WHO redoubles efforts to ‘leave no one behind’ in treatment of Neglected Tropical Diseases
The World Health Organization (WHO) has significantly increased support to the Government of Nigeria towards elimination of five of the over 20 Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) endemic in the country due to her tropical nature. This is in support of the country’s NTD roadmap developed in 2012, which prioritizes three diseases for control, five for […]
How e-Surveillance strengthens health systems in Nigeria
Dr Namadi Lawal is a surveillance officer with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA). For years, the agency depended on paper-based methods for surveillance and monitoring of disease outbreaks. When the World Health Organization (WHO) introduced the Electronic Surveillance (e-Surve) approach for active surveillance and monitoring of disease outbreaks, Dr Namadi promptly adopted […]
Democratic Republic of Congo Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak – WHO Situation Report 4th July 2018
The Ministry of Health and WHO continue to closely monitor the outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. On 27 June 2018, all the people who were exposed to the last confirmed EVD case-patient completed their mandatory 21-day follow up without developing symptoms. This is an important milestone. The […]
Adamawa state gets over 700,000 doses of oral cholera vaccines for emergency vaccination
The International Coordinating Group (ICG) has approved the release of 757 630 doses of oral cholera vaccine (OCV) for a 2-dose emergency vaccination campaign in Adamawa state. The initial batch of 378 815 doses of OCV was delivered to Nigeria on 22 June 2018 for the first round of the vaccination campaign while the second […]
A little black box for detecting and tracking outbreaks
One of the toughest tasks in responding to a major public health emergency is getting accurate information about infectious disease outbreaks. “EWARS in a box” contains all the equipment needed to establish surveillance and response activities, particularly in difficult and remote field settings without reliable internet or electricity. Infections can spread even more quickly than […]