WHO Director General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus On Historic Visit to the NCDC

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

10 April 2018 | Abuja – WHO DIRECTOR GENERAL, DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS ON HISTORIC VISIT TO THE NIGERIA CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL

On the 10th of April 2018, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) hosted the Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on his first official visit to Nigeria. The WHO Director General’s delegation also included the six Regional Directors from across the world, three Deputy-Director Generals and WHO Nigeria Country Representative.

During the visit, NCDC’s Chief Executive Officer Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu highlighted the contribution of WHO and thanked the organisation for support to the agency’s activities including outbreak preparedness and response. He further emphasised the strong partnership, which has been key to strengthening national health security.

Some of these activities carried out in collaboration with WHO include the Joint External Evaluation (JEE) of the country’s International Health Regulations (IHR) capacity, response to outbreaks of Monkeypox, yellow fever, Cerebrospinal Meningitis and Lassa fever. In addition, the support from WHO has been key to the development of Nigeria’s National Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) action plan, and processes for operational research.

In her feedback, the Regional Director of WHO African Region, Dr. Moeti Rebecca Matsishido applauded the work of the agency, highlighting that NCDC serves as a model agency for other African countries, which should be adopted in other regions in the world.

The Director General of the WHO reiterated the commitment of the organisation to support the work of NCDC, while recognising the importance of effective primary healthcare systems in supporting health security. In his words, ‘Universal Health Coverage and health security are two sides of the same coin’.

The visit ended with a tour of the new NCDC Incident Coordination Centre.

Contacts

NCDC Toll-free Number: 0800-970000-10

SMS: 08099555577

WhatsApp: 07087110839

Twitter/Facebook: @NCDCgov

Signed:

Communications Unit,

Nigeria Centre for Disease Control

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