SENATE MOVES TO AMEND QUARANTINE ACT, ENFORCEMENT OF COMPULSORY SCREENING AT ENTRY PORTS
Worried by the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease spreading from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Uganda and Kenya, with Nigeria recording a case yesterday, the Senate is calling for mandatory health screening at all entry points.
The motion sponsored by Senator Adebayo Faduyile from Ondo South noted that the NCDC has rated the risk of importation as high, with no approved vaccine available, and commended the Federal Government for stepping up surveillance.
He expressed concern over poor staffing and equipment at entry points, warning that Nigeria, already battling Lassa fever, cholera and diphtheria, cannot afford another outbreak.
In their contributions to the motion, Senators Ekong Samson, Umar Sadik, Mohammed Tahir Monguno, Adamu Aliero and Ali Ndume, urged the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Health to make health and symptom screening compulsory at airports, seaports and land borders, including departing passengers.
They also called on relevant agencies to equip personnel with necessary facilities and provide isolation centres in the 36 states and the FCT, and to replace the obsolete Quarantine Act of 1926 with a modern legislation.
In his remarks, Senate President Godswill Akpabio decried the laxity at entry points, noting that a traveller from Kenya was not detected at the airport but at a hospital, with contact tracing revealing 44 contacts.
He described it as a wake-up call for all Nigerians to be proactive and directed the Judiciary Committee to liaise with the Health Committee and relevant MDAs to fast-track amendment of the Quarantine Act.
Senate urges immediate release of funds to all agencies concerned to effectively tackle the situation.
