A well equiped Zonal Reference Laboratory of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control NCDC has been unveiled in Ekiti State.
The centre which is the first of its kind in South West was constructed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention NCDC,
Ekiti State Government and World Bank’s Pandemic Emergency Financing facility through the Nigeria COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Project.
Unveiling the NCDC Zonal Public Health Laboratory in Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, the State Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji appreciated Federal Government and World Bank for the laudable project, saying present administration would continue to do everything to ensure that health facilities across the sixteen local governments of the state were well equiped for the use of residents.
Governor Oyebanji explained that the establishment of the laboratory centre would aid early detection, prevention and treatment of different kinds of disease
In a remark, the State Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr Oyebanji Filani explained that the feat was achieved due to collective efforts of major stakeholders, expressing that the present administration would not relent in priotising the heath of citizens.
Also, Chief Medical Director, Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Professor Kayode Olabanji noted that the landmark project would assist the hospital to diagnose and treat all forms of diseases, saying staff of the teaching hospital would judiciously use the laboratory to improve on the health status of patients.
In his speech, the Director General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control NCDC, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa said the centre would not relent in its mandate of protecting lives of Nigerians from different diseases.
According to Dr Adetifa,NCDC is mandated by law to develop a network of highly specialised reference laboratories across the nation to contribute to national health security.
“This is aligned with
Nigeria’s obligations under International Health Regulations IHR 2005and recommendations from Nigeria’s 2017 Joint External Evaluation JEE”
“The NCDC’s
implementation of its tiered laboratory network is intended to establish an effective network of
testing laboratories for diseases of public health importance”
“The ZRLs will bring services
closer to States, facilitate sample transportation, reduce turnaround time for testing and release
of results and contribute to resilience in our emergency and preparedness efforts at the
subnational level.
Dr Adetifa explained that the newly commissioned Ekiti centre would strengthen diagnosis and surveillance of infectious
diseases in Nigeria, with a particular focus on the six states within the South-west region, Ekiti,
Ondo, Oyo, Osun, Lagos, Ogun and the whole of southern Nigeria at large.
He said the laboratory was equipped to diagnose priority diseases as part of Integrated Disease Surveillance and
Response System.
“The laboratory will be the primary hub for the timely and accurate
diagnosis of epidemic and epidemic-prone diseases constituting public health threats in the
Souuth-west”
“As part of taking forward lessons learnt from the global COVID-19 pandemic and its impact
on Nigeria, the NCDC has successfully designated and commenced the establishment of Zonal Reference Laboratories across the 6 geopolitical zones which are at various stages of
completion”
“These ZRLs will contribute to outbreak preparedness and response, provide a
wider geographic diagnostic coverage for epidemic and epidemic-prone diseases and support the implementation of quality management systems including national and international”
“This ZRL project is one of the efforts the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Federal Ministry of Health through the NCDC to
consolidate COVID-19 investments and further enhance our outbreak preparedness and
response effort as we continue to respond to infectious diseases of public health importance”