COVID-19: Group wants local capacity for vaccine, health technology strengthened

The Coalition of Civil Societies Network for HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (COCSNHAN) on Saturday, reiterated calls for strengthening the capacity of local actors in vaccine and general health technology development.

Mr Ikenna Nwakanma, first cochairman of the society,  told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that development of other critical health researches was imperative to containing  or preparing for future pandemics.

Nwakanma who emphasised the need for a functional structure for medical research, said it was key to overcoming onslaughts of global deadly pandemics.

“If we had set up a functional structure for medical research with the right human capacity, maybe we would have been speaking confidently on what our fate is on the current situation.

“Sometime ago, we called on government to view Public health, particularly infectious diseases like HIV and TB as National Security problems as they have the capacity to destabilise the economy, cause huge mortality in a short time and disrupt social life of the population.

“Today, COVID-19 has driven the point home clearly for us. The question is, are we going to learn from this or still wait for another episode of bioterrorism for us to enter into a state of confusion again,” he said.

The cochairman described COVID -19 as bioterrorism, expressing fear of similar reoccurrence in future as he called for government’s preparedness to own up the containment.

According to him, today, it is COVID-19, next time who knows what it will be. Whatever it will be the question is, what are we doing about it today.

He said government should utilise the army of  microbiologists and scientists being churned out yearly in the country.

“That alone is a security risk because we must account  for where our trained scientists are and what they are doing.

“We may not be able to identify possible domestic bioterrorism from our jobless Bioscientists who may be  feeling ignored, and frustrated by the system that has no place for them,’ he said.

Nwakanma urged government to rise to the occasion for accelerated success in the general health technology for a secured Nigeria.

He however explained that the biggest security problem confronting the country was not Boko Haram and their likes but Bio-terrorism and other public health problems.

” We should devote as much  money as  we spend on other security problems into public health preparedness and response to ensure a  safer country,”  he added.