... Says it was necessary to build experts' capacity to tackle multiple disease outbreaks
The U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reiterated its commitment to building Nigeria's capacity in public health emergency preparedness and response, explaining that the move was to enable Nigerian disease experts to respond effectively as the country continues to experience multiple disease outbreaks.
Speaking during a media roundtable in Lagos, U.S. CDC, Dr. Muhammad Saleh, who highlighted the importance of the investment given the country's frequent disease outbreaks explained that the U.S. CDC has been supporting Nigeria's National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) through its Public Health Emergency Management (PHEM) certification program.
Saleh who also presented another set of graduands of the U.S. CDC-supported Public Health Emergency Management (PHEM) said the program was designed to equip public health professionals with the skills and knowledge needed to effectively manage and respond to emergencies.
Saleh emphasised the significance of the PHEM program, noting that it has enhanced Nigeria's capacity to manage outbreaks such as meningitis, diphtheria, and COVID-19.
The program he also said has also facilitated regional and international knowledge sharing, contributing to Nigeria's improvement in joint external evaluations.
The U.S. CDC has invested over $2 million in supporting these efforts, and over 200 Nigerian public health staff have graduated from the PHEM program since 2017.
He also highlighted how the U.S. CDC and Nigeria are collaboratively building capacity and supporting state-level disease outbreak response.
He noted that out of the 223 international PHEM fellows from 49 countries trained by the CDC in Atlanta, U.S., only seven were from Nigeria.
He said that this created the need to locally expand PHEM capacity to support the operations of these PHEOCs.
Saleh said Nigeria has been a Global Health Security Agenda partner country since 2019 and is committed to the goal of ensuring the world is safe and secure from global health threats posed by infectious diseases.
Continuing, he also emphasised that through the PHEM programme, the U.S. CDC had been building capacity in Nigeria.
His words, "Catastrophic events like pandemics, natural disasters and emergence (re-emergence) of high-threat disease can affect any country any time. The PHEM programme contributes to achieving a stronger public health workforce that can adequately respond to health emergencies. It improves public health personnel's knowledge, skills and attitudes toward emergencies. It helps build a culture of emergency management and resilience for stakeholders. It provides specialised training in PHEM care capabilities that are critical to preparedness and response," he said.
Saleh noted that the programme is divided into basic, intermediate and advanced levels, stating that it has enhanced Nigeria's capacity to manage outbreaks, including meningitis, diphtheria and COVID-19.
Saleh said the U.S. Government's investment in Nigeria had led to significant returns, including the detection and management of various outbreaks. 'The programme has also facilitated regional and international knowledge sharing, contributing to Nigeria's improvement in joint external evaluations from 39 per cent to 54 per cent. The U.S. government has contributed over $2 million to support these efforts. Since 2017, over 200 public health staff have graduated from the PHEM programme, contributing to emergency preparedness and response. Successful graduates have managed outbreaks such as meningitis, diphtheria, and COVID-19, leading to the detection of over 1134 cases of meningitis in Nigeria."
Speaking, the U.S. CDC Nigeria leadership, led by the Director, U.S. CDC Division of Global Health Protection Programme, Dr. Farah Husain, pledged the U.S. government's commitment to supporting Nigeria's capacity building efforts.
She said the US CDC's commitment to promoting strategies was aimed at preventing, detecting, and responding to all public health threats, as well as working with partners to implement specialty training programmes.
She emphasised the collaboration and its impact on public health and emergency management and called for continued collaboration.
The Director of Special Duties at the NCDC, Dr. John Oladejo, highlighted the importance of the PHEM training in equipping participants with the skills to coordinate emergency management activities.
Oladejo said the training covers various aspects of public health emergency management, including incident management systems, plans, logistics, and more.
The PHEM program has played a crucial role in strengthening Nigeria's public health workforce and improving its ability to respond to emergencies. The U.S. CDC's continued support is essential for ensuring the country's preparedness to face future health challenges.
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Oladejo, said that the PHEM training aimed at equipping participants with skills and competencies, adding that participants would be able to coordinate emergency management activities during disease outbreaks.
He said the training covered various aspects of public health emergency management, including Incident Management System (IMS), plans, logistics and more.
On the importance of the EOC, he said it was responsible for vigilant surveillance, activating various activities including risk assessments, sending staff to states and managing data during outbreaks.
He noted that the collaborative nature of emergency management broke down silos and enhanced the capacity to defend public health in Nigeria.
Oladejo who acknowledged the support from other partners and the instrumental programme that had empowered leaders to navigate competitive emergencies recalled that since 2003, the U.S. CDC has been a strategic partner of the federal and state ministries of health, their departments and agencies, in improving public health outcomes in Nigeria.
