The Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) recently conducted an advocacy visit to Health District IV to research vended food, food handlers and enteric infections in slums and non-slum communities across selected local government areas in the state.
The visit to the Fadeyi office of Health District IV is part of an initiative which seeks to identify health risks and develop strategies to improve food safety and reduce enteric infections in these areas.
The Permanent Secretary, Dr Abimbola Bowale, while expressing his appreciation for the brilliant initiative, recalled the past relationships and collaboration with NIMR against the spread of infections through food vendors, promising to collaborate with the Research Team to ensure the successful conduct of the study in Health District IV.
The team lead, who doubles as the acting Head of Department, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Dr.
Toyosi Raheem disclosed that the research is aimed at covering selected Local Government Areas like Mainland, Surulere, Alimosho, Oshodi-Isolo and Ikorodu.
Dr Toyosi reaffirms the team’s visit to Health District
IV, as Mainland is one of the local governments under review, which is within the District’s coverage area and thus brought about the advocacy and collaboration for the successful conduct of the study.
While pointing out its objectives to explore the burden of infectious diseases, transmissible through vented food, food handlers, environment and humans, he asserted that the findings would be used to control and prevent the burden of such diseases, thus contributing to the improvement of quality of health of people in slum and non-slum communities in the District, and other study sites in the state.
Dr. Toyosi added that, based on the observations of occasional outbreaks of enteric infections such as cholera, typhoid and other infections in slum communities, which could also spread to non-slum communities, there is a need to study vended food samples, food handlers, effluent and others.
Other areas the study intends to look at include environmental samples from the communities and clinical samples (stool, blood, urine) collected from both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients attending Primary Health Care Centres across all the health districts.
Dr. Toyosi, while commending the Permanent Secretary of the District, Dr. Bowale, for his previous efforts during his tenure as the Medical Director of Mainland General Hospital (IDH), recalled the collaboration between The Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also added that the initiative will help to achieve the objectives of improving the health of the people at the grassroots.
The Team also commended the Lagos State Government for bringing healthcare closer to the grassroots by creating Health Districts in the state and appointing Permanent Secretaries to oversee affairs in their respective districts.