Health
Reps demand urgent funding for NCDC over Ebola threat, epidemic preparedness
The House of Representatives on Tuesday called on the federal government to immediately provide adequate funding to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to strengthen the country’s preparedness and response capacity against Ebola and other epidemic-prone diseases.
The resolution followed the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance sponsored by Amobi Ogah (LP, Abia), who warned that Nigeria’s disease surveillance and emergency response systems were under severe strain due to prolonged funding shortfalls at the NCDC.
The motion, titled “Seeking the Federal Government to Immediately Provide Adequate Funding Requirements to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to Strengthen Nigeria’s Preparedness and Response Capacity for Ebola and Other Epidemic-Prone Diseases,” was adopted by the House without debate.
Presenting the motion, Mr Ogah reminded lawmakers that the NCDC is Nigeria’s national public health institute, charged with responding to infectious disease outbreaks and public health emergencies.
He drew attention to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where authorities and international health agencies confirmed the emergence of the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus in May.
According to him, the outbreak poses a significant threat to Nigeria due to its porous borders and the ease of cross-border movement across Africa.
“On 15 May 2026, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported an outbreak of Ebola disease in the Ituri Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“This rare and distinct strain of Ebola virus, the Bundibugyo strain, is causing a major public health emergency in Central Africa and may spread to other parts of Africa soon because of the porous nature of our borders and lack of strict cross-border checks,” he said.
The lawmaker expressed concern that, unlike some previous Ebola outbreaks, there are currently no licensed vaccines or targeted therapies specifically approved for the Bundibugyo strain.
He also recalled that on 25 May, the NCDC issued a public health advisory placing Nigeria at high risk of Ebola importation and activated emergency preparedness measures across the country.
Mr Ogah, however, questioned how the agency could effectively prepare for potential outbreaks amid what he described as severe financial constraints.
He told the House that the NCDC received no operational funding in 2025 and that no capital releases had been made so far against its approved 2026 budget allocation.
According to him, overhead releases to the agency have also been irregular and grossly inadequate.
“How then can the preparedness of the Centre for emergencies be guaranteed?” he asked.
The lawmaker warned that the funding gap had significantly weakened Nigeria’s ability to fulfil critical health security obligations at a time when external donor support for outbreak preparedness and response activities had also declined.
He outlined several challenges currently confronting the NCDC, including unpaid contractors and service providers, stalled strategic projects, inadequate laboratory supplies, weak biosafety infrastructure, insufficient intensive care support systems and limited resources for emergency simulation exercises and preparedness drills.
According to him, vendors supplying critical goods and services to the agency have not been paid for more than one year, leading to delays in the completion of zonal laboratories, treatment centres and isolation facilities across the country.
He further disclosed that laboratory reagents, consumables and other materials essential for outbreak screening and diagnosis were nearly exhausted.
Mr Ogah also highlighted inadequate funding for the training and retraining of Rapid Response Teams, as well as limited resources for emergency workforce deployment during disease outbreaks.
He warned that the situation had critically constrained the NCDC’s ability to carry out outbreak response operations, surveillance activities, laboratory services, logistics coordination and frontline emergency preparedness functions.
“If urgent and appropriate funding for the Centre is not immediately met, the strength and capacity of the NCDC to adequately respond to the resurfacing Ebola threat and other epidemic-prone diseases cannot be assured, which is extremely disastrous to Nigeria as a nation,” he said.
Following the adoption of the motion, the House urged the Executive Arm of Government to immediately release funds appropriated for the NCDC to enable the agency to settle outstanding liabilities and carry out its statutory responsibilities without disruption.
The lawmakers also mandated the House Committee on Infectious Diseases to facilitate and monitor the utilisation of released funds and report back to the chamber for further legislative action.
In addition, the House called on port health authorities to intensify surveillance activities and strengthen cross-border health checks to prevent the entry of infected persons into the country.
The House Committee on Legislative Compliance was equally directed to ensure the implementation of the resolutions.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, who presided over the session, subsequently referred the matter to the relevant committees for compliance and oversight.
READ ALSO: FAAN, Lagos govt step up Ebola surveillance at airport
Current Ebola outbreak
The House’s concern comes amid growing international efforts to contain an outbreak of Ebola disease caused by the Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighbouring Uganda.
The outbreak was officially declared on 15 May after health authorities confirmed cases in Ituri Province in eastern Congo. Two days later, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern due to the risk of regional spread.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the outbreak has spread across multiple health zones in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, with challenges including insecurity, weak contact-tracing systems, and cross-border population movements complicating response efforts.
The Bundibugyo strain is particularly concerning because there is currently no licensed vaccine or specific treatment approved for it, unlike the Zaire strain of Ebola for which vaccines exist. Health experts say supportive care remains the primary treatment option.
Latest reports indicate that the outbreak has resulted in over 300 confirmed cases and nearly 50 deaths in the DRC, while Uganda has also recorded imported infections linked to cross-border travel.
International health agencies have warned that porous borders and population movements could facilitate further spread if surveillance and preparedness measures are not strengthened.
Nigeria successfully contained an Ebola outbreak in 2014 after recording a limited number of cases, an achievement widely regarded as one of Africa’s most effective epidemic responses.
Public health experts, however, warn that sustained investment in disease surveillance, laboratory capacity and emergency response systems remains essential to preventing a recurrence.
Nigeria has pledged to provide five million pairs of reading spectacles and 25,000 fully subsidised cataract surgeries by 2027 as part of efforts to expand access to eye care services nationwide.
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, announced the commitments at the Global Summit for Eye Health held in St John’s, Antigua and Barbuda, on 2 November.
Mr Salako, who delivered the closing address at the summit, said the federal government would also train 15,000 primary healthcare workers and integrate primary eye care services into the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).
He said the commitments formed part of Nigeria’s efforts to eliminate avoidable vision loss and expand access to quality eye care, particularly among vulnerable populations.
According to him, the government is targeting more than 25 million vulnerable Nigerians, especially women, older people and residents of underserved rural communities.
Nigeria’s eye health targets
Mr Salako said Nigeria would also work to increase its active eye care workforce by 20 per cent and raise its national Effective Cataract Surgical Coverage (eCSC) by 30 percentage points by 2030.
He said the government would mobilise domestic public and private sector resources and collaborate with Commonwealth and international partners to ensure the commitments translate into measurable progress.
Mr Salako said Nigeria’s approach would build on the Effective Spectacle Coverage Initiative Nigeria, also known as JigiBola 2.0, which draws inspiration from the JigiBola programme introduced in Lagos State about 25 years ago.
He recalled volunteering as a young medical officer during the original programme, which provided free eye screening, spectacles and cataract surgeries.
Mr Salako said the initiative was now being expanded through a national programme to improve access to eye care.
Elimination of cataract blindness
Mr Salako said one of the major outcomes of the summit was a commitment to eliminate cataract-related blindness through the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Global Cataract Surgery Initiative, known as SEE 2045.
He said Nigeria was among the beneficiary countries under the initiative, alongside Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Tanzania and China.
According to him, the initiative makes cataract elimination the second global elimination target for a non-communicable disease in WHO history.
He urged participating countries to demonstrate that expanding access to quality cataract surgery, including in rural communities, was achievable.
Mr Salako also called for proper documentation of successes and outcomes to enable countries to share implementation strategies and address the backlog of cataract surgeries.
He said avoidable vision loss had consequences beyond individual health, affecting education, household income, road safety and national productivity.
“When a child cannot see the chalkboard, or an artisan or farmer is blinded by cataracts or uncorrected refractive errors, an entire community pays the price,” he said.
Global partnerships
Mr Salako said the summit secured $60 million in philanthropic commitments to support assistive technology, alongside 15 private-sector commitments valued at more than $468 million to accelerate eye care implementation.
READ ALSO: Nigeria needs N104bn yearly for health security plan – NCDC
He added that organisations had made about 143 other commitments beyond those made by governments.
Mr Salako said the commitments demonstrated the importance of partnerships between governments, the private sector, philanthropic organisations and international development partners in improving global eye health.
He called on participating countries to sustain the momentum generated at the summit and ensure that the commitments translated into tangible improvements for people living with avoidable vision loss.
“Let us return to our respective nations as champions of sight, holding ourselves accountable to the millions who are waiting not for miracles, but for a pair of glasses, a timely referral, or a fifteen-minute surgical intervention that can restore their world,” he said.
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Health
Health Review: Ebola case, child malnutrition, medicine security, other developments that shaped October
October brought major developments across Nigeria’s health sector, with the confirmation of an Ebola case in Abuja prompting renewed disease surveillance, contact tracing and emergency response measures.
The month also saw growing concerns over Nigeria’s dependence on imported pharmaceutical ingredients, child malnutrition and challenges affecting maternal and child healthcare.
Beyond Nigeria, the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continued to raise concerns about regional health security.
PREMIUM TIMES reviews some of the major health developments that shaped October.
Nigeria confirms first Ebola case in over a decade
Nigeria confirmed its first Ebola case since 2014 on 20 October, involving a 42-year-old Ugandan-born woman living in Abuja who recently returned from Uganda.
The confirmation prompted contact tracing, heightened surveillance and infection prevention measures across healthcare facilities.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) initially identified 44 close contacts, with the number increasing as investigations continued.
Ebola patient evacuated to Switzerland
Nigeria’s confirmed Ebola patient and her husband were medically evacuated to Switzerland on 26 October after the patient received treatment in isolation in Abuja.
The patient was transferred to Geneva University Hospitals, while her husband was placed in isolation at University Hospital Zurich.
Following the evacuation, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Nigeria had no active confirmed Ebola case, although surveillance and monitoring of exposed contacts continued.
NCDC expands health declarations for international travellers
The NCDC expanded the health declaration requirement to all international travellers after confirming Ebola in Abuja.
The agency said the measure was intended to strengthen screening at points of entry and support the early identification of potential infections.
It also urged healthcare facilities to isolate suspected cases promptly and strengthen infection prevention measures.
Suspected Ebola cases in Adamawa test negative
Two suspected Ebola cases identified in Adamawa State tested negative after two rounds of laboratory testing, the NCDC announced on 31 October.
The suspected cases involved a 34-year-old pilot and his wife, a medical doctor, who were admitted to an isolation facility at the Modibbo Adama University Teaching Hospital in Yola after developing symptoms suggestive of Ebola.
The agency said the Abuja case remained Nigeria’s only laboratory-confirmed Ebola infection during the outbreak.
FG clarifies N10 billion emergency disease response funding
The NCDC said the N10 billion emergency intervention fund approved by the federal government was intended to strengthen preparedness and response to Ebola, Lassa fever and other emerging infectious diseases.
The agency explained that the funding would support surveillance, laboratory diagnosis, protective equipment, emergency operations and rehabilitation of isolation facilities.
The clarification came amid questions over how the emergency allocation was being utilised following the confirmation of Ebola in Abuja.
Child malnutrition admissions rise in North-east
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported an 18 per cent increase in malnutrition admissions at 10 supported health facilities in North-east Nigeria.
The facilities recorded nearly 20,000 admissions between January and September 2026, compared with about 17,000 during the same period in 2025.
Children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers were among those most affected, highlighting the continuing impact of insecurity and food shortages on vulnerable communities.
FG partners US foundation to mobilise $1 billion against malnutrition
The federal government announced a partnership with the US-based Operation End Starvation initiative to mobilise more than $1 billion to address child malnutrition and starvation-related deaths across sub-Saharan Africa.
Nigeria was identified as a priority country under the initiative, which aims to mobilise funding over two years.
The government said the partnership would complement existing interventions addressing hunger and acute malnutrition among children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers.
Imported drug ingredients raise medicine security concerns
Health and pharmaceutical stakeholders warned that Nigeria’s dependence on imported active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) could undermine medicine security and expose the country to global supply disruptions.
At a meeting organised by Nigeria Health Watch in partnership with the World Bank Group, stakeholders called for increased domestic production of essential pharmaceutical ingredients.
They identified inadequate infrastructure, unreliable electricity, financing constraints and regulatory challenges as major barriers to local manufacturing.
WHO warns of widespread undiagnosed diabetes in Africa
The WHO raised concerns over the growing diabetes burden in Africa, warning that about 75 per cent of people living with the condition in the region remain undiagnosed.
The organisation said an estimated 24.6 million adults aged between 20 and 79 were living with diabetes in the African region.
The findings renewed concerns about limited screening, delayed diagnosis and access to treatment for non-communicable diseases.
Ebola outbreak worsens in DR Congo
The Ebola outbreak in the DRC continued to spread during October, with confirmed cases surpassing 10,000 and deaths approaching 5,000.
The WHO reported 10,274 confirmed cases and 4,992 deaths in the country as of 28 October.
The outbreak, which also affected other African countries, intensified concerns about cross-border transmission, surveillance capacity and regional preparedness.
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