By Joyce Remi- Babayeju
In two years of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, Nigeria has recorded 3,000 deaths amid 250,000 confirmed cases on the virus.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, Director General, Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa disclosed in a statement signed yesterday to mark the advent of the pandemic on the Nigerian soil.
In a statement tagged ” Two Years of COVID-19 Response: Building on Lessons from COVID-19 to Strengthen Nigeria’s Health Security for the Future” , the agency said that Sunday, 27th February 2022, marked exactly two years since the first case of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was first detected in Nigeria.
However NCDC commended the prompt notification of health authorities by an astute doctor attending to the index case and noted that since then,
Nigeria has confirmed an excess of 250,000 cases, recorded over 3,000 deaths,
Within the period of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, government in it’s wisdom is strengthening the country’s health system to cope with other
infectious diseases and future health emergencies, the statement hinted.
It however emphasized that before the invasion of COVID-19, the world was preparing for a possible influenza pandemic, but he arrival of SARS-CoV-2 highlighted inadequacies in global pandemic preparedness.
Meanwhile, the agency had stressed that the risk of public health like COVID-19 have greatly disrupted the livelihoods of people.
“This makes it critical to learn from lessons taught by this pandemic to strengthen preparedness and response to other diseases in line with our
mandate.”
“We have continued to face outbreaks of cholera and Lassa fever concurrently with the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“During the pandemic, the NCDC supported the establishment of infectious disease treatment centres, molecular laboratories, and public health emergency
operation centres in all States, and provided equipment required for critical care in hospitals such as dialysis machines.”
Also within the period of the global virus pandemic, NCDC said it has trained over 4,000 health workers on infection prevention control, provided support such as vehicles for outbreak investigation across states, and ensured regular supplies of treatment and testing supplies among other activities.
The NCDC therefore called on the government to prioritising health on the political agenda for more investment in the healthcare sector if the nation.
