By; JACOB ONJEWU DICKSON
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and Borno State Government in collaboration with University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) have trained 155 Local Government Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) from all the 27 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state, including the security compromised LGAs
Declaring the four-day training open, the Director of Disease Control in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Aliyu Shettima Mailafiya, who commended the WHO for their efforts, revealed that the participants would receive training on Rapid Response to Emergencies to prevent and effectively control disease outbreaks.
The training which is also supported by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and AFENET is to ensure proactive measures are taken in mitigating the outbreak of diseases in the state that has suffered over a decade of Boko Haram insurgency.
The State Coordinator, WHO Field Office in Borno, Dr Ibrahim Audu Salisu, in his remarks to the participants pledges continuous WHO’s Support to the government of Borno.
“WHO has been working closely with Borno state Ministry of Health and State Primary Health Care Development Agency to build the capacity of key state and LGA officials on Epidemic Preparedness and Response”.
“WHO and partners have also been providing relevant tools and materials for the frontline teams to work and remain active in all parts of the state regardless of the situation in the area or time of the year”, he said.
He further explained, the RRT training is part of the efforts to ensure that new team members are adequately equipped to respond swiftly and effectively to alerts or disease threats in communities and health centers. He urged the State and LGA PHC Directors and key health officials attending the training to ensure they conduct step-down training to other team members and frontline staff who were not able to attend this training.
It would be recalled that the high-ranking and revered traditional leader in the state, the Shehu of Borno, His Royal Highness, Abubakar Ibn Garbai Al-Amin El-Kanemi, during the commemoration of WHO 75th Anniversary commended WHO for bringing remarkable transformation to the health system and eradicating diseases in the state.
