Ebola: FG to Develop Protocol for Disease Control at Airports

The Minister of Aviation, Mr. Osita Chidoka, yesterday said the federal government was developing a protocol at the airports for future curtailment of any epidemic that is highly contagious or outbreak of any disease in the nearest future across the country.

He made the disclosure when he received a delegation from the United States Embassy led by the Deputy Head of Mission, Mrs. Maria Brewer, to his office in Abuja.

Asked whether the Ebola prevalence will not be a dampener to the country’s quest for the Category 1 status, he said instead the Ebola had increased the ministry’s preparedness and tempo for the attainment of that Category 1 certification status.

He stated further:  “All the processes are being upgraded in making sure that we attained the status. By the time the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) returns next month, all gaps would have been corrected.”

While expressing appreciation for the visit, Chidoka said the ministry was exploring collaborative ways with the embassy in the areas of training and capacity development.
“We intend to collaborate with the embassy in several areas.”

He noted that the virus brought by a Liberian national into the country had posed a real challenge for the West African region.
He said: “This is an unfortunate episode of the man that imported the disease into Nigeria.
“Our reaction has been quite swift and these measures have been very far reaching and so far all the people with primary contact are known and quarantined. We are thinking that the transport sector is going to be the purveyor of the movement of people from points A to B.”

He said the airport being a controlled environment, would be easy to curtail the movement of the people coming in and exiting.

He commended the government for the curtailment strategy, adding that it had been good and very proactive.

“I also believe that all things that we need to do in going forward like the screening and increase in the health workers, Ministry of Health, has been given a waiver to recruit more health workers. We have commenced  testing of all passengers across the airports.

“We want to develop protocols at the airports, to deal with epidemic that are highly infectious, but there is immediate preventive measure of Ebola, as all the rules are being complied with.

On the Category One, I think we are on track and I think that all the gaps are being addressed so by the time they come  back all the facilities would have been in place, and of course the Ebola virus is not a dampener because it will make us to increase our protocols at the airport. I believe we are on track. Nigeria’s reaction to the Ebola has been quite commendable,”  Chidoka said.

In a remark, Brewer, said: “Well certainly we have been working with the ministry of Aviation, here in Abuja and Lagos to ensure that screening is going on, also the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), has been working very closely with the Nigerian authorities at all levels to ensure that this disease is stamped out and that it doesn’t further impact any population, whether it is here in Nigeria or anywhere else. This is a top priority for the US government to make sure that we stamp out the disease”

She said the embassy would join forces with government through US public health communicators towards making sure that the right information is given to the public on what they need to know and what to do and what the disease looks like.

Brewer said: “And I think Nigerian government has taken good steps, and we want to support them as much as we can. We intend to work with you in all the airports and I think also that we are track towards retaining the category status.”