… decries out- of- pocket payment by patients
By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
As the Federal Givernment continues containment of Coronavirus pandemic in the country ActionAid Nigeria,AAN,an anti- poverty Non Governmental Organization, NGO, has called for more protection of women, girls, youths and persons with disabilities.
While commending the FG’s Presidential Task force response to the COVID- 19 pandemic, in a statement on AAN’s response signed yesterday in Abuja by AAN Country Director, Ms Ene Obi commended Government’s response as it affects the group of primary beneficiaries and asked for the spread of treatment to the vulnerable group.
The statement read, “AAN’s immediate response is focused on protection services for women and girls, awareness, prevention and control; this we are implementing through community-based facilitators who have received safety kits and the pandemic awareness materials including megaphones, flyers, posters and banners with messages in local languages. Working with community-based facilitators is a safeguarding approach to mitigate the risk of staff and partners infecting or being infected in the response process.”
Also, strategic funds have been released from AAN to our project partners in different states to cater for the protection of women during the period of the epidemic. AAN has set up a 9-member Committee on COVID-19 finalizing a strategy and seeking innovative ways of working with relevant stakeholders during this period.
Meanwhile AAN lamented the reportedly out – of – pocket payment for treatment of suspected victims at isolation centres.
Acess to testing and quality of service received by COVID-19 infected persons remains a point of concern with some citizens reportedly paying for testing while others have complained of neglect and favoritism of infected influential persons, the statement read.
According to the NGO, there is a shift on public health as attention now on the COVID-19 outbreak, adding that women and citizens with other ailments are finding it more difficult to access the much needed healthcare services; as some state governments are converting health facilities to isolation centres.
