Martins Ifijeh
The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole has hinted that five per cent of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) will go to health emergency management which covers all aspect of health, including accident and diseases.
Making this known in Abuja while receiving top management officials from the Public Health England (PHE) United Kingdom, recently who were on a working visit to Nigeria, recently.
In his speech, Adewole who described the NCDC as the flag-ship of disease outbreak management and control in Nigeria assured that the federal government was committed to supporting the centre.
He however noted that Nigeria needed the expertise and knowledge from the UK, Public Health Office due to her years of experience.
He said: “Government of Nigeria will work in close collaboration with PHE for a mutually beneficial partnership. The synergy between the countries will go a long way in building a strong team for Nigeria and strengthening collaboration between technical agencies and the Federal Ministry of Health.
“I am urging the UK government to play a more active role in the Nigerian health sector by helping in capacity building, publishing health materials and exchange of experts on laboratory services.”
The head of the delegation, Chief Executive, Public Health England, Mr. Duncan Selbie, said their visit to the ministry was to check and assess the size and scope of the NCDC and the role the organisation plays in the Public Health system.
He also said the PHE had supported NCDC in the development of its National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS), training of staff from the National Reference Laboratory and the network of public health laboratories on enteric pathogen testing, development and strengthening of protocols for NCDC’s incident management system and several other project areas.
He emphasised that the goal was to support strengthening of health security in Nigeria, adding that he had visited the NCDC National Reference Laboratory and met with several partners.
He expressed his delight at the strong role NCDC and the Federal Ministry of Health were playing.
He stressed that the UK government was poised to strengthen the Nigerian Public Health sector, considering the strategic importance of Nigeria in the Public Health region and African continent in general.
Selbie further presented souvenirs to the minister, the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Abdullazeez Abdullahi and other key management staff of the ministry, in recognition for their contributions, to the sector, particularly as regards disease emergency management and control in the country.
