By Ndidi Chukwu
An emergency session of the National Council on Health (NCH) which met in Abuja have decried the recent outbreaks of wild polio virus in Borno State and Lassa fever in Delta, Anambra, Bauchi, Gombe, Plateau, Rivers and Ondo states.
The NCH which is the highest advisory body of Nigeria’s health sector in a communiqué issued at the end of its meeting called on all stakeholders to maintain high level of vigilance and support all efforts to ensure the success of planned interventions to stop the on-going outbreak and eradicate polio from Nigeria as well as to ensure effective control of Lassa fever across the Country.
The emergency meeting was convened to discuss important National Health issues such as the New National Health Policy as well as the outbreak and containment of polio/lassa fever, after which states were urged to strengthen their existing surveillance and response systems including capacity building for epidemiologists and first responders as well as providing dedicated budget lines for outbreak and epidemic response.
The meeting which was chaired by the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac F. Adewole also endorsed the new National Health Policy 2016 and urged the Federal Ministry of Health to fast track further operationalization of the National Health Act 2014.
The support of the army medical corps, development partners the media and other stakeholders in the struggle to ensure adequate vaccination coverage for all the hard-to-reach communities in Borno State and neighbouring States was commended, as well as improved performance of the health system at all levels generally.
A total of 201 delegates participated from the Ministry, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Ministry of Health, State Ministries of Health and the Health & Human Services Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, Abuja.
Also in attendance were representatives from the development partners’ community including BMGF, Canadian High Commission, CDC, CHAI, HERFON, JICA, MNCH2, NPHD, PACFAH, PATHS2, UNFPA, UNICEF, USAID, WB, and WHO; as well as delegates from the Health Regulatory Bodies and Professional Associations.
