Lagos Must Stay Battle-Ready Against Emerging Biological Threats — Health Commissioner
The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has warned of increasing biological threats — particularly the emerging concept referred to as “Pathogen X”, stressing the urgency for Lagos to strengthen its containment laboratories, surveillance systems, and emergency response mechanisms.
Prof. Abayomi gave the warning during a five-day workshop on the development of the State Action Plan for Health Security (SAPHS).
He emphasized that Lagos must remain in a constant state of preparedness for evolving biological risks, noting that the world still struggles to distinguish between naturally occurring outbreaks and potential biological weapon threats. He added that high-consequence pathogens remain a global concern, many of which lack early-stage treatments or vaccines.
The workshop held at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, brought together One Health stakeholders in the state, as well as experts from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), the U.S. CDC, Research Triangle Institute (RTI), Resolve to Save Lives, and other development partners, to craft Lagos’ five-year health security roadmap.
Prof. Abayomi cited past outbreaks, including Ebola, COVID-19, and the recent cholera outbreak, noting that Lagos has learned critical lessons from these experiences. According to him, strong biosecurity cannot exist without a resilient health system capable of responding quickly and effectively to threats.
He highlighted the importance of crisis communication and public confidence during emergencies, recalling how proactive leadership during COVID-19 helped prevent panic and potential civil unrest. He stressed improved coordination among MDAs during health emergencies, warning that once public confidence is lost, managing the outbreak becomes secondary to preventing social disorder.
Speaking at the event, the Deputy Director of the NCDC, Dr. Olubunmi Olofa, commended Lagos for its commitment to translating its Joint External Evaluation (JEE) findings into a concrete five-year SAPHS. He stressed the need for dedicated budget lines to implement the plan and expressed optimism that Lagos would achieve measurable improvements before the next evaluation in two to three years.
In a related update, the Director of Epidemiology, Biosecurity and Global Health, Dr. Ismail Abdus-Salam, announced that the Lagos Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC) is now better staffed and undergoing major refurbishment. He said further upgrades would strengthen its functionality as a modern emergency coordination hub.
Also speaking, the Project Manager of RTI’s Global Health Security Agenda Nigeria, Dr. Olusola Abioye, described Lagos as a critical hub for global health security due to its international travel links and large population.
