The Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) has launched its comprehensive five-year strategy and implementation plan for the period 2023-2027.
The plan, aptly themed “Vision to Action,” underscores the commitment to the health sector’s ministerial agenda, where health security holds a pivotal position as the fourth pillar.
The director-general of NCDC, Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa unveiled the strategy during a health security partners’ meeting in Abuja on Tuesday. He emphasised that the new strategy aligns with the presidential and ministerial agenda for health, incorporating a robust digital transformation agenda alongside ambitious goals for high-quality public health informatics.
Adetifa highlighted the agency’s commitment to being SASS – strategic, ambitious, working with speed and at scale. He noted that the strategy builds on the success and lessons learned from the previous 2017-2022 plan, which underwent an end-term review in 2022.
“In 2022, we conducted an end-term review of the implementation of the 2017-2022 strategy to identify successes, challenges and learnings which were built on to develop the next five-year strategic plan,” said Adetifa.
One of the notable changes in the strategy is the emphasis on strengthening subnational health security, fostering collaboration with state and local governments through the newly created sub-national support department. This approach aims to enhance coordination and cooperation at the grassroots level.
The strategy also focuses on equipping the department of planning research and statistics with tools and training to advance monitoring, evaluation and learning within the agency, adhering to best practices.
NCDC’s vision, “A healthier and safer Nigeria through the prevention and control of diseases of public health importance,” is translated into a mission statement, further broken down into seven key strategic goals, 41 objectives and 225 corresponding activities with defined outcomes for the next five years.
Adetifa emphasised that a performance management structure has been instituted to oversee and coordinate the execution of various initiatives, ensuring accountability and progress tracking towards achieving strategic goals. This framework aims to align efforts across the agency’s departments and divisions, encouraging collaboration with developmental partners to protect the health of Nigerians against emerging public health threats.
The unveiling of this ambitious strategy marks a critical milestone for the NCDC as it endeavours to navigate the evolving landscape of public health challenges in Nigeria over the next five years.
