Lokoja
The leaders of the different professional bodies in health sector in Kogi stat say they have taken proactive steps to protect their members and the residents against any outbreak of novel corona virus (COVID-19) in the state.
Duaglobalnews, a bloq based in Lokoja, reports the joint action is coming on the heels of rising cases of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria which rose to 81 as at March 28.
The professional bodies include: the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM),and Medical & Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MHWUN).
Others are: Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) and Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN).
The NMA Chairman in the state, Dr Kabiru Zubair,who led the group disclosed when he, spoke with journalists after, the group had a brief meeting with the Commissioner for Health, Dr Saka Audu on Friday in Lokoja.
He explained that the aim was for the interest of their members as well as the general public, adding that health professionals were alwayd in the front line in the management of any health case, even though no case COVID-19 had been recorded in Kogi so far.
Zubair said:”We have to prepare as our neighbouring states are already reporting different cases. We are people that makeup the health sector in any state; we must take proactive steps to protect our people.
”We have gone round the different tertiary hospitals in Kogi, such as FMC Lokoja, Kogi Specialist Hospital (KSSH), to speak with their CMDs to know their level of preparedness on COVID-19.
”We are at the Ministry of health to see the Commissioner, to know what the state government has put in place to protect the health workers.”
He commended the management of FMC Lokoja for their level of preparedness such as the establishment of isolation tent, training of staff and other measures put in place.
”I think I can say that FMC Lokoja has 80 per cent level of preparedness while KSSH has 40 per cent.
”What has been put in place in KSSH is not enough at the moment because I don’t think there is an organised protocol to appreciately manage any case of COVID-19 in the hospital so that our members will not be put at risk.
”So, I want to urge the Government to do more and put all the necessary machinery in place to ensure the safety of our members,” Zubair added.
Zubair advised the public to adhere strictly to and obey all the preventive measures put up by the government against the spread of the disease because of ” the fragile nature of the nation’s health sector.”
Receiving the group earlier, Audu, said the state had within the limited its resources, been able to put some measures in place in case of any outbreak of COVID-19 in the state.
Audu noted that the state was making references to Lagos and country like China with a view to learning from their actions to boost the success of its measures against the spread of the pandemic to the state.
He stressed that Kogi remained the heart of Nigeria having shared border with many states and the FCT, adding that “when Kogi is locked down, Nigeria would be locked down.”
He commended the groups for cooperating with the state government, saying, ”we felt that if we walk hard, we will be able to contain the outbreak of coronavirus in Kogi.”
In their various comments at the occasion, some members of the group urged the state government to improve on the level of preparedness and ensure that hospitals were well equipped.
They also called for effective funding of the health sector and training and retraining of health workers to boost healthcare delivery.
Meanwhile, the state has commenced total lockdown, restricting human and vehicular movements through out the state to check the spread of the pandemic.
The online gathered that the disease has registered over 350,000 cases, recorded over 100,000 recoveries and more than 15,000 deaths globally.
