Environmental health has potential to impact economy -Minister

By Mashe Umaru Gwamna

The Minister of Environment, Dr. Mohammed Abubukar, said environmental health profession has potential to impact the economy more positively with there service based delivery.
Abubukar made the disclosure at the 1st National Summit on Environment Health organized by Environmental Health Officer Registration Council of Nigeria ( EHORECON) on Friday in Abuja .
Speaking on the theme of the summit,”Rebranding Environmental Health Breaking Barriers, Unlocking Opportunity”, the minister said it is prime and necessary to this present day socio-economic realities.
The minister pointed out that,the rebranding mission was a vertical tool for the environmental health regulatory agency which I am committed to.
He said the federal government took several health, social and economic steps to contain with the COVID-19 disease.
“The environmental health sub sector is globally acclaimed to be a tool for sustainable development. Hence Nigeria cannot afford to neglect it. Stakeholder, public and private must forge partnership to make it work for national public health outcome”, he said.
He urged as a matter of priority the implementation of one health.
“There is a need for health, environment and animal sector to work today for the improvement of human health”.
He also presented to the public, National Diploma Curriculum in Public Health Technology and The National Diploma Curriculum in Epidemiology and Disease Control.
Earlier,the Registrar/CEO EHORECON,Dr. Yakubu Baba, said rebranding the environment health sector is key to strengthen the environmental health officers.
“This will enable them to address the imaginable and unimaginable disease”.
One of the thing we are contending with now is the COVID-19.
“The environmental workforce has significantly participated actively in providing long pharmaceuticals measures.”