Mirian Gom 
ABUJA, Nigeria – African health leaders are urging urgent investment in national epidemic surveillance and research systems to strengthen preparedness for Lassa fever and other emerging infectious diseases.
The call came at the 2nd Lassa Fever International Conference in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, convened by the West African Health Organisation (WAHO). Themed “Beyond Borders: Strengthening Regional Cooperation to Combat Lassa Fever and Emerging Infectious Diseases”, the event gathered experts from Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire and the World Health Organisation.
Liberia’s Minnie Sankawulo-Ricks said community health workers were crucial for early outbreak detection. “We use WhatsApp groups for real-time reporting between community, facility and county levels. This has improved timeliness and accuracy,” she noted, highlighting challenges of infrastructure and low incentives.
From Guinea, Alpha Keita emphasised genomic surveillance progress since the 2013 Ebola outbreak, warning that “political commitment and sustainable financing remain weak.” Sierra Leone’s Donald Grant pointed to integrated human-animal health reporting systems but admitted dependence on donor funding limits capacity.
Nigeria’s Centre for Disease Control Deputy Director, Muntari Hassan, urged regional harmonisation of data platforms, while Ibrahima Fall of Institut Pasteur de Dakar warned that 80 per cent of African countries still lack analytical capacity.
Closing the session, Côte d’Ivoire’s Director-General of Health, Mamadou Samba, stressed self-financing: “These are our diseases, our families and our populations. Unless we invest in our own systems, progress will remain limited.”
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Hussaini Ibrahim 
