDS scourge. More money is needed for prevention, treatment and management of the disease. It may become necessary to put legislation in place to regulate the activities of barbers and professionals of their ilk who have the capability of inadvertently spreading the disease. As for the rest of the population, when nature's hormone bites hard, kick harder to avoid losing your sense of reasoning and dabble into something you would regret. For the record, the admonition is for both genders become natures hormones do not discriminate when they start acting up. Those who have ears, let them hear.

HERE I STAND