ABUJA, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-The Federal Government has reiterated its commitment to expanding collaboration with private and independent health research institutions as part of efforts to combat existing diseases and prevent future outbreaks across the country.
The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Jide Idris, stated this during a high-level technical visit to the Kano Independent Research Centre Trust in Kano on Wednesday.
He said the NCDC would strengthen its partnership with KIRCT and other independent and private health research institutions to enhance Nigeria’s health security.
“We are also pushing for more collaborations with various state governments to support them in detecting and controlling factors that could lead to disease outbreaks,” he said.
READ ALSO:FG To Pay N8bn Outstanding To Stranded Foreign Scholarship Beneficiaries
Idris noted that the NCDC plans to accelerate the collaboration by harnessing local expertise.
“Our plan for collaboration needs to be fast-tracked because we have many scientists across the country. We need to pull them together and encourage them to do work that was hitherto done by people outside Nigeria. It is time we built our local capacity to do these things and showcase them,” he stated.
He commended KIRCT for its state-of-the-art research facilities and highly skilled workforce, describing the centre as “an organised institution with dedicated staff.”
“We are going to work together. We will exchange materials, train jointly, link with each other on public health decisions, and see how we can support them,” he added.
Also speaking, the Director-General of KIRCT, Professor Hamisu Salisu, expressed appreciation to the NCDC Director-General and his technical team for the visit.
“He has come, he has seen what we have, and I am very excited that he has a positive impression of our work here,” Prof. Salisu said.
He explained that although KIRCT already works closely with the Kano State public health system, stronger collaboration with the NCDC is needed, particularly in the management of bio-specimens.
“We are a private entity. We collaborate with the government and with everybody. But for certain sensitive areas, especially deadly infections, we must have the green light from the NCDC because the Centre is the lead agency for health security in this country,” he said.