Abuja: The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Joint External Evaluation (JEE) Report, an assessment of health security capacities at the sub-national level, has rated FCT high on immunisation coverage. Ms Nsikak Inman, Senior Officer, International Health Regulation (IHR), revealed this at the dissemination of the FCT JEE Report in Abuja on Monday.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Inman presented the report and highlighted that the FCT was rated high on vaccination coverage as part of a state-level programme, as well as vaccine access and delivery. She noted that the FCT performed well in the surveillance system and reporting network and protocol under surveillance and reporting. However, she also mentioned that the Administration needs to improve on the use of electronic tools and surveillance data analysis.
The report identified areas of strength, including case management capacity for health security-related events and Emergency Operations Centres capacities, procedures, and plans. Inman also observed best practices during the assessment, such as multi-sectoral representation and participation, transparency, commitment, and state ownership. Additionally, available human resource strategy and annual human resource gap analysis were noted.
Despite these strengths, Inman pointed out some gaps that need attention, particularly suboptimal collaboration across relevant sectors and secretariat departments and agencies. She identified inadequate policies, strategies, guidelines, and plans to improve health security in FCT. The report also highlighted insufficient laboratory capacity and recommended that budget allocation for epidemic preparedness should include animal and environmental sectors.
Inman explained that the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), in its capacity as the IHR National Focal Point, supported state governments in assessing and identifying gaps in health security core capacities. The assessment was conducted with the FCT Administration from February 19 to 21, 2024, using the adapted evaluation tool for subnational level health security capacities.
Earlier, the Director-General of NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, remarked that the dissemination of the report marks a new beginning in the commitment to building a stronger, more resilient health security system for the FCT. Represented by Dr Fatima Saleh, Director of Surveillance at NCDC, Idris emphasized the importance of ownership and leadership by the FCTA for collective health security.
Dr Adedolapo Fasawe, Mandate Secretary, Health Services and Environment Secretariat, welcomed the reports and reiterated the FCTA’s commitment to improve. Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Baba-Gana Adam, Fasawe assured that action plans will be implemented to enhance health security capabilities.
Furthermore, Dr Lawal Ademola, FCT Epidemiologist, emphasized the FCT’s capacity to detect, respond, and prevent public health concerns. Dr Ruqayya Wamako, Executive Secretary of the FCT Primary Healthcare Development Board, attributed the achievements in immunisation coverage to the emphasis on disease prevention, noting that many diseases are vaccine-preventable and stressing the importance of immunizing children to prevent these diseases.
