The Director General (DG) of West Africa Health Organisation (WAHO), Prof. Stanley Okolo, has revealed that over 3,000 frontline epidemiologists, 12 supra regional laboratories for human reference analysis and two veterinary laboratories across the West African region have been put in place to prevent as well as combat epidemic outbreaks in the region.

According to him, the 2014 Ebola outbreak had huge economic impact on the region, with nearly 12,000 lives lost and nearly $7 billion lost, “in terms of lost productivity, lost income, lost tourism and aid.”

In a chat with newsmen at the third regional steering committee meeting of the regional disease surveillance system enhancement (REDISSE) in Lagos on Thursday, Okolo said the meeting was organised to ensure the existence of robust and resilient surveillance systems across the region, capable of preventing future epidemics, or where appropriate, providing an effective and timely response.

In his explanation, the REDISSE project seeks to strengthen national and regional cross-sectoral capacity for collaborative disease surveillance and epidemic preparedness in West Africa.

So far, he said, 11 out of the expected 16 ECOWAS countries have so far subscribed to the REDISSE project.

Stressing the importance of preparing for epidemic outbreaks, he noted that the first 48 hours in the outbreak of any epidemics is critical and what a country does at that time is dependent on how prepared they are.

He urged leaders in all the ECOWAS countries and Mauritania to ensure certain things are put in place in order to prepare and fight outbreaks.

The World Bank Coordinator, REDISSE project in West Africa region, John Paul Clark, said the recommendations at the meeting will be used by WAHO and the international partners at the regional level to further provide support and technical assistance and will help the bank streamline the procedures to assess funds.

“The framework for outbreak control and management must be determined by the surveillance, laboratory capacity, epidemic preparedness and human resources,” he said.

Concerning the efforts of Nigeria towards reducing outbreak of diseases, the REDISSE project Coordinator for Nigeria, Olubunmi Ojo said, “We are trying to improve on our surveillance, laboratory and awareness. We are making the masses understand what they need to know to avoid outbreaks.”