The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has approved N100,000 weekly for each person who needs financial support while under isolation or quarantine following the Ebola outbreak in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Speaking to journalists in Abuja on Sunday, NCDC Director-General, Dr Jide Idris, said the payment would help people identified as contacts of the confirmed case meet their basic needs.
He explained that some contacts had complained about the cost of food, accommodation and supporting their families while complying with health monitoring rules.
“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.
Idris said the agency approved the weekly payment to ease their difficulties.
“We are providing N100,000 per person per week just to maintain their comfort and feeding, because they were complaining,” he said.
He noted that the support was not in the original response plan but became necessary because of the emergency.
“This was not planned for, but it is an emergency. We will continue to review it as we go along,” he said.
Idris also urged other states to prepare financially and logistically for similar emergencies, stressing that the responsibility should not fall on the FCT alone.
“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.
Nigeria confirmed one imported Ebola case in Abuja on October 20. At the briefing, 53 primary contacts, including healthcare workers, household members, domestic staff and sample collection personnel, were being monitored.
The NCDC said contacts would receive prompt assessment and testing if symptoms developed. Isolation arrangements are also in place where needed, with monitoring continuing throughout the 21-day incubation period after the last possible exposure.
