
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), Federal Ministry of Health (FMH), Federal Ministry of Environment (FME), and Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development with Funding from the REDISSE World Bank Project and Technical assistance from USAID Breakthrough Action Nigeria and REAP Global Health, conducted 3-days workshop training tagged “Priority Disease Risk Communication and Community Engagement Workshop”. Participants from this workshop were drawn from the SMOH, SMAKD, SMEnV, SMOI, and SPIYCDA among others.
Giving the welcome address the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Zakari Usman, described the State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello as a Health Friendly Governor who has brought smiles on the faces of the people through Health care programs.
The Commissioner who was represented by the Director of Public Health, Ministry of Health Dr. Francis Akpa says that the health sector will do its best to bring health information closer to the people. According to him, responding to health emergencies requires joint efforts by all ministries to effectively communicate the right information at the right time.
Also speaking, the NCDC representatives Ms. Oyinloluwa Alalade and Mr. Paul Labaran reiterated the importance of collaboration among all ministries and agencies through a One Health Approach to communicate on prioritized zoonotic diseases. The One Health Approach requires the human, animal, and environmental sectors to come together to address the zoonotic diseases i.e. diseases that spread such as Monkey Pox, Lassa Fever, Rabies, Anthrax, and Yellow Fever among others.
The three-day interactive and hands-on training involved the prioritization of 4 zoonotic diseases based on several criteria which include the transmissibility, severity, socioeconomic impact, environmental impact, and prevention and control of infectious diseases based on the state’s current diseases situation report.
The training sessions facilitated by NCDC focal persons Ms. Oyinloluwa Alalade and Mr. Paul Labaran adopted a participatory approach to ensure the participants garnered knowledge on how to develop and disseminate One Health message to influence social behavior change among members of the public and hence help prevent and control the spread of infectious diseases that affects human, animal and the environment in which they live.
In his closing remarks, the Kogi State Director of Public Health, Dr. Francis Akpa appreciated the efforts of the Organizers and facilitators in building the capacity of the state participants to be able to develop One Health key message that will further promote positive health behavior in the State.
He expressed optimism in seeing the strength, collaboration, and coordination among the Health, Animal, and Environmental health sectors in responding to public health emergencies in Kogi State.
Amodu Gloria
Information Officer
Kogi Signage and Advertisement Agency (KSSAA)