The federal government has intensified efforts to ensure that Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) did not spread into the country and has activated all procedure to prevent infected travellers from gaining access to any of the nation’s airports.
To ensure that this objective is achieved, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Port Health, a department under the Ministry of Health are collaborating to increased surveillance on screening of passengers for the deadly communicable disease.
Officials of FAAN at the airport explained that all passengers coming in from West Africa and other countries around the world are constantly screened by the thermal screening machines deployed to D and E arrivals of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos even without the knowledge of the passengers.
Tthe Airport Regional Manager, South West, Mrs. Victoria Shin-Aba in an interview with aviation journalists yesterday said that apart from the thermal screening machines, the agency also had public health emergency programme put in place for that purpose by the management.
She insisted that the facility was equipped to the recommended standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and World Health Orgnisation (WHO).
Shin-Aba, however, disclosed that rather than the infrared method, which was physical screening used in the past, the government had moved up to thermal screening method, which erased physical screening exercise and reduced contacts with passengers.
She explained that with this, arriving passengers would be unaware of their screening by its officials deployed to the two arrival points.
She also disclosed that despite the seeming complacency on Ebola screening virus in most countries of the world after the 2014 sordid experience, FAAN did not relax the screening at the airport, but adopted more a more sophisticated method and dropped the infrared, which she described as manual.
“A mock exercise to know how we are ready for the outbreak was carried out about two weeks ago in this terminal and the exercise was successful, which shows that we are ready to tackle the scourge and ensure that passengers with the disease is not allowed into the country through our entry points.
“There are some outcries that we are not screening arrival passengers at the airport. This can’t be true because what we do now is thermal screening with a monitor, which screens every passenger that comes in even without their knowledge. Whatever we do here is in accordance with ICAO and WHO standards. However, we don’t isolate any passenger because of the screening.”
Also commenting, the acting General Manager, Medical, FAAN, Dr. Kehinde Ayotunde, reiterated that the scanners, which were provided by FAAN were already installed at the two entry points of the international wing of the airport.
“FAAN only collaborate and support port health services in terms of materials the service would need to carry out their duties. All the preventable measures are being taken by FAAN to ensure that we don’t allow anyone with communicable disease into our country.”
Also Mr. Kingsley Eze, a passenger on Kenya Airways who departed from United Arab Emirates, lauded FAAN for the proactive measures taken to ensure the disease didn’t enter the country through the gateways.
He explained that some of the passengers were also screened in UAE, stressing that whatever that could be done to prevent it from penetrating Nigeria should be adopted by the government.
Also, John Nnamdi, another passenger on Kenya Airways, said that he was aware the deadly disease broke out in Congo Democratic Republic again some few weeks ago.
He said the efforts deployed by the government was good for the country and it further showed the seriousness the government attached to the lives of its citizenry.
