…Focuses On Lessons From COVID-19 Pandemic, Other Disease Outbreaks
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is conducting a conference in partnership with partners.
The Nigerian Conference of Applied and Field Epidemiology is in its first year.
(NiCAFE) from July 26th to July 28th, 2021.
‘Building Back Better: COVID-19 and Other Disease Outbreaks’ is the theme of this year’s NiCAFE conference.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in collaboration with partners is hosting
the maiden edition of the Nigerian Conference of Applied and Field Epidemiology (NiCAFE) from the 26th – 28th of July 2021.
The theme of this year’s NiCAFE conference is ‘Building back better: COVID-19 and other disease outbreaks.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an influence on countries all around the world in the previous 17 months. In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been other illness outbreaks in Nigeria, including Lassa fever and cholera.
The NiCAFE conference seeks
to bring together public health professionals, laboratory scientists, field epidemiologists,
researchers, health care professionals and other members of the public to reflect on the
response to these outbreaks, review gaps in epidemic preparedness and response and brainstorm innovative solutions to strengthen health security.
The 2021 NiCAFE conference begins as Nigeria reinvigorates the ongoing COVID-19 response given an increasing number of new cases.
The conference which will be held
virtually, will feature eight keynote/plenary speakers, over 170 oral and poster presentations across various themes. These include governance and leadership, epidemiology, surveillance and transmission dynamics, case management of infectious diseases.
Other conference sub-themes include social sciences and community engagement, the role of agriculture and environment in disease transmission as well as
health system strengthening for future pandemics.
The conference keynote lecture will be given by the Chief Scientist of the World Health
Organization, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan on Day 1, and the Director of the Africa Centers
for Disease Control, Dr. John Nkengasong on Day 2.
Plenary speakers at the conference include Professor Babatunde Salako, Director General
of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR); Professor Akin Abayomi,
Honourable Commissioner for Health, Lagos State, Nigeria; Dr Akindele Adebiyi, Public
Health Physician and Clinical Epidemiologist; Professor Folasade Ogunsola, Consultant
Clinical Microbiology and Infection Control, and Chair of the Infection Control Africa
Network (ICAN); Dr Richard Hatchett, Chief Executive Officer of Coalition for Epidemic
Preparedness Innovations (CEPI); and Ms. Zouera Youssoufou, Managing Director and
Chief Executive Officer of the Aliko Dangote Foundation.
The NiCAFE conference will be open by the Minister of Health, Dr
Osagie Ehanire and will provide an opportunity for learning, connecting, and collaborating
among public health professionals and enthusiasts in Nigeria. Ahead of the conference,
nine pre-conference workshops focused on skill-building and experience sharing were
organised.
Since 2008, the Federal Ministry of Health through the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control
(NCDC) and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development have closely worked together to establish and strengthen the Nigeria Field Epidemiology and
Laboratory Training Programme (NFELTP).
The NFELTP which has been supported by the
US Centers for Disease Control (US-CDC), African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET)
and more recently the World Bank, has significantly contributed to an increased number
of field epidemiologists contributing to national health security.
The NCDC thanked the 2021 NiCAFE supporting partners including WHO, UNICEF, the
World Bank funded Regional Disease Surveillance Systems Enhancement Project, US-CDC,
AFENET, Public Health England, Resolve to Save Lives, Tony Blair Institute and the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation.
The NiCAFE conference is an evolution of the previous NCDC/NFELTP conference. This
year’s conference will focus on how Nigeria can build back better from the COVID-19 response to strengthen the country’s capacity to prevent, detect and respond to disease outbreaks.
