 |
The Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu has said that the N1.9 billion earlier approved by President Goodluck Jonathan, at the time he declared emergency over the Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, widely believed to be used for containing the virus, is for the improvement of the nation’s general health systems.
The minister disclosed this while giving update on the disease on the nation’s efforts to contain the disease.
“We did say that the N1.9billion that the President approved was for the Federal Ministry of Health; those ones that the Federal Ministry of Health should champion.
That fund was provided based on the budget that the Federal Ministry of Health submitted to Mr. President. It was not termed an Ebola fund.”
“I repeat, because now I hear that in some places, even village heads are asking for their own share. Nigeria is always thinking of sharing money. It is money for the Federal Ministry of Health to use in working. They are going to use it to procure more vehicles; which have already been ordered.
“They are going to use it to procure more personal protective equipment which has already been ordered. They are going to use it to provide isolation tents, which again have been ordered, including drugs which will be used to support the patients. It is a budget for the Federal Ministry of Health and its agencies as submitted by the Federal Ministry of Health to Mr. President.
“What I am saying is that there will still be other funds that will still be released in various ways depending on what any of the cognate agencies is requesting from Mr. President that must be done.
“Now, in the case of Lagos State, after the President met with all Governors, together with their Commissioners for Health, it was clear, even from the statement made by the Governor of Lagos State, that Lagos State is also under pressure because many of the workers we are using are from Lagos State. We can’t shortly go and start recruiting people. We work with the state. It is just that in every epidemic, the Federal Government with the Minister of Health in the front takes control of epidemics. It is not a state government matter.
“But, we use state personnel as well and local government personnel; we used everybody, our partners are part of it. But, the leader of the team is the Minister of Health.
“So, Lagos State government has been spending money. They pay salary to staff; they’ve been recruiting more staff. They give these staff incentives. They provided the isolation wards. But, we led and decided who should work there. The Minister of Health created the teams that are working,” Chukwu argued.
Earlier, National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh, had donated one million Naira to help contain the virus.
He said: “This is the first time in the history of our country that our elected and appointed people and leaders have risen to the great challenge we are facing. I want to commend the health workers for the risk they have taken, their commitment, and their dedication to their duties in assisting the entire populace to completely be ready for this challenge.
“There is no way that the Federal Government alone can be left alone to face the burden of the Ebola challenge. It is my well-considered opinion that citizens of this country, corporate organizations should try and make their own contributions to help in the awareness for people to understand what the challenges we are facing with this Ebola scourge,” he added.
No comments:
Post a Comment