Nigeria launches project to increase disease detection, prevention capacity

As part of efforts to increase Nigeria’s disease detection and prevention capacity, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has launched an integrated disease testing and surveillance project at the Central Public Health Laboratory (CPHL), Lagos.

The project, according to the Director-General of NCDC, Jide Idris, is a response to diagnosis-related challenges for the country’s prioritised infectious diseases and to develop surveillance capacity for malaria, Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), mycotic diseases, and other diseases of public health importance.

“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,” Mr Idris said during the keynote address.

“This facility will mark a pivotal step forward in our national health security strategy. It emphasises NCDC’s unwavering commitment to protecting public health across the nation and by extension serving as a model for countries in the region.”

Donated laboratory equipment was also presented at the launch by the US Consulate in Lagos and Taipei Trade Office in Nigeria to the NCDC DG.

Facility upgrade

Mr Idris said the project, in partnership with the US CDC, CDC Foundation, and the Taiwan government, is aimed at upgrading the capacity of the CPHL Lagos to serve as the second national reference laboratory in Nigeria.

“So there is a plan to expand this complex and upgrade to genomic sequencing, which is a high-end diagnostic capability that will be easier to detect disease faster, and more predictably,” he said.

He acknowledged the support of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO), CDC Foundation and US CDC, adding that there is another partnership with the Japanese Development Agency to build a genomic sequencing laboratory at the back of the CPHL Lagos.

“The facility will be developed such that what cannot be detected in other states, they either come here or Abuja to detect it,” he said.

In his comments, the Chief of Taiwan Mission in Nigeria, Andy Liu, said the partnership with the NCDC is important to the development of a standard laboratory to respond to disease outbreaks.

Mr Liu added that the collaboration is so important for the international society to participate in building a world-class laboratory with advanced equipment donated by the CDC foundation.

“I think this is just the first stage, we are going to continue with more collaborative efforts through the partnership established by the Nigerian CDC together with the US CDC foundation and with the Taiwan government,” he said.

Also, a Senior Programme Officer with the CDC Foundation, Cassandra Webster, said the partnership in Nigeria is to extend the capacity of the CPHL laboratory to do “the important public health lifesaving work that they have continued to be doing.”

What it means for Lagos

In his remarks, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, said the laboratory will increase the capacity of the state to detect diseases, adding that it will reduce the dependence on the national reference laboratory.

Mr Abayomi said the state is striving to drive the culture of testing and treating with positive results, adding that having a reference malaria laboratory in Lagos, is a step in the right direction.

He noted that it is going to drive collaboration between the federal and the state public health authorities.

“For us in Lagos, we must continue to strive towards an evidence-based practice of medicine that involves making the correct diagnosis and treating appropriately without the risk of over-treating or under-treating,” he said.

Giving more insights about the project, the Director, National Reference Laboratory, Olajumoke Babatunde, said the project aims to establish an integrated disease reference laboratory that will provide advanced reference functions to malaria and NTDs, leveraging the ongoing investment at the CPHL.

“Bringing health care to the people and bringing the capacity to the people helps with the health response, but also bolsters Nigeria’s capabilities as a regional player. And so much of what’s happening in Legos expands to the broader region in West Africa,” the Consul General at the U.S. Consulate in Lagos, Will Stevens, said in his goodwill message.

Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of APIN Public Health Initiative, one of the partners on the project, Prosper Okonkwo, emphasised the importance of partnerships for sustainable development, and highlighted how the laboratory project in Lagos will promote ownership and sustainability in Nigeria.