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Ebola in Congo questions Nigeria’s readiness on outbreaks

Source(s): Guardian, the (NG)
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By Chukwuma Muanya

[...]

[Nigeria] lost more than $186 million (N70.680 billion) to the [2014 Ebola] outbreak. Beyond this, it still loses about N3 billion yearly to epidemics of cholera, measles, meningitis and Lassa fever.

But only N1.375 billion, 2.5 per cent of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCFP), is budgeted for public health emergencies.

“The country would save billions of naira by preventing Ebola and other outbreaks. Like we have seen in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) recently and other countries in previous years, Ebola outbreaks are very costly to manage,” said Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, a consultant epidemiologist and chief executive officer of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

[...]

Based on the National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS), Nigeria would only need about $0.40 (N152) per person per year to prepare infrastructure for the protection of its citizens. ​The calculations are based on a five-year costing by NAPHS and the World Bank’s 2018 estimate of the Nigerian population.

This means the country will need about N152 per person and N27.360 billion yearly for a population of 180 million.

[...]

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Hazards Epidemic and Pandemic
Themes Health and health facilities Economics of DRR Disaster risk management
Country and region Nigeria
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