Preparedness and Perception of Graduates and Trainees of Nigeria Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program towards Participation in COVID-19 Outbreak Response

Background: Health workforce is one of the six building blocks of a resilient health system and is key to outbreak control. We assessed preparedness and perception of graduates and trainees of Nigeria Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (NFELTP) towards participation in COVID-19 response. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 231 respondents. Respondents were graduates and trainees of NFELTP. Electronic self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information from the respondents. We described binary variables using frequencies and percentages; and normally distributed continuous variables using means and standard deviations. Responses to open-ended questions were analyzed in themes. Results: Many respondents (68.4%) had undergone at least one training on COVID-19 surveillance (72.2%), infection prevention and control (63.9%), risk communication (38.6%) and sample collection (31.7%). Respondents had previously participated in outbreaks of 27 health-related events especially Lassa fever, poliomyelitis, measles, cholera and yellow fever. Respondents were willing to be engaged in the response (86.6%), despite its novelty, although, 33.8% expressed apprehension for being infected in the course of response to COVID-19 outbreak, while 52.8% mentioned feeling safe in participating in the response. Conclusion: NFELTP trainees and graduates should be continuously engaged in outbreak response activities to enhance capacity of Nigerian health workforce.