The Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVNU), has made a case for the establishment of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) focal centres in Nigerian universities.
The Secretary-General of the Committee, Professor Michael Faborode, who disclosed the Vice-Chancellors position while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja, said that such centres should take care of quarantine, treatment and development of EVD vaccines.
According to him, there is at least one university in every state of the country which should render immediate attention to Ebola suspects.
“Universities should be the focal points of Ebola attention; the government should take advantage of the 139 universities in the country to establish focal centres for Ebola activities both quarantining and curing.
“The university should be a place where Ebola suspects are quarantined and taken care of in an isolated unit.
“This is the type of service the university should render to the community both for now and future,” he said.
Faborode added that there was need for universities to embark on research to develop vaccines and cure for EVD.
He said that funds available to institutions locally should be channeled into such research while further funds should be sought from foreign donors.
The secretary-general called for a practical approach to research in order to develop an effective, preventive and curative cure for the disease which he said was ravaging parts of the African sub-region.
According to him, Nigeria has to sustain efforts at preventing EVD to avoid a comeback. (NAN)
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