The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Jide Idris, has said the agency introduced the weekly ₦100,000 support for people quarantined over the recent Ebola case on compassionate grounds, noting that the intervention was not included in its original budget.
Idris explained that the financial assistance was intended to ease the burden on primary contacts who were removed from their normal routines and placed in quarantine as part of measures to contain the potential spread of the disease.
The Punch reported that he disclosed this during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday night, stressing that the authorities had a responsibility to cater for the basic needs of those undergoing quarantine.
“That was not budgeted for. 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,” Idris said.
According to him, some of the individuals complained about being separated from their families and the financial losses associated with staying in the quarantine facility, particularly those who had businesses to manage.
“Some of them said they had families at home they need to take care of. But one or two said they had businesses. By staying here again, you’re going to lose a lot of money again,” he said.
The NCDC chief noted that some contacts had threatened to leave the facility because of the difficulties they faced, raising concerns about the possible consequences for public health.
“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.
Idris said the agency subsequently decided to provide temporary financial assistance to address the complaints and encourage the individuals to remain in quarantine until the necessary public health procedures were completed.
“On compassionate grounds, we said, okay, let’s see how best we can support them. It’s a temporary thing because it’s not something we’ve done,” he said.
He added that state governments were ordinarily responsible for providing quarantine facilities and related support, but the NCDC intervened because the expected assistance was not forthcoming.
“In this kind of thing, the quarantine facility, there are the responsibilities of each state government, not any NCDC. But because this is not forthcoming, to avoid this one, just to temper this thing, we decided to step in,” he said.
The intervention followed complaints from people placed under isolation or quarantine after an imported Ebola case was confirmed in the Federal Capital Territory.
The NCDC had earlier announced an emergency payment of ₦100,000 per person weekly to help affected individuals meet their expenses during the monitoring period.
Speaking at a press briefing on Sunday, Idris said the decision was prompted by concerns raised by contacts over the cost of feeding, accommodation and supporting their families while complying with public health measures.
“We are paying for their accommodation; we are paying for their feeding. Some of them are asking for a stipend to maintain their families,” he had said.
He added, “We are providing N100,000 per person per week just to maintain their comfort and feeding, because they were complaining.”
The agency said the financial support was an emergency measure that would be reviewed as the outbreak response progressed.
At the time of the announcement, 53 primary contacts linked to the confirmed Ebola case had been identified for monitoring.
