Nigeria’s preparedness for a potential Ebola outbreak currently stands at 59%, the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Jide Idris, has revealed, as health authorities intensify surveillance and response measures amid growing concerns over the disease’s regional and international spread.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday, Idris said a recent assessment of the country’s readiness exposed critical gaps that authorities are working to address, particularly at points of entry into the country.
“Our recent latest level of assessment puts us at about 59%. But that’s quite variable. You can’t be 100% prepared, but the essence is that we keep preparing because things change,” he said.
The NCDC chief said a dynamic risk assessment was conducted to determine Nigeria’s preparedness level, identify vulnerabilities and strengthen response mechanisms against any potential importation of the virus.
“We did a dynamic risk assessment for Nigeria basically to assess our level of preparedness, where we are, what gaps we need to cover, and then what we need to do. And very clearly, one area that came out was the point of entry, which is crucial. Because the essence—the objective—is that we should not allow this thing to come into this country,” he said.
