He also announced that Lassa fever International Conference 2019 on January 16 and 17 in the FCT as part of activities to mark the 50th year since the Lassa virus was first discovered in the country, would provide an opportunity for the scientific community to reflect on what is known, describe gaps that exist and prioritise the research agenda for the future.

“Nigeria is now taking leadership in the control of Lassa fever globally. We will be using the scientific conference to share why we must work together for strong collaboration. “We are marking 50 years since this disease was first diagnosed by pushing ourselves to do more. We have agreed that we will work harder to prevent deaths recorded from Lassa fever. This we hope to drop from 26% currently to less than 10% in the next 5 years.

“With this conference, Nigeria is setting herself on a path to more accountability to the lives we are meant to protect. We have done a lot of work but we know we can do more, and we will do more. ”