Okpebholo sets up Ebola emergency preparedness and response committee, Deputy Governor to chair

Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has set up a committee on Ebola emergency preparedness and response, to be chaired by the Deputy Governor, Rt Hon Dennis Idahosa.

The committee will coordinate the state’s preparedness and response to any Ebola threat.

Its members are drawn from the following the State Ministries of Health, Environment, Livestock, Local Government, Finance, and Information and Communication; the Edo assembly House Committee on Health; the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health; the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA); the Department of Port Health; and the National Orientation Agency (NOA).

From Security agencies are members from the Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Police Force and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

From Health institutions are 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 are also members including 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.

Other members are a traditional ruler, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) leader, the Chief Imam and a market women’s leader.

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

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

A stakeholders’ meeting on Ebola emergency preparedness and response will soon be scheduled for the committee.