Medical Association (NMA). Professor Innocent Ujah, appeared on
Sunrise Daily on December 28, 2020.
The Nigeria Medical Association on Monday said it will
seek increased funding for health workers in the country as the
COVID-19 pandemic continues to claim more of its
members.
At least 20 doctors died in the past week after contracting
COVID-19, according to the chairman of the NMA in the Federal
Capital Territory (FCT), Dr Enema Amodu.
The doctors died in the course of treating infected patients who
failed to disclose their true health status, Amodu said.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, the
NMA President, Professor Innocent Ujah said the association would
be seeking more funding from the federal government to reduce the
risks for health workers.
He also commended President Muhammadu Buhari for sympathising
with the nation over the death of the 20 doctors.
“We don’t want anybody to die in the service of their country,”
Ujah said. “That’s why we talk about infection prevention and
control. And we believe that working with the federal government,
the PTF, and the Ministry of Health, we need to continually train
our health workers – doctors, nurses – and anyone who has anything
to do with patients on infection prevention and control.
“The NMA does not have the luxury of money. We need funds. What
we can supply, which we have, is the capacity and ability to do the
research; what we don’t have is sufficient funds to move around the
country. We have the manpower, but we don’t have the enabling
environment.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
“The issue of hazard allowance is no longer discussed. We will
take on the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment in the new
year because we cannot continue to increase the risks and subject
our doctors and nurses to the hazards – they are too many.”
Test Vaccines
Professor Ujah on Monday also said Nigeria must test imported
vaccines before it is administered to citizens.
According to the NMA chief, reactions to vaccines differ among
different races.
“If the vaccines come to Nigeria, we need to quickly do our own
evaluation of that vaccine,” he said. “I cannot say with 100
percent certainty that in the process of developing this vaccine,
in the clinical trials, whether any African countries were
involved. I’m not too sure, but it’s possible.
“Then because of the biology, because of the environment,
because of our genetic composition, we need to do our own clinical
trials very quickly before it can be used on Nigerians. While we do
not question the efficacy and safety, the responses vary from place
to place.
“Recall that when we were using chloroquine, the southern part
was not responding to chloroquine, some parts of the north were.
But in totality, it was thought that chloroquine was no longer
effective and we changed.”
Read more https://swordpress.com.ng/2020/12/28/covid-19-doctors-to-seek-more-government-funding/