Ebola virus will be hard to contain amid weak health services, WHO warns Nigeria.

The Executive Director of Health Emergencies at the World Health Organization, Dr. Chikwe Ihekwuazu, warned Nigeria and other African nations that fragile health systems, inadequate infrastructure, and low public confidence in government make it harder to control disease outbreaks such as Ebola.

During an interview on Arise Television’s Morning Show on Tuesday, Ihekwuazu explained that countries with limited health services and weak governmental presence often struggle to respond effectively to public health emergencies.

He added that communities are less likely to cooperate with health authorities during outbreaks if their everyday healthcare needs have been neglected.

Ihekwuazu emphasized that this challenge is not unique to any single country; governments worldwide must build trust by consistently meeting the needs of their citizens.

The WHO official said that efforts to combat Ebola should go beyond emergency response and include strengthening health systems to improve care for all patients.

He noted that supporting countries to enhance healthcare delivery is essential for rebuilding trust and improving preparedness for future outbreaks.

He said: “I think maybe there’s a lesson in this for us as well, you know. When you have a country where health services are poor, roads are poor, infrastructure are poor, and where government is not always felt to be visible across society, then it’s very difficult when there’s an outbreak for healthcare workers to come in and respond to that particular challenge that we are all interested in, because of its potential for spread.”

“So, this is not about the DRC. This is not about Nigeria. This is about for every country in the world. To build trust in the people you serve, you have to be there for them all the time, whether it’s a woman giving birth, whether it’s a woman bringing a child for immunisation or for treatment of malaria.”

“If you are not able to solve their day-to-day problem. Why do you expect them to jump around and welcome you when there’s an Ebola outbreak? So, this is the challenge we are facing.”

“However, how we are dealing with this is not only focusing on the Ebola outbreak, we’re focusing and supporting the country to build up their health services to support the care being provided not only to Ebola patients but to everyone presenting in those facilities, and slowly we are rebuilding that trust.”