US-CDC Supports Strengthening of Nigeria’s Public Health Emergency Response

The United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (US-CDC) and the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) have collaborated to deliver a two-week intermediate-level professional certification training for the Public Health Emergency Management Professional Certification Programme (PHEM PC).

The PHEM PC programme graduated its second cohort of 25 state epidemiologists at a ceremony last weekend.

Speaking at the graduation, US Consul-General, Will Stevens, underscored the US Government’s commitment and prioritisation of Public Health Emergency Management as Nigeria works towards achieving Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) 2024 targets and meeting International Health Regulations (IHR) requirements by strengthening workforce development, disease surveillance, emergency response, and laboratory capacity.

The Consul-General highlighted the strategic partnership between the US and Nigeria to strengthen health security and respond to disease threats, “The US Government is committed to promoting the health and wellbeing of Nigerians through initiatives and training that increase disease prevention, detection, and response.”

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In her remarks, US-CDC Nigeria Country Director, Dr. Mary Boyd, said: “The devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic illustrates now more than ever the importance of ensuring public health systems can adequately detect, prevent, respond to, and recover from health emergencies, particularly those whose scale, timing, or unpredictability threatens to overwhelm routine capabilities.”

The PHEM PC programme is part of the US Government’s efforts to support pandemic preparedness in Nigeria and globally. It provides emergency managers, incident managers, state epidemiologists, first responders, watch managers, and other public health experts with specialised training in public health emergency management and operations and other critical preparedness and response skills, including crisis and emergency risk communication.

CDC Nigeria is the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) country office with a vision of public health excellence for healthy Nigerians.

In addition to supporting the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Health, its department, agencies, state ministries of health, and several key partners, this office also develops, implements, and evaluates disease response programs in Nigeria that contribute to the strengthening of the public health infrastructure.