Ebola In Abuja: Deja Vu And The Fragility Of Preparedness, By Adetunji Aderohunmu

12 years after Nigeria earned world reward for holding Ebola in 2014, the affirmation of an imported case within the Federal Capital Territory is a take a look at of whether or not that institutional reminiscence nonetheless holds.

The Federal Government says 44 contacts have been recognized and are below surveillance, whereas 46 uncovered individuals have reportedly been positioned on a no-fly checklist. The response, coordinated by the Presidential Task Force chaired by Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, has been swift on paper, however swift on paper shouldn’t be the identical as efficient on the bottom.

What ought to fear Nigerians shouldn’t be the virus alone, however the acquainted sample of reactive governance. Surveillance was stepped up after affirmation, not earlier than. Border screening is being mentioned after importation, not as prevention.

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And whereas the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention admits vaccines stay unavailable amid the outbreak, we’re but to see a transparent, public-facing protocol for FCT residents, hospitals, and colleges, the form of transparency that helped Adadevoh and her colleagues at First Consultants Medical Centre purchase the nation time in 2014. Confidence, as expressed by the Task Force, have to be matched with communication.

If this case is to stay an remoted import and never a sequence, the federal government should do three issues instantly: publish day by day, verifiable updates on contact tracing and testing, not simply assurances; implement necessary screening in any respect worldwide airports with out the same old Nigerian compromise; and launch emergency funds to the NCDC and state epidemiology models earlier than they begin improvising. Ebola doesn’t reply to press statements. It responds to programs.

Adetunji Aderohunmu writes in from Lagos

NOP NIGERIA