FG inaugurates the national inter-agency working group, reveals the five-year plan to eliminate lead poisoning in Nigeria

FG inaugurates the national inter-agency working group, reveals the five-year plan to eliminate lead poisoning in Nigeria

Abuja (basic reporter) The Federal Government of Nigeria inaugurated the Inter-National Agency Working Group on the elimination of the lead list in Nigeria. While reveals a five -year plan to eliminate lead poisoning in the country. This, since the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Wellness has convened the main parties interested in dealing with the growing threat of lead poisoning in the country.

The minister coordinated for health and social well-being, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, represented by the permanent secretary of the Ministry, Daju Kachollom, through Mrs. Ladidi Bako-Aiyegbusi Mni, director/head of the health nutrition department, described the inauguration as a stone through historic in the protection of public health.

Speaking at the opening of a two -day seminar in Abuja on the finalization and validation of the five -year national strategic plan on the elimination of lead poisoning, the minister underlined the urgency of the government’s response.

“Lead poisoning is not just an environmental concern; it is a public health crisis that silently erodes the well -being of our children, causing irreversible damage to their brains and developing nerve systems,” said Pate. “For adults, it contributes to hypertension, renal dysfunction and reproductive challenges.”

Nigeria has witnessed devastating outbreaks of lead poisoning, in particular in the state of Zamfara in 2010, where over 400 children and many other disabled people died and in the state of Niger in 2015. More recently, in 2024, new cases have been reported in the states of Zamfara and Sokoto.

To combat the crisis, the ministry provided laboratory equipment such as lead and spectrophotometers’ care machines, supported the treatment with chelation therapy in collaboration with the Médecine Sans Frontières (MSF), improved active surveillance and led the remedy to the ground and education to the community.

The coordination minister observed that the just inaugurated working group will act as a national platform to harmonize strategies, strengthen surveillance and advance interventions based on evidence. His mandate includes the evaluation of lead exposure, the revision of policies, the construction of the ability of healthcare professionals and the recommendation of sustainable funding for long -term solutions.

He underlined that the elimination of lead poisoning requires a multisectoral approach, which involves the federal ministries of the environment, the development of solid minerals, the development of steel, agriculture, water resources, critical regulatory agencies such as Nesrea, Nafdac, son, as well as civil society, the academic world and the development partners including the unice, which are resolved to save themselves to save themselves to save themselves to save themselves Lives and MSF.

“Our collective priority is prevention, ensuring that our environment, crops, houses, workplaces and water sources are without lead contamination,” said Prof. Pate. “The life and future of millions of Nigerian children depend on our collective efforts”.

In addition, Ms. Adegbitite Olufunmilola Director Epidemiology Division/National Coordinator Lead Delente Program (Department of Public Health Fmohsw); outlined the next steps in the country’s strategy to face lead poisoning.

Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar that validates the national leading policy of the lead and the five -year strategic plan, Olufunmilola said that the documents would soon be launched in the context of the wider efforts to eliminate lead poisoning in Nigeria.

“With a stronger collaboration, an awareness and the application of the community, we believe that the elimination of lead in Nigeria can be achieved”, Mrs. Olufunmilola has further affirmed

In guiding the implementation of the five -year strategic plan of Nigeria on the elimination of lead poisoning, dr. Ganiyu Jamiyu, the chief consultant epidemiologist of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Wellness has said that the initiative is a great step towards the reduction of lead toxicity and other exhibitions of heavy metals that affect different states, in particular Zamfara, Sokoto and Niger.

Speaking of his gravity in particular for children, Dr. Jamiyu listed some of his consequences to include mental retardation, disability for life and in some cases death. “We have to save future generations and this is why the coordinated minister made this initiative a priority,” he further underlined.

The workshop was organized by the Ministry in collaboration with MDA pertinent to finalize and validate the five -year strategic plan of Nigeria on the elimination of lead poisoning, preparing the foundations for effective political reforms and coordinated national interventions.