By Elijah Ugani: Health Correspondent Follow @Elijah_ugani
The Federal Government has announced its plans to construct an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) in Calabar the Cross River State capital.
The implementing agency is the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) which according to the Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu will also send a team of experts to conduct trainings on health workers as well as other technical details of the EOC for three weeks following a request from the state’s health commissioner, Dr. Inyang Asibong.
The EOC will take about four weeks to be completed from inception and Ihekweazu said that Cross River is one of the 6 states in the country mapped out in the first phase for the construction of what he said is a “digital EOC” that will aid in the curbing of outbreaks.
The state recently reported the death of a pregnant woman who was diagnosed of Lassa fever. And, Ihekweazu who was on a working visit to the state, commended the state’s management of communicable diseases.
He averred that: “I am in Calabar to look at the great work of the Cross River State ministry of health and see how we can support the commissioner and the people of Cross River State to address all the public health challenges in terms of surveillance which is a key function of NCDC, public health laboratory architecture as well as opportunity for emergency preparedness and response as Nigeria responds to various outbreaks.”
He announced the Federal Government’s donation of a truckload of personal protective equipment (PPE) which he said was enroute to Calabar.
On her part, Dr. Asibong said that despite the commendations, the ministry was poised to deliver on its mandate and lauded the visit of the NCDC team even as she hoped that the partnership between the duo will be strengthened to ensure efficiency.
She later took the team on an inspection tour of the site of the reference laboratory being constructed by the state as well as the proposed site for the EOC.
Leave feedback about this