Critical health supplies have been lost in Ebonyi State after a fire gutted a cold storage facility belonging to the Ministry of Health, disrupting immunisation activities and raising concerns over infrastructure gaps in the sector.
The incident occurred on Friday at Block 5, Centenary City, Abakaliki, according to the State Commissioner for Health, Moses Ekuma, who conducted an on-the-spot assessment of the damage.
Officials said the fire broke out in the early hours of the day, prompting a swift response from the state fire service and other emergency agencies.
The Officer in Charge of Operations at the Ebonyi State Fire Service, Frank Oka Ota, said the command received a distress call at about 5:18 a.m. and responded immediately.
He described the fire as intense but noted that firefighters were able to contain it and prevent it from spreading to adjoining structures. He also commended the state government for providing new fire trucks, which improved response capacity, while urging the recruitment of additional personnel.
The incident has raised fresh concerns over infrastructure challenges in critical health facilities, particularly unstable electricity supply, which may have worsened the extent of the damage.
Items destroyed include vaccines, vaccine carriers, cold-chain boxes, laptops, official documents, five refrigerators, two solar-powered refrigerators, and 45 solar batteries and inverters. Hospital beds and mattresses supplied by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency for distribution were also lost.
The outbreak has significantly disrupted immunisation services in the state, with key vaccines and cold-chain infrastructure completely wiped out.
Commissioner Moses Ekuma lamented the scale of the loss, confirming that vital vaccines stored in the facility were completely destroyed.
“Vaccines such as BCG, pentavalent, and HPV, among others, stored in the cold room, were completely destroyed”, he said.
He added that despite the extensive damage, no lives were lost, and praised emergency responders for preventing the fire from spreading further.
Ekuma noted that the exact cause of the fire remains unknown. However, he revealed that the facility had been without public electricity supply for about five days before the incident. He added that efforts were ongoing to restore power through the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, while the solar backup system was also not functional at the time.
He further disclosed that a committee had been set up to investigate the cause of the fire and recommend preventive measures, while alternative arrangements had been made for affected staff.
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