The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has clarified that the Federal Government’s ₦10 billion emergency intervention fund is not exclusively for Ebola preparedness but is intended to strengthen the country’s capacity to prevent, detect and respond to multiple public health threats.
The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, made the clarification on Monday, November 2, amid public concerns over the allocation following Nigeria’s confirmation of an imported case of Bundibugyo Ebola virus disease in October.
Idris explained that the funding was requested to support broader health security interventions, including disease prevention, preparedness, early detection, rapid response and recovery from public health emergencies.
He listed the diseases and health threats covered by the intervention to include Ebola, Lassa fever, cholera, cerebrospinal meningitis, diphtheria, measles, mpox and antimicrobial resistance.
According to him, the allocation was approved by President Bola Tinubu in June 2026 following the outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which raised concerns about the potential spread of the disease to other countries.
He stressed that the request for the funding was never limited to Ebola but was designed to strengthen Nigeria’s overall health security system and address diseases that have historically contributed to illness and deaths across the country.
The NCDC chief also clarified that the ₦10 billion was released directly to the agency and not to the Presidential Task Force on Ebola Virus Disease, chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.
He explained that the task force was established primarily to coordinate the national response to Ebola, while the NCDC received the intervention fund to address wider public health preparedness requirements.
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