Former Director General of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, has stressed the need for Nigeria to strengthen its health security and invest in domestic institutions that can withstand health crisis caused by existing, emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases exacerbated by climate change.

Chikwe, who called for a paradigm shift in global health, said building strong, resilient local institutions should be at the centre of efforts for health security and not an afterthought.

Speaking, yesterday, in Abuja at the second yearly symposium, organised by APIN Public Health Initiative, with the theme, “Securing our future: Strengthening Global Health Security in Nigeria”, Chikwe insisted that Nigeria needed to build institutions that would respond, not only to today’s crisis, but lay the foundation for long-term self-reliance and health security.

According to him, today, global health security demands we learn some lessons from epidemics, such as Ebola, m-pox, Lassa fever, and COVID-!9.

According to Chikwe, who is, currently the assistant Director General and the Executive Director of the Health Emergencies Programme at the World Health Organisation (WHO), disease outbreaks remind us of the challenges we face every day, when systems are fragile and when institutions are weak.

He stressed that the emphasis shouldn’t just be on responding to immediate crises, but on building strong institutions that can absorb development resources, translate aid into action, and deliver lasting improvements for people as weak institutions perpetuate a cycle of dependence.

In his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of APIN Public Health Initiative, Dr Prosper Okonkwo, said the country needed to prepare for the next pandemic so that it would not taken unawares, especially in the areas of laboratory system, data system adding that health workers should be well trained.