By Chioma Umeha
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has
launched a website that will be at the centre of the digital channels to be
deployed for communications functions.
The site, which is now live, will also serve as
the primary source of health information to Nigerian citizens, journalists and
health workers for information on how to protect themselves from health
threats.
At the official launch in Abuja, CEO of the NCDC,
Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, appreciated the role of the University of Maryland,
MGIC-Nigeria project in the implementation of the project. He said
communications and technology, would play major role in the overall fulfilment
of the mandate of the NCDC.
“We are not deploying a back office for communications
at the NCDC, we are picking the best hands possible and we are placing the
function at the level it deserves to be. The website we are launching today is
core to all our activities and we hope it goes ahead to fulfil our intentions
in the Nigerian health space,” Ihekweazu noted at the launch.
The Country Representative of MGIC-Nigeria, Mrs.
Mercy Nyiang, spoke about the commitment of the institution to working with the
NCDC in implementing activities towards strengthening surveillance in Nigeria.
Technical Assistant to the CEO on Communications,
Dr. Lawal Bakare, said Nigerians can expect a lot from the website.
He highlighted that an integrated system which
allows the NCDC to focus on two communications functions is being pursued.
“The NCDC hopes to showcase a strong corporate
brand and fulfill NCDC’s responsibility in risk communication. These dual
communication goals require that we focus on the minutiae elements of brand
building and communication for mitigating and responding to disease threats. This
website allows us to deploy web technology for both functions at once,” Lawal
noted.
Nigerians can now visit www.ncdc.gov.ng, navigate
to know more about their NCDC and learn how to protect themselves now and in
the future. The centre’s social channels on Twitter (@NCDCgov) and
Facebook.com/NCDCgov are active and are always open for engagement.
The Centre’s messenger account, m.me/ncdcgov is
also open especially for journalists’ engagement.
