The theme of the conference is “Strengthening Health Security Through Field Epidemiology”.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) was established in the year 2011 in response to the challenges of public health emergencies and to enhance Nigeria’s preparedness and response to epidemics through prevention, detection, and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases.

Its core mandate is to detect,investigate,prevent and control diseases of national and international public health importance.

The Nigeria Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (NFELTP), one of the workforce development strategies of NCDC, was established in October 2008 to develop a self-sustaining institutionalized capacity to train public health leaders in field epidemiology and field-oriented public health laboratory practice, and to provide epidemiological services to the public health system at federal, state, and local levels.

The program works with Ministries of Health and Ministries of Agriculture at the Federal and State levels to develop public health capacity, strengthen health systems and respond to disease epidemics and other priority public health problems in the country.

NFELTP collaborates with Ahmadu Bello University and University of Ibadan, and is member of the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET).