Ebola in Congo questions Nigeria’s readiness on outbreaks

By Chukwuma Muanya

Health workers prepare to carry a coffin containing a victim of Ebola virus on May 16, 2019 in Butembo. – The city of Butembo is at the epicentre of the Ebola crisis, the death toll of the outbreak to date is now over 1000 deaths. The Red Cross warned that critical underfunding could force it to cut

vital work to rein in the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo at a time when case numbers are soaring. (Photo by JOHN WESSELS / AFP)

Besides the loss of many lives, outbreaks of pandemics or epidemics could cost Nigeria trillions of naira if adequate preparations are not made to contain health emergencies. A pandemic is the worldwide spread of a new disease while an epidemic is a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time.
Last month, the World Health Organisation raised the alarm that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was spreading at a disturbing rate.
“The increased transmission rates witnessed recently continue to demonstrate a heightened risk of Ebola Virus Disease spreading to other neighbouring provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and to surrounding countries,” a spokesman of the global health body said last week.
Nigeria in 2014 witnessed the scourge of the disease. But unlike its West African neighbour, Liberia, where thousands died, the virus only killed about 10 persons. The scare and disruption to the country’s socio-economic life however remains fresh.
The nation lost more than $186 million (N70.680 billion) to the outbreak. Beyond this, it still loses about N3 billion yearly to epidemics of cholera, measles, meningitis and Lassa fever.

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But only N1.375 billion, 2.5 per cent of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCFP), is budgeted for public health emergencies.
“The country would save billions of naira by preventing Ebola and other outbreaks. Like we have seen in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) recently and other countries in previous years, Ebola outbreaks are very costly to manage,” said Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, a consultant epidemiologist and chief executive officer of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
According to him, “It requires dedicated human resources and isolation centres that are expensive to maintain especially in low-resource settings. Improving socio-economic conditions is very critical. Therefore, we must continue investing in preparedness, to ensure that in the event of an outbreak, we can respond effectively.”
Based on the National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS), Nigeria would only need about $0.40 (N152) per person per year to prepare infrastructure for the protection of its citizens. ​The calculations are based on a five-year costing by NAPHS and the World Bank’s 2018 estimate of the Nigerian population.
This means the country will need about N152 per person and N27.360 billion yearly for a population of 180 million.
The estimated cost of Nigeria’s NAPHS is N134 billion over a five-year span. That is N27 billion per year. This is about 0.3 per cent of the 2018 federal budget. The single biggest cost component is immunisation, while other major initiatives and cost drivers include surveillance, laboratory strengthening, workforce development, and emergency preparedness.
Also, based on a 2015 data, the International Working Group (IWG) on Financing Preparedness estimated Nigeria’s economic loss in the event of a pandemic at $9,662,722,821 (N3.51 trillion) yearly. It placed the loss per capita at $53.03 (N20.151).
In 2018, the BHCPF was passed into law. This means one per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) is now dedicated to healthcare. Of the five per cent earmarked for emergencies, 2.5 per cent is designated for public health emergencies and would be managed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

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