Libro

Descripción

Health System Resilience in Emerging Epidemics: Insights from the 2024 Lassa Fever Response in Kaduna State, Nigeria Emerging infectious diseases continue to challenge public health systems globally, especially in low- and middle-income countries where outbreaks can rapidly strain fragile healthcare structures. In Nigeria, recurrent epidemics such as Lassa fever have exposed critical gaps in emergency preparedness, surveillance systems, workforce capacity, and healthcare delivery. At the same time, these outbreaks have created opportunities to strengthen institutional resilience, improve coordination mechanisms, and advance public health emergency management practices. The 2024 Lassa fever outbreak in Kaduna State represented one of such defining moments for assessing the capacity of subnational health systems to respond effectively under pressure. This book presents a comprehensive examination of the 2024 Lassa fever response in Kaduna State, Nigeria, highlighting the strategies, operational structures, partnerships, and interventions that shaped the outbreak response. Drawing from field experiences, surveillance reports, emergency operations center activities, laboratory coordination, infection prevention and control measures, risk communication efforts, and multisectoral collaboration, the book provides practical insights into the realities of managing a complex epidemic in a resource-constrained setting. The book explores how government institutions, healthcare workers, development partners, and community stakeholders collaborated to detect, contain, and mitigate the impact of the outbreak while sustaining essential health services. It also examines the challenges encountered, including limited resources, workforce pressures, delayed health-seeking behaviors, logistical constraints, and evolving outbreak dynamics that tested the resilience of the health system. Beyond documenting the outbreak, Health System Resilience in Emerging Epidemics emphasizes the broader lessons for strengthening preparedness and building adaptive health systems capable of responding to future public health threats.