The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has commenced an Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Training of Trainers for facility IPC focal persons and frontline healthcare workers across public and private health facilities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to strengthen preparedness for Ebola.
The training is designed to improve healthcare workers’ capacity to identify, isolate and manage suspected Ebola cases while strengthening infection prevention measures in health facilities.
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Key areas of focus include early identification and triage of suspected cases, standard and transmission-based precautions, infection prevention practices and the appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE).
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The initiative, supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and DRASA, will equip facility IPC focal persons with the knowledge and skills to train other healthcare workers.
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Through the cascade training approach, NCDC aims to strengthen the implementation of infection prevention and control measures across healthcare facilities in the FCT.
The agency noted that a better-prepared and adequately equipped healthcare workforce is essential to improving facility readiness, protecting healthcare workers and patients, and preventing healthcare-associated transmission.