The Federal Government again on Monday reinstated it’s earlier warning to the countries which have been stigmatising Nigerian travellers over the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak to stop doing so because it was not in line with global best practices and none of her citizens has exported the virus to any country.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, handed down this warning during a World Press Conference on Monday in Abuja while giving an update on the EVD, 50 days since it was imported into Nigeria through Lagos.
The minister described the reported placing of Nigerian travellers, including a journalist, on quarantine by the government of Cuba as surprising, as he said, “The only case from Cuba concerns a journalist working with a newspaper which was very surprising. But as a responsible ministry, we have already written formally to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help us investigate the case.
“We treat individual cases that way but when it comes to what we do generally, I think it is education we are giving. That is how it is done in civilised countries. We continue to appeal to countries and individuals not to profile or stigmatise anyone on account of EVD.
“In particular, we have observed that some countries have continued to selectively quarantine Nigerian travellers without any health or scientific basis. For the record, let me say clearly that while any individual from any country of the world, including Nigeria, could be a carrier of the EVD and transmit same to others, no single Nigerian as of now has introduced EVD to any country. Nigeria shall continue to support protocols approved by the WHO, which do not support the closure of borders, do not restrict travel, and do not stigmatise anyone on the basis of the passport that one carries.”
The minister said negative attention was not being given to Lassa fever as much as EVD, which he said, was in the same category with EVD.
“We treat people for Lassa and they go back home. The two infections belong to the same group of viral haemorrhage. If anything, Lassa is more serious than EVD. We are again appealing to countries and individuals not to profile or stigmatise anyone on account of EVD.
“The Federal Government shall continue to remain vigilant and strengthen screening at our ports of entry and exit. As long as there is a single case of EVD anywhere in the world, every nation, every individual remains at risk and Nigeria and Nigerians are not exempted,” the Minister said.
Chukwu also debunked speculations of a number of EVD cases in Kebbi, Kaduna, Lagos, Lagos, Oyo, Ebonyi, Delta and Sokoto States as well as the Federal Capital Territory, saying they “have been investigated and all the cases have turned out to be Ebola negative.”
Also, the Minister of Information and Communications, Mr. Labaran Maku, called on Nigerians to contact their foreign missions whenever they face stigmatisation abroad over the EVD.
“There is absolutely no basis for this stigma because of the records we have set in dealing with Ebola so far. We also want to plead that we should avoid sensationalism when reporting; this is where the stigmatisation starts. When people begin to read such reports and rumours, it reinforces stigmatisation. A lot of the stigmas we suffer come from the way we report issues about Nigeria. The only confirmation of EVD should come from the Health Minister and not the state Commissioners of Health”, Maku stated.
