Nigeria needs 633 epidemiologists to tackle prevalent challenges
Nigeria’s ability to reduce infectious diseases, prevent and control emerging epidemics is currently constrained because it needs more epidemiologists than it has in order to strengthen its national strategy.
However, Africa’s most populous nation needs a minimum of 1,000 epidemiologists but presently has 367. This represents a shortfall of 633 epidemiologists.
“Given the population of the Nigeria, it is estimated that we need to train and sustain 1,000 epidemiologists to be able to meet epidemiological challenges. To date 367 are in training and another 58 have been selected for the next class for a total of 425,” said Okey the senior executive for Africa at the Global Health Services Network.
Nwanyanwu said this while speaking on “Securing Nigeria’s Public Health Future through NCDC: People, Knowledge, Money,” at the Nigerian Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (NFELTP), 2018 Conference.
According to him, public health security in Nigeria is the responsibility of Nigerians. Its future can only be secured by Nigerians through a coordinated and integrated effort organised locally and sustained organically.
“We are here to think together on solutions that will drive future interventions, to discuss on going interventions contributing to health security, and discuss how to make resources available to sustain them.”
“Money is important. It is not only the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) that should be funding, other ministries should be contributing money, States, NGOs and the private sector must be involved. We need to have a plan to raise these funds,” Nwanyanwu added.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Nigeria Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (NFELTP) is set to hold its third yearly scientific conference.
Themed: “Strengthening Health Security through Field Epidemiology”, the conference, aims at creating a platform to enable epidemiologists and public health physicians share their scientific works with the larger public health audience.
Also speaking at the conference, George Akpede of Irrua Specialist Teaching (ISTH) Hospital said rising to the challenge is really an issue of raising the standard of clinical care of infected persons, particularly those with severed infections, in endemic countries.
“Lassa fever care centres should have optimum infection control and containment procedures; a high degree of expertise in critical care and management of highly infectious diseases.”
“Nigeria is a very hot bed for outbreaks. Currently there is a cholera outbreak and for a long time the country has not been standing up to its responsibility, and thankfully recently it has begun to do so,” Akpede said.
According to Akpede, Advocacy is very important. “When a lion comes into your village, you must raise the alarm loudly”. Lassa fever is akin to many lions. We must shout loudly, indeed very loudly!
However, Joshua Obasanya, chairman at NFELTP closing the conference ceremony said we have reached the end of the 3rd Annual Conference.
“We have been assailed by torrents of ideas, and in the next few weeks we have plenty to reflect on in terms of health and security in Nigeria. We can do more through multi-stakeholder collaboration,” he said.
ANTHONIA OBOKOH