FG to Upscale Fight Against Disease Outbreak in Nigeria, Says Pate

*US-CDC pledge support 

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The federal government has assured Nigerians that it would spare no effort to tackle all manner of infectious diseases spotted in any part of the country.
The government appealed to stakeholders, including healthcare providers and public health practitioners, to do more in working together to find solutions to disease outbreak.
The pledge was contained in a speech by Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Pate, at an annual symposium organised by APIN Health Initiative in Abuja.
The representative of the United States Centre for Disease Control (US-CDC) said the centre will not relent in its support for Nigeria’s health sector.

He said the American government had always prioritised its health intervention programmes in Nigeria, adding that the outcome of the APIN symposium will further guide future engagements in the sector
Pate said the reason government introduced the Sector Wide Approach (SWAP) in the health sector was to ensure that it tackled all diseases.
The minister, who was represented by Director of Port Health Services, Dr. Nse Akpan, said none of the diseases identified these days would be taken for granted.
Pate said, “We have been working together to make sure that the prevalence of diseases in this country is reducing and we are able to contain a lot. We want to talk about malaria, HIV, TB, which is the leading public health disease of importance, is also dropping. But we still have a lot to do.

“And that’s why the government is working toward a one health approach these days to ensure that without limited resources, we’ll be able to integrate all programmes and tackle it with effective response so that we’ll be able to contain and be able to eliminate and eradicate all diseases of importance in this country.”
The minister also stated, “These days we are talking about health for all now. So, the onus lies on us to ensure that we work together to achieve this now. Over the years, a lot of attention has been given to major public health diseases of importance.

“Then we tend to shift from others. If you look at it today, within our communities, a lot of neglected tropical diseases have been related to shanties. And these are diseases that are common among the poor.
“People are staying within the slums and shanties. Faced with these diseases, we still call on the public health practitioners to do more on this direction. You also look at it that within our environment, we still face a lot of pollution and sanitation related diseases.”

He added, “We still have a lot to do. And that’s why the government is implementing the SWAP policy to ensure that we tackle all diseases. None of the diseases these days would be taken for granted.”
The minister said more was needed from local stakeholders to support the efforts of government in the provision of healthcare services.
He stated, “While we are still struggling to contain one of the infectious diseases, before another one has come up, before we tackle that, another one has come up. And we need to see how we can collaborate with every sector. And that’s why, Minister of Health, the federal government is calling on all the MDAs to come together and tackle diseases.

“We have a role to play. It’s not only in public health. And there are many out there that we still need to encourage them to join the federal government to see how we can tackle diseases. And if we do so, in no distant time, we will be able to achieve success.”
While welcoming participants, Chief Executive Officer of APIN Public Health Initiative, Dr. Prosper Okonkwo, said one of the organisation’s most significant contributions to advancing global health security in Nigeria had been its public health surveillance solution and system, known as the “Five-Street Project”.

Okonkwo explained that the annual symposium, with a theme on global health security, will focus on how to enhance health security in Nigeria with a spotlight on infectious disease surveillance and some emphasis on HIV surveillance.