Okpebholo Sets Up Ebola Preparedness Committee, Names Deputy Governor Chairman

Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has established a committee on Ebola emergency preparedness and response, with Deputy Governor Dennis Idahosa as chairman.

According to a statement by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Patrick Ebojele, the committee will coordinate the state’s preparedness and response to any Ebola threat.

Its membership cuts across government ministries, health institutions, security agencies, professional bodies, development partners and community leaders.

Government representatives include officials from the ministries of Health, Environment, Livestock, Local Government, Finance, and Information and Communication, as well as the Edo State House of Assembly Committee on Health and the governor’s Special Adviser on Health.

Other members include the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Department of Port Health and National Orientation Agency (NOA).

Security agencies represented on the committee are the Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Police Force and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

Health institutions on the committee include the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH), Edo State University Teaching Hospital (EDSUTH), Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Uselu, Edo Specialist Hospital, Central Hospital, Benin, and Stella Obasanjo Hospital.

Professional bodies represented include the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) and the Association of Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria, Edo State chapter.

The committee also includes a traditional ruler, the state leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Chief Imam and a market women’s leader.

Development partners and agencies represented are the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, Nigeria Red Cross Society, DataFi, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and Edo State Primary Health Care Development Agency.

The statement said the committee would operate through the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC), which has designated pillars for coordination, epidemiology, surveillance, infection prevention and control, risk communication, logistics, laboratory services, case management, and safe and dignified burial. A PHEOC manager will oversee operations.

Ebojele added that a stakeholders’ meeting on Ebola emergency preparedness and response would soon be scheduled for the committee.