IDEP: Better preparedness needed for epidemics

AS the international community commemorates the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness 2024 with the theme: ‘Strengthening Global Health Systems for Future Crises,’ government agencies and stakeholders need to strengthen Nigeria’s healthcare system to nip diseases in the bud.

First established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2020, the IDEP has been observed annually to promote global awareness and collaboration in preparing for future epidemics.

The day was introduced in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which exposed the vulnerabilities of global health systems and underscored the need for coordinated international responses to public health crises.

Its primary aim, according to the UN, is to enhance global awareness, promote information sharing, and encourage best practices to prevent future epidemics.

The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention defines an epidemic as an “occurrence of more cases of disease than expected in a given area or among a specific group of people over a particular period of time.”

The WHO has explained that epidemic-prone diseases, including emerging and re-emerging diseases, constitute the greatest threat to public health security and the disruption of social and economic developments in countries.

In Nigeria, Lassa fever, mpox, Ebola virus disease, yellow fever, and poliomyelitis have been identified by health experts as the top five emerging and re-emerging infectious disease outbreaks the country has battled with since the turn of the century. Meningitis and cholera are other diseases afflicting Nigerians.

In Africa’s most populous country, malaria fever is also an epidemic. Nigeria accounted for 27 per cent of the world’s malaria cases and 31 per cent of deaths in 2022. It is the leading cause of death in the country, as about 90 per cent of the population is at risk of malaria infection. The 2023 World Malaria Report said 189,321 Nigerians died from malaria in 2022.

Sadly, despite the global advocacy towards effective epidemic response strategies, the Nigerian healthcare industry currently faces challenges associated with outbound medical tourism, deteriorating medical infrastructure, low government budget allocation, poor compensation and mass emigration of skilled healthcare workers.

Notably, Nigerian governments have failed to draw lessons from the country’s COVID-19 experience, which resulted in 3,155 deaths and 267,189 confirmed cases. Although Nigeria has a viable local pharmaceutical industry, there is no human vaccine manufacturing chain in the country.

Nigeria has an acute shortage of medical personnel. The Nigerian Medical Association puts the doctor-to-patient ratio at between 1:6,000 and 1:10,000. The wealthy take refuge in medical tourism, especially in India and Europe. This sets the economy back $1 billion annually.

Tellingly, Nigeria’s investment in research and development at less than 0.2 per cent of the GDP, compared to 2.4 per cent in China and 3.4 per cent in the United States, is notably low for a country committed to strengthening its healthcare system.

The state of the public healthcare centres in Nigeria is shocking, as only about 20 per cent of the over 30,000 primary healthcare facilities across Nigeria are fully functional, according to an estimate given by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency.

To boost preparation against the surge of epidemics, Nigerian hospitals, laboratories, and primary healthcare centres need to be better equipped and fully functional.

Disease source tracking and detection should be prioritised. The government and stakeholders should fund local vaccine production as well as research and development initiatives to combat the spread of diseases.

Public awareness of the health benefits of hand washing, sanitation and hygiene should be stepped up.

Citizens should be sensitised to understand that abandoning these health and safety protocols could be deleterious to their physical health.