International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) officials have visited the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos to assess planning and preparedness for, and responses to, public health events.
ICAO, through its Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation (CAPSCA), has been visiting different regions of the world.
The aim is to assess the preparedness of aviation sectors and offer training sessions, including assistance visits to airports, based on the priorities of the World Health Organisation (WHO) contained in the international health regulations fashioned in 2005.
The visit promoted and facilitated communication, cooperation, coordination, and collaboration among public health agencies in the handling of public health events.
ICAO officials evaluated the level of emergency medical preparedness by various agencies operating at MMIA, against the backdrop of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa last year which focused attention on the aviation sector.
Agencies examined included the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Ministry of Health/Port Health Authority, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), and foreign and domestic airline operators.
Ground handling outfits were also evaluated, as well as the Air Force, police, Directorate of State Security Services (DSS), Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), and Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC).
Places visited included air traffic control area control centre (ACC), air traffic control tower, aircraft parking positions, airport and emergency operation centre, and passenger screening location and facilities.
Others included suspect case and contacts interview and assessment location and facilities, ill passenger isolation and treatment location and facilities, port health and medical facilities and other facilities involved in public health emergency – a scenario of an aircraft arriving with a suspect case on board or a local outbreak.
At the end of the visit, the CAPSCA team, public health, civil aviation authority, and all assistance visit participants discussed the preliminary results.
