The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) have strengthened collaboration to review the rising cases of Lassa fever in Nigeria, with a particular focus on protecting healthcare workers and strengthening clinical vigilance across health facilities.
NCDC disclosed this in a statement on Monday.
TheFact Daily recalls that five new healthcare workers were affected in the latest Lassa Fever Situation Report.
According to the statement, this formed the basis of discussion at a strategic engagement between the leadership of the two organisations in Abuja on Monday.
The meeting convened by the Director-General of NCDC, Dr Jide Idris, brought together leadership from both NCDC and NMA to discuss the current epidemiological situation, the increasing risk to frontline health workers, and the critical role of doctors in early detection and infection prevention.
As part of the engagement, the leadership of NCDC and NMA jointly issued and signed a national advisory to doctors and healthcare professionals across Nigeria to strengthen vigilance during the ongoing Lassa fever transmission season.
The advisory calls on doctors and healthcare workers to:
“Maintain a high index of suspicion for Lassa fever in patients presenting with febrile illness.
“Ensure early detection, prompt isolation, and immediate reporting of suspected cases.
“Strictly adhere to infection prevention and control (IPC) measures
“Promote responsible antimicrobial use in clinical practice”.
The engagement also highlighted NCDC’s 30-day national IPC action plan aimed at reducing infections among healthcare workers and strengthening infection prevention practices in health facilities, particularly in high-burden areas.
Both institutions reaffirmed their commitment to working together to strengthen Nigeria’s outbreak response, protect healthcare workers, and improve health security across the country.
