Proposed Institute to Enhance Nigeria's Infectious Disease Response

Dr. Dalhatu Aminu, the acting Chief Executive Officer of the proposed National Institute of Public Health Infectious Diseases, addressed concerns regarding the bill to establish the institute during a press conference in Zaria, Kaduna State.

He criticized opposition claims that the bill would duplicate the role of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), stating that the proposed institute aims to fill critical gaps in specialist infectious disease treatment, postgraduate training, and research without encroaching on the NCDC's statutory mandate. Aminu emphasized that the bill, sponsored by Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abba, explicitly states that the institute shall not duplicate the statutory public health surveillance and outbreak response functions of the NCDC.

He also noted that the institute is designed to be a tertiary institution dedicated to infectious disease care and research, with plans to upgrade existing facilities in Zaria. Aminu dismissed allegations of creating a new bureaucracy, asserting that the institute would strengthen Nigeria's health security and enhance research capacity.