Executive Director, Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) has said there is a need for all sectors in Nigeria to increase investment in health to bring about improved health services. Th e NCDC Executive Director, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, made the observation following scorecards presented by some sectors of the government at the just concluded 7-day Joint External Evaluation (JEE) exercise, by a team of international experts in their assessment of Nigeria’s capacity to prevent, detect and respond to threats of public health signifi cance. He said: “Th e outcome of this Joint External Evaluation, a voluntary, collaborative process to assess a country’s capacity under IHR, highlighted the need for Nigeria to make additional investments and apply concerted eff orts to improve its performance in key areas.
“Th e fi nal report of the draft report of the JEE will be available for country review within two weeks and published in about a month. As a follow up, an action plan will also be agreed upon by all partners to ensure collaborations along same lines “We call for further participation of all national stakeholders especially our colleagues from the armed forces, uniformed services and security agencies to continue to lead and participate in their respective areas. Today’s event will serve as the pivot for all our eff orts towards protecting the health of Nigerians.
” Speaking earlier, the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole expressed satisfaction over the success of the exercise adding that it will prepare the country for health emergencies. He said: “I am proud that we have been able to go through this process to ensure Nigeria will not be left behind. I am confi dent that we will get it right despite the work to be done in strengthening our capacity to prevent, detect and respond to emergencies.” Th e evaluation exercise was co-hosted by the International Health Regulations (IHR) Focal Point, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) with support from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and its partners
