TheCable

The Africa Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has launched the implementation of a regional integrated surveillance and laboratory network (RISLNET) in West Africa.

RISLNET was established by the Africa CDC to integrate all public health laboratories, surveillance, and emergency response assets.

The Africa CDC hopes RISLNET will enhance the prevention, rapid detection, and response to current and emerging public health threats.

Mohammed Abdulaziz, head of disease control and prevention at Africa CDC, said the goal of the project was to safeguard Africa’s health.

Speaking on Wednesday at the pre-launch workshop in Abuja, Abdulaziz emphasised the need for an appropriate response to control disease in the region and coordinated laboratory networks to diagnose disease.

“We need to discuss among ourselves, how do we create a network that would work in a collaborative way to ensure that the next pandemic, will meet us better prepared,” he said.

“In West Africa, we’ve been battling with outbreaks of Lassa fever in different countries of the West African region. And not just Lassa fever, different outbreaks are ongoing.

“So what that means is, that for us to be prepared for the next pandemic, we should use the opportunity that comes with responding to outbreaks that are already with us… to use it to create a network of people working in this aspects of public health.”

Elsie Ilori, director of surveillance and epidemiology at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), who represented the ministry of health, said RISLNET will provide the region with a network of pre-surveillance activities in laboratories to prepare for future outbreaks.

“In Nigeria, it’s something that we have been looking forward to, it’s something that we have also tried to work on,” she said.

“I know one other weak area is linking the laboratory data with surveillance. That’s one big issue. And so I think that’s one of the things that we are also going to be looking at in this network.”