Chairman, Medical subcommittee, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Ministerial Expert Advisory Committee on COVID-19, Dr Ejike Oji, says by projection N24 billion will be required to treat all the COVID-19 patients at the FCT if the current COVID-19 transmission rates in the area persist.
Dr Oji spoke at a World Population Day webinar hosted by the Network of Reproductive Health Journalists of Nigeria (NRHJN) with the theme ‘Putting the Brakes on COVID-19: How to safeguard the Health and Rights of Women and Girls Now’.
Oji, a former, Country Director, Ipas Nigeria, stated that the projection was based on COVID-19 cases doubling every 16 days at the FCT and at a cost of N1.4 million to treat one patient in the isolation centre.
Dr Oji, putting FCT’s total health budget at N21 billion stated that if the coronavirus transmission and hospitalization from it is not curtailed, the cost of the pandemic will be huge, affecting every sector of health, including the health and rights of women and girls.
He said, “Most states had actually made their budget before the pandemic hit and now the money for case management, case search, and all the logistics around treating people who have the COVID-19 is so enormous.
“Now in Abuja, the cases that we get double every 16 days. By the initial estimate that we have done, it costs about N1.4 million to treat one patient in the isolation centre. We have made a projection that if the transmission rates go on the way it is going, Abuja will need N24 billion to get to treat all the COVID-19 patients that it gets and what is in the budget is N21 billion.
“We have not gotten to the breaking point yet and the FCT is funding all the activities as it is now. If we don’t do something very strategic now, we will be in trouble in the future with resources.”
Dr Oji said a vaccine for COVID-19 will not get to Nigeria till at least 18 months, and so the need to develop strategies to live with the virus, including ensuring that reproductive health services to women and girls are not disrupted.
He, however, assured that COVID-19 is not all bad news as it has led to the increased attention of the Federal government on health and an improvement in access because of change of strategy.
Dr Oji stressed the importance of data gathering to inform decisions to curtail the pandemic, rather than merely copying other countries’ strategy in Nigeria’s quest to end the pandemic.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then