Enugu State establishes centres for disease surveillance, control

ENUGU State Government has approved the establishment of an Emergency Operation Centre for disease surveillance and control in the state.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Fintan Ekochin made the disclosure in Enugu on Tuesday while briefing newsmen on activities of the ministry in the last six months.

He said the ministry had also established an isolation centre for highly contagious diseases like Ebola, Lassa fever, Monkey Pox, Cholera and other emergency situations.

The commissioner said that the facilities were established with the consent of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

“We know that once in a while, there will be an outbreak of epidemic with all the emergencies that come with it.

“In the last six months, we have set up an isolation ward where we have clinical management of patients with such disease conditions,” he said.

Ekochin said that the centre would ensure the protection of both patients and health workers in the facility.

“To take this to the next level, we have gotten an approval to set up an Emergency Operation Centre (EOC).

“This will be the information technology hub for the coordination of health emergency activities in the state equipped with communication gadgets,” he said.

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The commissioner noted that the EOC would become operational soon adding that whenever there was an epidemic, it would be communicated to those at the grassroots, state level, interstate, national and global.

He said the ministry had implemented policies that had placed the state above most of its peers in the country.

Ekochin said that the state, as a result of its commitment in maternal and child health, was nominated for the National Health Care Excellence Award by an international organisation.

“We are just one of the three states in the country to be so nominated for the award and have received our nomination certificate.

“We were recognised as one of the state governments with the best policies with particular reference to our free maternal and child health care programme,” he said.

Ekochin said that it was gratifying that what the state government was doing was gaining global accolades.

“This is something we are proud of. It shows that what we are doing is not just for the good of our people but a model for other states,” he said.