Nigeria steps up Ebola defence with N10bn fund

…To intensify screening of passengers at airports

…Task force to be chaired by Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President

President Bola Tinubu has approved the immediate release of a N10 billion emergency intervention fund to fortify Nigeria against the rapid regional spread of the Ebola Virus Disease. The financial injection accompanies the creation of a Presidential Task Force on Ebola Virus Disease Preparedness and Emerging Public Health Threats, signalling the federal government’s first major mobilisation against the advancing Bundibugyo virus.

Bayo Onanuga, Presidential Spokesman, said the fund will enhance the operational readiness of the National Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and support critical national public health responses.

The disease outbreak, which was first announced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has continued to evolve rapidly, with increasing case numbers, geographic spread, and cross-border transmission to Uganda.

BusinessDay checks show that the disease has so far claimed about 91 lives out of confirmed cases of 515, as at the 6th of June, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Uganda has reported 19 confirmed cases, including two deaths, as well as one probable case who has died.

In Uganda, the outbreak remains epidemiologically linked to transmission originating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with evidence of both imported infections and secondary transmission among contacts and healthcare workers.
The World Health Organisation, WHO, together with partners, had earlier announced that they have launched a joint Ebola continental preparedness and response plan, with an ask of $518 million to support African countries to prepare for, rapidly detect and respond to the outbreak.

Onanuga said the Presidential Task Force on Ebola will be chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, with membership drawn from relevant Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) and State representatives.

Ebola has recently resurfaced in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda, both neighbouring countries.

Onanuga said the President’s approval followed a stakeholder meeting convened under the chairmanship of the Chief of Staff to review Nigeria’s preparedness and develop strategies against the possible importation of Ebola into Nigeria.

Other critical stakeholders at the meeting included representatives from the Ministry of Interior, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Lagos State Government, and others.

President Tinubu also directed all states hosting international airports and international border corridors, as well as relevant MDAs, to submit their plans, funding requirements and intervention needs for consideration and coordinated implementation.

The federal government said additional measures to be put in place by the Task Force include ” Intensification of passenger screening at all international airports, including enhanced temperature checks and crowd-control protocols.”

Others include “enhanced monitoring of passengers arriving through high-risk airline routes including Air Uganda, Rwanda Air, Air Tanzania, Air Angola, Kenya Airways, and Ethiopian Airlines; and immediate activation of referral and isolation centres at Lagos and Abuja international airports, with other airports to follow.

There will also be “mandatory activation of QR code-based pre-arrival health declaration systems for passengers originating from or transiting through designated high-risk countries, and disinfection of departure halls, cargoes, baggage areas, and airport facilities as precautionary environmental measures.”

The President mandated that the advisory group consult with security, diplomatic, and aviation bodies with a view to regulating flights from affected and designated high-risk countries.

The Task Force is further directed to designate specific airports or terminals for high-risk flights to enable controlled screening and isolation procedures, and to consider adjusting flight timings to minimise interaction between high-risk passengers and others.