Nigeria Tasks ECOWAS Member States With Closing Gaps, Strengthening Strategies Against Disease Threats

The Director General of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Olajide Idris, has charged ECOWAS member nations to critically evaluate prevailing gaps and scale up operational mechanisms against threats like Ebola, and solidify a sustainable 2026–2027 roadmap for the region.

He gave the charge while speaking at the opening session of a three-day ECOWAS Regional Centre for Surveillance and Disease Control (RCSDC) workshop on Capacity Building for Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE), being hosted in Abuja, Nigeria.

The NCDC Director General, who was represented by Dr. Tochi Okwor (Head of Department, Disease Prevention and Health Promotion NCDC, observed that disease pathogens do not respect artificial borders.

According to him, “In an interconnected region like West Africa, a health threat in one Member State is implicitly a threat to us all.

“Our core philosophy at the NCDC rests on the understanding that technical surveillance and laboratory diagnostics are only as effective as our ability to communicate transparently, build public trust, and actively engage the communities we serve.

“This workshop that is focused on assessing and strengthening our Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) capacities is both timely and strategic. As we confront active public health events, including the ongoing Ebola virus disease outbreak in Central Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda), we are sharply reminded that community engagement is our primary line of defense.”

Also speaking earlier, the Executive Director of the ECOWAS RCSDC, represented by Dr. Babacar Fall, stressed the relevance of Risk Communication and Community Engagement, adding that it is at the center of response.

He cited that it structure the acceptability of measures, the collaboration of communities, and the quality of public decision-making.

“In a global and regional context marked by multiple risks – health, environmental and socio-economic – and as Central Africa faces an ongoing Ebola outbreak, our collective responsibility is to ensure that ECOWAS RCCE systems are ready, coherent and operational”, he stated.

Dr. Fall outlined the objectives of the workshop including: to assess the level of preparedness for the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Central Africa and overall the RCCE capacities in each of member states; to identify the major challenges and define corrective measures adapted to the regional context; and to among others update the regional roadmap “Strengthening RCCE in ECOWAS” for the period 2026–2027.