NCDC requests elevated funding for well being safety

In order to better prevent, identify, and address public health hazards in the nation, Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, director general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, has advocated for higher domestic financial allocation.

At the second Joint External Evaluation for the International Health Regulations Core Capacities, held in Abuja on Monday, Dr. Adetifa announced the decision.

Adetifa asserted that allocating specific financing for the implementation of health security will improve capabilities for addressing threats to the public’s health.

One of the four elements of the IHR monitoring and evaluation framework, Joint External Evaluation is a voluntary multi-sectoral process that involves a diverse team of experts who evaluate a country’s preparedness and response capabilities across 19 technical areas, with the help of the appropriate Ministries, Departments, and Agencies.

In 2017, Nigeria held its first JEE.

We must prioritise health, Adetifa said during the ceremony. Health is more than just construction projects, like buildings and infrastructure. You need excellent systems, training, tools, and people capital. Health will get greater funds once we convince the political leadership to give it the correct priority.

“I think certain state governments devote a significant portion of their own resources to health. Making it a groundswell—where even more states do it and the federal government does it—is what we need to see.

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“I think we will see greater domestic spending for health with the agenda that has already been defined by the incoming government led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Given the JEE evaluation’s determination of priorities, we anticipate seeing increased financing.

According to Mary Boyd, the Country Director for the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, more must be done for countries to be able to prevent, identify, and quickly respond to public health catastrophes as a result of the epidemics of the past 20 years.

“Due to this, the JEE is crucial. In order to direct our efforts over the next five years, it promotes collaboration and highlights the significant accomplishments and gaps in our health security. I wish to commend Nigeria for making the audacious decision to carry out this evaluation. Since the initial JEE in 2017, the US CDC has partnered with Nigeria.

“One of our many contributions to Nigeria’s health security has been the collection and preservation of records from earlier evaluations in order to prepare for the present. The NCDC and our partner RTI International are driving this initiative. I want to exhort everyone in this room to keep up the good work, to not give up, and to also take some time to enjoy the minor victories. Although we have great expectations, every score—high or low—matters. Since we’re all in this together, what we need to work on is crucial.

Dr. Henk Ormel, senior advisor for the Global JEE Secretariat of the World Health Organisation, asserted that establishing health security in Africa will stop disease outbreaks.

The JEE process, he explained, “was created to assist countries in evaluating their capacity to avoid, detect, and address public health hazards. Using a multi-sectoral approach, the procedure entails identifying the most important gaps in health security. Data will be gathered as part of the JEE to assess how well the international health regulations are being followed.

“Each JEE adheres to a standardised procedure that is in line with the values of openness, cross-sector participation, and public reporting. A one-health multidisciplinary evaluation, the JEE is voluntary.

However, he pointed out that the JEE does not function as an audit or inspection but rather sorts through the information at hand to establish priority actions and scores.