The Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) has approved the
establishment of the Institute of Environmental Health Technology (IEHT)
to train manpower in the area of environmental health. The news was
made known in a statement after members of the university Senate rose
from their 336th meeting last week.
The mission of the institute, according to the Vice-Chancellor, Prof.
Chigozie Asiabaka, is to strengthen the training and practice of
environmental health for efficient service delivery and entrepreneurial
skills. “The vision is to improve health, reduce inequalities in health
and prolong life expectancy in Nigeria and the ECOWAS region by
preventing diseases and minimising their consequences,” he said.
The institute will also run degree, post-graduate diploma, Master’s
and doctorate degree courses in environmental health science as well as
offer special undergraduate programme for professional Environmental
Health Officers with Higher National Diploma (HND) from West Africa
Health Examination Board (WAHEB).
The institute is the first of its kind in Nigeria and West Africa
sub-region, a feat that made students of environmental and public health
expressed joy over the establishment of the institute.
Abubakar Atiku, 500-Level Environmental Health, said: “The institute
will surely address the dearth of environmental health practitioners in
the country and train manpower in research and evidence-based practice.”
Happiness Akpulonu, 500-Level student, said her joy knew no bounds at
the establishment of the institute. “It will pioneer a new chart for
environmental health practice, which has come of age now and ready to
push out quacks practicing as environmental and public health experts,”
she said.
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