The federal government has urged Nigeria’s field epidemiologists to give priority attention to disease control, community-based surveillance, emergency response and research, as these are pivotal to the long term success in tackling challenges of disease outbreak.
Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole said ‘’ I am focusing on Lassa fever because if we get it right for Lassa fever, we will also get it right for the other communicable diseases whether it is cholera, Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM), Influenza, Middle East Respiratory syndrome (MERS-Co) or even Zika Virus.’’
‘’we have to be vigilant all the time. To me this is what should keep the trainees and graduates of the program awake at night thinking about pro-active strategies to deal with these diseases under the leadership of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control,’’ he added.
He assured the epidemiologists of his commitment to support the training programme as well as other capacity building efforts within the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
