The Federal Government has approved the release of N200m as monetary assistance to Rivers State Government in the fight against the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease.
Rivers State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Sampson Parker, who disclosed this while speaking with journalists in Port Harcourt on Thursday, said the Minister of Health, Dr. Onyebuchi Chukwu, informed him about the development.
The state government had raised the alarm last Saturday that it had yet to receive any monetary assistance from the Federal Government.
Parker expressed the hope that the fund would be released as soon as possible, even as he said that schools in the state might not resume on September 22 as directed by the Federal Government.
He explained that the state had not heard about any new case of Ebola, though surveillance was still on. He said the number of persons under surveillance at the treatment centre had dropped from 526 to 264.
The commissioner said he was optimistic that by September 22, 2014, the huge number of persons under surveillance would have reduced considerably while few cases referred to the treatment centre would have come out negative.
Parker stressed, “I received good news yesterday (Wednesday). The Minister of Health informed me that the President had approved the release of N200 million to Rivers State to support the state government’s Ebola response. I hope that we will receive the money as soon as possible.
“On the resumption date for schools in Rivers State, the opening date for schools in the state may not be September 22, 2014. It may be soon after that time. We will not end the fight against Ebola virus disease even after the resumption of schools.”
He said that he had been speaking with proprietors of private schools in the state on the need to be patient in order to allow government and the people win the fight against Ebola virus disease in Rivers.
He pointed out that apart from the N300m spent on preparation against the disease, the state government received a budget of N1bn from the Ebola Operation Committee, while some organisations had also donated towards the campaign.
Parker disclosed that commissioners for health in the South-East and South-South zone of the country were currently in the state on a solidarity visit and to understudy the management of the Ebola outbreak in Rivers.
