Ebola: 600 Nigerian volunteers part of international response team

Abuja – The Coordinator, Nigerian Centre for
Disease Control (NCDC), Prof. Abdulsalami Nasidi,
said more than 600 Nigerians registered as
volunteers in the international team to control
Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa.
He made the disclosure while fielding questions
at the 2014 ministerial press briefing in Abuja
on Tuesday.
He said the volunteers comprised health workers,
journalists and others.
Nasidi said Nigeria remained committed to
supporting the control of Ebola spread in West
Africa, hence the number of volunteers
registered to join the fight against the disease.
The coordinator, however, did not give the exact
date when the team would commence its
assignment but said Nigeria was prepared to
lead the international response team.
He said “I want to announce to this gathering
that over 600 Nigerian doctors, nurses, laboratory
scientists, field epidemiologists and other
categories of experts, including journalists, have
registered to join the international team on
Ebola.
“This strong team is an indication that Nigeria is
committed to leading the fight against Ebola in
West Africa.’’
The NCDC coordinator said that the Federal
Government’s Treatment and Research Group
had helped in developing a national response
plan, stressing that implementation of the plan
would soon commence.
He added that the national plan was conceived
to help Nigeria to prepare in the event of an
outbreak of the disease in any part of the
country.
According to him, Nigeria now has a strategic
plan in place that will guide workers in
controlling any outbreak of Ebola and other
emerging diseases in the country.
The coordinator said that the plan put together
was in acknowledgement of the fact that Nigeria
was still at risk of another outbreak of the
disease.
He added that until the last reported case of
Ebola in the world was brought under control,
Nigeria would not relent in its efforts to combat
the disease.
The Federal Government had offered the services
of the coordinator of the NCDC to lead the
international response team to other parts of
West Africa. (NAN)