EBOLA: Federal Government of Nigeria calls emergency National Council of Health Meeting

 

An emergency National Council on Health, NCH, meeting is holding today in Abuja following the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, outside Lagos.

The meeting will be the third in series since the outbreak of the disease in West Africa.

The NCH, which is the highest decision making body on health issues in Nigeria comprises the Minister of Health, the Minister of State for Health, all state Commissioners for Health and Permanent Secretaries Ministry of Health of the 36 states, and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

It was learnt that the meeting was called to address the outbreak of EVD in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and to avoid further spread to neighbouring states.

A source from the Federal Ministry of Health said the Council is expected to deliberate extensively on strategies to contain further spread of EVD even beyond primary and secondary case of the index (first) case, Patrick Sawyer.

At the last NCH, which held early August in Abuja, the body resolved that all corpses should be accompanied with death certificates and that all the states should enact legislation to support the resolution.

It also resolved that corpses of all persons confirmed to have died of EVD must be disposed off according to the standard of the World Health Organisation, WHO.

The body equally directed that transportation of corpses into the country as well as interstate be banned until further notice except with approved waivers issued by Federal Ministry of health.

It is not unlikely the council will investigate circumstances surrounding the escape of a primary contact from the isolation centre in Lagos to Port Harcourt.