U.S. Govt Trains 25 Epidemiologists On Public Health Emergency Preparedness

The United State government has trained 25 state epidemiologists through the Public Health Emergency Management Professional Certification Program (PHEM PC).

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US-CDC) and the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control collaborated to deliver the two-week intermediate-level professional certification training.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony, the U.S. Consul General, Will Stevens, underscored the U.S. Government’s commitment and prioritization of Public Health Emergency Management as Nigeria works towards achieving Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) 2024 targets and meeting International Health Regulations (IHR) requirements by strengthening workforce development, disease surveillance, emergency response, and laboratory capacity.

The Consul General highlighted the strategic partnership between the U.S. and Nigeria to strengthen health security and respond to disease threats. “The U.S. Government is committed to promoting the health and wellbeing of Nigerians through initiatives and training that increase disease prevention, detection, and response,” he added.

In her remarks, US-CDC Nigeria Country Director, Dr. Mary Boyd, said, “The devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic illustrates now more than ever the importance of ensuring public health systems can adequately detect, prevent, respond to, and recover from health emergencies, particularly those whose scale, timing, or unpredictability threatens to overwhelm routine capabilities.”