Nigeria invests 45.08 billion naira in health systems at five airports
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Leadership
The Nigerian government has approved 45.08 billion naira to install disease detection and surveillance systems at five international airports. The system, to be deployed under a 20-year public-private partnership, will monitor aircraft wastewater, among other things, according to Health Minister Ali Pate, quoted by Leadership.
The Nigerian federal government has approved 45.08 billion naira to install infectious disease detection and surveillance systems at five international airports, Health Minister Ali Pate announced after a meeting of the Federal Executive Council in Abuja, according to Leadership.
The project will cover the airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu under a 20-year public-private partnership with the BioHealth Consortium. The systems will use, among other methods, aircraft wastewater surveillance as well as air and surface samples to detect dangerous pathogens.
Ali Pate also said that the Nigerian patient diagnosed with Ebola in October had recovered. Contact tracing and other containment measures remain in place, however, to limit the risk of transmission, according to the minister.
The funding follows the 10 billion naira allocated to the fight against Ebola, which the APC said on 22 October had not been used. It also follows Tinubu’s appeal to West African doctors to prevent Ebola, issued on 23 October.
