Tunde Bakare
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the establishment of a Presidential Task Force on Ebola Virus Disease Preparedness and Emerging Public Health Threats and ordered the immediate release of N10 billion as emergency intervention funding.
The fund will strengthen the operational preparedness of the National Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and support critical national public health emergency response activities.
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.
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.
Additional measures to be put in place by the Task Force are: Intensification of passenger screening at all international airports, including enhanced temperature checks and crowd-control protocols; 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.
Others include: 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.