BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja
Registrar of Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON) Dr Yakubu Baba displaying a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Registrar of West African Health Examination Board (WAHEB) Mrs Bola Oladejo in Abuja on Tuesday.
In line with global best practices, the Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON) has sealed deal with strategic professional bodies to revamp environmental and public health issues across the country.
They are Society for Environmental and Public Health of Nigeria (SEPHON), Environmental and Public Health Practitioners of Nigeria (EPHPAN), and West African Health Examination Board (WAHEB).
Registrar of EHCON, Dr Yakubu Baba stated this on Tuesday at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the professional bodies in Abuja.
He noted that Environmental Health (EH) is a profession recognised and established by Act 11 of Environmental Health Officers Registration Council of Nigeria 2002 and ammended in 2023, adding that the MoU is significant in line with the rebranding vision of the council.
The Act tasked the council to register Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) in Nigeria but the ammended law empowered the council to regulate EH practice. and renamed EHCON.
Baba stated that since EH is a global profession and the council being a regulatory body, is excited to sign an MoU with the Research, Development and Innovation arm of the profession.
He pointed out that no profession will grow without research and development, and capacity building, insisting that SEPHON is one of the major stakeholders that EHCON would leverage on their resources to address the capacity gap in the profession.
"Today is historic because we are bringing all the peripherals of EH under one umbrella. It is a day that Nigerians and the practitioners need to celebrate," he added.
Baba assured that the council is ready to work in line with the components of the MoU for the betterment of the profession and service to humanity.
SEPHON To Improve Human Capacity
SEPHON was set-up as a platform for networking among public health practitioners on contemporary public health issues, and coordination of public health research for use as a tool for evidence-based policymaking.
The National President of SEPHON, Prof Amadi Agwu was excited to sign a very robust MoU on ways to improve human capacity in environmental and public health.
He noted that SEPHON encourages professionals to make valid contributions to the survival of public health, saying that without research and development, no profession will grow.
Agwu assured that SEPHON will come up with robust research on environmental and public health to improve the overall wellbeing of Nigerians.
EPHPAN Committed To Sustainable Environment
EPHPAN was established as mega association to bridge the gaps in environmental and public health, while upholding global best practices in achieving public health.
National President of EPHPAN, San Samuel Akingbehin listed the objectives of EPHPAN as promotion of environmental sustainability, community engagement, promotion of environmental and public health standards, capacity building and professional development, research and innovations, and policy advocacy.
He said that the profession is firmly committed to ensuring standards, safeguarding the environment, advancing public health and promoting professional excellence, as well as trainings at different levels in the institutions.
Akingbehin enjoined stakeholders in public health, government at various levels and regulators in Nigeria to embrace and register with the mega bodies to make EH more viable.
WAHEB Vows To Strengthen Capacity Building
The professional examination body was established in 1925 and affiliated to the Royal Society of Health London for the purposes of training and certification of Public Health Inspectors and Public Health Nurses in the West African sub-region.
It consists of five Anglo-phone West African countries such as The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
But in 1982, WAHEB became independent of the Royal Society of Health, London and commenced business in 1983, while performing same functions in the sub-region.
WAHEB was mandated to plan and administer all the examinations, curriculum modification or review and implement policies made by the board.
Registrar of WAHEB, Mrs Bola Oladejo promised that the MoU will strengthen capacity building and training in public health sector.
She hinted that EHCON will license and guide their practice in environmental and public health to churn out well-trained Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) in Nigeria.
Oladejo harped on the need for proper implementation of the MoU for effective delivery of services in environmental and public health space.
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