The outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Africa in 2014 presented a major threat and concern across the world, spreading to two other continents (Europe and North America). Though the epidemic is on a downward trend, there is a need to evaluate the performance of the systems in place to detect and control such outbreaks and determine the need for improvement in countries affected.
With its first traceable case reported to have been in Guinea, the outbreak spread to Nigeria through an air traveler from Liberia which led to an outbreak in the country that luckily, was quickly contained. This imported case was initially managed at a private health facility (PHF) eventually leading to 20 cases and eight deaths, four of which were health workers from the initial managing PHF. Despite effort to contact the authorities about the suspected imported case by the PHF, it reportedly took some time before the health authorities could be reached and action at control instituted. This might suggest an inefficiency of the IDSR system which was previously adopted by Nigeria as a means of implementing the International Health Regulation (IHR) of 1969. The IHR is a set of regulations that the World Health Assembly uses to implement its constitutional responsibility to prevent the international spread of diseases.
Hemorrhagic fevers like EVD ought to be reported immediately upon suspicion to the health authorities but the delay despite effort suggests this system is not efficient. This is important as PHFs are noted to attend to over 60% of the Nigerian population. Thus, it is important to carry out an assessment of the IDSR system in PHFs to forestall a repeat episode and limit the impact of outbreak of infectious diseases in future.
Objective
To investigate the compliance of private health facilities to the integrated disease surveillance and response (IDSR) system in Nigeria.