Abuja: The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has launched a new toolkit to strengthen disease surveillance and forecast outbreaks, aiming to boost early warning systems and epidemic preparedness nationwide. The NCDC also unveiled a Vulnerability Matrix and Integrated Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, in a move to enhance Nigeria's ability to detect, prepare for, and respond to infectious disease threats.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the tools were developed by the NCDC in collaboration with Data.FI, a U.S. government-supported project led by Palladium International. Other stakeholders were the Federal Ministries of Health, Environment, and Agriculture; the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NiMet); the World Health Organisation (WHO); Resolve to Save Lives; and academia. Speaking at the launch in Abuja, the Director-General of NCDC, Dr Olajide Idris, described the tools as a significant milestone in the country's epidemic intelligence architecture.
Represented by Dr John Oladejo, Director of Special Duties at NCDC, Idris, said Nigeria still faced challenges in accessing timely and integrated information across the human, animal, and environmental health sectors. 'This toolkit is our response to that challenge. The effort was catalysed by findings from the 2023 Joint External Evaluation (JEE), which revealed significant gaps in Nigeria's disease surveillance architecture,' he said. He added that the toolkit would serve as a cornerstone for building a climate-smart early warning system powered by multi-sectoral data.
Mr Otese Ogorry, Country Director of Data.FI Nigeria, said that the initiative was prompted by the JEE's finding that Nigeria lacked a functional, multi-sectoral early warning system to detect hazards and outbreaks. 'Data.FI partnered with NCDC to find a quick win, which led to the development of this framework,' he said. Ogorry explained that the framework enabled stakeholders to forecast disease outbreaks based on environmental triggers such as rainfall, flooding, and heat waves.
He further noted challenges in data-sharing and interagency coordination but said that they were resolved through trust-building and NCDC's central coordination. 'The tool now rests with the Nigerian government and is designed to be updated periodically,' he said. He mentioned that the system had already been piloted nationally and further tested in Nasarawa State and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), adding that feedback from those pilots helped improve its relevance and usability.
Dr Samuel Anzaku, Director of Veterinary Public Health and Epidemiology at the Federal Ministry of Livestock and Development, praised the inclusive development process. He stated that the framework is a government-owned document that can be adapted across sectors to address emerging public health threats, especially zoonotic diseases. Anzaku stressed the importance of prediction and preparedness in outbreak response and expressed confidence in the toolkit's value.
Dr Fatima Saleh, Director of Surveillance and Epidemiology at NCDC, emphasised the role of collaboration in public health success. She noted the importance of community engagement and inclusivity in ensuring effective and sustainable interventions. NAN recalls that health experts have praised the framework as a model for low- and middle-income countries seeking to enhance pandemic preparedness through data-driven, cross-sectoral approaches.