Lagos Govt. to adopt One-Health approach in tackling infectious diseases

Idris said the government was developing a Bio-banking capacity and a Bio-security framework along the lines of the one-health model and the global health security agenda for optimal health outcomes.

According to him, One-Health recognises the interconnection between people, animals, plants and their shared environment and documents that six out of every 10 infectious diseases in human are transmitted from animals.

“The global approach in the preparedness and response to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases involves the implementation of One-Health model as part of the Biosecurity agenda of the state.

“It is a collaborative, multi-sectoral, trans-disciplinary approach operating at the local, state, national and global levels with the goal of achieving optimal health outcomes,” he said in a statement by the Lagos State Ministry of Health.

The commissioner said that part of its prevention and containment response to biosecurity threats led to the government’s establishment of its biosecurity and research capability.

He said that lessons learnt from the Ebola outbreak in 2014 led to the inauguration of the State Ebola Virus Disease Research Initiative (SEVDRI) Committee.

According to him, the committee has the mandate to conduct research for the development of prevention, control and management measures to mitigate against a future outbreak of the disease.

“One of the recommendations of the committee was the establishment of a Biosafety Level 3 Laboratory which led ultimately to the collaboration with Global Partnership Programme (GPP), Canada.

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“The collaboration resulted in the establishment and commissioning of the Lagos State Biobank, a facility that will provide a safe storage of biological and environmental samples.

“The facility will also enhance prompt diagnosis of infectious diseases and act as a research centre for cutting edge researches for researchers within and outside Nigeria for improvement of global public health,’’ Idris said.