BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja
L- R: Registrar of Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCN), Dr Yakubu Baba; Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi and Professor of Environmental Public Health at the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), Dr Amadi Nkwa at the commissioning of EHCNs Education Resource Centre in Abuja, Wednesday. PHOTO BY CHIKA OKEKE
Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCN) has unveiled its education resource centre, modeled in line with international best practices, with a promise to bolster environmental health practise for professionals across the country.
Located in Gwarinpa district Abuja, the centre houses a theater and Reference Environmental and Public Health Laboratory, and its expected to provide training for Post graduate students in environmental health and students from other discipline willing to study public health.
Speaking at the commissioning of the facility on Wednesday, the Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi commended EHCN for the laudable initiative targeted at strengthening environmental health practise in Nigeria.
He was optimistic that the centre would operate in accordance with international standards while nurturing graduates that would compete favourably with their counterparts on environmental health practice globally.
On his part, the Registrar of EHCN, Dr Yakubu Baba said that the centre would provide opportunities for research and capacity building for members of EHCN.
According to him, "Most times, when you examine the sequence of outbreak in Nigeria, you will see Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) trying to isolate the micro-organisms from human carriers on confirmed cases because the medium of transmission of diseases is either through air, food, water or soil."
Baba stated that in a case of cholera outbreak, that its the responsibility of Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) to take samples of the medium of transmission and carry out analysis in its reference laboratory to ascertain if its cholera or any other disease instead of waiting for NCDCs result.
This he believed would reduce intervention time by NCDC, adding that EHCNs intervention is supposed to be proactive not reactive like what is obtainable in the national health system.
The registrar said that the centre would focus mainly on specialty programmes for environmental health practitioners across the country, adding that the West African College of Environmental Health through the support of West African Health Organisation have developed a benchmark for 17 faculties in environmental health.
Baba stated that the council would hold talks with representatives from the college on Friday to adopt and domesticate the faculties for effective takeoff of programmes at the centre.
He said though the centre has a 40-seat capacity theater but with the existence of new technologies, that EHOs could leverage on the technology and participate in online trainings at the comfort of their homes.
The registrar commended President Muhammadu Buhari for providing the needed support and funding for the effective takeoff of the centre, assuring that environmental health under his leadership would wax stronger as envisaged by his government.
The minister was also decorated as a Fellow, Society for Environment and Public Health of Nigeria (SEPHON) for his numerous contributions towards the growth of environmental health in Nigeria.
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