African region to share information on disease control

For prompt response and prevention of disease outbreaks, Nigeria and other African countries have concluded arrangement to share information on disease control in the region.

The Chief Executive Officer of National Center for Disease Control, NCDC, Chikwe Ihekweazu, stated this on Tuesday, at Regional Center for Disease Control, RCDC, and Chatham House discussion on disease control in African region, in Abuja.

Ihekweazu, also asked for a robust framework of health information management among countries in the African region.

According to him, “There is urgent need to improve on the information sharing and data management at the local government level, state and federal government level”.

He noted that the national public health institutions across the countries in African region should collaborate on sharing important information that will make the citizens to take public action, especially in situations of outbreaks of disease.

“We need a governance framework to practice this new development, based on mutual trust and understanding from one country to another ”
“We are bringing top experts across the region on how to respond from a regional perspective,” he added.

Davis Harper a senior fellow at Chatham, emphasized the need for stakeholders in the health sector to ensure there is global peace and security in the different regions.

“We have been working for some time looking at how global health security is linked with the spread of infectious disease, and collective health security”.

He said the centre aims to bring about a standard operation procedure that is meant to tackle sensitive issues at the global capacity.

According to him, there will be high level of information on how stakeholders can move the health sector forward, without breeching trust.

Ann Kimball, a senior fellow in Chatham information said the benefit of networking and sharing of information will help in preventing emergency situation in the country rather than having a disease epidemic.

“We are building a network of empowering health and improving on disease control activities in the region”, she said.

 

LAIDE AKINBOADE-ORIERE