For three days from March 20, the National Arbovirus and Vectors Research Centre (NAVRC), Enugu, conducted its inaugural training workshop for State Disease Vector Surveillance Officers.
The objective of the training is to provide skilled state level manpower for active surveillance of vectors of diseases of public health importance in Nigeria.
Active surveillance of disease vectors will serve as an early warning system that will enable other responsible agencies of government and NGOs to take preemptive action to forestall the outbreak of serious infectious diseases like Yellow fever.
In addition, information obtained from routine vector surveillance will support ongoing efforts to control and eliminate endemic vector-borne diseases like malaria.
The immediate aim of the centre is to bring about a sustained nationwide active surveillance of infectious disease vectors starting in three states, namely Benue, Nasarawa and Niger, and reaching a total of six additional states by the end of 2018 and 24 states by December 2019.
NAVRC intends to hand over full responsibility for managing and leading disease vector surveillance to the states and will limit itself to playing the peripheral and non-intrusive role of providing technical and logistic support for effective coordination of field vector surveillance and monitoring.
State level active surveillance of disease vectors will commence in earnest during the first week of May 2018.