Federal Govt Unveils Integrated Lab Facility To Tackle Infectious Diseases

Nigeria has one of the highest diversities and burden of public health diseases with global significance in sub-Saharan Africa, even as the federal government has launched the integrated laboratory diagnosis facility,  as effort to combat infectious diseases of public health importance in the country.

The project is a collaboration between Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and the  Taiwanese government (TECRO) through strategic partners like the US-CDC, CDC Nigeria, CDC Foundation, and APIN Public Health Initiatives.

The director general, NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, at the unveiling of the facility yesterday in Lagos, said NCDC had identified the need to develop capacity for advanced diagnostic services and laboratory-based surveillance capacity for Malaria, Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), Mycotic Diseases, and similar diseases of public health importance, in response to diagnosis-related challenges for the country’s prioritised infectious diseases.

The establishment of this integrated laboratory diagnosis facility will be a game-changer in the fight against infectious diseases of public health importance in Nigeria, Idris averred, adding that, “By providing accurate, early, and comprehensive diagnosis, it will enable informative decision-making for enhanced patient care, proactive disease surveillance and outbreak management, optimize antimicrobial stewardship and reduced antimicrobial resistance, inform research and development for new diagnostic tests and treatments, improved patient safety and reduce healthcare costs, enhanced global health security through rapid detection and response. among others.”

The main goal of this timely intervention through the NCDC/CDC-Foundation (TECRO Project) is to further strengthen NCDC’s capacity, the DG stated. “Malaria, mycotic infections, and NTDs’ have, for far too long, imposed a significant burden on our communities, disproportionately impacting the most vulnerable and hindering development. This facility will mark a pivotal step forward in our national health security strategy. It emphasizes NCDC’s unwavering commitment to protecting public health across the nation and by extension serving as model for countries in the region.

“The establishment of this integrated disease laboratory signifies a paradigm shift and will add critical values through, enhanced diagnostic capacity; strengthened reference laboratory function and serves as a centre for training and capacity building platforms for healthcare professionals to improve their competencies,” he added.