Disease outbreak: Port Health Services, AHBN decry poor funding

The Director, Port Health Services (PHS), Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Geoffrey Okatubo, has raised concerns over the gross shortage of skilled manpower and inadequate funding of his unit mandated to contain the spread of infectious diseases from other countries, at the various Points of Entry (PoE) in Nigeria.

Okatubo also disclosed that some airports do not have medical doctors, laboratories, secondary screening areas and holding areas, inadequate multimedia communication gadgets even as some PoEs also lack utility vehicles, speedboats and life jackets to aid public health response.

He made this known in Abuja during a 2-day Strategic and Advocacy Retreat on COVID-19 and Health Security; a follow-up to the National COVID-19 Summit organised by the Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19 in December last year.

According to him, the PHS was also confronted with inadequate number of trained skilled manpower for the implementation of IHR core capacities; insufficient skilled personnel with offshore certification to investigate and respond to public health outbreaks in offshore locations and sub-optimal work space at some POEs.

Dr. Okatubo, who appealed for the recruitment of relevant manpower to fill the gross human resources gap, sought the extension of trainings including Integrated Training for Surveillance Officers in Nigeria (ITSON) to boost staff capacities, and advocated certain percentage of monies generated at airports be channeled towards strengthening the PHS to deliver on its mandate.

He said: “Port Health Services, as the competent public health authority in the country’s POE requires a stronger collaboration with relevant partners for the timely institution of proactive activities required to prevent and minimize the effect of public health events across international boundaries.

“We want more human resources for health at the various PoEs, we need more permanent staff, well equipped laboratories at PoEs and expansion of PHECP to all PoEs.”

While describing the Port Health Services as orphans struggling to survive, the Coordinator, African Health Budget Network (AHBN), Dr. Aminu Magashi, called on the private sector and Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to support the PHS identify and halt possible spread of infectious disease at the point of entry through financial investments and resource mobilisation.

Lamenting the gross underfunding of the unit, Dr. Magashi warned that Nigeria would continue to be at risk of contracting infectious diseases from other countries if more attention was not focused on strengthening the Port Health Services to deliver on their mandate at the nation’s PoEs.

He said: “The Port Health Services in Nigeria is still struggling with dwindling financial and human resources for them to do their job. They should be taken very seriously because the point of entry is where you control the spread of diseases.

“If you don’t empower Port Health we may likely have a lot of risks from infection disease spread in Nigeria. It is not only about COVID-19. Lassa fever, cholera and so many other things could be there so we need to strengthen them, ensure there is enough annual budget for the Port Health through the Federal Ministry of Health.”

On alternative sources of funding, Dr. Magashi noted, “Nigerians have to raise domestic resource mobilisation to support the Port Health. Wealthy Nigerians, religious leaders, philanthropists and other well-meaning Nigerians can also support and take responsibility of the staff of the Port Health.

“I am calling on the private sector, the airline companies and businesses to all invest in Port Health so that we can control our border and prevent spread of diseases.”

TheStar