The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday expressed concern over the number of public health emergencies across Africa, with Nigeria being a major contributor. The organisation announced ongoing plans to deploy eight emergency response vehicles each to six Nigerian states, covering the country’s geopolitical zones.
Water Molumbo, WHO Regional Representative for Nigeria, made this known during the official handover of emergency response vehicles to Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Abuja, the first recipient.
The vehicles are part of the Strengthening and Utilising Response Groups for Emergencies (SURGE) initiative, launched by the World Health Organization, African Region, to strengthen health emergency response. The initiative is currently being piloted in six states across the geopolitical zones by the Nigerian government. They include Abia, Edo, Kano, Yobe, Lagos, and the FCT.
According to the WHO, more than 300 SURGE responders have been trained since 2022. The vehicles are expected to support these teams, with a rapid mobilisation timeframe of 24 to 48 hours upon the declaration of an emergency.
Molumbo noted that Nigeria and Africa’s health system has been severely tested in recent years.
“The COVID-19 pandemic, Ebola outbreak, cholera outbreak, Lassa fever, recently diphtheria outbreak, and even anthrax have tested the health system and exposed gaps that need to be urgently addressed,” he said.
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“SURGE initiative aims to strengthen national and sub-national capacity for health emergency preparedness and response. This is in recognition of the fact that Africa continues to experience more than 100 health emergencies annually, ranging from disease outbreaks and natural disasters to conflict-driven crises. And Nigeria contributes a lot to that.”
“The initiative aims to develop a multidisciplinary, trained, and rapidly deployable national workforce, backed by strong operations and logistics, at all levels, and led by the government. So today’s handover of this vehicle is more than a symbolic gesture. It’s a practical step forward.
“So this is just a first wave. We have planned to equip the six states with eight vehicles, so that they will be able to deploy at any time. The current financial landscape is kind of slowed down, but we thought we should start, while we continue to mobilise resources, to also equip the remaining five states,” he further said.
Also speaking at the event, Jide Idris, Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), noted that the federal government is committed to strengthening emergency preparedness and response, but is constrained by limited resources.
“We all know what our economy is like, so resources are a bit limited. While we have resource constraints, we’re happy again that we have partners who are coming to our aid,” he said.
He revealed that the NCDC is currently managing over eight health emergencies, which poses “an enormous task” for the agency, especially with limited human resources.
“One of the major concerns we have is human resource, especially the health security workforce,” he stressed.
“So this gesture from WHO is highly welcome. While we don’t have, we have support so we can respond appropriately. So I want to thank the WHO for this gesture. I want to commend FCT for being the first recipient,” he added.
Dolapo Fasawe, Mandate Secretary for Health and Environment at the FCT, expressed gratitude to the WHO and emphasised the importance of investing in outbreak prevention and promoting public health.
She said it is vital to invest in “preventing outbreaks, reducing morbidity and mortality, and promoting not only Nigerian health stability, but global stability.”
