On Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Nigeria free of Ebola transmission. This announcement was made following the successful completion of two incubation periods (42 days) of the disease without any reported case. Commending Nigeria’s strategy, the global health regulatory body said that the way the African giant contained the spread of the disease was exemplary.
In a statement, WHO said the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), UNICEF and other organizations succeeded in supporting the Nigerian Government.
“Strong public awareness campaigns, teamed with early engagement of traditional, religious and community leaders, also played a key role in successful containment of this outbreak,” WHO said.
Considering the fact that Ebola is ravaging several other West African countries and several other foreign lands including developed countries such as Spain and the U.S., the feat in Nigeria is a much needed relief — a break from the gloomy outlook that Ebola has become associated with.
In Liberia alone, more than 2,000 people have died of the disease while in Nigeria, there were only 20 confirmed cases and eight deaths — West Africa’s lowest mortality rate. This is why the Nigerian success story is worth sharing so that lessons can be learned from how Nigeria handled what could have had worse results.
Lesson 1: No politics
Any Nigerian that is following the uproar resulting from the appointment of an Ebola czar in the U.S. would agree that stakeholders and playmakers in America are not yet taking Ebola seriously.
Even though Nigeria is a highly political nation with the two major political parties always at loggerheads, they interestingly set aside politics and personal differences in order to address the outbreak and contain the spread of the disease. The only time politics was played was weeks after there had been no reported case of the disease in the country.
Even though it is traditional for opposition political parties to perennially point accusing fingers at one another, public health crises should be treated differently because Ebola does not understand politics — it would essentially continue to spread and kill until an all-inclusive martial plan to stem the spread was established.
Lesson 2: The earlier the better
Nigeria’s success story further proves that Ebola is best controlled at the initial stage. The disease could be best managed when urgent steps are quickly taken. Within three days of first reported case, the nation’s first Ebola treatment facility was created, Ebola protective suits were distributed, health workers were promptly educated on what to do, an Ebola quarantine facility began operations, volunteers were recruited and financial incentives were given to health workers to encourage them to work overtime.
Recognizing the importance of taking urgent steps in Ebola control, as effective in Nigeria, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr Ban Ki-Moon, has called for similar urgent steps in other countries affected by Ebola. Speaking in New York, he also urged donor nations to lend support.
“Ebola is a huge and urgent global problem that demands a huge and urgent global response,” he said.
Lesson 3 – Information is essential
The availability of state-of-the-art infection control centers is not enough reason to undermine the power of information in the control of Ebola and other infectious diseases. Nigerian officials and partners knew that and decided to push out as much information as they could on Ebola prevention, control, symptoms and management. These were shared on various media platforms — both offline and online.
