Health
Tinubu establishes Ebola task force, approves ₦10bn for preparedness
President Bola Tinubu has approved the establishment of a Presidential Task Force on Ebola Virus Disease Preparedness and Emerging Public Health Threats.
The president also ordered the immediate release of ₦10 billion for emergency preparedness.
The fund is expected to strengthen the operational readiness of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and support critical national public health emergency response activities.
This was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja by the presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga.
The Presidential Task Force will be chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, with membership drawn from relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as state representatives.
The approval followed a high-level stakeholder meeting convened by the Chief of Staff to assess Nigeria’s preparedness and develop strategies against the possible importation of Ebola into the country.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Interior, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the Nigerian Civ88il Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Lagos State Government and other key stakeholders.
Mr Tinubu also directed all states hosting international airports and border corridors, as well as relevant MDAs, to submit their preparedness plans, funding requirements and intervention needs for coordinated implementation.
The president approved a series of immediate measures to strengthen surveillance and response mechanisms across the country.
These include intensified passenger screening at all international airports through enhanced temperature checks and crowd-control protocols.
Other measures include increased monitoring of passengers arriving through designated high-risk airline routes, including Air Uganda, RwandAir, Air Tanzania, TAAG Angola Airlines, Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines.
The task force is also to ensure the immediate activation of referral and isolation centres at the international airports in Lagos and Abuja, with similar facilities to be established at other airports.
In addition, a QR code-based pre-arrival health declaration system will be activated for passengers arriving from or transiting through designated high-risk countries.
READ ALSO: WHO urges Uganda to reconsider Congo border closure over Ebola outbreak
The government also approved the disinfection of departure halls, baggage areas, cargo sections and other airport facilities as precautionary environmental measures.
Mr Tinubu further directed the advisory group to consult with security, diplomatic and aviation authorities on measures to regulate flights from affected and designated high-risk countries.
The task force is expected to designate specific airports or terminals for high-risk flights to facilitate controlled screening, isolation and response procedures.
It will also consider adjusting flight schedules where necessary to minimise interaction between high-risk passengers and other travellers.
Mr Onanuga said the measures were part of proactive efforts by the federal government to safeguard public health and strengthen the country’s emergency response capacity against emerging disease threats. (NAN)
Nigeria has launched its first public-facing Mental Health Policy Commitment Tracker, a digital platform designed to independently monitor implementation of the country’s mental health laws and policies amid concerns over slow progress in carrying out key reforms.
Developed by advocacy organisation Nigerian Mental Health (NMH), the tracker was officially launched virtually on Monday after an initial public unveiling in May.
NMH announced the launch in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES.
According to the organisation, the platform enables policymakers, researchers, civil society organisations and members of the public to monitor progress on commitments under the National Mental Health Act and related policies, including mental health financing, workforce development, treatment access and state-level reforms.
Why the tracker matters
Late President Muhammadu Buhari signed the National Mental Health Bill into law in January 2023 after two failed legislative attempts dating back to 2003.
The legislation replaced the outdated Lunacy Act and marked a major shift in Nigeria’s approach to mental healthcare by strengthening the rights of people living with mental health conditions and providing for institutions such as a Department of Mental Health Services and a Mental Health Fund.
However, more than three years later, implementation of several provisions of the law has remained slow.
According to NMH, key institutional structures required under the Act, including the Department of Mental Health, have yet to be fully established.
The organisation also said the federal government missed its December 2025 target to fully decriminalise attempted suicide, while implementation of the 2023 National Mental Health Policy and the country’s first Suicide Prevention Policy Framework has been limited.
It said these implementation gaps informed the development of the tracker, which is intended to independently verify whether mental health commitments are being translated into concrete action.
Speaking at the launch, NMH founder Chime Asonye said policy commitments should be accompanied by measurable implementation.
“Visibility must be matched by measurable execution,” he said, adding that the platform is designed to ensure commitments lead to tangible legal, institutional and service delivery outcomes.
According to NMH, the tracker serves as a public dashboard that aggregates government data, legislative updates, budget documents, verified stakeholder submissions and community-reported evidence.
Each policy commitment is assigned an implementation status, such as “Not Started, In Progress, Delayed or Completed”, allowing users to monitor progress across the federal and state levels.
The platform tracks regulatory milestones under the National Mental Health Act, as well as governance structures, budget allocations, workforce capacity, access to treatment, affordability and broader rights-based reforms.
Stakeholders back initiative
The launch brought together government officials, policymakers, researchers, civil society organisations, development partners, media practitioners and representatives of the creative industry.
Among the organisations supporting the initiative are Lagos Mind, Mind Over Matters NG, Stilt NG, Our Beta Life, the Mental Health Transformation Organisation (MHT) and Hevolve Foundation.
Mental health advocate and musician Hadiza Blell-Olo, popularly known as Di’ja, urged public figures to move beyond raising awareness by supporting partnerships that strengthen mental health reforms, noting that the tracker provides a framework for improving policy accountability.
Also speaking, the National Mental Health Coordinator at the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Tunde Ojo, said independent accountability mechanisms can help strengthen implementation and improve service delivery.
NMH said the platform is open to policymakers, practitioners, researchers and members of the public, who can submit verified implementation updates and feedback to improve transparency and support mental health reforms across the country.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) says the worsening Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has reached 1,274 confirmed cases.
The agency also said infections among healthcare workers have risen to 96.
Wazih Cho, Data Analyst and Epidemic Intelligence Officer at Africa CDC, disclosed this on Monday during a webinar on the Ebola outbreak.
“In the past 24 hours, 47 new confirmed Ebola cases and 12 deaths were reported in the DRC, 96 per cent of which originated in Équateur Province,” he said.
“Cumulative figures now stand at 1,274 confirmed cases with 360 deaths, indicating sustained transmission at the provincial level.”
He said Équateur Province accounted for 45 of the 47 new cases reported, making it the leading hotspot of transmission on the continent.
Mr Cho attributed the spread partly to exposure in health facilities, noting that 92 healthcare workers had been infected in the DRC and four in Uganda, bringing the total to 96.
According to him, confirmed cases have now been reported in 35 health zones across the DRC, indicating widespread transmission beyond the initial epicentre.
“For Uganda, cumulatively we have 20 confirmed cases, mostly spillover from DRC. That includes 15 imported cases, four healthcare worker infections, and two fatalities.
“All Uganda cases are classified under Kampala. Contact follow-up in Uganda stands at 100 per cent, with only nine contacts still under active monitoring. Case fatality in Uganda as of day 27 is 10 per cent,” he said.
Mr Cho said Uganda had recorded no new Ebola case since 21 June, although active surveillance remained in place.
More cases
He added that 23 of the 36 health areas in Équateur Province had confirmed cases, confirming sustained community transmission within the province.
According to him, North Kivu, which borders Équateur and Uganda, is also reporting cases, while South Kivu has recorded no new infections for at least 30 days after reporting three cases.
Mr Cho added that Africa CDC also received alerts on 28 June from Tshopo Province, which borders Ituri Province and South Sudan.
He said two confirmed male cases recorded between 9 June and 23 June suggested the outbreak had spread into a previously unaffected province.
According to Cho, the epidemic curve indicates that the first positive case was detected late, after community transmission had already begun.
He said seven-day and three-day moving averages showed the outbreak remained at or near peak transmission, with modelling projecting additional case increases over the next three weeks.
Mr Cho added that a small number of health zones accounted for about 80 per cent of confirmed cases, while several treatment centres were operating above capacity.
He said more than 20,000 community health workers had been mobilised to strengthen case detection, contact tracing and community sensitisation efforts.
In his remark, Oyewale Tomori, former President of the Nigeria Academy of Science, commended Africa CDC and the World Health Organisation (WHO) for working collaboratively in responding to the outbreak.
Mr Tomori described the One Health approach as an integrated strategy recognising the close links between human, animal and environmental health.
He said that about 70 per cent of emerging infectious diseases were zoonotic, spreading from animals to humans.
READ ALSO: Nigeria responds with emergency funds as Ebola death toll rises in DRC
“Ebola, SARS, and other viruses reflect this animal-human interface, with diverse modes of transmission and host species,” he said.
Mr Tomori identified deforestation, urban expansion, mining, conflict-driven migration, bushmeat trade, climate change and weak public health systems as major drivers of emerging infectious diseases.
He emphasised that stronger surveillance, early detection and coordinated response systems were essential to preventing and containing outbreaks before they escalated.
Mr Tomori said One Health required veterinarians, physicians, social scientists, engineers and economists to work together to achieve effective outbreak prevention and response.
(NAN)
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