Onwuka Nzeshi 
The United States has announced that at least seven West African countries are now better equipped to prepare for and respond to epidemics and pandemics whenever and wherever they occur in the region.
The declaration comes following the successful training of 17 public health emergency operations center staff members from Nigeria and six other countries.
The two-week intensive training programme was conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. CDC) in collaboration with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).
The first batch of the Regional Public Health Emergency Management Training, held in Abuja, featured participants from Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Liberia, and Mali.
According to a statement from the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Nigeria, the programme was designed to enhance the skills of public health professionals and equip them to effectively operate incident management systems for outbreak preparedness and emergency response.
“The training programme has resulted in the ECOWAS region now being better prepared to respond to epidemics and pandemics,” the statement noted.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony, Acting Program Director of the U.S. CDC Division of Global Health Protection, Asmau Aminu-Alhaji, commended the graduates for their dedication to public health both within their home countries and across the region. She emphasized the critical importance of collaboration and communication across national borders in managing public health emergencies.
The Public Health Emergency Management Professional Certification Program is part of the U.S. Government’s broader support for global health security in Nigeria and other countries.
The initiative provides emergency operations personnel and public health experts with specialized training in emergency management, operations, and other critical preparedness and response skills.
