Posted on: Mon 01-06-2020

The new President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Prof. Innocent Ujah, has called for a review of the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic by a team of researchers.

Speaking on a live TV interview on Monday, Ujah, a former Director General, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, said the evaluation was necessary to ascertain if measures taken so far are appropriate and correct.

Ujah stated that it is also imperative to know if the measures and recommendations of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 to curb the spread of the virus are working.

The NMA president noted that it would be difficult for the country to battle COVID-19 pandemic without regular evaluation by researchers.

The PTF, he said, needs to have a research team as part of its members. “As a researcher, I think we should have a strong research team to be part of PTF. I am not aware that the PTF has a research team and we must evaluate and monitor what we do.

“We need a research team that will monitor regularly what we are doing otherwise, we will be groping in the dark.”

“The response must be evaluated by the research team. “If you say we should wear a face mask, what is the percentage of Nigerians wearing masks in Abuja?

“You say social distancing, that is completely out. We don’t have social distancing as far as I am concerned. “I have gone to a place like Nyanya for instance in Abuja, there is nothing like social distancing there.

“When you go to the market, it is just business as usual “So, we need to know why it is so. “We talked about self- isolation, I think that is one area that we didn’t get right.

“How can a man living in a one-room apartment with many children self-isolate when he comes in contact with a COVID-19 case? It is going to be difficult to self-isolate under such condition.

“Again, our culture and tradition must be evaluated to see how we can appropriately respond.”

Ujah stated that the greatest challenge facing the NMA was how to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, stressing that the association would continue to interface with government and contribute to the containment of the virus.

“There are many challenges in the health system in Nigeria. The challenges are enormous and we are ready.

“The COVID-19 pandemic exposed how weak the Nigerian healthcare system is. “There are lots of gaps and that made it difficult for the country to respond appropriately to the fight”, he added.

Ujah emerged the new NMA president on Saturday after an online election. He takes over from Dr. Francis Faduyile who led the association for two years.

Source: punch

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