The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention says it introduced a weekly ₦100,000 support package for people quarantined over an Ebola case to prevent them from leaving isolation and potentially undermining public health efforts.
The agency’s Director-General, Dr Jide Idris, said the emergency payment was not included in the original budget but was introduced on compassionate grounds after some contacts complained about the financial burden of quarantine.
Idris disclosed this on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, explaining that the affected individuals had been separated from their families and businesses as part of efforts to contain the disease.
He said some of them had threatened to leave the quarantine facility because of the financial implications of remaining there.
“If you allow them to leave the place, it’s a public health issue because you don’t know whether they will turn positive or who is ill,” he said.
The NCDC chief said the agency decided to provide temporary financial assistance to cover basic needs and encourage compliance with quarantine requirements.
He explained that some contacts had expressed concerns about feeding, accommodation and their responsibilities towards family members who depended on them.
Idris said the intervention was an emergency measure rather than a permanent NCDC policy, adding that state governments ordinarily had responsibility for providing quarantine facilities and related support.
He said the agency stepped in because the necessary assistance was not forthcoming and authorities needed to ensure that the public health response was not compromised.
The NCDC had earlier announced the weekly payment following the confirmation of an imported Ebola case in the Federal Capital Territory.
The intervention was intended to support primary contacts undergoing monitoring and address complaints about the cost of remaining in quarantine.
At the time of the earlier announcement, 53 primary contacts linked to the confirmed case had been identified for monitoring.
Idris said the payments would be reviewed as the response progressed, stressing that the support was designed to address immediate needs while health officials continued surveillance and other containment measures.
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