From Aniekan Aniekan, Calabar
The Cross River State government through its Ministry of Health has activated an integrated Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) to contain spread of the disease.
The EOC is headed by the Incident Manager and Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Rt. Hon. Ekpo Ekpo Bassey.
Inaugurating the centre, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk appreciated health sector stakeholders, especially the Epidemiology and Health Promotion units of his Ministry, for their proactive efforts in clamping down on health issues.
He stressed the need for a sustainability matrix tracker for monitoring given tasks in the various units of the Emergency Operation Centre.
He also thanked development partners including the World Health Organization (WHO) for going ahead to train 1,960 community informants across the 196 wards in the state, which he said has added impetus to the fight against Mpox.
The commissioner also said medical teams would be dispatched to visit primary and secondary schools across the state to conduct screening for Mpox to enable proper tracking and diagnosis.
The incidence management system of the EOC have several response pillars which includes, coordination, surveillance, laboratory,logistics, IPC, case management, Risk Communication, Gender, and vaccine.