Abuja: The Federal Government has commenced the training of epidemiological and veterinary public health officers across the country. The initiative is being carried out in collaboration with the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (L-PRES) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The training aims to equip participants with the skills to effectively prevent, detect, and respond to animal health emergencies.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Maiha, stated this in Abuja at the opening of the training organised by L-PRES, a World Bank-supported project, in partnership with the FAO. The programme is tagged ‘Good Emergency Management Practices in Animal Disease Response, Prevention and Control for Federal and State Epidemiology Officers in Nigeria’. Maiha emphasized that the training would help the officers adopt new technologies and knowledge to enhance planning, surveillance, and outbreak reporting. He noted that the speed of reporting and response was crucial in managing animal health emergencies.
Dr Sanusi Abubakar, National Project Coordinator of L-PRES, highlighted that the essence of the training was to strengthen Nigeria’s collective ability to anticipate, prevent, detect, and respond to animal health emergencies. He described Good Emergency Management Practices (GEMP) as a globally recognised, evidence-based framework that promotes structured and proactive emergency preparedness and response. Abubakar said GEMP emphasizes intersectoral coordination and the integration of One Health principles, aligning with international standards set by the FAO, the World Organisation for Animal Health, and the World Health Organisation under the One Health strategy.
Abubakar further noted that many veterinary professionals at federal and state levels have not had the opportunity to fully engage with the latest best practices in emergency management. The workshop seeks to address that gap by enhancing their technical capacities to design, implement, and evaluate emergency preparedness plans tailored to Nigeria’s context. The collaboration with FAO aims to leverage its technical expertise to facilitate the training, reflecting ongoing cooperation to strengthen the livestock industry.