Ayuba Wabba, former labour leader, has urged the government to give equal attention to preventive and curative medicine to reduce the burden of public health diseases in Nigeria.

Mr Wabba made the call on Thursday in Abuja at the unveiling of 14 newly developed Higher National Diploma curricula in environmental health technology, public health technology, and epidemiology and disease control technology.

The Environmental Health Council of Nigeria developed the curricula in collaboration with the National Board for Technical Education and other stakeholders.

Mr Wabba, who expressed concern over the burden of communicable diseases such as malaria, said many could be prevented through improved public health services.

He identified malaria, respiratory tract infections and diarrhoea among major causes of death in the country, stressing the need for competent environmental health professionals to address the challenges.

Mohammed Jamilu, president of the Environmental Health Officers Association of Nigeria, urged environmental health professionals and institutions to ensure effective implementation of the newly developed curricula.

Idris Bugaje, Executive Secretary, NBTE, said the introduction of the specialised programmes was timely and critical to addressing Nigeria’s workforce needs.

Mr Bugaje said the country required a new cadre of highly skilled and specialised middle-level manpower to tackle emerging public health challenges.

According to him, the curricula would bridge critical skill gaps by shifting the educational focus from theoretical knowledge to practical, competency-based training that directly addresses national public health challenges.

(NAN)