Nigeria has not eliminated Ebola — FG

By Ben Agande Abuja —The Federal Government declared, yesterday, that in spite of the huge success it recorded in curtailing the Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, in the country, it has not yet completely eliminated the virus. Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, disclosed this yesterday when he spoke with state House Correspondents after the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting where he briefed the president and members of the Council on the containment of EVD. The minister spoke on a day President Goodluck Jonathan condemned the stigmatisation of Nigerians by some countries over recent cases of the Ebola Virus in the country. According to the minister: “I don’t want Nigerians to panic, but I don’t want us to be carried away with euphoria because if we still one case of Ebola Virus Disease, it is an emergency. “The World Health Organization, WHO, defines Ebola epidemic as when one person is infected with the disease. We have to be cautious as long as there is still a victim in the country,” he said. According to the Minister: “While Nigeria has successfully contained Ebola Virus Disease, it has not eliminated the disease because there is still a case we are managing and as long as there is one case in the world, every country is still at risk. “It is still possible that Nigeria may record between one to three new cases because there are people under surveillance. There is a case we are still managing and even that case we are still managing must also have had her own third degree contacts, many of whom are part of this number of people that are under surveillance. “There is still a chance one of the people under surveillance may fall sick and test positive. So until we give a clean bill of health to every contact, we cannot even say we have eliminated the disease,” he emphasised. On government’s decision to close primary and secondary schools in the country till October, Professor Chukwu said it was a precautionary measure to safeguard the lives of children. He also emphasised that there is no need for the country’s borders to be closed just yet, adding that government may consider closing the borders only if it is absolutely necessary to do so. “There is no panic to close borders, but if it becomes necessary, we may close borders. Our borders are still open, but what we are doing is screening of people coming into the country,” he said. On the N1.9 billion released by the Federal Government to fight Ebola Virus Disease, Professor Chukwu said the money was for the Federal Ministry of Health and its agencies to contain the spread of Ebola and not to be shared to states of the federation. Discrimination Also, President Jonathan, who was not happy with the way Nigerians were being discriminated against in foreign countries on account of the virus in Nigeria, condemned such discrimination when he had a meeting with Mr. David Navarro, a Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General. He particularly denounced discriminatory actions such as that which forced Nigeria’s team to the Youth Olympics in China to abandon its participation. Noting that there was no justification for such stigmatisation of Nigerians since the Ebola Virus Disease had been effectively contained in the country and never attained scandalous levels, the President called for the cessation of discriminatory actions against Nigerians over the virus and urged the UN Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki Moon to support the call. Responding to the Secretary General’s commendation of Nigeria’s management of the threat of Ebola, President Jonathan praised the Federal Ministry of Health, the Lagos State Government and all Nigerians for the success achieved so far in containing the virus and avoiding a national epidemic.