COVID-19: NMA decries obstruction of NCDC by Kogi, Cross River govts

The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has decried the continued obstruction of the National Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) by the Kogi and Cross River State governments.

Dr Francis Faduyile, the President of the association said this in a statement made available to newsmen on Friday in Abuja.

He said the obstruction was contrary to the NCDC Act (2018) that empowered it to “prevent, detect, monitor and control” activities and programmes for national response against infectious diseases.

Faduyile added that the act also empowered the agency and other public health emergencies to lead, develop and coordinate such activities.

The NMA president described the development as unfortunate and urged President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in the situation.

ALSO READ: Ramadan: Gov Zulum seeks special prayers against Boko Haram

According to him, Nigeria’s acceptance of the herbal remedy from Madagascar ‘COVID Organics’ is an act of pulling all stops in search of remedial interventions in protecting the lives of citizens.

“We appreciate the concerns of our colleagues in the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) and bemoan the situation where Nigeria appears to be lagging and not leading the black race’s response against the pandemic.

“NMA insists that the herbal mixture undergoes due diligence based on scientific methods before authorising its use in the polity while urging the government to leapfrog the revitalization of research and production activities of our pharmaceutical industries.”

He said that the association was carefully studying the overall impact of the newly approved WHO’s home treatment policy for COVID-19 patients while accepting the noticeable acute shortage of bed spaces available at designated centres.

Faduyile stated that the peculiarities in Nigeria should be taken into consideration, while urging the Federal Government to adopt the new regulation, stressing that Nigeria had an average of six persons per household.

The NMA president said that the country risks an explosive regime of community transmission if it adopted the guidelines completely without modifications.

Faduyile said that NMA was of the conviction that revamping abandoned General Hospitals and Primary Health Centres (PHCs) would mitigate the challenges with home treatment and acute shortage of bed spaces.

“We still maintain that isolation and treatment centres should stand-alone to avoid the non-social spread of this infection especially in settings of poor hygiene practices,” he said.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE