By Habeeb Ibrahim
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has approved a weekly payment of ₦100,000 per person for individuals isolated or quarantined in connection with the Ebola outbreak in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The Director-General of the agency, Dr Jide Idris, disclosed this during a press briefing on Sunday, saying the intervention followed complaints from some contacts about the cost of feeding, accommodation and maintaining their families while under monitoring.
Idris said the agency was covering accommodation and feeding, while the additional payment would help individuals meet other expenses during the isolation period.
“We are paying for their accommodation; we are paying for their feeding. Some of them are asking for a stipend to maintain their families,” he said.
He added that the payment was an emergency measure that would be reviewed as the response progressed.
Idris also called on state governments to prepare the funding and logistics required to manage similar public health emergencies, noting that the responsibility should not rest solely on the FCT.
“This is not the responsibility of the FCT alone. What we have to do for the FCT, we have to do for any other state, just in case,” he said.
At the time of the briefing, Nigeria had recorded one confirmed Ebola case involving a woman who travelled from Uganda to Abuja. The case was confirmed on October 20, while 53 primary contacts had been identified for monitoring.
The NCDC said contact tracing and health surveillance were ongoing, with identified contacts monitored throughout the 21-day incubation period following their last possible exposure.
The agency did not provide further details in the announcement on the total number of beneficiaries or the overall cost of the weekly payments.
