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Nigeria Commences its Second Joint External Evaluation (JEE) for the International Health Regulations (IHR) Core Capacities

14 August 2023 | Abuja - Nigeria Commences its Second Joint External Evaluation (JEE) for the International Health Regulations (IHR) Core Capacities

The second Joint External Evaluation (JEE) of Nigeria’s health security capacity through the assessment of its International Health Regulations (IHR) prescribed core capacities starts today, 14th August 2023 and will be concluded on 18th August 2023. Following on its first JEE, Nigeria is one of a handful of countries to undertake a second round of the JEE, utilizing the JEE 3.0 tools.

The JEE, a voluntary multi-sectoral process, is one of the four components of the IHR monitoring and evaluation framework. This process involves a diverse team of experts, collectively evaluating a nation's preparedness and response capacities across 19 technical areas, under the guidance of relevant Ministries, Departments, and Agencies. This underscores the holistic, multi-sectoral and all-of-government approach that is critical for national health security. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), as stipulated in the NCDC Act 2018, coordinates IHR implementation for the country.

In 2017, Nigeria conducted her first JEE using the JEE 1.0 tool which gave a readiness score of 39%. Consequently, the 2018-2023 National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS) was developed to address identified gaps and recommendations from the 2017 evaluation. As a follow-up to the 2018-2023 NAPHS implementation, this 2023 JEE will enable Nigeria to critically appraise the current situation by chronicling the progress so far and by identifying new/persisting gaps and opportunities. These insights will guide the development of the 2023-2028 NAPHS and ensure prioritized actions are included for interventions over the next five years.

The external evaluators are a team of experts and partners who will validate the score from the recently completed internal assessment. This external validation phase of the JEE involves a comprehensive review of presentations, documents, policies, and systems for each technical area. In addition, site visits will be conducted to national public health centres and institutes across the 19 technical areas. Following the reviews of the technical areas, validated scores will be aggregated to determine Nigeria's 2023 JEE score which will signal our progress in detecting, assessing, reporting, and responding to public health events.

The Government of Nigeria remains resolute in safeguarding the health and well-being of all its citizens.

About NCDC

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) is the country’s national public health institute, with the mandate to lead the preparedness, detection, and response to public health emergencies. The Bill for an Act to establish NCDC was signed into law in November 2018 by President Muhammadu Buhari. The mission of the NCDC is to protect the health of Nigerians through evidence-based prevention, integrated disease surveillance and response, using a One Health approach, guided by research, and led by a skilled workforce.

Contact

NCDC Toll-free Number: 6232 | SMS: 08099555577 | WhatsApp: 07087110839 Twitter: @NCDCGov | Facebook: @NCDCgov | Instagram: @NCDCgov | NCDC Media Releases

Signed:

Dr Ifedayo Adetifa

Director General

Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.