TY - JOUR
T1 - Infectious disease outbreak preparedness and response in Nigeria
T2 - history, limitations and recommendations for global health policy and practice
AU - Olumade, Testimony J.
AU - Adesanya, Oluwafolajimi A.
AU - Fred-Akintunwa, Iyanuoluwa J.
AU - Babalola, David O.
AU - Oguzie, Judith U.
AU - Ogunsanya, Olusola A.
AU - George, Uwem E.
AU - Akin-Ajani, Oluwawapelumi D.
AU - Osasona, Damilola G.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 the Author(s),
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Effective disease outbreak response has historically been a challenging accomplishment for the Nigerian health system due to an array of hurdles not unique to Nigeria but also found in other African nations which share its large size and complexity. However, the efficiency of the response mounted against the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak of 2014 proved that indeed, though challenging, proactive and effective outbreak response is not impossible. With over 20 public health emergencies and infectious disease outbreaks between 2016 and 2018 alone, Nigeria is one of only five members of the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region to report five or more public health events per annum. There are many lessons that can be drawn from Nigeria’s experience in handling outbreaks of infectious diseases. In this review, we discuss the history of emerging and re-emerging infectious disease outbreaks in Nigeria and explore the response strategies mounted towards each. We also highlight the significant successes and note-worthy limitations, which we have then utilized to proffer policy recommendations to strengthen the Nigerian public health emergency response systems.
AB - Effective disease outbreak response has historically been a challenging accomplishment for the Nigerian health system due to an array of hurdles not unique to Nigeria but also found in other African nations which share its large size and complexity. However, the efficiency of the response mounted against the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak of 2014 proved that indeed, though challenging, proactive and effective outbreak response is not impossible. With over 20 public health emergencies and infectious disease outbreaks between 2016 and 2018 alone, Nigeria is one of only five members of the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region to report five or more public health events per annum. There are many lessons that can be drawn from Nigeria’s experience in handling outbreaks of infectious diseases. In this review, we discuss the history of emerging and re-emerging infectious disease outbreaks in Nigeria and explore the response strategies mounted towards each. We also highlight the significant successes and note-worthy limitations, which we have then utilized to proffer policy recommendations to strengthen the Nigerian public health emergency response systems.
KW - global health policy
KW - infectious diseases
KW - Nigeria
KW - outbreak preparedness
KW - outbreak response
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85101468639&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85101468639&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3934/publichealth.2020057
DO - 10.3934/publichealth.2020057
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85101468639
SN - 2327-8994
VL - 7
SP - 736
EP - 757
JO - AIMS Public Health
JF - AIMS Public Health
IS - 4
ER -