TY - JOUR T1 - The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control JF - BMJ Global Health DO - 10.1136/bmjgh-2018-000712 VL - 3 IS - 2 SP - e000712 AU - Ahmad Muhammad Njidda AU - Oyeronke Oyebanji AU - Joshua Obasanya AU - Olubunmi Ojo AU - Adebayo Adedeji AU - Nwando Mba AU - John Oladejo AU - Chikwe Ihekweazu Y1 - 2018/04/01 UR - http://gh.bmj.com/content/3/2/e000712.abstract N2 - Summary boxNigeria and several other African countries have been battling with public health challenges for decades. These challenges came to fore during the Ebola virus disease (EVD) crisis that affected many countries in the West African region, including Nigeria.As a result, many African countries have established their National Public Health Institutes as a focal point to prevent, detect and respond to diseases of public health importance, but currently, only 9 of the 15 countries in West Africa have a designated national public health institute.Before the EVD crisis, Nigeria established the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), which played a pivotal role in the control of the EVD outbreak in Nigeria, as well as provided support to other countries that were affected by the crisis.Modelled on the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the NCDC has institutionalised Nigeria’s capacity to respond to the increasing threats of outbreaks of infectious diseases and other public health emergencies. This is achieved through building collaborations and taking the lead in prevention, preparedness and surveillance, and also coordinating the public health laboratory networks.African public health institutes are currently in early stages of evolution. Building a national public health institute requires strong commitment, clarity of vision. The experience of setting up the public health institute of Nigeria can inform similar efforts in other African countries.Only a few African countries like Ethiopia and Mozambique have long standing National Public Health Institutes (NPHI). However, since the large 2014–2016 Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa, many African countries have been setting up NPHI1 2 to optimise the use of scarce resources to prevent, detect and respond to infectious disease threats. The Africa Union and the Economic … ER -