Global health experts, scientists and others will storm Lagos next week to brainstorm on emerging deadly diseases threatening the African continent.
The Lagos State Government in collaboration with Global Emerging Pathogens Treatment Consortium (GET), the West African Task Force for Emerging and Re-Emerging Infectious Disease Outbreaks (WATER), African Gong and the Global Partnership Programme (GPP), Canada, is organising the three-day “Second African Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases and Bio-Security,” which would hold in the State between 27 and 29 July, 2016 at the Eko Hotels and Suits, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The theme of the Conference is: “Strengthening African Health Systems- Building resilience and capacity to tackle Epidemic Threats: Bio-security and Infrastructure in the aftermath of the Ebola Outbreak.”
The conference will focus on emerging deadly diseases, such as Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, Zika virus, Lassa Fever, Dengue Fever, among others.
Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, at a press briefing in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria on Thursdaysaid the essence of the second African conference on emerging infectious disease was to take proactive steps against the highly pathogenic emerging and re-emerging epidemic threatening the West African Sub-Region.
Underscoring the importance of the conference, he said conference was carefully designed to address the sub-optimal of infrastructure and technical capacity for an indigenous response to contain biological threats from highly infectious pathogens.
According to him, the primary aim of the conference was to abate almost complete dependence on the developed world for effective response, adding that the conference would create an opportunity for the continent to derive biotechnological sustainability capacity and knowledge, while bringing together diverse participants from across the world and Africa.