The
Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said that Nigeria could eradicate
the deadly Ebola epidemic from the country by September 2014, if it sustains
its current efforts at tackling the disease, DigitalSENSE Business News
gathered.
The
Project director NCDC, Prof. Abdulsalami Nasidi, who stated his during his
presentation at a workshop organised by the National Biotechnology Development
Agency (NABDA) on Molecular Diagnosis and Treatment for Hemorrhagic and
Zoonotic Viral Diseases, recently in Abuja, commended President Goodluck
Jonathan, Governor Babatunde Fashola and Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi
Chukwu, for the support given to health workers to confront the virus.
“Let
me say here that if the current efforts at tackling the disease are sustained,
we should be able to defeat Ebola on or before September 6, 2014. But, that is
not say the threat of reappearance will no longer be there.
“The
president should be commended because he came back from a trip when the virus
landed in the nation and swiftly went into action by championing the cause of
containing the disease, and made funds available to that effect. The minister
and governor are excellent people; their performance was excellent because they
acted swiftly and decisively to bring the situation under control,” he said.
He
further condemned the call by some embassies for intending travellers to
present an Ebola-free certificate, describing it as unnecessary.
According
to him, “You only need to screen (the blood of) those who have come in contact
with an infected person, not everybody. Asking everybody to screen their blood
for Ebola is out of WHO’s recommendation.”
The
federal government, he noted, was already taking it up with embassies that now
put this as one of the requirements for visa processing.
Chukwudi Obi
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