The Senate has called on the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning to expedite fund releases and activate emergency financing mechanisms for disease outbreak response.

The lawmakers also urged the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, alongside the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), to intensify surveillance, testing and contact tracing efforts.

The resolution followed a motion sponsored by Ipalibo Banigo (Rivers West) on the urgent need to address gaps in national public health preparedness and response systems.

The motion was seconded by Deputy Minority Leader Kamorudeen Oyewumi (Osun West).

Moving the motion, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Ms Banigo, noted that Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution mandated all tiers of government to ensure citizens’ security and welfare, including safeguarding public health.

She disclosed that a confirmed COVID-19 case in Cross River State involved a 53-year-old foreign national who entered Nigeria on March 17 through the Lagos airport.

She said that the individual travelled to Calabar the same day, developed symptoms on April 12 and tested positive on April 16, following PCR confirmation at a laboratory.

She further noted that epidemiological findings suggested a timeline exceeding the expected incubation period, raising serious concerns about possible local transmission of the virus within Nigeria.

“Additional suspected cases have been identified and are currently undergoing laboratory investigation, while contact tracing efforts are ongoing by relevant public health authorities across affected areas,” she said.

According to the senator, effective outbreak response depends on continuous availability of essential commodities, including viral transport media, PCR reagents, rapid test kits and protective equipment.

She lamented that the NCDC was constrained by delayed budgetary releases, procurement bottlenecks, and inadequate capital funding, limiting preparedness and response capacity.

Ms Banigo explained that previous outbreaks, including COVID-19, Lassa fever and Ebola preparedness exercises, demonstrated that delayed detection, poor coordination and weak systems could worsen outcomes significantly.

She stated that gaps in preparedness capacity could result in delayed detection, weak containment measures and increased risk of disease spread across states.

The lawmaker warned that inadequate protective equipment and essential supplies could expose frontline health workers to occupational risks, undermine health system resilience and weaken epidemic intelligence and response systems.

She noted that existing deficiencies in outbreak preparedness might hinder early detection and effective containment, while continued exposure of health workers could weaken overall workforce capacity.

In its resolution, the Senate requested the NCDC to submit a comprehensive report to it, detailing national preparedness status, including stock levels, laboratory capacity and surveillance gaps.

The upper legislative chamber also encouraged the agency to intensify nationwide public health risk communication to curb misinformation, reduce public anxiety and promote adherence to preventive measures.

It further called on state governments to strengthen sub-national outbreak preparedness through improved financing, timely procurement of supplies and enhanced support for surveillance and rapid response systems.

(NAN)