Sanwo-Olu plans laws to protect state against pandemic

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has revealed that his administration would promulgate appropriate laws to protect the state against pandemic.
 
In a statement, yesterday, Sanwo-Olu added that the elaborate plan to protect Lagos State from any infectious disease rested on three major pillars, which would be driven by policy.
 
Sanwo-Olu revealed this while speaking on ‘Critical imperatives to protect Lagos State from the next infectious diseases outbreak’ at the 8th African Conference on Health and Biosecurity.

With the theme: “Strengthening Health Security and Mitigating Biological Threats in Africa,” it was organised by the Lagos State Ministry of Health in partnership with a non-governmental organisation, the Global Emerging Pathogens Treatment (GET) Consortium.
 

Sanwo-Olu said the state “is weaving pandemic preparedness into the fabric of the health system,” adding: “We need to protect Lagos State from future infectious diseases outbreaks.
 
“Working with the local and international partners, we will build a system that can detect and plan emergency responses as well as contain and eradicate potential disease outbreaks.”

The Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said that the conference was the fourth in a series organised by the state government in partnership with GET.
 
Abayomi said that the conference sought to develop a biosecurity roadmap and increase Africa’s resilience towards building the capacity to deal with pathogens of high consequence.

He said that the conference would ensure that the continent strengthens its health security to mitigate biological threats and consolidate the gains made in tackling different emerging infectious diseases.
 
“A city such as Lagos is vulnerable to biological threats, making it important for us to improve its preparedness against biological threats and build appropriate infrastructure to manage and mitigate dangerous pathogens of high consequence,” he explained.
 
According to him, the continents have continued to work to build the appropriate infrastructure, train and improve the capacity of appropriate personnel to manage dangerous pathogens such as Ebola, Lassa Fever, COVID, yellow fever, Marburg Fever and agents considered to be pathogens of high consequence.
 
Earlier, the Chief Operating Officer of GET Consortium, Dr. Ayodotun Bobadoye, said the conference brought together policymakers, scientists, academia, non-governmental organisations and security experts both within and outside the country.
 
Bobadoye said that the conference sought to discuss the continent’s effective mitigation of the impact of emerging biosecurity threats.
 
The COO called on governments on the continent to take biosecurity very seriously, as, given the frequency and intensity of biological threats in infectious diseases in recent years, there was no better time than the present to have the conference to discuss mitigating biological threats.