NCDC reflects 5 years institutional building amidst response to outbreaks

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control(NCDC) has reflected on five years institutional building under the leadership of Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu as the pioneer Director-General of the Agency amidst various outbreaks in Nigeria.

Under the leadership of Ihekweazu, the agency has witnessed transformational growth from a young parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Health to a science-based institution leading the public health response to the largest pandemic in history.

In 2016, the NCDC Strategy Plan tagged: “Idea to Reality was developed. Since then, staff at the agency with support from partners have led a remarkable transformation journey.

The agency has witnessed significant growth in the development of systems for the preparedness, detection and response to infectious disease outbreaks in Nigeria.

This is significant as the young agency has continued to lead Nigeria’s public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his speech, Ihekweazu noted that despite the general pessimism at the ability of public institutions to deliver on the NCDC’s mandate, his vision was to build the confidence of Nigerians in the NCDC as the body established to protect the health of citizens.

Ihekweazu stressed that his visionary leadership at NCDC had enabled the establishment of strategic partnerships and exponential investment in research, infrastructure and human capital development critical to strengthening Nigeria’s health security.

Ihekweazu further said during this time of transformation, there was no better person to lead the young agency than his successor.

According to Ihekweazu, “Dr Adetifa is a proven leader with strong epidemiology, academic and research background as well as the ability to bring people together.

“His vision for effective utilisation of scientific evidence to prevent, detect and respond to public health emergencies is exactly what NCDC needs build on the gains achieved so far,” he added.

“The incoming DG, Dr Adetifa is a Clinical Epidemiologist with a strong public health and research background. Prior to his appointment, he was an Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

“He has also held several vaccine policy advisory roles including membership of Word Health Organization(WHO)’s Advisory Group for Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme.

“Dr Adetifa received his undergraduate medical training at the University of Ilorin and completed his residency training in paediatrics at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital.

“He holds an MSc in Epidemiology from LSHTM and a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Amsterdam”.

The new Director-General of NCDC, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa in his speech congratulated Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu and the NCDC team for the incredible work being done thus far as well as the natural end of his leadership and the smooth transition process witnessed so far.

Adetifa said: “for several years now, I have closely followed the activities of the agency without any knowledge of the possibility of ever leading it.

“My focus in the next few weeks is to work with colleagues to understand their work better so we can collectively build on the gains made so far, in line with the NCDC mandate.”

NCDC is the country’s national public health institute, with the mandate to lead the preparedness, detection and response to public health emergencies.

The law establishing NCDC was signed in November 2018 by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The mission for the NCDC is to protect the health of Nigerians through evidence-based prevention, integrated disease surveillance and response, using a One Health approach, guided by research and led by a skilled workforce.

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

Buhari Urges MTN For Quality Service, Downward Price Review In Cost Of Data, Other Services

President Muhammadu Buhari Friday at State House Abuja urged the MTN Group to make the available top-of-the-range service to its Nigerian subscribers…  NCDC reflects 5 years institutional building amidst response to outbreaks NCDC reflects 5 years institutional building amidst response to outbreaks  NCDC reflects 5 years institutional building amidst response to outbreaks  NCDC reflects 5 years institutional building amidst response to outbreaks.