The U.S. Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has donated advanced laboratory equipment and supplies to Nigeria to assist with the country’s efforts to detect disease threats and provide rapid responses and outbreak control.
The disease agency presented the supplies to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) on Friday, 12 April, “to help the country sustain the quality of laboratory outputs.”
CDC official speaks
The CDC’s Programme Director for Global Health Protection, Farah Husain, who led the agency’s team to NCDC, said the donation is to help Nigeria resolve the difficulties caused by disease outbreaks, noting that laboratories are a cornerstone of outbreak responses.
She said: “Nigeria is currently facing several ongoing disease outbreaks, including Lassa fever, diphtheria, and meningitis. Laboratory scientists play a vital role in quickly detecting and confirming cases, which is crucial for an effective outbreak response.”
She noted that the increased volume of laboratory work created by these simultaneous outbreaks creates a pressing need for additional resources.
“The United States is committed to working hand-in-hand with Nigeria to build response capacity and protect the health of our people,” even as she added that: “The U.S. Government, via the U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, is proud to donate equipment and supplies to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention to support emergency response laboratory activities.”
NCDC promises judicious use
Responding, the NCDC Director General, Jide Idris, promised that the agency would make judicious use of the equipment.
According to him, the government cannot sufficiently fund a health system, which he said necessitates the need for such a partnership.
Mr Idris, a former Health Commissioner in Lagos, said: “We require this kind of collaboration from different partners. The idea and the goal is to reduce the incidence.
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“As we said, the government is funding the sector, but the funding may not necessarily be adequate now. The health system is very expensive, and no government can fund it on its own. It requires this kind of collaboration from different partners.
“More importantly, in terms of global health security, one of the major focuses is collaboration and partnerships both internationally, nationally, and sub-nationally because everybody is coming in with different expertise, and we will not necessarily have all the expertise we need, but with this kind of collaboration in boosting productivity.”
He said the goal is to achieve a reduction in incidents of diseases. “And where you cannot stop, we respond adequately so that we can bring down the effect of any disease, that is the essence here.”
“So collaborations and partnerships are key essentials of health security,” he added.
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