RTSL Nigeria’s Executive Director, Nanlop Ogbureke, joined health and public sector leaders, policymakers, and development partners at the Africa Health Agenda International Conference in Rwanda to discuss strategies for strengthening Africa’s health security.
Speaking at a ministerial roundtable, she reflected on key lessons from past outbreaks and outlined three proven strategies to ensure countries can respond effectively to health threats:
- Using the 7-1-7 target to support swift outbreak detection, notification and response, identifying opportunities for improvement when the target is not met, and acting on them.
- Making primary health care “epidemic-ready” by equipping frontline health facilities to respond to public health emergencies while maintaining essential services.
- Strengthening National Public Health Institutes (NPHIs) to support outbreak response—and funding them adequately.
The conference provided an opportunity for the RTSL Nigeria team to engage on a number of key topics, including primary health care, non-communicable diseases, climate-resilient health systems, universal health coverage, and domestic resource mobilization for health systems.