FCTA HOLDS INFECTIOUS DISEASE SUMMIT
Khadijat Kawunda &. Doris Jonah
In an effort to eliminate infectious diseases in the territory, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), through its Health Services and Environment Secretariat (HSES), in collaboration with Development Partners, organized a one-day Infectious Disease Summit earlier this week in Abuja.
The high-level summit was themed “Synergizing efforts to end infectious diseases, strengthening investment, innovation, and collaboration against HIV, Viral Hepatitis, Syphilis, and Malaria in FCT”.
In her key note address tagged “Investing in infectious disease control: A call to action for FCT” the Mandate Secretary HSES, Dr. Adedolapo Fasawe, said the theme for the summit highlights critical action required to confront pressing public health challenges in FCT as such the main objective for the summit is ” to mobilize increased political and financial commitments from FCTA and key stakeholders towards the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of HIV, Viral Hepatitis, Syphilis and Malaria” she said.
Fasawe continued that in seeking prevention, diagnosis, and treatment for these infectious diseases,” a multisectoral collaboration between government agencies, development partners, private sector organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and academia is very important to strengthen infectious disease response in FCT”.
With this objective, the Mandate Secretary HSES emphasized the importance of synergy, collaboration, and sustainable evidence-based strategies to compliment efforts of the FCT AIDs, Viral Hepatitis and STIs Control Programme (FASCP) and FCT Malaria Elimination Programme (FCT-MEP) who have played pivotal roles in FCT response to infectious diseases with the aim of not only reducing the burden of infectious diseases but also to improve the overall health and well-being of the population.
Also, Dr. Fasawe said that though there has been progress in the fight against these diseases it is not over yet, in her words; ” while significant and considerable progress has been made in the fight against these diseases, the journey is far from over so, we must confront the enduring prevalence of HIV, Viral Hepatitis, Syphilis and Malaria with renewed dedication and a commitment to innovation which puts the need of sustainability, evidence-based strategies very urgent”.
Again, the Mandate Secretary HSES called on all stakeholders to consider significant advancement in research, diagnostics and treatment that have emerged recently whilst deliberating on possible innovation that can lead to breakthroughs at eliminating infectious disease by sharing knowledge, learning and engaging in meaningful discussions of best practices to identify effective strategies and tailor them to meet unique challenges peculiar to FCT situation.
Speaking earlier, the Permanent Secretary HSES Dr. Baba Gana Adam in his address said that the “convergence of experts, policymakers and stakeholders comprising of health experts is a testament of the FCT Administration commitment in tackling infectious disease in a more integrated and collaborative manner”.
Furthermore, the Permanent Secretary HSES mentioned that aligning efforts across HIV, TB, Malaria, Viral Hepatitis and other emerging infections “FCT is embracing global best practices that calls for breaking silos, maximizing available resources and strengthening health systems for greater impacts and the summit provides a platform to reflect on progress, identify gaps and chart a more unified course towards sustainable disease control and elimination” he said.
Likewise, the Founder and Managing Director of JNC International Limited, a Turkey Medical Equipment solution company, Dr. Clare Omatseye, in her goodwill message, said that collaboration is the innovation capable of ensuring all needed and improved outcomes as far as healthcare is concerned, and FCT is very critical to Nigeria’s health scape such that when FCT gets it right, Nigeria will get it right.
The summit was organized with the collaboration of partners like; National AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, and STIs Control Program (NASCP), Trinity Healthcare Foundation, Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), and others.
