Ebola Update: 250 Nigerian Volunteers Ready For Deployment To Affected Countries

The Nigerian government has said that 250 volunteers would soon leave Nigeria to join the battle against Ebola in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Nigeria is set to provide aid to countries currently battling Ebola as the Federal Government said on Thursday, October 23 that the first set of 250 volunteers are ready for deployment and would soon leave Nigeria. The development was announced by the Supervising Minister of Health, Dr Khaliru Alhassan to journalists in Abuja. He said: “It is pertinent to note that having conquered the Ebola virus within its shores, Nigeria had offered to take the fight to countries still struggling with the deadly disease while it tightens its mechanisms for treatment and surveillance. “It is in this light that I announce that the first set of 250 volunteers have been prepared and would soon be deployed to affected countries to help fight the Ebola virus. “They are among those over 500 registered volunteers and are ready to move, they have been fully trained and briefed and we are just waiting for the final approval for them to be deployed.’’ The minister added further that the volunteers had been adequately trained and were expected to fare well despite the precarious situation in the affected countries. The current Ebola outbreak has claimed almost 5000 lives and the World health Organization has called for more commitment and aid from countries all over the world. Nigeria was declared Ebola-free on October 20, 2014 after a period of 42 days elapsed without any new cases of the disease being recorded.