By Asmau Ahmad
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said it is working with the 36 states and the FCT to assess their capacities to prevent, detect and rapidly respond to public health risks.
NCDC Director-General, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja at the Health Security Policy Dialogue, organised by the Nigeria Health Watch.
The dialogue has the theme, “Decentralising Health Security: Lessons from the COVID-19 Response”.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Joint External Evaluations (JEE) is a voluntary evaluation of a country’s ability to find, stop and prevent disease threats.
The JEE guides the development of the National Action Plan For Health Security.
It is used to determine funding requirements, technical capacity, and other resources needed to bridge major gaps identified.
Nigeria conducted the last JEE in June 2017.
Dr Adetifa said that the outcome of the assessment would enhance the country’s level of pandemic preparedness and plans to strengthen health security.
The DG stressed that one of the agency’s priorities was to provide support and coordination for optimal epidemic preparedness and response in states.
“This will help us as a country to identify the most critical gaps within our human and animal health systems to prioritise opportunities for enhanced preparedness and response.
“It is important to ensure that states understand their roles and the gaps that exist,” he said.
The NCDC boss said that states must realise the need to secure funding for epidemic preparedness and response in their budgetary allocations, in addition to political commitment.
“We will continue to push for states in Nigeria to see the power that lies in their hands to change the health outcomes in their localities and constituents,” he added.
According to him, the major concern in the interconnected world is that every country is under siege by pathogens which can constitute a danger to everybody.
