The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has approved a weekly payment of ₦100,000 for each person identified as a contact of an Ebola patient.
The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, announced the decision on Sunday, October 25, during a briefing on the country’s response to the Ebola outbreak.
Idris said the agency decided to provide the money after some people under monitoring complained about the financial difficulties they faced while staying away from their normal activities.
He explained that some of the contacts were worried about how to feed themselves and provide for their families while complying with the health authorities’ instructions.
He said, “We are paying for their accommodation; we are paying for their feeding. Some of them are asking for a stipend to maintain their families. We are providing ₦100,000 per person per week just to maintain their comfort and feeding, because they were complaining. This was not planned for, but it is an emergency. We will continue to review it as we go along. This is not the responsibility of the FCT alone. What we have to do for the FCT, we have to do for any other state, just in case.”
