The Senate has called on the Federal Government to release emergency funds from the service-wide vote to strengthen disease surveillance and enforce mandatory health screening at all international airports, seaports and designated land borders to prevent the spread of Ebola and other epidemic-prone diseases.
The resolution followed a motion of urgent national importance sponsored by Senator Francis Faduyile, who raised concerns over the spread of the Bundibugyo Ebola virus and the risk it poses to Nigeria’s public health system.
Faduyile said the outbreak, which began in the Democratic Republic of Congo, had spread to other African countries, including Uganda and Kenya, increasing the risk of infected travellers entering Nigeria through third countries.
He cited the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention’s assessment of a high risk of Ebola importation and recalled the July 2014 incident when an infected traveller introduced the disease into Nigeria through Lagos.
The Senate acknowledged the Federal Government’s existing response measures, including health declaration forms and enhanced screening at entry points, but expressed concern that screening was restricted to travellers from selected countries.
The lawmakers warned that the approach could leave gaps in the country’s disease surveillance system, while inadequate staffing and equipment at some entry points could further undermine efforts to detect and contain infections.
Consequently, the Senate urged the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the NCDC and Port Health Services to make health screening compulsory for all international arrivals, irrespective of nationality or country of departure.
The proposed screening measures include health declaration forms, temperature checks and symptom assessments, with enhanced screening for travellers who have visited or transited through affected areas within the preceding 21 days.
The upper chamber also called for exit screening of departing passengers during declared public health emergencies.
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It urged the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and the Nigeria Immigration Service to provide adequate numbers of trained Port Health officers, thermal scanners, protective equipment and isolation facilities at all entry points.
The Senate further called on the Federal Government to ensure that isolation and treatment centres across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory were adequately equipped to manage potential cases.
On funding, the lawmakers urged the relevant ministries to provide adequate allocations for the NCDC and Port Health Services in the 2027 budget and release outstanding funds.
They also called for the replacement of the Quarantine Act of 1926 with a modern public health law aligned with the International Health Regulations of 2005.
The Senate said strengthening the country’s preparedness was particularly important given the existing burden of diseases such as Lassa fever, cholera and diphtheria.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government on Wednesday confirmed a case of Ebola virus disease in the Federal Capital Territory.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, said the imported case was confirmed through laboratory testing.
Pate said the patient was a woman who had recently travelled to Uganda and returned to Nigeria with symptoms on October 7. Her condition reportedly worsened four days later before laboratory tests confirmed the infection.