The federal government is strengthening Nigeria’s health security system with a national genomic surveillance strategy, expanded laboratory networks, and trained health workers to better respond to public health threats.

Muhammad Ali Pate, Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, stated this on his official X account, formerly Twitter, while briefing Nigerians and the international community on reforms under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Mr Pate said the government was building a resilient and agile health system that would enable Nigeria to detect and respond to emerging and re-emerging diseases while contributing to global health security.

According to him, the launch of the National Genomic Surveillance Strategy and the Nigeria Genomics Consortium will revolutionise disease detection, monitoring, and response across the country.

He said Nigeria had also integrated genomics into its antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance system, noting that it would host the fifth Global Ministerial High-Level Conference on AMR in Abuja in 2026.

The minister explained that while international support was important, Nigeria was mobilising domestic resources to protect its population of over 200 million people.

Mr Pate listed several achievements by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) under Tinubu’s leadership.

He said these include the inauguration of the Integrated Disease Reference Laboratory in Lagos for neglected tropical diseases, malaria, and fungal infections.

The minister said the centre had also established new diagnostic laboratories for Mpox and Lassa fever, while optimising existing laboratories in 13 states to reduce the turnaround time for outbreak confirmation.

According to him, the NCDC has further attained the ISO 15189 accreditation for the National Reference Laboratory and secured a five-star rating for the Central Public Health Laboratory.

He added that a laboratory data management system with real-time dashboards for epidemic-prone diseases had been developed to aid immediate notification and response.

Mr Pate also noted the operationalisation of the Nigeria Preparedness and Readiness Alert System (NPRAS), a predictive risk-based platform which is already being used to conduct structured assessments in eight vulnerable states to inform hazard profiles and ensure donor alignment

He stressed that disease surveillance would not be possible without cohesion between federal and state governments, adding that the NCDC works within the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) framework of the Ministry to ensure coordination.

The minister said the World Health Organisation had recognised the framework as a global model for early action review.

On workforce strengthening, the minister disclosed that over 325 Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) focal persons from tertiary, secondary, and private health facilities were undergoing training to become certified professionals.

He said Nigeria’s Joint External Evaluation (JEE) score had improved from 39 per cent in 2017 to 54 per cent in 2023, reflecting enhanced epidemic preparedness.

“These reforms represent President Tinubu’s compact with Nigerians to reform national institutions, focus on merit, and strengthen processes so that our country can safeguard its people and contribute to global health security,” he said.

Nigeria is making major progress in genomic strategy, lab networks, IPC workforce, and predictive systems while also recognising that outbreaks, AMR, and weak state systems are still a challenge.

(NAN)