Experts in the public health sector have called for improvement in the quality of data being collated in order to boost the nation’s preparedness for future pandemics.
Executive Director, International Research Center of Excellence at the Institute of Human Virology-Nigeria (IHVN) and Principal Investigator of the INFORM Africa Project, Prof. Alash’le Abimiku
stated this on Tuesday, at INFORM Africa Stakeholders Meeting held in Suleja, Niger State.
Prof. Abimiku informed that the goal of the project was to effectively use big data to address pressing public health needs related to SARS-CoV-2 and HIV pandemics, with the aim of developing population-scale data streams as cornerstone of future pandemics preparedness.
She noted that it took the stakeholders two years to gather data for the INFORM Africa project, adding that collating individuals’ information for research purposes was cumbersome:
“There’s just a phobia of releasing data to individuals. People don’t want to part with their data. And yet, for science, we have to share data.
“Because what you are expert in may not be what I am an expert in. But when I share my data, you’re looking at it as a psychologist, Somebody else is looking at it as lab personnel, Somebody else is looking at it as a policymaker. And that’s the best way we can get the best out of the data.
“People are usually not good at collecting good data, so they’re sometimes embarrassed by the fact that somebody is going to come back and say this data is of low quality.
“And second, I don’t think we’ve talked much among ourselves on data utilization. We collect it, but what do we do with it? So because we don’t pay attention to utilizing it, the data continues to be of poor quality”, she said.
The public health expert spoke further: ”If you’re using the data and you’re analyzing it and say, OK, what is it telling me about malaria? What is it telling me about diarrhea or meningitis? What communities are vulnerable? And why are they vulnerable? What are they doing that is putting them at risk? And you’re looking at the data and the data is telling you, then we will put in more effort in getting clean data and in utilizing it.
“So I think this big effort by the US National Institutes of Health is shaping the whole world, especially lower and middle income countries, that look, get clean data and look at your data.That’s what’s going to help you deal with public health challenges”, she said.
In her remarks, Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mrs. Zubaida Umar commended IHVN for initiating the INFORM Africa project, which focuses on harnessing data to inform infectious disease dynamics and enhance public health preparedness.
Umar who was represented by the Deputy Director Planning, Research and Forecasting of the Agency, Adebola Olusegun noted that the ability to collect, analyze, and apply real-time data in decision-making was critical to effective preparedness and response
“As we face complex public health threats, data has become a vital tool in our response efforts. The ability to collect, analyze, and apply real-time data in decision-making is critical to effective preparedness and response. I applaud INFORM Africa’s emphasis on community collaboration, innovation, and evidence-driven tools, which aligns with NEMA’s health resilience strategies.
“The creation of platforms like the Community Advisory Board (CAB) promotes inclusivity and local ownership, principles that NEMA also upholds in our operations”, she said.
The DG therefore reaffirmed NEMA‘s commitment to partnerships that strengthen the nation’s emergency management architecture and expressed the agency’s openness to collaboration, knowledge sharing, and technical synergy with stakeholders from the health, research, and development sectors.
On his part, Director General of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. Jide Idris stressed the importance of credible data for his agency.
Idris who was represented by the Assistant Director, Public Health Informatics of NCDC, Dr. Yashe Usman
stated, “Diseases change with time, and our tools must evolve too. That starts with real-time, usable data”.
INFORM Africa (Role of Data Streams in Informing infection dynamics in Africa) is a 5-year project funded by the United States’ National Institutes of Health through its ‘Data Science for Health Recovery and Innovation in Africa’ (DS-I Africa) program.
