1 week after Nigeria’s Ebola case was confirmed, NCDC’s Ebola hotline remains unreachable

The toll-free Ebola line run by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), 6232, is unreachable, days after Nigeria confirmed an imported case of the disease in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Technext’s attempt to call the number early Monday was unsuccessful. This is consistent with complaints from an X user.

In a post on X, user @Mazi_OJD said the number has been busy or has been sending callers to voicemail since the outbreak, and that the WhatsApp number NCDC lists is not on WhatsApp. The user wrote that a country serious about stopping the disease “does not shut the public out”, adding that NCDC has “a toll-free number that doesn’t connect”.

Technext attempted to reach the Ebola hotline, but all efforts proved unsuccessful. On three separate attempts, the line failed to connect. The first call was disconnected shortly after dialling, while the subsequent two rang through to voicemail without being answered.

Technext also reached out to the NCDC for clarification on the hotline’s unavailability, but no response had been received as of the time of filing this report.

Despite growing public concern over the hotline’s availability, the NCDC had not issued a statement or responded to inquiries as of the time of filing this report.

The problem matters because the line is the official route the government has named for reporting suspected cases. Other bodies have repeated the instruction, including the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, which advised anyone with health concerns ahead of its summit on 26 and 27 October in Abuja to contact the line.

What NCDC announced about Ebola

The Federal Ministry of Health and the NCDC confirmed the imported case on 20 October and said they were strengthening surveillance and response efforts. They told the public to call 6232, which they described as a 24-hour line, to report suspected cases or get reliable information.

The ministry urged Nigerians not to panic, to practise good hand hygiene, learn the symptoms, and seek guidance from public health authorities if they suspect exposure. It said Ebola spreads through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of a person who is sick or has died, or through contaminated materials, and not before symptoms begin.

Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate said on 23 October that NCDC would begin short daily public updates from 24 October. NCDC’s website also lists a WhatsApp number and an SMS line alongside the toll-free number.

With the public told to rely on 6232 to report suspected cases, it remains to be seen how the NCDC intends to hear from the people who cannot get through.

Read also: Ebola confirmed in Nigeria: 8 ways your phone can help or harm you