The Lagos State government has announced several public health initiatives, including the establishment of an emergency operations center to combat the spread of the mpox virus
Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday in Ikeja, the State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, outlined the state’s multipronged strategy to shield Lagos from this emerging threat.
Three noteworthy developments were revealed by Prof. Abayomi as part of Lagos State's public health plan to combat Mpox.
The first is a comprehensive stakeholder engagement with professionals from many fields to talk about Mpox and its management on a local and global scale.
An emergency operations center (EOC) that is devoted to tracking and managing the Mpox outbreak, with a focus on the Clade 1B strain, is the second milestone.
The third milestone is the launch of a statewide public health awareness campaign aimed at educating residents about the risks associated with Mpox and the preventive measures they can take.
In addition, the state will set up a local research team to work on the Mpox virus.
Prof. Abayomi said these are necessary to get Lagos prepared to deal with any instance of the new and lethal variant of the Mpox virus, Clade b1, being imported to Nigeria.
He also disclosed that Lagos State had no active case of Mpox as of Tuesday.
Nationwide, there are 40 active cases in 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
