Highlighting the growing threat of infectious diseases, the Nigerian Infectious Diseases Society (NIDS) has stressed the need for urgent intersectoral collaboration to protect public health in Nigeria. The call followed resolutions reached at the society’s 16th Annual General Meeting and Conference held in Kaduna, as outlined in a communiqué released Friday by NIDS President Mahmood Dalhat.
The conference, themed “Resilient Health Systems in a Changing World”, focused on addressing emerging and endemic disease threats amid global, environmental, and socioeconomic challenges. Subthemes included reimagining infectious disease control, global health financing constraints, HIV care with long-acting antiretrovirals, vaccine self-reliance, and climate change impacts on disease resurgence.
NIDS emphasized that effective disease prevention and response requires collaboration among government agencies, development partners, academia, the private sector, and the society itself. The conference also highlighted artificial intelligence as a critical tool for enhancing research, surveillance, vaccine and drug development, healthcare planning, and evidence-based decision-making.
The communiqué recommended increased domestic funding for surveillance, laboratory capacity building, outbreak preparedness, workforce development, decentralized healthcare delivery, strategic purchasing, and improved governance at both national and subnational levels.
It further called for innovative financing mechanisms, including public–private partnerships and health security trust funds, to expand local production of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics, reducing reliance on donor support.
Additional recommendations included sustained investment in biotechnology, regulatory reforms, phased rollout of long-acting antiretrovirals, equitable access strategies, and strengthened One Health and antimicrobial resistance action plans.
The society also stressed the importance of climate-sensitive surveillance, stronger interministerial coordination, and active engagement with donors and research institutions.
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