Advocacy for improved medical care

As the nation continues to grapple with the effects of the Coronavirus on individuals and businesses, Nigerians have expressed concerns with the level of preparedness by the Federal Government towards combating the deadly virus.

Ever since the first outbreak was discovered in Nigeria on February 27, 2020, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has swiftly responded by setting up multiple testing and isolation centres across the country while also developing regimen for the treatment of infected persons.

While the swift responses provided by NCDC and state governments have been commendable, the nation still has a large coast to cover in keeping up with the lethal virus. The bad state of our health infrastructure has exposed a massive government neglect of the sector and now makes the entire populace vulnerable to the infectious disease.

With less than ten testing centres in 36 states of the federation, more than 150 million Nigerians are oblivious of their status as only the elite, politicians and their associates have access to diagnostic centres set up by the government. Our present capacity means that Nigeria can only conduct a few COVID-19 tests per day leaving a large proportion of the lower and middle classes to self-diagnosis and over-the-counter medications, contrary to the World Health Organisation’s strategy of maximum testing to effectively identify and isolate infected individuals.

Apart from the problems posed by inadequate testing centres, the nation also has a shortage of isolation centres where victims of the plague could be treated. Lagos with a population of about 20 million inhabitants has less than five isolation centres suggesting that the state may not be able to curtail an explosion of positive cases when such occurs.

Healthcare workers, who are the only line of public defence against COVID-19, also share a part of our inefficiencies as they are periodically forced to down tools to demand improved remuneration and better work conditions. Apart from being available in very reduced numbers, health care workers in the country are poorly trained and lack personal protective equipment (PPE) to keep them safe from an infection which has killed more than 60 doctors in Italy alone.

Currently, donation into the government-initiated COVID-19 relief fund is more than 10 billion naira and looks likely to increase. This should be utilized for the purposes for which they were collected. Multiple testing centres should be set up to increase our capacity for identifying people who have the virus even when they are asymptomatic.

Isolation centres should be established with state-of-the-art equipment to ensure that infected persons get the best treatments. Personal protective equipment should be made available to our doctors, nurses and other health care professionals to keep them safe as they treat persons infected with the virus.

In addition, remuneration for health care workers should be upwardly reviewed as an incentive to motivate them. The government should also resolve existing issues with health sector unions to forestall unnecessary industrial actions. There should be increased funding for our universities and research centres to increase efforts aimed at finding cure for the debilitating disease.

COVID-19 has inarguably dealt a blow to our economy. In order to cushion the effects this is likely to have on the populace, government should come up with a more responsive economic stimulus to help people keep their jobs and also ensure that our vital companies are able to continue operation after the virus is defeated.

Adepoju Sunday Joel

Oyo state

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