Banigo Urges EPiSON To Integrate Public Health Training Institutions

Rivers State Deputy Governor, Dr Ipalibo Harry-Banigo, has called on the Epidemiolocal Society of Nigeria (EPiSON) to integrate all health training institutions in the country in order to achieve a more successful collaborative effort in combating epidemics in Nigeria.
Dr Banigo, who made the call midweek in Port Harcourt as Special Guest of Honour at the Opening Ceremony of the 9th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the EPiSON, noted that such health training institutions are reliable allies in the achievement of EPiSON’s objectives and general health care in society.
Declaring the AGM open, the Deputy Governor, who was represented by the Provost of the Rivers State School of Health Science and Management Technology, Prof Franklin E. Nlerum, harped on the link between health training institutions and EPiSON.
“In view of the linkage functions of the field of Epidemiology, I wish to call on EPiSON to fully integrate the Colleges of Health Science and Technology, and other Public Health Training Institutions in Nigeria for a more collaborative and effective team work.
“Colleges of Health Science and Technology, and Public Health institutions are charged with the training and production of qualified middle and high level Public Health practitioners who are veritable resources for partnership with EPiSON”, he said.
The Deputy Governor used the opportunity to urge the organizers of the 9th edition of the AGM to call on Epidemiologists in Nigeria to focus their efforts on “core functions of the Epidemiological profession in Public Health practice, which are Public Health Surveillance, Field Investigation, Analytic Studies, Evaluation and Linkages”.
In his welcome address, the National President of EPiSON, Prof Lawrence Ogbonnaya, noted that the theme of this year’s AGM, “Public Health Emergencies: Application of Public Health Epidemic Intelligence Tools and Techniques in the 21st Century” accords members the opportunity to brainstorm on the profession.
According to him, “it promises to be an exciting one for exchanging ideas on developments in Epidemiology and how it is used in combating communicable and non-communicable disease epidemics that continue to emerge in our world from time to time”.
He noted that Epidemiology is at the heart of global and national response to the current COVID-19 pandic.
Presenting his Keynote Address, the representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Walter K. Mulombo, noted the intertwined nature of the world in trade and other connectivities in a world that has become a global village.

By: Sogbeba Dokubo