Role of National Public Health Institutes in Pandemic Response

Date: Wednesday, 12 December 2018
Time: 17:00 – 18:30
Location: Benue/Plateau

Session Overview:
Under the International Health Regulations, 2005 the World Health Organization assisted countries to develop National Action Plans for Health Security (NAPHS) to respond to health emergencies in a coordinated manner. The Joint External Evaluation tool was implemented by countries as a roadmap that, by way of acknowledging, coordinating and building collaboration between different areas of national health security, as well as by defining the roles and responsibilities of national stakeholders, would result in a comprehensive NAPHS. The need for NAPHS was borne out of historic experiences before, during, and after disease outbreaks. The purpose of the NAPHS is to ensure that countries are able to prioritise and respond to disease emergencies by leveraging expertise and resources from all sectors. The establishment of in-country National Public Health Institutes (NPHI) was identified as a key resource to easily facilitate and coordinate emergency response operations. Under the auspices of the International Association of National Public Health Institutes, the Africa network was established in 2014 to facilitate coordination, interaction, and cooperation among NPHIs in Africa. In most countries in Africa, integrated NPHIs are still in their infancy, and many countries still leverage the strength of national laboratories or disease specific institutes to address disease emergencies.

  • Moderated discussion with the following participants:
    • Yenew Kebede, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Ethiopia
    • Zabulon Yoti, WHO/AFRO, Congo
    • John B. Dogba, Public Health Institute, Liberia
    • Oni Idigbe, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Nigeria
  • Co-Conveners:
    • Chikwe Ihekweazu
      • Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Nigeria
    • Florette Treurniche
      • National Institute for Communicable Diseases, South Africa
    • Speakers
      • Yenew Kebede
        • Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Ethiopia
      • Zabulon Yoti
        • World Health Organization, Switzerland
      • John B. Dogba
        • Public Health Institute, Liberia
      • Oni Idigbe
        • Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Nigeria