By Julian Osamoto
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) says its weekly ₦100,000 support for people quarantined over Nigeria’s recent Ebola case was not included in its original budget.
The Director-General of the agency, Dr Jide Idris, said the payment was introduced on compassionate grounds to address the financial difficulties faced by people placed under quarantine for public health reasons.
Idris disclosed this on Monday night during an interview on a national television.
He said the agency had a responsibility to provide food and accommodation for those taken away from their normal lives to prevent possible transmission of the virus.
“Those people who were in the quarantine area were people who never planned to be there. We took them out of their comfort zones; we put them there for public health reasons, so we are responsible for their feeding, accommodation,” he said.
Idris explained that some of the contacts had raised concerns about being separated from their families and losing income while complying with quarantine requirements.
He said some had threatened to leave the facility because of the financial pressure, raising concerns about the risk of further transmission if any of them later tested positive.
The NCDC boss said the agency introduced the temporary payments to ease the burden and encourage those under quarantine to remain at the facility.
He added that state governments ordinarily had responsibility for providing quarantine facilities and related support, but the NCDC intervened because the expected assistance was not forthcoming.
The agency had earlier announced the weekly ₦100,000 payment following the confirmation of an imported case of Bundibugyo Ebola virus disease in the Federal Capital Territory.
