Ebola: Senate seeks emergency funds, mandatory border screening

File photo: Health workers in Ebola kits

The Senate has urged the Federal Government to release emergency funds from the service-wide vote to strengthen disease surveillance and introduce compulsory health screening at all international airports, seaports and designated land borders to curb the spread of Ebola and other epidemic-prone diseases.

The resolution followed a motion of urgent national importance sponsored by Senator Francis Faduyile, who expressed concern over the spread of the Bundibugyo Ebola virus and its potential threat to Nigeria’s public health system on Wednesday, Channels TV reports.

Faduyile said, “The outbreak, which originated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, had spread to other African countries, including Uganda and Kenya”, raising concerns about infected travellers entering Nigeria through third countries.

He also referred to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention’s assessment of the risk of Ebola importation, citing the 2014 outbreak in Nigeria, when an infected traveller arrived in Lagos.

While recognising the Federal Government’s measures, including health declaration forms and increased screening at entry points, the Senate expressed concern that the existing protocols applied only to travellers from selected countries.

Lawmakers warned that the limited scope of the screening measures could leave gaps in the country’s disease surveillance system.

They also highlighted shortages of personnel and equipment at several entry points and raised concerns about the continued reliance of Port Health Services on the Quarantine Act of 1926.

The Senate noted that Nigeria’s existing public health challenges, including Lassa fever, cholera and diphtheria, made stronger preparedness measures necessary to prevent another major health emergency.

Consequently, it urged the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the NCDC and Port Health Services to make screening mandatory for all international arrivals, regardless of their nationality or country of departure.

The proposed measures include health declaration forms, temperature checks and symptom assessments.

Travellers who had visited or transited through affected areas within the preceding 21 days would be subjected to enhanced screening.

The lawmakers also called for exit screening for departing passengers during declared public health emergencies.

The Senate further urged the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and the Nigeria Immigration Service to ensure that entry points were adequately equipped with trained Port Health officers, thermal scanners, protective equipment and isolation facilities.

• Gombe confirms cholera outbreak, treats 74 patients
• Ebola: US issues health advisory to citizens in Nigeria
• Ebola: Reps demand immediate release of health emergency funds

It also called on the Federal Government to ensure that isolation and treatment centres were adequately prepared across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

On the legal framework, the upper chamber advocated replacing the Quarantine Act of 1926 with updated public health legislation aligned with the International Health Regulations of 2005.

It also urged the ministries responsible for finance, budget and economic planning to provide adequate funding for the NCDC and Port Health Services in the 2027 budget and release outstanding allocations.

The resolution came as the federal government confirmed an Ebola case in the Federal Capital Territory on Wednesday.

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Pate, said in Abuja that laboratory tests had confirmed an imported case of Ebola virus disease.

Pate said the patient was a woman who had recently travelled to Uganda and returned to Nigeria with symptoms on October 7. Her condition reportedly worsened four days later, and subsequent tests confirmed the infection.

However, Ugandan health authorities denied reports of an Ebola outbreak in the East African country.

Uganda’s Ministry of Health said investigations were ongoing to establish where the patient was exposed to the virus, noting that transit through Uganda alone did not establish the location of infection.

The ministry also said the Nigerian government had yet to provide detailed information about the patient’s travel itinerary and clinical history, which it considered necessary to guide further investigations and any required contact tracing.

The viral haemorrhagic disease has reportedly spread to several African countries following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in May.

Also, Kenya reported its ninth Ebola case on Tuesday.

Health authorities in the DRC have also reported a significant number of infections and deaths linked to the outbreak, which the report described as the deadliest in the country’s history.