Ebola: UN extolls Nigeria’s containment measures

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Nigerian has done well in its efforts to contain the deadly Ebola Virus Disease, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has said.
The Assistant Country Representative of the UNFPA, Osareti Adori, commended the efforts of the federal government to curtail the spread of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), and expressed the hope that the country would win the war against the outbreak..
Adori made the commendation on Tuesday at the opening of a five-day workshop on Minimum Intervention Service Package for Traumatised Women and Children, organised by the Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA) in Agege, Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adori observed that government at all levels
had shown commitment to fighting the scourge and ensure the disease does not spread to other
parts of the country.
He expressed optimism that the synergy among the three tiers of government and the massive public advocacy would go a long way to helping the nation win the war and prevent further casualties.
According to him, “What is important is the will. For the first time in a long time, I’ve not seen this country take so serious any issue like the Ebola issue both at federal and state level. I see a strong will to contain this situation and where there is a will, there is a way.
“This thing happened just about three weeks ago, and if you look at what they have done now, compared to where we are coming from, I would think that if the momentum continues, with the assistance of the international community, in a short while, we would be able to contain the Ebola virus,” he said.
On the workshop, Adori said participants would be tutored on how to offer assistance to women and children during emergency situations saying the UNFPA is partnering with the state government to ensure that succour is provided to such victims.
“When there is an emergency and there is a humanitarian situation, some people are moved into camps. What we hear is people wanting to get food and mattresses, blankets and all that.
“At UNFPA, we are working with government to ensure that women, young girls and children are catered for as regards these little things that people tend to forget and so we provide things that will make them take care of things that they should be able to take care of under normal circumstance, and beyond that, we know that when there is an emergency, there is a humanitarian situation. There is a tendency to be more violent, rape and the likes, this training will teach our officers to be able to take care of such things in humanitarian situation,” she said.
Earlier, Director of Women Affairs in WAPA, Folashade Ogunnaike, said the training was organised for desk officers in ministries, agencies and departments (MDAs) who often attend to traumatised women and children in domestic violence cases and emergency situations.
“This training is for especially minimum intervention package for emergencies. So when emergencies occur, by the snap of your finger, you know the minimum package that is needed.
“These 20 participants who we are on training, we expect them to work as a team. If there is an emergency in Lagos state, if the people at the top are managing something else, those that are trained will network to take the necessary steps and inform the management or by themselves, take informed decision that will proffer immediate solutions to those emergency situations”, Ogunnaike enthused.