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Nigerian Minister of state for health, Dr Khaliru
Alhassan
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The
minister of state for health, Dr Khaliru Alhassan, has disclosed that health
officials in Sierra Leone have officially informed the ministry that two
Nigerians resident in Freetown have been diagnosed with Ebola Virus Disease
(EVD).
He
said that one of the Nigerians is a 27-year-old indigene of Abia State, while
the other is a 22-year-old indigene of Edo State.
The
minister, who made this disclosure in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, when he briefed the press
on EVD at the just-concluded National Council on Health Meeting, said that
details of the two cases will be made available when full investigation of
their status is concluded.
He
stressed that from the information available to the ministry, both Nigerians
received treatment in isolation centres in Freetown, Sierra Leone, adding that
one of them has been successfully treated and is technically cured, and has
returned to Nigeria.
Dr
Alhassan said although the nation’s borders will continue to remain open for
the free movement of people and goods within the region, government will
continue to strengthen and sustain proactive vigilance and surveillance at all
its borders – air, sea and land.
Against
this backdrop, the minister appealed to the countries already infected to
strengthen their surveillance and quarantine network to minimize escape from
such networks by people already put under surveillance to other non-infected
countries.
He
noted that the recent declaration of Nigeria as an Ebola-free nation on Monday,
the 20th of October, 2014 connotes that Nigeria’s strategies to fight the
outbreak had worked and that Nigeria is now not to be listed among countries
infected by the deadly virus any longer, adding that henceforth, no country
will stigmatize any Nigerian as someone coming to contaminate their people.
He
ascribed Nigeria’s success in containing the Ebola disease to responsive
governance driven by appropriate political will, a clear leadership role, and
strong multi-sectoral teamwork.
The
minister informed the journalists that Nigeria has already mobilized and
trained over 600 health workers as volunteers to support the containment effort
in affected countries within the West African sub-region under the leadership
of ECOWAS.
He
noted that Nigeria’s president had donated US$3.5million towards the Ebola
scourge in the sub-region.
He also disclosed that at
the request of the government of Sierra Leone, Nigeria made a donation of drugs
and supplies to the tune of N50million.
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