Wale Jagun
Lagos will in partnership with a non – governmental organization, the Global Emerging Pathogens Treatment (GET) Consortium, hold a three – day discourse on One – Health and Biosecurity.
The State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, disclosed this at a news conference, stating that it’s in continuation of efforts to ensure that the African continent strengthens its health security to mitigate biological threats and consolidate on the gains made in tackling different emerging infectious diseases.
The Conference, tagged the 8th African Conference on Health and Biosecurity and themed: “Strengthening Health Security and Mitigating Biological Threats in Africa”, is scheduled to hold at the Civic Centre, Lagos, between Wednesday, 2nd and Friday, 4th November, 2022.
Prof. Abayomi said that the conference is the fourth in a series of conferences organised by the Lagos State Government in partnership with GET, and the eight held around West Africa and the African continent by the consortium to help develop a biosecurity road map and increase African continent resilience towards building capacity to deal with pathogens of high consequence.
While noting that the hosting of the conference in Lagos is significant, the Commissioner explained that Lagos State being a low-line coastal city with high population density and a commercial hub in Sub-Saharan Africa, is vulnerable to biological threats making it important for the state government to improve its preparedness against biological threats and build appropriate infrastructure manage and mitigate dangerous pathogens of high consequence.
The Commissioner disclosed that the conference will draw experts from different parts of the world to share their knowledge and expertise on biological threats, discuss the global phenomenon of the rising incidence of outbreaks and pandemics due to the way in which the global environment is changing as well as proffer solutions to other environmental health and global health issues.
He averred that Lagos will be the chief recipient of the expertise that will be shared at the conference as the host, adding that the State Government will also use the opportunity of the conference to build collaboration that will help continue to strengthen its biosecurity roadmap.
Speaking in the same vein, the Chief Operating Officer of GET Consortium, Dr. Ayodotun Bobadoye explained that over 400 participants from 30 different countries of the world are expected to participate at the conference, adding that the conference is a transdisciplinary conference that will bring together different disciplines and different sources of knowledge to address emerging challenges in the area of health.
He noted that with the increase in frequency and intensity of biological threats in infectious diseases in recent years, there is no better time to organise a conference to discuss mitigating biological threats than now.
Bobadoye averred that any government, whether at the National, Sub-National or Regional level must take the issue of biosecurity and one-health seriously if it wants to experience peace and sustainable economic growth.
Also speaking at the briefing, the Country Representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Nigeria, Dr. Walter Kazadi Molumbo acknowledged that the conference will help operationalise WHO’s one-health approach in preparing and strengthening Africa’s capacity to address health security.
He noted that WHO is working hand in hand with Nigeria and the Lagos State Government to transform approaches from preparedness, detection and response to outbreak exchange, adding that the Director-General of WHO has announced new strategies in supporting countries to prepare and respond to emergencies.
