Latest weekly poll results released by NOIPolls Limited have revealed about 7 out of 10 adult Nigerians (72%) are not confident in the capacity of their local hospitals to provide the needed care and manage patients with the Ebola virus.
The poll further revealed that 82% of those polled are currently more concerned about the Ebola virus disease than other infectious diseases such as HIV (8%) and hepatitis (3%); while the vast majority (91%) of respondents are aware of the recent outbreak of the viral disease.
More findings revealed that 80% of Nigerians expressed concern over the spread of the virus in Nigeria, with just over half (57%) of the respondents having confidence in the Federal Ministry of Health and its agencies to protect Nigerians from the impact of the virus in the event of further spread.
These were the key findings from the Ebola Virus Disease Poll conducted in the week of August 11th 2014.
Key Findings Of The Study
“Respondents were asked 7 specific questions; however, findings from only four questions are discussed below.
“To estimate the awareness of the Ebola virus disease, respondents were asked: Are you aware of the current outbreak of Ebola virus disease in West Africa?
“Ninety one percent of adult Nigerians surveyed acknowledged that they are aware of the outbreak of the virus in West Africa and this cuts across gender, geo-political zones and age groups.
“Furthermore, respondents were asked: How worried are you about the current outbreak of Ebola virus disease and possible spread in Nigeria?
“The responses show that 80% (61%+19%) of adult Nigerians were concerned about the spread of the disease in Nigeria, with, a total of 20% (14%+6%) of the respondents surveyed claiming that they are not concerned.
“Analysis across geo-political zones indicates that the North-East zone has the highest proportion (96%) of respondents concerned about the spread of the virus in Nigeria.
“This is closely followed by the North-West zone and the North-Central zone with 87% and 77% respectively.
“On the other hand, the South-East and the South-South zones have larger numbers of respondents who are not concerned about the spread of the virus in Nigeria with 28% each; although 72% in these zones were concerned”, NOIPolls Limited released result showed.
In addition, respondents aged 60 years and above have the highest ratio (85%) of respondents who are anxious about the spread of the disease (they however represent just 3% of respondents) while the age-group between 18 – 21 years has the largest proportion (45%) of respondents who are not worried about the possible spread of the disease