House to Probe N10bn Ebola Emergency Fund, Questions States’ Readiness.
Abbas Tajudeen, stated this on Tuesday in Abuja at a one-day public hearing on the Ebola outbreak, organized by the joint Committees on Infectious Diseases, Healthcare Services, Aviation and Interior.
The Speaker, who was represented by Hon.
Billy Osawaru, said the Green Chamber would scrutinise inter-agency coordination and whether emergency funds were released promptly and spent transparently.
He noted that the recent Ebola outbreak in parts of Africa and the imported case in Nigeria had underscored the need to strengthen the country’s public health security architecture, noting that public health security is inseparable from national security. While commending the Federal Government’s response through the activation of emergency mechanisms, heightened surveillance, contact tracing, establishment of a Presidential Task Force and approval of emergency funding, the Speaker warned against complacency. He recalled that the 2014 Ebola experience proved that early detection and effective coordination determine whether an outbreak is contained or escalates. Abbas stated: “The fact that the confirmed imported case has been evacuated and no onward transmission has been established should strengthen our resolve to prevent a recurrence, rather than diminish our sense of urgency.
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