AS the world celebrates the International Day for Epidemic Preparedness today, Nigeria must move quickly and strategically to block all loopholes in its infectious disease control mechanism. Host to endemic outbreaks of several diseases, and survivor of other global waves, the health authorities should deploy lessons learnt, correct past mistakes, and protect Nigerians from domestic and international health afflictions.

The IDEP is set aside by the United Nations to strengthen countries’ preparedness to withstand national and global health emergencies. Nigeria, like most sub-Saharan African countries, survived the COVID-19 pandemic with relatively low casualties. Data from the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control and Worldometer indicate that by December 26, Nigeria had recorded 267,153 cases of coronavirus, with 3,155 deaths, while 259,953 infected persons recovered.

For a pandemic that has caused 6.96 million deaths out of 700.3 million confirmed cases in 229 countries and territories, Nigeria, with the world’s sixth largest population, got off lightly.

Experts still cannot explain the ‘magic’ and how Africa avoided the predicted COVID-19 Armageddon. But Nigeria must not relax as warnings of more pandemics are rife.

As exemplified by the still ongoing COVID-19 and others down the ages, epidemics have devastating impact on human lives, wreaking havoc on short- and long-term social and economic development. The IMF forecasts total global economic loss from COVID-19 to reach $12.5 trillion through 2024. Nigeria’s GDP had dropped by 6.10 per cent by the second quarter of 2020, arising largely from its impact according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The capacity of epidemics to overwhelm even the best national health care delivery systems places an urgent burden on Nigeria’s federal, state, and local governments to fix the country’s decrepit health care sector. Additionally, the disproportionate devastation wrought by epidemics on women and children, and on the poorest and most vulnerable demands urgent and effective pre-emptive actions.

Initiating and sustaining public awareness campaigns are important; so are the exchange of information, scientific knowledge and best practices, quality education, and advocacy programmes on epidemics at the local, national, regional, and global levels.

Millions of Nigerian children remain threatened by diseases after missing out on routine childhood vaccinations. Millions are affected by yellow fever, HPV, meningitis, and polio. The authorities should improve the country’s capacity to defend against these and other endemic diseases like Lassa fever, tuberculosis, malaria, and rabies.

Nigeria should accord greater priority to health care. The N1.33 trillion, a mere 4.8 per cent of the 2024 federal budget, proposed for health falls far short of expert suggestions of at least 15 per cent. It should improve surveillance of viruses, strengthen health systems, and make the target of Universal Health Coverage a reality.

Although the 2021 ‘Global Health Security Index,’ a collaborative venture by three reputable global institutions, found that all countries “remain dangerously unprepared” for the scale of the recent pandemic, some like the United States, Australia and Finland had stepped up their capability to prevent, detect, and respond to significant infectious disease outbreaks. Nigeria, like all other African countries save South Africa, was rated “worst prepared.”

Nigeria should learn from the best, led by the NCDC and the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Services. The Lagos State Government under Babatunde Fashola in the country’s successful defence against the Ebola outbreak in West and Central Africa in 2014 demonstrated how state governments should be the pivot of health care after careless federal authorities allowed an infected Liberian diplomat into the country.

President Bola Tinubu and the state governors should activate, fund, and motivate federal and state health agencies to take all necessary proactive actions today.

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