Covid-19: Varsity Don tasks FG on procurement of ventilators
A Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland in the United States, Alash’le Abimiku has advised Federal and State Governments in Nigeria on the need to think towards procurement of more ventilators as a preparatory measure towards stemming continued spread of the dreaded Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
Abimiku, Executive Director, International Research for Human Virology in Nigeria, also debunked the erroneous claim that Chloroquine was a definite cure for Coronavirus disease.
Speaking recently during an exclusive interview in Lagos, the renowned virologist observed that Nigeria lacked the needed infrastructure and expertise for fighting the Corona virus disease, pointing out that there must be a synergy between government and the private sector in a bid to prevent continued spread of the virus.
According to her, government at all levels, including stakeholders and generality of Nigerians must come together to mount enlightenment campaigns to stem the spread of the virus, which she said had no treatment at the moment.
“What common Nigerians on the street have in their hand is all about the precautions of social distancing “stay at home” and those who have gone to high risk countries to observe 14 days self-isolation.”
The virologist also identified inadequate funding as the bane of the nation’s healthcare delivery system which she described as grossly under-budgeted.
She noted that in 2001, Nigeria had agreed during the Abuja Declaration that 15 percent of its entire budget should go to health, adding that the country was yet to implement that.
She stressed that as a first step towards stemming the spread of the virus, government should make urgent preparations for procurement of ventilators, recalling that “if the United State could run out of ventilators, that goes to show that Nigeria needs to prepare well for it”.
While debunking the claim that Chloroquine was a definite cure for the deadly virus, the virologist noted that though Chloroquine may have some viral activities on the pandemic, it must be subjected to some scientific trials to establish its efficacy in the treatment of the disease.
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