The Anambra State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Vincent Okpala, has assured the government of his readiness to partner with Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in tackling disease outbreaks in the state.
He said this during courtesy call by a Disease Surveillance Team from Federal Ministry of Health in his office at the Jerome Udoji Secretariat Complex, Awka, on Wednesday.
Dr Okpala said that Gov. Willie Obiano had channeled his energy toward ensuring that healthcare facilities in the state were upgraded for optimal services for citizens.
The commissioner noted that creative means would be considered so as to ensure that the device would be on the same page with reporting of outbreaks.
He commended initiators of the project while also assuring them of the ministry’s support in the implementation of Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System (SORMAS) in the state.
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Dr Wunmi Adebayo, NCDC Team Leader, who spoke to our correspondents said that the agency was partnering Anambra for the implementation of SORMAS.
SORMAS is basically designed for Surveillance of Disease Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System.’’
She said that SORMAS application was developed in collaboration with German partners and NCDC to detect outbreaks in Nigeria.
“SORMAS was strengthened to survey; identify outbreak response management and system analysis.
“NCDC as a government agency is to ensure proper surveillance of disease outbreak in the country,’’ she emphasised.
According to her, since 2014 SORMAS has been rolled out across 11 states and that Anambra is next in their schedule.
“At the initiation of the project, NCDC is responsible for the procurement of tablets, training of disease surveillance and notification officers from 21 Local Government Areas of the state.
“We also ensure the tablets because of the way it works. So we don’t want interruption within the first one year whereby someone will say that his or her tablet has been stolen or snatched.’’
Adebayo adds: “usually, we ensure the tablets in case anything happens so that within 72 hours they can easily be replaced by the insurance company.
“If someone in Aguata LGA has Ebola case, once it is put on the tablet, instead of using the form, the state Epidemiologist can easily see as the cases are coming.
“The way the system works means that, the SORMAS will automatically generate all the information.
“Two tablets will be provided by NCDC to each LGA so that they can actually put in the information of diseases like Lassa fever and contact tracing.
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“With the tablet, one can actually follow up about contacts, if any contact is becoming a case and how the outbreak is going,’’ she explained.
Dr Chijioke Obagha Anambra State Epidemiologist said that the beauty of the project was that it would help to look at the information flow as it arrived.
He noted that currently a lot of paper base was in use along the line in a chain of transmission, losing some vital information but with SORMAS and the way it worked, data would cue in at the LGA level.
“The SORMAS helps to make quick and fast decisions in cases of outbreaks. Diseases surveillance officers and assistants selected will undergo training.
“That is one person each, from the three senatorial zones in the state
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