As part of the measures to assist the Ebola infested countries, the Nigeria minister of health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, on Wednesday, October 8, 2014 disclosed that authorities have rendered a sum of $3.5Million to assist these countries combat the pandemic.
This was made known by the Chukwu in a news briefing with news men attached to the State House after the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting headed by President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja.
The Health Minister stated that each of the beneficiary countries received a token of $500,000 while the common fund was given to the common Fund of the Economic Community Of West African States for the disease.
Furthermore, the minister disclosed that health practitioners numbering about 591 had volunteered to join other countries that would go to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea to help in the suppression of the Ebola Virus Disease which has posed a serious threat.
The volunteers were said to have registered with the ministry of health in three major cities of the country which included Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt respectively.
He said he had already told a recent meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on EVD of Nigeria’s readiness to help the three countries.
Chukwu said, “I informed the United Nations General Assembly that the President has already directed the Federal Ministry of Health to train and send health personnel to these three countries in the area of special laboratory work to strengthen capacity in those countries.
“I also informed them that as part of Nigeria’s contributions to the international team that will be set up to tackle Ebola Virus Disease in those countries, already Nigeria volunteers from different health professions have been registering with us, willing to join the international force that will go to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea to help out with the containment.
“As of now, 591Nigerians have already registered with us in three registries we opened in Lagos, Abuja Port Harcourt.”
Meanwhile, the minister disclosed that the volunteers were expected to meet some conditions before they would be allowed to join other teams to the Ebola-struck countries.
The first step according to him was the endorsement of their proposed journey by President Goodluck Jonathan and that the volunteers would be properly trained according to Nigeria’s standards, which was moderately high from his own perspective.
Also, Chukwu said he made it known that Nigeria is now Ebola-free at a meeting held to review the global situation on the Ebola Virus Disease.
According to him, Nigeria had 19 cases with seven death records as against the reports by foreign media of the cases being 20.
Chukwu further said, “Presently there is no single case of active Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria, no single contact that is presently under surveillance in any part of the country.”
He added that restriction was still in its full force on repatriation of corpses as well as movement of corpses from one state to the other until the Minister Of Health says otherwise.
