Dr. Stella Adadevoh: The Nigerian doctor of Ghanaian descent who saved Nigeria from Ebola outbreak

A beautiful development on Ghanaian and Nigerian social media space this week has been conversations around historical moments and persons whose achievements and accomplishments, in the view of those who partook in the conversation, have not been highlighted enough.

The conversation was triggered by a user with the name @joewacklegh who asked, "Tell me an interesting piece of Ghanaian history no one talks about."

Though the interaction started on Ghanaian X, it eventually reached Nigerian X, with citizens of Ghana’s perceived ‘rival’ country sharing their knowledge of history and key moments in the country’s history.

One name that came up for mention and overwhelmingly received the endorsement of Nigerians on social media is Dr. Stella Adadevoh.

Who is Dr. Stella Adadevoh?

Born in Lagos on October 27, 1956, Dr. Adadevoh was the first of four children.

She was a physician at one of Lagos’ private hospitals. Her father, Babatunde Kwaku Adadevoh, was a scientist, lecturer, author, and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos. Her mother, Deborah Regina McIntosh, is a niece of Nigeria’s first President, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.

In 1980, Stella Adadevoh was awarded a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree by the University of Lagos. By 1993, she had completed a fellowship course in Endocrinology at the Hammersmith Hospital of the Imperial College in London, UK.

Dr. Stella Adadevoh practised as a physician for over thirty years in Nigeria, 21 of which she served as the lead consultant physician and endocrinologist at the First Consultants Medical Centre in Obalende, Lagos.

How did she save Nigeria from the Ebola epidemic?

At the peak of the Ebola outbreak in 2014, Dr. Stella Adadevoh discovered and prevented an outbreak of the virus in Nigeria.

Patrick Sawyer, an official from Liberia, had left his country to attend a conference of the Economic Community of West African States in Nigeria. Upon arrival in Nigeria, Patrick Sawyer collapsed and was rushed to the First Consultants Medical Centre where Dr. Adadevoh served. This incident happened on July 20, 2014.

The first doctor at the facility diagnosed Patrick Sawyer as someone suffering from malaria, but Dr. Adadevoh, who attended to him the following day, was not convinced as she suspected the signs to be that of Ebola.

She followed her conviction and asked Mr. Patrick Sawyer further questions about his health status. As reported by drasatrust.org, Dr. Adadevoh, who was still not convinced by the responses from Patrick Sawyer, contacted the Lagos State and Federal Ministries of Health and got him tested for Ebola.

Amid pressure from the Liberian government and at the risk of a diplomatic row between Nigeria and Liberia, Dr. Adadevoh warned against the release of Patrick Sawyer, cautioning Nigeria of the possible consequences should the patient be released and allowed to travel to Liberia while coming into contact with several persons.

The test conducted confirmed that Patrick Sawyer was suffering from Ebola. That case marked the first Ebola case in Nigeria.

With Nigeria not best-placed to cater for Ebola patients, Dr. Adadevoh dedicated herself to caring for Patrick Sawyer at her private facility and did her best until Sawyer died at the facility.

While caring for Patrick Sawyer, Dr. Adadevoh became exposed to the Ebola virus and died from it on August 19, 2014.

Dr. Adadevoh is credited for being the first doctor in Nigeria to discover the Ebola virus in the country and ensuring that the country did not experience an outbreak of devastating impact.

In all, Nigeria had 20 Ebola cases, with 11 being health workers.

Ghanaian connection

According to a Daily Graphic report in September 2014, Dr. Adadevoh’s paternal grandfather was an Anlo from Anyako in the Volta Region.

He worked with the United Africa Company (UAC) and was transferred from the Gold Coast to Lagos in the early 1940s. Her grandfather married the daughter of Herbert Macaulay, who is one of Nigeria’s national figures.

When she died, her family held a requiem mass for her at the Christ the King Church in Accra on September 14, 2014.

EK/MA