The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), Jide Idris, has clarified that the N10 billion emergency intervention fund authorised by the federal authorities was not meant solely for Ebola response.
Mr Idris mentioned the funding was requested to strengthen Nigeria’s preparedness and response to Ebola in addition to other endemic diseases, together with Lassa fever.
He spoke on Monday throughout an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, amid questions over the utilisation of the N10 billion authorised by President Bola Tinubu for public well being preparedness.
“The money was requested not only for Ebola, but to address issues of control of other endemic diseases,” Mr Idris mentioned.
“Right now, Lassa fever season is coming. Lassa fever and Ebola are the same class of viruses, just like yellow fever and dengue fever.”
According to Mr Idris, a number of of the measures required to management the diseases are comparable, together with surveillance, analysis, screening and monitoring at factors of entry.
“Leadership, diagnostics, screening, surveillance issues, point of entry, all those funny things. They are the same thing, and that was the request initially,” he mentioned.
The clarification got here amid questions over the utilisation of the N10 billion intervention fund authorised by the federal authorities.
How the cash is getting used
Mr Idris mentioned the Ebola outbreak subsequently elevated the necessity to deploy the intervention funding to strengthen preparedness and response actions.
He listed the acquisition of non-public protecting gear, laboratory provides, gas and other operational wants among the many areas requiring funding
He mentioned the response includes eight pillars, together with coordination and management, surveillance and laboratory analysis.
On surveillance, he mentioned public well being officers want funding to conduct contact tracing and acquire knowledge, whereas laboratories require gear, reagents and other consumables to conduct checks.
“Treatment isolation centres all over the country, there are some that are just broken down. We need to fix it so that it will be ready, including the one in Abuja,” he added.
President Tinubu authorised the N10 billion funding in June, when he additionally established a Presidential Task Force on Ebola Virus Disease Preparedness and Emerging Public Health Threats.
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The State House mentioned on the time that the funding would strengthen NCDC’s operational preparedness and help essential nationwide public well being emergency response actions.
The approval got here months earlier than Nigeria confirmed its first imported Ebola case on 20 October.
Nigeria nonetheless monitoring contacts
The NCDC boss mentioned the nation at the moment has no lively optimistic Ebola case following the medical evacuation of the index affected person to Switzerland.
However, he cautioned that Nigeria will not be but “out of the woods” as a result of well being authorities are nonetheless monitoring contacts and investigating attainable secondary contacts.
As of Monday, he mentioned 54 major contacts had been recognized, together with an Uber driver who transported the index affected person to her first hospital.
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