President Muhammadu Buhari has donated $1 million to the fight against Ebola Viral Disease (EVD) in the West African region.
A statement by Mrs Ayo Adesugba, Director, Press and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Health, said the donation was made at the International Conference on Africa’s Fight against Ebola, in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
The statement said Buhari was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mr Linus Awute.
Awute was quoted in the statement as saying Nigeria is not celebrating the end of Ebola in the country until “this disease is totally eliminated from the West African region’’.
“This is because the Ebola in one country remains also a threat to another.
“EVD is therefore crucial to us right now and so we remain committed to support all efforts of the African Union in this fight,’’ said the statement.
It added that Nigeria is in full support of the establishment of the African Centre for Disease Control (ACDC) working with the regional Centre for Disease Control.
“It will significantly enhance health targets to build the International Health Regulations (IHR) Capacities.
“The ECOWAS region was the first to take this initiative of establishing a regional Centre for Disease Control in which the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) was designed as the regional centre.
“This is in recognition of Nigeria’s role in curtailing the spread of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Nigeria and the Region.
The statement disclosed that Nigeria is supporting research efforts in developing therapies and vaccines against the disease.
It added that these efforts are leading to the development of promising Ebola therapies through various government and private sector partnerships.
The statement also said the recent flare-ups and upsurge of cases in Sierra Leone, Guinea and reappearance of cases in Liberia, after being certified Ebola free by the World Health Organisation.
“This confirms that Africa is dealing with a regional and international health security emergencies of larger proportion.’’
Awute called on the African Union Commission (AUC) to reconsider the immediate redeployment of volunteers to the affected countries “until the job is done”.
