The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has demanded the immediate provision of functional Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and mandatory nationwide retraining of healthcare workers on infection prevention and control (IPC), following renewed concerns over Ebola Virus Disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The association warned that healthcare workers in Nigeria remain vulnerable to infectious disease outbreaks if urgent measures are not taken to strengthen occupational safety, emergency preparedness, and infection control systems across health facilities nationwide.
In a statement signed by its President, Prof. Afekhide Omoti, the NMA commended the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) for heightening surveillance and preparedness measures in response to the Ebola outbreak in Congo. It, however, stressed that surveillance efforts alone were insufficient without adequate protection for frontline health workers, including doctors, nurses, laboratory personnel, and emergency responders.
The association expressed concern that epidemics continue to expose weaknesses in infection prevention systems, occupational safety structures, emergency logistics, and health workforce protection mechanisms, recalling lessons from the 2014 Ebola outbreak, when health workers were among the most affected.
It therefore called on government at all levels to urgently provide impermeable gowns, N95 respirators, gloves, face shields, goggles, boots, and full-body PPE kits to tertiary, secondary, and high-risk border health facilities nationwide.
The NMA also advocated mandatory emergency retraining on infection prevention and control across health facilities, noting that many institutions still operate with weak or outdated IPC practices. It recommended refresher training, simulation exercises, donning and doffing drills, triage reinforcement, isolation procedures, waste management training, and safe specimen handling protocols.
According to the association, gaps in infection prevention knowledge could result in avoidable loss of lives during outbreaks. It further urged federal and state tertiary hospitals to activate screening points, isolation holding areas, emergency response teams, and clear escalation pathways, stressing that suspected patients must not be mixed with general outpatient populations.
The NMA also called for stronger occupational health protection for healthcare workers, insisting that doctors and other frontline staff must not become “sacrificial victims of systemic failure.”
It further proposed the establishment of emergency exposure insurance, compensation frameworks, psychosocial support systems, medical evacuation protocols, and priority access to treatment for exposed health workers.
Raising concerns over infrastructure deficits in many hospitals, the association noted that several facilities still lack running water, hand hygiene stations, functional incinerators, adequate ventilation, and standard isolation rooms, warning that such gaps undermine infection prevention and control efforts.
The NMA urged the immediate activation of State Public Health Emergency Operations Centres nationwide, with strengthened border surveillance, multisectoral coordination, daily epidemic intelligence reviews, rapid response team readiness, and clear incident management structures.
It also called for a shift from emergency-driven responses to long-term preparedness through local production of PPE, strengthening laboratory surge capacity, and institutionalising strategic stockpiles of essential outbreak response materials.
On risk communication, the association urged government to ensure transparent and science-driven public messaging to prevent panic and misinformation, warning that misinformation spreads faster than viruses during epidemics.
The NMA further emphasized the need to protect young and frontline health workers, including house officers, NYSC doctors, resident doctors, and junior healthcare staff, who are often disproportionately exposed due to inadequate supervision and limited access to PPE.
It reiterated that healthcare worker safety remains central to national health security, warning that no health system can effectively respond to epidemics while exposing its frontline workforce to preventable risks.
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