The United State’s Centre for Disease Control (U.S CDC) says it supports the establishment of a Regional Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) for West Africa.
The U.S CDC also supports a Regional Information Hub to allow for a better coordination and information sharing across the Region.
Dr Mary Boyd, the U.S CDC Nigeria Country Director, made the assertion in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday.
Boyd spoke on the side line of a three-day workshop of the Regional Integrated Surveillance and Laboratory Networks (RISLNET) implementation for West African Region.
NAN reports that the three-day workshop was organised by the African Union/Africa CDC and the West African Health Organization (WAHO).
It was in an effort to address the critical needs for comprehensive and quality laboratory as well as surveillance systems and networks within the continent.
NAN also reports that Africa CDC had established RISLNET for all the African Regions.
RISLNET is a network of networks that harnesses existing public health assets in each of the five African Union regions to strengthen national and regional laboratory and surveillance systems, improve quality standards and promote networks for integration whilst leveraging the existing assets within the various sub-regions.
Boyd said that the establishments were made possible through the West Africa Regional Collaboration Centre, Regional Centre for Surveillance and Disease Control (RCSDC).
She said that the world found itself at a historical moment in the past two years, and had not seen the last pandemic, hence the need for preparedness.
“So, we hope we can be better prepared for whatever lays ahead with this workshop efforts.
“I’m happy that RISLNET is being launched on a foundation of collaboration that already exists.
“For example, at the peak of the first COVID-19 wave in Nigeria, a tripartite partnership of the U.S. CDC, AfCDC and World Bank established a first-of-its-kind COVID-19 sample collection centre in Abuja at the International Conference Centre (ICC).
“This model has since been democratised by NCDC across many states, helping to improve sample collection efforts across the country,” she said.
According to her, we live in a global village, and that fact has never been more apparent than it is today especially as we have witnessed disease outbreaks originating from one corner of the world.
“Such disease has become intercontinental and transcontinental dilemma, ricocheting at top speed all over the world.
“Unfortunately, Sub-Saharan Africa has continued to bear the brunt of this as the region found itself confronted by not only longstanding but also emerging and remerging infectious disease threats.
“COVID-19 is only one such disease threat. In fact, while combating a devastating COVID-19 pandemic, many countries were not spared the deluge of other outbreaks.
“We saw the first known case of Marburg virus disease in Guinea in 2021, the ongoing cholera outbreak in Cameroon that surged to even higher levels in March 2022, a challenging Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria.
“And the recent detection of wild poliovirus in Malawi, two years after Africa was declared free of indigenous wild polio.
“Yes, COVID-19 exacerbated pre-existing weaknesses in the system, but these myriads of outbreaks have ongoing devastating health and economic effects on many countries,” she said.
Boyd explained that these challenges had also created opportunities and added a sense of urgency for transformational change.
“One such catalytic change is what we’re here to launch- that is the “Regional Integrated Surveillance and Laboratory Network (RISLNET), established by the Africa CDC.
“To coordinate and integrate all public health laboratory, surveillance, and emergency response assets, including public health data, with the aim to effectively support prevention, rapid detection and response to current and emerging public health threats within defined geographic regions of Africa.”
She said that RISLNET was challenging the once vertical system of disease-specific programmes that led to fragmented and inefficient disease monitoring systems in many aspects.
“Instead, it is fostering comprehensive, integrated, action-oriented, regional public health surveillance for African countries.
“I commend the Africa CDC for the vision to establish RISLNET in the West Africa region.
“I commend the member states represented here and their political will to create strong public health systems and institutions,” she said.
NAN reports that the focus of the workshop includes the official launch of the framework for the governance of RISLNET in the West Africa region.
The workshop will also discuss and agree on the development draft policy and frame work document for RISLNET.
